Ellie Monster
Walk in to Ellie Lahey’s studio in East Nashville and you’ll likely see her working on her latest commission. When the Scene visits, she’s attaching bright-yellow fuzz to some leather chaps.
“It’s more of a ‘rhinestone cowboy’ than a ‘real cowboy’ thing,” Lahey says of her designs.
A bright and zany twist on classic Western styles has become the signature of her brand, Ellie Monster. And artists have taken notice. Jeremy Ivey and the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys wore her pieces to award shows, and members of Old Crow Medicine Show wore Ellie Monster on the Grand Ole Opry stage. One of her shirts appears in the Showtime miniseries George & Tammy, and Orville Peck wore one in a Billboard spread. She’s also created pieces for artists Molly Tuttle and Les Greene.
While the average person may not be able to shell out for a custom piece, Lahey strives to have more attainable pieces in her store. Vintage shirts with her drawn embroidery designs run about $50 (and are also available on an Etsy shop).
An Indiana native, Lahey first learned to sew from her grandmother when she was “itty bitty.” She picked it up again as an adult, using YouTube to refresh her knowledge. She started to make her own clothes, and got so many compliments that she began making them for others. She says sewing is a skill that anyone can pick up, especially with the help of the internet.
“It’s difficult and frustrating for a while, but then it starts to click,” Lahey says. “Once you start knowing what you don’t know and how to look things up, then you’re good to go. You can do it with a $40 sewing machine from Walmart.”
Lahey opened her first shop in Louisiana in 2009, and migrated to Nashville in 2012. She had horses when she was a kid, so she wore some Western designs while she was in that world. But as a regular music-biography reader, her real inspirations are artists and their stage wear. A former history major, she’s excited to use a 1930s Irish Singer sewing machine for satin stitching, and employing some historical beadwork techniques.
The unifying point of Lahey’s designs is that they spark conversation. If someone wears a shirt with pink fringe or with racoons embroidered on it, they can expect comments.
“They’re gonna have fun with it, and want to go out and have conversations with people about it, because they want something that’s over-the-top and stands out,” Lahey says of her customers. “It’s clothing that you can’t just be indifferent to.”
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