Rusty Cuts
⤏ JUDITH ROTHMAN-PIERCE IN CONVERSATION WITH YASI SALEK
⤏ PHOTOS BY ASHLEY OLAH | CLOTHING MODELED BY ASHLEY LUKASHEVSKY | MAKE-UP BY TINA BEAUPRE | STYLING BY LINDSEY HARTMAN
⤏ ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2018
Judith Rothman-Pierce has the best style of anyone I know. She shows up at my house on an oppressive, infernal LA day in the most amazing Budweiser print pants I’ve ever seen and a clashing yet somehow perfectly matching red print button-down, tied up at the waist. Her cat eye is exquisite, immune to the heat. I’m sweating in ill-fitting pants.
The Rusty Cuts designer and Judas Priest aficionado is as soft-spoken as her clothing is loud, and since she would never brag about herself, allow me: At 28, Judith has already designed stage looks for Post Malone, Ty Segall, Kevin Morby, Margo Price, Midland, and more, and the way things are going, you’ll only be seeing her signature appliqué magic grace a lot more stages and faves. Between that and the incredibly cool ready-to-wear looks, made in fabric Judith designs herself, Rusty Cuts is definitely one to watch.
YASI: When did you first learn how to sew?
JUDITH: My mom had me take sewing lessons when I was eight, and I took them through elementary and middle school. I was immediately into it, and I never was into anything else. My mom was like, “Oh I finally found something she likes to do, cool” [laughs]. I guess she saw an ad in the classifieds in the newspaper.
Y: What kind of stuff did you sew as an eight-year-old?
J: Really beautiful things made in sunflower prints that I would wear to school, like matching ill-fitting peasant blouses and pants that were like elastic waist and cotton, in granny fabrics. My little sister would tell me other people would say, “Oh your older sister dresses so weird!” And I’d be like, “Cool.”
Y: Were you into fashion early on? Or was sewing what got you into it?
J: I wanted to be a fashion designer, but I can’t really remember what came first, sewing lessons or wanting to be a designer. I got into vintage clothes in high school, and that’s kind of when I started actually teaching myself how to sew clothing. In sewing lessons, I was just taught how to use a pattern, and how to follow a pattern, and other simple stuff. But I taught myself everything else afterwards. I made a lot of questionable items out of neckties and t-shirts that were made into skirts, stuff like that.
Y: When was the first time you made an item of clothing for someone else?
J: Probably in high school. I was also really into making clothes out of sheets and pillow cases, and I started making myself really cool smock dresses from 70s sheets. My friend saw mine and wanted one. I think I charged her $20.
Y: Did you make your own prom dress?
J: I did not go to prom. I was not allowed to.
Y: It feels like there’s a bigger story here...
J: I got suspended for having cigarettes at school, and they took away all my privileges, so I couldn’t go to prom. I went to high school with Tati (Compton), who I make all those fabrics with, and we had our own prom party. We got dressed up, but then we ran out of gas on the freeway. So we spent prom night in these crazy 50s party dresses and heels walking on the side of the freeway to go get gas.
Y: When did Rusty Cuts go from being a hobby into a career?
J: When I lived in San Francisco. I worked at this vintage store, and I did Rusty Cuts full time. I had an Etsy store, and I just made dresses out of vintage fabric. I basically did both of them full time, and then eventually I saved enough money to quit. That was in 2012 I think.
Y: Did it feel scary to quit your job?
J: Yes! But it turned out okay.
Y: How did you know that it was time to make the leap?
J: Well, I was very depressed [laughs]. I didn’t ever want to go to work, all I ever wanted to do was make stuff that I felt like making, so I guess I was just really ready for a change.
Y: When did you first get into appliqué?
J: I started doing it when I got obsessed with [Nudie Cohn’s] Nudie suits. First I tried to get a chain stitch sewing machine, which is how those suits are made. I had a deposit on one in LA, when I lived in San Francisco and was about to move here, and the guy ended up selling it to someone else, so when I got to LA I didn’t have this chain stitch machine. I had to learn some other way of making it look similar. And appliqué is something that I already had the machine to do, so I just taught myself how to do it. I’ve gotten better, but the beginning was rough.
