it’s no secret that i’m a huge fan of shopping on etsy. i check the vintage clothing listings nearly every day and have begun a short list of some of my favorites. but not all of these lovely ladies have tons of exposure on the web, so why not learn a little bit more about the people behind the etsy shops? for today, i have an interview with one of my absolute favorite etsy sellers, maria of
adelaide’s homesewn, along with some of my favorite picks from her shop!
name: maria elizabeth casteel
age: 25
location: kansas city
what inspired you to start your etsy shop? as long as i can remember, i’ve been drawn to and seen beauty in old and bedraggled things. in college i would bring home these crazy lamps and ottomans and my roommate would just look at me like, “oh dear…” but i would paint it or change it somehow and make it my own.
so, its been a longtime dream to have a physical shop to collect and fix up all these ragamuffin pieces; i’ve pictured it being a place that feels like a home, that serves free tea and coffee to everyone and has my sweet chocolate lab lying on ragged wood floors…. but its so hard to start a real shop; to pay rent, etc. so one day my best friend called me and said, “i think i found the answer to our problems…its called etsy!” i was resistant for a long time but felt that i wanted to do something with all this creativity that is constantly buzzing in my soul. also, when i began my shop it was originally vintage children’s clothing. i wanted to combine this passion for beauty with this passion for kids….but then i put up a women’s dress and it sold, then another and then another, and suddenly i became a women’s clothing store.
i consider myself a treasure hunter, finding forgotten pieces at thrift stores and getting them to a home where they are loved. i know it may seem silly but i have a passion for things having good homes. which leads me to the other reason i started my shop: there is a sadness in my heart for children who don’t have homes. in the past few years, my burden for adoption has become quite hard to ignore. luckily, i have a sweet husband who is completely on board with the idea. i could talk about this for hours, but it will suffice to say that most of the income from my etsy store goes straight into our adoption savings fund, which is why the name of my shop is adelaide’s homesewn. adelaide will be the name of our first daughter (not that we will get a girl first but its symbolically named after our first little one).
what is it that draws you to vintage? well, first it’s just a wonderfully fun way to recycle. it doesn’t feed into the materialistic nature of our society, because these things already exist. i love that it’s not about a brand, it’s about wearing what you like. i worked at a high-end clothing store for a while and it was so different than i thought it would be. they have beautiful clothes but only a fraction of society can afford them. i love that anyone can afford a unique vintage piece. they can buy them on etsy or find them at a thrift store. in my mind, fashion is not meant to divide, not meant to say, “i have this and you can’t, but you wish you could.” i think putting together an outfit is an art, meant to express and bring out beauty and joy, not jealousy or self-consciousness. i feel like vintage inspires this because it is so unique, yet pieces are also relatively easy to find.
is etsy your primary job? etsy has become my primary job, but i also am a nanny one day a week. i mostly still do the nannying because i want to hang out with my best friend who happens to be 2 years old. my husband often asks, “wow, did you seriously make a job out of thrift store shopping, taking pictures and sewing (basically my 3 favorite things)?” yes honey, i did!
can you tell us some of your must-haves for fall? absolutely: chai tea lattes, cranberry scones, butternut squash risotto by giada… oh, you meant clothes, sorry! :)
well, i’ll be honest, i feel like i don’t know very much about real fashion. my favorite thing is just to wear whatever i like. whatever i like happens to be dresses, so my fall staples are boots, tights, and cardigans, which all prolong the wearing of dresses. i have a pretty deep obsession with peter pan collars and have also been quoted as saying (only slightly jokingly), “an outfit can always use one more ruffle.” i’m loving the frumpy slouchy mismatched floral dresses with sweaters over them (i know everyone in the world has already discovered the edge of love but i can’t get enough of that style for fall). i am just now getting to love mixing in a little bit of menswear. i love love frickity love boots. as you can probably tell from my site, i would belt and boot every outfit if i could. i’m just all over the place with my style and what i like. love love love oxford shoes. i have about 80 pairs in my favorites page. i love anything that looks like it might be alive; vines, leaves, flowers. i also have a huge weakness for sweater dresses.
i’m inspired by the fifties because things from that era fit my darn body. It’s so delightful. i like collars, obsessed with collars. high-waisted skirts. anything that accentuates what god has made to be incredible about a woman’s body.
i’m inspired by color, pattern and shape. i love the colors of an avocado slice on my bowl of chili, the pattern of the vintage wallpaper that lines my closet, i store all these little bits of pleasing beauty in my mind and then when i get dressed i think they just come out.
i think if i have any fashion advice its to experiment with something that’s not “you.” i have a super feminine floral, ruffle and lacyness style. but i started wearing a grey vest and i love it.
i hope you’ll visit my store and be inspired by something, or take home a little piece of history and give it a new life.
first things first, the real reason i am writing this quick little blog post is to tell say “bon voyage!” i’m taking off right after i finish this post to visit my family in southern california for thanksgiving. all i can think about is the delicious spread with turkey and cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing! i will most definitely be wearing a loose-fitting dress for the occasion.
