Disowned: shopdisowned

With my 4-year blogiversary coming up in May, I thought it's be a good time to look back on its brief history. I'm still sort of amazed.

It's been four years now since I first came up with the name "Disowned Clothing" and purchased the domain for my then vintage clothing store, and, consequently, this blog came into existence. Everything was pink and a lot of retro, and this was mainly a place for highlighting new additions to the shop, and maybe doing an outfit post once in a while. Maybe a "how to style it" type of thing.

One of our first photo shoots in Philadelphia

Taylor and her beloved kitty, Ludwig

I had a business partner in the beginning; Taylor lived in Philadelphia, and I commuted back and forth from NYC for shopping trips and photoshoots. She's the one with the camera and the real photography skills, of which I had none, so she was always a really crucial component in the shop's existence. But eventually, long story short, it became one of those long-distance relationships that just became a hassle instead of fun, so we decided to part ways on the business and I took it over. You can find her now over at Girl on a Rope, when she's not off climbing one of the world's largest mountains.

And then it morphed a little in the spring of 2013, I got a "new" (read: cheap and refurbished, already outdated) camera (which I still use, by the way, for everything), and went nuts. I loved learning to use that camera, and it's like a permanent extra appendage on me every time I leave the house. I'm in the process of making yet another homemade camera strap, because I keep wearing them out. So this became a lifestyle blog where I shared my daily goings-on and what have you. I moved the shop to Etsy, because it was cheaper and generated more traffic, and actually sold a LOT of vintage that year. It was really fun, and I became really passionate about my little business.

And then in October of 2013, I went even more nuts and got married. By the way, Taylor was the photographer for that, too. So long story short, I then had other things on my mind/someone to come home to, and I didn't have time to do interesting things as much as I used to. The shop slowed down a bit, but I still blogged my heart out, and did a decent amount of sales to cover my expenses (and thrifting addiction).

Then I like, went broke. I lost my job due to downsizing, I was unemployed for three months and had to work in - *gag* - retail over the holidays, then I took a pay cut and finally began working again in January of 2014. By July, I was on a plane to England to start a new life. So stuff got crazy, and here I am. The shop... isn't open anymore. I'm sad about it, but I still have most of the inventory that I was able to keep (read: that fits me), and I wear it all the time. In fact, I'm wearing a killer pink 50's dress as I write this. But I don't feel like setting up my tripod, so here's a photo of Brittani Kline wearing it at an old photo shoot, instead.

I miss vintage buying trips, and photo shoots, and sending off all of my gems to faraway places. But it's just not feasible here; things here in the UK don't work the same, vintage is harder to come by, and less affordable, which means I'd be one of THOSE Etsy shops with ludicrously overpriced items.
I still do it on a much more scaled-down version for myself, because:
1) I freaking love it, and
2) I'd rather buy used/vintage than new stuff, thus helping to dream of ending the cycle of fast fashion and cheap overseas factory goods. Quality over quantity, folks. I'm not proud of the industry I used to work in.

Then this was a semi-food blog for a while, before I launched my baby, Street Cred. So now it's a little bit of everything. A little me, a little vintage, a little food, a little of my amateur photography, and sometimes some travel or something that's actually interesting. And I love doing it, so I'm not going to stop. But if you're a new/recent reader, and you want to know where this blog came from, or how it's evolved, or where the name/url came from, there you go.

Oh, and a little foreshadowing: I'm going to have a lot more to talk about next month, when we [finally] move into our new flat!!!

PS- the dress is white and black.

Howdy y'all. I just wanted to make a brief announcement, which isn't all that important, but kind of is.

As anyone who follows or regularly visits my Etsy shop may have noticed, there hasn't been a lot of new inventory/activity lately. Between planning a wedding and the regular hassles of daily life (not to mention married life), I've recently run out of the time & resources needed to keep the shop as a frequently functioning business.

That being said, this is NOT an announcement that I am closing the shop. Not at all. It's actually an announcement that I have an even more exciting and fun project that I am working on, and hope to launch in the fall. The shop will remain open and active, and I'll occasionally continue to list things as I find them. And I'll absolutely keep shopping and thrifting- because I love to wear all of the vintage even more than I love to share it with you!

I promise to keep you posted on my new little (big) project as soon and as much as I can! In the meantime, check out a few of my favorite items that are still in my Etsy shop: a vintage daisy print romper, an awesome photoreal maxi dress from the 1970s, and a flowy embroidered ombre dress that would be perfect for the summer!