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Hell Bent for (Patriotic) Leather

Entrepreneur Sylvia Noster has made it her mission to make celebrating the Constitution more fashionable.  

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)
(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

A career fashion designer, the now 57-year-old patriot decided to pursue a self-styled brand of luxury goods after experiencing a revelation about what living in the land of the free truly means to her. “I was in the kitchen one day and I was complaining about the Constitution being shredded … and my millennial age son said, ‘Yeah, mom, we know. But what could you possibly do about it?'”  

Shortly thereafter, Noster launched a signature collection based on the three-legged stool that informs her personal worldview: love, liberty and faith.  

Noster was hawking her handsome wares from a stall located in the bowels of the Gaylord National — one small stop in the free market-gauntlet known as the Conservative Political Action Conference “Hub.”  

“You know, you can’t handle freedom if you’re not doing pretty well on the love and the faith thing. Because freedom requires a certain accountability, a certain healthiness, wholeness about who you are,” she posited. “So this is my whole philosophy.”  

Creating the high-end handbags (Noster maintains they are on par with the must-haves spun out by Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs) turned out to be a labor of love — one that takes a global village to see through.  

Per Noster, each bag is forged from domestically sourced raw materials. “It’s made from American dairy cows,” she explained. But after striking out in securing a reputable manufacturer — “I found tiny little shops, mom and pops, that didn’t have quality controls, and then I found big factories that just turn out schlock,” she explained — Noster had to outsource the labor side of the equation.  

“So I go to Mexico and to China for the assembly,” she shared.  

Her “Liberty” line features two unique touches: a lining imprinted with the words of the Constitution, and companion pocket Constitution.  

(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)
(Warren Rojas/CQ Roll Call)

“I want them [customers] to see the Constitution as being this cool, powerful, amazing piece of work that’s changed our lives and the whole world for the better,” she said of the built-in tribute. “We can’t let that thing go. We’ve gotta fight for it.”  

And there are expansion opportunities on the horizon.  

The Dallas denizen noted she’s friendly with folks who work for a certain Lone Star State lawmaker.  

“Ted’s people want me to make him a wallet with the Constitution in it. I’m good with that,” she said of a plan to put together something special for tea party favorite, Sen. Ted Cruz.  

“I’m just waiting to see what style he wants,” she said. “Then I’ll put it in the line. And we’ll start marketing that next.”  

Related: CPAC Camp Boot Camp Trains GOP to Catch Up Mia Love Says Maybe McConnell Needs the Boot Vulnerable GOP Senators Steer Clear of CPAC The 114th: CQ Roll Call’s Guide to the New Congress Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call in your inbox or on your iPhone.

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