Etsy Expedition: Choose Your Own Adventure
Etsy Expedition: Choose Your Own Adventure
A fun little game that will NOT lead you astray! Unless you want it to!
Hellooooo. I was in the mood, for some reason, to make one of those flow chart/choose-your-own-adventure maps, and I’d been meaning to share a few of my deeper-cut go-to Etsy stores with you all for a while, so I combined the two inclinations into a bonus post that will start with desire and end in satisfaction, like any good thing does. If you follow the below chart, then check the corresponding number, you’ll find two Etsy shops I believe are perfect for someone of your ilk, each bearing three curated pieces I chose for their “interesting” factor (orthodox, I know). Begin, of course, with “I want…”:
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1. Bode-coded
This store is insanely expensive, but not as expensive as Bode!! Its cheeky vintage pieces are far-flung and sometimes bemusing, but always interesting to pore through.
I love a two-piece set, “Twirlers” is a hilarious name for a sports team, and those booty shorts would be cute on someone of any gender/build with a crop top or topless like these roller skaters.
Very big and obvious note that this one’s solely for all you Black fashion plates out there! This looks like the Blaxploitation version of Belladonna of Sadness, which now that I’ve written it I’ve realized the world direly needs. Such a gorgeous illustration, I think watercolor prints are underutilized in fashion.
”The Good Fairy is Wanted by the FBI” “Kill Crabgrass” “Pie is Un-American.” I love the absolute void of content this apparently very busy jacket provides. Its politics are “fuck you,” and I think that’s valuable.
Some really mediocre vintage + some really weirdly cool handmade stuff:
These shorts could easily be Adam Jones, so at $100 they’re an incredible deal IMO.
Again, a good deal on something the likes of Psychic Outlaw would probably charge hundreds of dollars more for. Would be really cool on a skater boy.
I don’t care for these drawings that much, but the jeans themselves are so perfect in their vintage condition, exactly the rise, wash, and amount of wear I look for, that if I saw someone wearing them I’d probably be super impressed. I think you could do a DIY just as good if not better, but you’d have to be mentally prepared to sacrifice the perfect pair of jeans—every time I’ve done a DIY on jeans I didn’t actually love the specs of already, I’ve ended up never wearing them.
2. Sashiko + Shibori + so on
A Chinese studio doing affordable, contemporary riffs on traditional Chinese and Japanese silhouettes and techniques like kimonos and Shibori (a Japanese tie-dye technique). Some of the more on-the-nose interpretations of kimonos/cheongsams/other traditional garments I, as a white person, would steer clear from, but less literal or formal uses of East Asian sartorial signifiers feel to me (let me know if you disagree, Asian readers!) very share-able at excellent price points.
As a very short and stubby person, I’d probably want a bit more structure in my jacket, but I love the wrapped front of a kimono-influenced blazer, and this would look great on people with more limbs to fill out the sleeves (it’s even a bit long on the model, IMO). A really easy and inspired alternative to a black blazer. Would be cute, dare I say it, with black work pants a la Dickies.
I love the knotting on the dangly bit of the sash—this “cardigan” could be a great cover-up for swimwear!
Ohhhh I love me some hand-dyed indigo, and a fisherman-style sweater that doesn’t awkwardly have no pattern on the back to cut costs? For under $90? 100% cotton? I’m so sold.
This Japanese shop has some wild cards but its star is Sashiko, decorative reinforcement stitching as seen on the pants two photos down—check out their whole inventory for a ton more.
This jacket could have easily slotted into the Bode-coded section above—it’s allegedly from Germany in the 70s, but I like it as a reminder that if you just draw enough random shit on a garment, your technique or skill level doesn’t matter, it’ll look cool just by virtue of the number of doodles. Just make sure your fabric markers won’t clot or bleed, and you’re golden—everything individually might look wonky, but as a gestalt, it’ll be cool, I promise.
These look so comfy—maybe it’s just the plaid reminding me of pajama pants, but it’s impossible to go wrong with sashiko-d work pants.
A very unique accessory that I’d love to see styled with a super streetwear-y outfit.