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The lower level of the Hallberg Center for the Arts features an exhibit of “story coats” created by rural Stacy resident Carolyn Cagle.

 Unbelievably unique unto themselves, they still strike a familiar cord in the observer. The coats are like nothing you’ve ever seen before, but, simultaneously, like everything you’ve seen.  

The intricate and whimsical embellishments telling each coat’s story,  tug at universal memories.  Maybe it’s the story behind the coat’s design that you connect with; it could be a fable you heard growing up, a spooky tale of Poe’s, a truism spoken by your grandparents?  Maybe the comfort comes from scraps of vintage handkerchiefs that you recognize.  

There is no such thing as an original idea, or at least that’s what people say. 

But, Cagle’s story coats are certainly a one-of-a-kind work.

A stop at The Underground at the Hallberg Center for the Arts should be on your to-do list over the coming nine days.  Cagle’s exhibit of hand- selected garments,  at Hallberg Center on East Viking Boulevard in Wyoming,  is open to the public free of charge until October 19.

Cagle tells the Press that she first got into producing story coats maybe 10 years ago, when she was looking for something special to wear to an occasion, and decided she would acquire coats she admired for their fabric or style or trim, and part them out and craft her own.   

Friends then asked her to turn a favorite coat into a story coat.  Or maybe Cagle would have a story inspiration — and come across the perfect “canvas” in a collection of vintage outerwear that would become a story coat.  

As the owner of Strikke Knits, a provider of commercial custom product/personalization Cagle knows fabric and structure.  

She said she loves Scandinavian aesthetics but mainly the color or shape of the coat is what speaks to her.

In the exhibit you’ll see a child’s coat (available for rent for photos) that has a smattering of embroidery resembling rosemaling and is accented with polar bears.

There’s a  sunny yellow coat she made for a 91-year old aunt, who is known for saying, “You Gotta Wait Your Turn’ whenever asked how she has lived so long.  This quip is emblazoned on the coat above a tasteful collage with the classic Virgin Mary image inspired from a  funeral service program. (And, if you look closely, the aunt has “her own personal Jesus”  in a side pocket of the coat.)

Cagle also displays her mother’s scarlet-colored vintage Red Riding Hood story coat.  This coat is special, because Cagle has seen firsthand how it works its magic on strangers who encounter it.  Standing  a few feet away one day while her mother shopped at the grocery store, Cagle was so happy as store shoppers came up and asked her mom about the garment. Conversations got started.  It is impossible to be invisible when wearing a story coat  Cagle declares.

The designs arise from whatever she thinks the coat will bear.  

A split pea green cropped coat, she calls the “Squirrel Coat’ is a perfect example.  It is adorned with clever squirrels hiding out amongst the  cuffs, seams with added ruffles that look more like fungi than fabric.  The coat’s shape and organic sensibility leave you half-expecting to find a squirrel’s nest inside the collar cavity.

Cagle explains she is very careful about not adding “one too many flamingoes’ to the flock.  You can over-think an idea if you aren’t careful, you know.  Her instinct proves reliable on when to edit the applique, embroidery, trim and embellishments.

Cagle works with her Strikke Knits associate, a “digitizer” who translates  what she draws into a computerized process,  where highly specialized embroidery and serger machines takeover.  There is hand-sewing to add character, or just the right amount of bling and keep the coat from looking too perfect, she added.

Cagle takes orders for coats.  You can provide one as the canvas (garment) or she can go on the hunt.  There is no usual timeframe required to make a story coat, but she does work best under a deadline.

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