Henrietta “Nell” Browne learned to sew out of necessity while growing up in Comer.
“I was so tall and skinny that I could not find anything to fit me, so I had to learn to sew,” Nell Browne said.
Her daughter, Nicole Browne, had a different relationship with sewing at the start.
“I enjoyed sewing and being a visionary,” Nicole said. “But I didn’t like the precision. I didn’t like the mistakes.”
Nell and Nicole Browne combined their talents and opened a custom sewing business named Altered Ego in downtown Comer on Aug. 28.
Nell said she learned the craft from her aunt before taking a job in a sewing plant in high school. After graduating in 1972, she left Georgia when she married her husband, who was in the military.
She later decided to enlist in the Air Force and returned home after she retired from military and government work as a civilian contractor in 2020.
Nicole said she bounced around in college, pursuing other jobs, but since she grew up traveling with her military parents, she was influenced by various styles of fashion.
“It got to a point where I wanted very advanced things,” Nicole said. “So Mom was like, ‘I’m going to show you how to sew so you can get some of these visions that you have out.’ ”
The duo started the business in a sewing studio in Nell’s house, before outgrowing the space in two years.
“We knew that we had to find somewhere, but we didn’t know where somewhere would be,” Nicole said. “Until (Nell) was having lunch one day, and there was a ‘For Rent’ sign on this building, and she called to let me know.”
Nicole has been known by friends and family to come up with catchphrases, including the name of the store.
“The moment (your clothes) fit your body and you look in the mirror and you’re like, ‘I look good’, it alters your ego,” Nicole said. “It doesn’t matter what else is going on around you.”
More than 100 people showed up at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 28, which featured support from the Madison County Chamber of Commerce.
“It was a huge community pride feeling,” said Cory-Lynn Thurston, the vice president of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce. “The sidewalks filled up to support the store.”
Nell and Nicole said they will never forget the support they’ve received.
“Everything is not always about money,” Nell said. “I just try to do everything I can to be able to make the community as great as it can be for everybody.”
By: Ren Grimsley