Tamara Harbar
Going Green
There’s what I do with old baggy T-shirts – cut them into rags – and then there’s what Ann Morris does with old baggy T-shirts: she designs cute T-skirts and two-piece beach cover-ups and sleep sets.
I leave retro party clothes hanging in my closet for years. Ann repurposes the fabric to create glamorous carry-all bags and elegant wine bottle sleeves adorned with vintage jewellery.
Ann doesn’t just reuse and recycle throw-away items, she envisions art projects. “I look at things and see something else immediately,” she says. Ann has a support crew of about a half a dozen hobby seamstresses who turn her designs into reality.
She humbly calls her new shop, Alternatives, a consignment store. It’s not like any consignment store I’ve ever seen. (Neither are the surplus combat boots air-brushed with scenes of big city night sky-lines by local artist Scott Zulauf. Or the chain metal jewellery by another local artist, Jeremy Lackner.)
There’s obviously a green theme happening here. “I love Mother Earth and I am an avid recycler. I take the plastic out of the juice cartons so I can recycle the cardboard. I recycle toilet paper rolls. As a fashion-holic, it saddens me to think of all the clothes I just let go of.”
Some consignment art pieces fit in with the green theme, too, such as local artist Jerry Neill’s reclaimed wood wardrobe and music stand.
The artist behind Inside My Wicked Wardrobe uses reclaimed buttons and other materials to create funky hats, not to mention purses made from feather boas and denim.
Even Ann’s product tags have gone green, consisting of reusable safety pins and elastic bands.
Ann isn’t a newbie at this. With over 10 years’ experience in retail, ranging from ladies’ wear to jewellery to consignment art, she feels merchandising is her skill. Since March, she’s been turning the narrow little storefront on 123 Waterloo St. into a bright and colourful space with four rooms and a hallway gallery. I stopped in just for a couple of minutes, but each area enticed me into the next one.
Just to prove how contagious Ann’s energy and enthusiasm are and how cool the stuff is, when my husband met me there and I showed him around, this typical guy shopper – meaning he’d rather not shop at all – was intrigued. He was especially taken with the night sky-line boots.
While I was there, customers kept pouring in, most of them from out-of-town. But visitors on holidays shouldn’t have all the fun.
Check out Alternatives yourself to find out how creative the first ‘R’ – Reuse – can be. Just be warned: even Ann’s hours are unique: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Sunday for the summer.
With her open-minded attitude, Ann carries all kinds of quality consignment items, from $5 jeans in good condition to a $200 costume jacket from the Festival Theatre. Ann’s “new” items consist of those retail mistakes that tend to hang in most of our closets, never worn and sometimes still carrying the original tags. Some designer duds are available, too, like Laura Ashley and Linda Lundstrom, as well as jewellery, art, hats, purses, shoes, and men’s and women’s clothing.
Thrift can be fun, creative, sexy and green. What else do you call a revamped crocheted bikini top with artist-crafted chain mail links?
