ALINE CONSIGNMENT — BLOGGIE MAGGIE

Hi hello! I’m so excited to share about my latest collaboration with local Fayetteville consignment shop Aline Consignment. A friend of mine, Allie Schorn, reached out to me earlier this summer to plan a time for this collab. Allie is a social media intern for Aline, and sought me out to bring awareness to my college aged audience to shop consignment as a form of sustainable and second hand fashion. I thought that this idea to bring awareness off consigning to high school and college aged girls was such a good idea. We’ve all seen how thrifting is all the rage these days, and I do not see second hand shopping going anywhere soon. Instead of running to Plato’s and getting $2 for your clothes, or revisiting the GoodWill a third time in the past week, I encourage you to shop at Aline or a local consignment shop to shop beautiful and eclectic pieces all each unique to their own style and give those treasures a second home. Fashion repeats itself, some trends sooner than others, and fast fashion (while aquited to its bad rep) speeds up the trends coming and going, which in return brings past trends to the present quicker (if you think about it like that!)

Sustainable fashion is undeniably important and can’t be ignored by those (such as me, and my fellow apparel classmates) about to enter the apparel or product development industry. Only every single class we take under our degree touches on the subject. When talking with Aline store manager Sara Jayne Wilson, she wondered what I do in my personal fashion choices that is sustainable. Sara’s questions over coffee at Arsaga’s and then Aline’s blog writer Sydney’s interviewing got me thinking about the fashion choices I make and what I could be doing more sustainably. Without even thinking about it as originally a “sustainable fashion choice”, I have come to find out I have dabbled in making my own sustainable choices. I have always found fast fashion (and expensive) outfits or pieces I have LOVED but knew I would only want to wear once or twice, and was way too expensive for only wearing very little. So, I have found ways to recreate looks from things I have or from thrifted materials to make into what desired look I’m wanting. For example, prior to my trip to Nashville this past Spring I was obsessed with the Show Me Your Mumu “Outlaw” denim dress. The dress is denim with a zipper fastener, collared neckline, and a denim braided belt. I had held onto an oversized Forever21 denim jumpsuit from I think ninth grade that I didn’t want to get rid of because 1 I had wanted it so so bad but 2 because I knew it would come back in style. Of course, jumpsuits have been in style for a minute, but I was never quit a fan of the fit on me. Instead of throwing it out I recreated the braided belt from the Mumu “outlaw” dress with the pant leg fabric, and made the jumpsuit into a romper (of similar length of the Mumu dress) and sashed it with my DIY’d braided belt for the look I was wanting in Nash. Also, I have found great success for years now occasionally gathering super gently used (mainly worn once or twice) pieces from my closet, modeling them, and then posting to sell the pieces on my Instagram story. This gives my clothes a second life and not going to the piles of unwanted clothes elsewhere or worse, landfills. Sara Jayne also brought up a good point of sharing closets with friends, and me and my friends have definitely used that approach through and through. Just think how instead of running up to Forever21 for a going out top for the night or for your friends 21st next week, you can just borrow from a friend and it will be a new look on you. These subtle little differences in what I wear or what I do with my clothes after I wear them (or recreate them) has I think formed my own take on sustainable fashion that fits my style.

I stopped by Aline, Sara and Allie had a rack of a few pieces ready for me to choose that reminded them of my “eclectic” style. I looked them over, and was drawn to the Amanda Uprichard pearl buttoned dress (that fit me perfectly), which we paired with lady bug Chanel heels, Betsy Johnson cherry earrings, and a beaded purse. For my second outfit, I went with a mock neck pink sequin appliquéd tank that fit like a bodysuit, tucked into jeans with Sam Edelman snake heels and a Gucci pink purse.

I loved what I saw at Aline, from notable brands to legit designer pieces. Being in Fayetteville it might be a little hard to find these distinguished brands and names, or from the other point of view you might want to sustainably find them! Look no further, look towards Aline! :)

Also, go check out Aline’s blog post to see my interview with them, more of my tips on sustainable fashion, and more looks from our shoot!