GlowInto X Trish Boyd Berkbuegler Giving Vintage Pieces a Second Life Through Ragz & Relics
When Trish Boyd Berkbuegler was 45, life shifted in a way that unexpectedly opened the door to something creative of her own.
Her daughter, Sadie, was four years old when Trish and her husband decided Trish would leave her job and homeschool her. Trish knew that while teaching Sadie would become a major part of her life, she also needed something that belonged to her.
She had always loved creating.
That led to a small handmade Etsy business called Sadie’s Snippets. Trish began selling at local craft shows and the Belleville flea market, learning and improving her skills along the way.
She continued homeschooling Sadie until sixth grade, when Sadie entered public school. By then, Trish’s creativity had continued to evolve.
Eventually she opened Ragz & Relics on Etsy, originally as more of a vintage shop, but the name soon became the home for her creative work as well.
Years later, that little business Trish started while raising and homeschooling her daughter has grown right alongside both of them. Sadie recently graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Industrial Engineering and now works for Anheuser-Busch.
And Trish is still creating.
Today, Ragz & Relics combines her longtime love of vintage pieces with an eye for turning things other people might overlook into clothing, jewelry, handbags, and accessories that feel completely individual.
For this GlowInto X, we’re taking a closer look at how she does it.
GlowInto: What inspired you to begin creating one-of-a-kind pieces from recycled and repurposed materials?
Trish: I have always loved vintage items, especially linens and fabrics. I used them in making handbags and clothing.
I feel like repurposing existing clothing just makes more sense, with landfills full to the brim and the continuation of mass production of new clothing.
And I truly love the idea of one of a kind. Who wants to walk into a room and find they are wearing the same garment as someone else?
GlowInto: Where do you find the pieces you transform into your designs?
Trish: I scour thrift shops and vintage markets. I frequent Savers, Goodwill, and Luckenbooth in O’Fallon.
GlowInto: When you're looking through all of those pieces, what makes you see potential in something?
Trish: It’s really quite random for me.
If I’m browsing clothing in a thrift store, I might find a top with sleeves I like and want to put them on another top that I already have.
Or I will have a vintage T-shirt I may be considering putting scarf sleeves on, but find a skirt that goes great with it, so I turn it into a dress instead.
That willingness to change direction is part of what makes every Ragz & Relics piece different. Trish may begin with one plan, but an unexpected find can completely change the finished design.
GlowInto: What can someone expect to spend on one of your pieces? And do you take custom orders?
Trish: My jewelry starts at just $6 for simple charm dangle earrings and goes up to $39 for sterling pendants or elegant upcycled necklaces using vintage crystals, keys, rosaries, or even old hardware.
I have had six custom orders in the past month. Custom orders are always welcome.
GlowInto: What are you especially excited about creating right now?
Trish: I am currently creating Halloween-inspired T-shirts with either scarf sleeves or flannel sleeves.
I am also working on some unique handbags made from frog and cat decorations purchased at Michaels, and I am continuing to repurpose band tees.
GlowInto: What do you hope a woman feels when she wears something you've created?
Trish: I hope she feels special. I hope she feels seen and noticed.
My goal each time is to make whatever I am repurposing look like it was originally intended to be made that way—not just thrown together with whatever is on hand.
That may be what best defines Trish’s work.
Ragz & Relics isn’t about attaching something old to something new simply for the sake of calling it repurposed. Trish wants the finished piece to feel intentional—to look as though it could have existed that way from the beginning.
There is also something fitting about the fact that Trish began creating this business during a season when her own life was changing.
She was 45, stepping away from one role, becoming deeply involved in another, and finding a way to hold onto something that was entirely her own.
Now she does much the same thing with the pieces she finds: she looks at what already exists and sees another possibility.
Where to Find Ragz & Relics
Trish’s clothing, jewelry, and handbags are available at Blanquart’s Rusty Gem Vintage Market in Belleville, with scarf-sleeve tops also available at Tiadaghton House in Lebanon.
Follow Ragz & Relics on Instagram at @ragz.andrelics, on the Ragz and Relics Facebook business page, and on TikTok at @trish.b805.
This is our first introduction to Trish.
We’ll be sitting down with her again for a full GlowInto interview, where we’ll move beyond the business and talk more about the woman behind it, the experiences that have shaped her, and what she is growing into next.
