Who is Ginger Walrus?

My name is Katie, and I am the woman behind the Ginger Walrus brand. I always loved sewing at school. I rediscovered my love of sewing during the Covid 19 Lockdown of 2020, when I bought a basic sewing machine on a whim just to sew a straight line across the bottom of a couple of t-shirts to turn them into cushions for my son and step-daughter.

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It was such a wonderful feeling having made something for someone else, and they absolutely loved them, so I went on to making some Harry Potter bunting for my other step-daughter’s bedroom. The addiction had begun. Before I knew what had hit me, I had an overlocker, an embroidery machine and about 1km of fabric! I’ve made clothes for all of my kids, and my friends and family have started putting in orders. I love it so much that I started the textiles degree I have always regretted not doing.

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I spend almost every hour of every day sewing, learning new techniques, perfecting old ones, and I love it so much. When I’m not sewing, I am a Stand-up Comedian (Katie Does Comedy) and Burlesque Host, oh and I can’t forget panto! I love to have flamboyant clothes that show off my character, so I replaced all of the clothes in my wardrobe with more exciting garments that suit my personality and make me feel amazing.

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Why Ginger Walrus?

When I was trying to think up a business name, so many things went through my mind, but I always came back to this name. It has a story behind it, so strap in.

I was 18, a little overweight, and had Polycistic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which. among many other unpleasant symptoms, can cause women to grow excess hair over their body. For me, it was mostly pronounced around my face. I was working in a pub, and one night, one of the more obnoxious regulars compared me to the Honey Monster, and said I looked just like a fat ginger walrus. I laughed off his hurtful comments, and almost certainly went home to cry.

Over the years, this insult stayed with me, I would apologise for looking like the Honey Monster, or point out my facial hair and refer to myself as a ginger walrus. I have even used that term when I have been on stage, making people laugh at my expense. As a result of this comment (and many many more like it), I have often suffered with my body image. I have been thin and athletic, I have been (and currently am) overweight and jiggly, but I have never truly been happy with my body. I have spent an unhealthy amount of my son’s life worrying about how I looked. I looked back on my childhood, and remember my mum, ever on a diet, always too ashamed of her looks to have her photo taken.

It wasn’t until I did my first live Burlesque show, in a tiny dressing room (which was actually a chair cupboard), 20 women, ass to nose in a cupboard, getting squeezed into corsets, painting their faces, and every single one of them worrying about how they looked. “Do I look OK?”, “Can you see my fat?”, “I wish I didn’t have back-boob.”, “I hate my body.” As I reassured each and every one of these women, I realised I wasn’t lying to make them feel better about themselves, I could see every ounce of their beauty, every sparkle, every cheeky jiggle. This was a tiny room, packed full of stunners. All of them different shapes, different sizes, different in every possible way, but all absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. Eventually it dawned on me that I too was in that room of beautiful people, and I too was just as beautiful as they were.

Ever since that night, I have worked extra hard to see in myself, the beauty I saw in every one of those ladies. Some days it is easy, some days it is hard, but I never go a day without appreciating my body. My favourite thing to do, when I get out of the shower, is to dance naked in front of the mirror. I enjoy the way my body moves, it makes me smile, it makes me laugh, and it makes me happy. It’s taken me so long to realise this, that I want to help other people realise it about themselves. This is why a portion of Ginger Walrus is all about body positivity, from the items I sell, to the fabrics I use, a whole lot of what I do is to support and encourage body confidence and self-love as much as I can.

So, why Ginger Walrus? Why not? One person used it as an insult, a way to pull me down, to assert control over my emotions, and make me feel like I wasn’t good enough to be in his circle. By using these terms in such a negative way myself, I was reinforcing that control he had. I haven’t seen this person in 18 years, and somehow I was still letting his opinion of me dictate my opinion of myself. So, when I was deciding what to call my business, it was easy really. Take something that had been the source of such negativity for so many years, and make it positive. Now, when I think of Ginger Walrus, I think of the wonderful things I can do here, the happiness my products will bring others, and the message of positivity I am spreading, and the logo is a little bit awesome too!