How Abby Built Dust and Bullets Western From Her Kitchen Table

By Abby Wilson

The story Abby tells on the Dust and Bullets Western about page begins with a setback. Taking time off from her mining job to recover from a leg operation in 2021, she started designing and printing t-shirts to sell online. That recovery period became the foundation of an Australian western wear brand she still owns and runs today.

The early range was deliberately small. The brand launched with two t-shirt designs and a single hat, the teal cap the business still refers to as its 'OG'. For the first two years, Abby packed every order from her kitchen table. She had studied fashion before starting out and was around 22 at the time, bringing a designer's eye to a business that began as a way to fill time while she healed.

Abby's rural upbringing sits close to the heart of the brand. She grew up on a cattle property at Clarence Town, near Dungog in NSW, and that background informs both the western aesthetic and the practical, size-inclusive approach the label is known for. Abby describes the brand as one where western wear should be for everyone, and the range now runs from XS through to 7XL, along with kids' sizing. Every product is personally designed by Abby and tested by the family and staff before it is released.

Today the business is based in Morpeth, NSW, with a shopfront on Swan Street and an online store that ships globally. Abby runs it alongside her husband James, who helps with the business and works pop-up stores at rodeos, while their young son Parker is part of family life around the brand. What started as two shirts and a cap packed by hand has grown into a family-run label with a physical home and a national customer base.

The about page frames the whole thing plainly as a story of designing something she couldn't find, then building it order by order. That origin, from a kitchen table during a recovery, remains the clearest expression of how Abby sees the work she has built.