Laura Vest
Vests made by repeatedly braiding together two strips of thread of different colors, giving each vest a vibrant and unique look. Each one has a pocket sewn into the vest, interrupting the braided pattern like a badge in a uniform, and there's a hidden strap sewn into the inner lining. They are so ubiquitous among the citizens of Willowmoor that they'll eventually be used to mark members of that community in the wider world.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
These days, the Laura vest is nothing more than a fashion symbol with a handy strap for carrying a pocketknife or something else of utility. When it was originally designed, however, it was meant to offer as much protection as possible with what little materials were available at the time. The braids were not chosen for their aesthetic but to slow down bullets, and the strap was meant to carry a gun.
History
When the first bombs fell on the world, ending life as everyone knew it, Sadie originally fled to safety with two younger sisters, Mabel and Laura. While seeking shelter, they were accosted by a community that ended up snatching away Laura, just barely sending the other two away with their lives. Months later while trying to find shelter with the community of survivors that would become Willowmoor, Sadie wanted to design a piece of clothing to remember her youngest sister by. She put together the first Laura vest, threading together shoelaces of different colors as Laura had always worn different colored shoelaces in each shoe. She gifted the first vest to Mabel, then made an additional one for herself. Though she hadn't originally planned on making more, the vests received many compliments, and eventually she and Mabel would make one for every adult resident of the community.
These days, Sadie is humbled by the Laura vest's popularity, and she's grateful she got to pay tribute to her younger sister in such a lasting and meaningful way.
Significance
The Laura vest holds different facets of significance. To the first generation of Willowmoorans, it came to represent safety and familiarity; it was worn with regularity as protection even after it was no longer needed, becoming a symbol in its own right to the next generations. They, in turn, deemed the Laura vest important since it meant so much to their ancestors, and then it gained its global significance as a garment unique to the people of Willowmoor.
It holds a different significance to its creator, of course, who designed it as a tribute to her sister.
In its early days, the Laura vest had to be made by hand, so there were a limited number, making it a rarity for years. As it gained popularity and mass production was re-invented, it eventually became more common. These days, it can be found at any clothing store in Willowmoor, and some stores that don't even sell clothing otherwise.
Leather for the accents, any type of fabric for the braids; these are the materials of choice, though the earliest Laura vests were made with a hodgepodge of fabrics for the accents and shoelaces for the braids.
Any kind of sewing needle (and a fair amount of patience) will make a Laura vest. In recent years as mass production has become more common, the garment is more likely to be stitched together piece by piece in a factory.
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