Gather and Collects Attempt at Fashion

When walking into Gather and Collect, you might be so taken aback by the craziness that you glance over our clothing section, or the back of the store, for that matter! Many people miss the back section of our store, because only a hallway leads to it. With summer sneaking up on us, transitioning from winter to summer clothing can be challenging for a lot of people. I know it’s tricky for me. I get so comfortable in my big sweaters and sweatpants that switching to shorts and tanks seems like the worst thing in the world, almost impossible. Not only because you find you’ve someone grown out of everything you used to own, but it is also hard to get used to all those different colors and cuts! 

There is no need to worry, or maybe you should worry, who am I to say? Gather and Collect has a great selection of women’s blouses, skirts, dresses even men’s shirts that can help you rebuild a summer wardrobe. All of our clothes are second-hand, hand-picked by Julie, except for a few wholesale pieces. Those are usually easy to pick out from our second-hand selection, having a newer look. Here are a few examples of skirt and shirt pairings that I think are just adorable. 

And one of our cutest dresses! 

Don’t forget the men’s shirts, this is my favorite, just look at the blues! 

The biggest tip I have for people when it comes to clothing is not to be afraid. Don’t be afraid of patterns, colors, or length. Wear something outside your comfort zone as often as you can; all of a sudden, you will find your comfort zone is a lot larger. Most of all, wear the things that make you happy, whether or not they happen to be in fashion. Wear the thing that everyone is wearing and the thing that everyone says is ugly; all that matters is that you enjoy it and find comfort and confidence in what you have on your body. Outfits always look better when the person in them is comfortable and happy. Fashion is such a cultural phenomenon, based so harshly on the political and social standards that surround us and our world. When we accept these things about fashion, we can also break through them and wear things that aren’t dictated by the world around us but rather by what we enjoy. So that is the biggest tip I can give you about fashion: find joy in it! Find joy in the things you can find here, at Gather and Collect, because we shop with joy just as much as we wear it.

This is more of a real tip than a sappy love yourself one. I learned something from a former coworker and friend when thinking about patterns. If you have more than three patterns on, then you can wear anything. Polka dots! Stripes! Zig Zags! The world is your oyster, and all of a sudden, it looks so good together! Experiment with your style and learn what suits your body type, but steer clear of comparing yourself to others while discovering what looks and makes you feel good.

It’s also essential to make sure you have a lot of basics in your closet. It is super easy to become obsessed with buying statement pieces, and hey, if you want to buy a lot of statement pieces, do you! But you have to have the basics to build around those statement pieces.

So, what I am saying is, mix it up, be confident, and love yourself.

Stay awesome and keep collecting

Mallory