“. . . people would say, ‘Oh your older sister dresses so weird’ And I’d be like, cool.”
Y: What was the first appliqué creation that you made?
J: The first real thing I made was a replica of the Gram Parsons Nudie suit for myself. It’s got like the weed leaves, the pills, the naked ladies, fire, poppies, and the cross on the back.
Y: I bought a raven puppet one time when I was out in Joshua Tree and I named it Gram after Gram Parsons. Then I took it on tour with Bleached and everyone was super annoyed.
J: I had a stuffed unicorn I took with me when I went on tour with Ty (Segall) that everyone wanted to kill! It was a unicorn Beanie Baby named Charming and I would keep it on my shoulder and talk to it, and everyone was just like, “Shut up.”
Y: Speaking of Ty, you now seem to do a lot of custom work for musicians, like Ty, and Kevin Morby, and — maybe most famously — Post Malone. How did you first get involved in making stage clothing for musicians?
J: Definitely through Ty. I actually may have made his Manipulator tour outfits before I made the Gram Parsons replica suit. I made him two outfits, one was white and one was black, and the pants were inspired by Jimmy Page’s Nudie suit, and had like stars and planets and stuff on them, and then the shirt just had a big Manipulator symbol on it. I made Emily [Rose] a snake thing, and I made Charles [Moothart] some western shirts. I don’t think I made Mikal [Cronin] anything, I think he made his own.
Y: How did working with Post Malone come about? Are you guys bros?
J: His stylist contacted me to do that yellow suit with the snakes and barbed wire, so fun. It was pretty much my dream thing to make. It took him a really long time to wear it, after I made it, but then I made him all his Coachella stuff, and a bunch of stuff since then. I don’t know, it’s crazy!
Y: Do you ever buy new clothes? Or is your wardrobe all just clothes you’ve made and vintage?
J: I only buy vintage I’d say. And I don’t even wear stuff I’ve made that much. I just don’t have time to make myself anything. I wish I could, but every time I make myself something, I look at it, and I’m like, I’m not going to wear this enough, I should sell it. That’s what always happens.
Y: Tell me about some of your muses. Who inspires you, living or dead?
J: One of my biggest inspirations was Exene Cervenka from X. I had my hair dyed exactly like hers for nine years! She wears just so many different things, and mixes and matches it all together. I’m really into clashing patterns and stuff like that. I gave myself an X tattoo when I was 16. I feel like she’s the coolest to me. Also all those old punk ladies. And David Bowie, Alice Cooper. Basically anyone that has amazing stage style. Mostly just musicians though I’d say.
Y: Do you play music?
J: Nope. I tried to learn how to play bass.
Y: Same! Still trying to learn. It’s been like five years.
J: Yep! Haven’t touched mine in a few years.
Y: One day we’ll start a double bass band. It’s going to be very cool. Speaking of dreams, if you could own one historical Nudie suit, which would you choose?
J: I do love the Gram Parsons one, but I think I would want David Allen Coe’s with the butterflies. I love butterflies right now. Gardens and butterflies and flowers and such.
Y: Who would you love to create a look for in a dream world?
J: Keith Richards for sure.
Y: Who are some other designers or artists that you admire right now?
J: Definitely Tati, I love everything she does. There’s lots of other local designers that I love. Gentle Thrills does amazing airbrush stuff. My friend Krista Fox does Town Clothes, and her stuff is awesome. It’s completely the opposite style of my stuff but I love it.
Y: What advice would you give someone whose dream is to take their craft and make it into their career?
J: Just work really hard. Be ready to not have a life for a while, if you really want to do it. I don’t know, I’m a workaholic, and it helps to be a workaholic and to be extremely self-motivated. I work every day. You can do it though! If you believe in yourself.
⤏ BUY THE PRINT EDITION OF JR HI THE MAGAZINE | ISSUE 003 HERE.
⤏ YASI SALEK (SHE/HER) IS A WRITER AND PROMINENT INFLUENCER IN THE NUTRITIONAL YEAST SPACE.