This weekend I went hunting for summer clothes. I’ve done too much wardrobe purging and not enough wardrobe replenishing lately and I was ready to do some shopping for my sad, not very full closet. I was so disappointed when I my usually favorite shops just didn’t have anything I wanted to buy. (I ended up with a $3 tshirt and an umbrella, what?)
Minx is the kind of shop that makes me think good clothes do exist! I love the silhouettes and color pallet she uses. Each piece looks so gorgeous and wearable and just lovely!
Q. Could you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Anna-Marie, but all of my good friends call me Minkie. I am a habitual collector of oddities, and I have an infatuation with dinosaurs, truly terrible vintage clothes, birds, and antiques. I don’t like to take myself to seriously. I think it’s good for my mentality to occasionally put on a gold sequin pantsuit and go fly a kite. There are very few people in my life who really get me, and I think that my trains of thought are more often simply fiery train wrecks. I like to analyze people, and I’m fairly certain all of my neighbors think I am insane. This is probably fueled by the occasional sighting of me walking around in the woods wearing fishnets, dresses, and feathers.
Q. How did Minx Shop get started?
I started sewing about eight years ago when I started selling vintage clothes on Ebay as a part time job. It started with small alterations which led to t-shirt reconstruction, and then eventually full on garment making. Everything I have learned has been 100% self taught. When I started selling, I did it to help put myself through college, and considered it a much more pleasant alternative to a real job. When I graduated college and finally got a real job, I realized designing was still a much better alternative! So about a year ago, I started working on a handful of designs, and then six months ago finally scraped up the courage to post them on Etsy. I was terrified, and not at all prepared. But sometimes you have to realize you aren’t ever going to be 100% prepared and simply take the leap. I think I’m still leaping.
Q. Your shop is so lovely! What is your creative process like?
Random, usually peaceful, but occasionally terrifying. There are so many ideas bubbling around in my head that concepts will usually spring out at me. Usually at the most inopportune times, when I don’t have paper and pencil to draw them out. I’m always I afraid that I will simply forget them. Often times my designs will change a lot between the time that I come up with an idea on paper, and then actually construct my first sample. I have really tried to make everything in my shop wearable on a day to day basis. So I usually have to edit down my more extreme designs in order for them to actually be wearable. On top of that, I have to make sure they aren’t so complicated as to make them absurdly expensive. Plus, I will often receive fabric and discover that what I had drawn on paper simply won’t work in real life. Essentially my creative process is mostly a series of alterations to my original concept. The concept itself is easy and fun to attain. All the work that comes afterward is the difficult bit.
Q. What’s a normal day in your life like?
Lately I have been sleeping late, and working late. When I first wake up, I occasionally work out, drink tea to wake myself up, and answer e-mails. The rest of my day is spent drinking copious amounts of tea and working on variety of other activities, pattern-making, designing, sewing, ordering supplies, and usually answering more e-mails. I usually take a break around midday and go for a walk with my two dogs. We have a gorgeous field right next to the house where I love to take time to relax and just think. I try to find at least one treasure a day whether it be a bone, or an unusual plant, a feather, or just an interesting experience. I spent twenty minutes the other day watching a spider spin its web in the trees. Moments like that keep me from being too frantic, and help keep me grounded (or at least peaceful). When my husband gets home I try to spend some time with him, but once he goes to bed I’ll often put in another four hours of work. It’s honestly when I get to concentrate the most. Something about the night really makes me focus better than I do in the daylight.
Q. What inspires you most of all?
It’s extraordinarily difficult to pick one thing that inspires me ‘most of all’. However, I probably draw the most from my peers; friends, other Etsy sellers, and other designers. I read millions of fashion blogs, and I can always find and appreciate the beauty in those that have a hugely different aesthetic than my own. I love clothes. I love the art in them. I like it when there is something unusual or unexpected in an outfit. I draw inspiration from an eclectic mix of elements. The vintage aspect is apparent in my clothes, but I also am really intoxicated by clean modern lines, natural elements, and anything dark and moody. I like to have my sense of style and my comfort levels constantly challenged. Anything that takes me aback, and that bothers me a bit usually ends up being an inspiration.
marina on