This month’s MN Street Style focuses on secondhand shopping, wearing what you already have, and staying true to your personal tastes this season. I spoke with four fashionable folks at the Strange Times Market and Schmidt's Artist Loft earlier this month during the Saint Paul Spring Art Crawl about their style, hot takes, and how they’ve accomplished their fashion goals so far.
Maddie Myers, Amanda Jensen, Jemma Keleher
How would you describe your personal style?
Jemma Keleher: I would say cool, girly, maximalist. Period. Those would be my three words.
Maddie Myers: I would say most of it is Frog and Toad. Greens, browns, very natural colors and some fun shapes.
Amanda Jensen: I prioritize comfortability and I like a variety of more masculine and feminine styles.
Where do you find style inspiration?
Myers: The queers and the community. You go to any queer event and you’ve got a thousand people doing shit in a new way and I’m like “OK, noted. Got it.”
Keleher: Sometimes art. Sometimes the colors of art I’m like, “Oh yeah, that’s the vibe.” I feel like I find more inspiration not just from looking at outfits online but visuals [in real life].
Jensen: I usually pull inspiration from my friends. This is less about inspiration but I feel like I have permission to wear what I want via my friends and my loved ones. I also love Pinterest. I love Pinterest! I also feel like the old Tumblr format of a white background with all the different [clothing] pieces is coming back in a big way and I’m really into it.
Keleher: That’s so true! And I like that it’s bodiless sometimes—even though it’s technically not—but I like that it feels like it can be any size.
Where do you like to shop?
Myers: Savers. Any thrift store. Sometimes vintage if I’m feeling bougie, but mostly thrift stores. I’m from Wisconsin, so I do like a lot of northern Wisconsin [stores] because one, I feel like people just don’t know they have good shit there. And two, it’s way cheaper [than the Twin Cities].
Jensen: My favorite places are the thrift stores in Cambridge, Minnesota, where I’m from. It’s a small town, not super densely populated so there’s good stuff to find. I also love Cake Plus-Size Resale in Minneapolis. They have tons of size inclusive stuff, I think XL to 5XL. I like that a lot.
Keleher: I thrift vintage.
Jensen: I feel like it’s fun to have some basics from Old Navy or something and get cool thrifted things to put on top of it. I can’t thrift a pair of pants, it’s just not going to happen for me. But if I can buy a good pair of pants, then I’ll add thrifted stuff to it.
If you have no idea what to wear, what’s a go-to outfit you know you’ll feel good in?
Keleher: Mine recently has been, as I’m wearing today, a little bit of a baggier pant that’s a little bit low rise and a small top that shows my chest. I always feel good in that no matter what, so any variation is going to be—chef’s kiss—solid. Or if it’s summer: a mini skirt, sandals, tiny little top. It’s perfect no matter what. That’s me. It’s my whole closet.
Myers: I pretty much just look at my closest and go, “What can I bear today?” Specifically pants; I start with pants because if I can’t put on an uncomfortable pant, then we’re just going to have to do a good sweatshirt. I can’t do a button-up on a day I’m not feeling good. So, what will I not want to tear my skin off in? That really depends on the day, the weather, how it looks outside.
Keleher: Dresses for work, too. I just wear scrubs. I feel like that’s hard!
Myers: I’m a high school teacher so I mostly just look like a high schooler. I get that most of the time, like, “Sorry! I thought you were a student here.” It’s just sneakers and baggy pants and probably a sweater or button-up.
Jensen: I don’t do it a lot, but I always feel really good in all black. My favorite outfit is just black jeans, a small black t-shirt, and this red bolo tie I love. It’s very simple with just a little pop [of color]. I want to wear more black because I feel like the accessories pop more. I’m not super concerned about what’s going, but I know all black just looks good,
What’s your favorite piece in your closet?
Myers: These pants, right now. I did get them from Express. I want to die in them. I need a new pair of pants because it’s almost like, “Alright, babe. You’ve been wearing them, pull back a little bit.”
Keleher: I have a black mini skirt with white polka dots on it. It’s technically a swim skirt so it fits perfectly. It’s so stretchy and has built in undies in there so I’m always covered. I feel like I spent the whole summer in that skirt. It’s tiny enough to be good. I love it.
Jensen: That bolo tie I really love. 316 Vintage in south Minneapolis—the guy who owns it is so friendly, he loves to chat. I got my bolo there. He also sells cowboy boots very reasonably priced and he’s so knowledgeable. Shoutout 316.
What style goals have you made for yourself this year?
Myers: I typically dress very masculine. I’ve had this jacket for years but this is my first time wearing it because it touches my body. That’s a little bit hard for me. I want to branch out and move more toward androgynous [style] and not just masculine. I want to be OK with the feminine [style]. I’m trying.
Keleher: [Myer’s] had a really good year so far with that.
I feel like I’m the opposite, though. I am 100% feminine, but adding things like baggy pants, big reamed belts to add 0.0001% less feminine to where I feel cool. I’ve been searching for “cool” in my style for a very long time. For example, I love my bootcut jeans, but baggy jeans have been a fun alternative to that. And sneakers.
Jensen: I have a few goals but I don’t think I’ve done any of that yet. I really only thrift, but I think a goal has been to just shell out a little bit in order to find something that really fits. Also, this year I want to feel more excited about wearing clothes. For a while I was in a rut of [dressing] just as a means to an end. This year I would like to enjoy my closet more.
I feel that being plus size, going to thrift stores is difficult. It’s like, “I should just buy this because it fits! It fits so it should probably come home with me.” I don’t allow myself space to think about what I actually want to add to my closest, to be selective. If I allowed myself to maybe not thrift everything, maybe I would be more intentional with what I actually like.
Myers: Like, if I don’t love it, I’m not going to get it. I can live without it.
Eleanor Strong
How would you describe your personal style?
Daytime witch. That’s the best description I can give.
Where do you find style inspiration?
I really like looking to the past. I’ve gone through some phases. I used to be really into more mid-century modern, 1950s stuff. I had a huge twee phase in high school. That has kind of progressed but now I seek out more comfortable stuff. I look a lot at past fashion, at old runways and designers I like such as Betsey Johnson.
Also, other people around me. If I see someone cool, I want to try that.
Where do you shop?
I mostly thrift but I also will go to the Free People sale section or something. I’ll look, too, at what bigger brands are doing or notice trends and then I’ll look for that secondhand or vintage or online like eBay.
This [sweater] is the only non secondhand thing today. The purse is vintage Coach. The skirt is thrifted and I think it’s ‘90s. [The boots] are vintage from my aunt. I got my necklaces from the Renaissance Festival—a local jeweler—and my earrings were a gift.
If you have no idea what to wear, do you have an outfit you know you’ll feel good in?
Yes. I’m a maxi skirt and T-shirt person, whether baggy or tight. If I don’t know what to wear I’m going to put on chunky boots or Mary Janes, maxi skirt, T-shirt. And if it’s cold, I put a flannel over all of it.
How does this change in the warmer spring and summer months?
It’s a lot more leg for summer. I’m wearing shorts and short things all the time. In the spring I transition out winter clothes but keep my staple layers—this sweater is a staple layer. I’ll do a lot of minidresses with a sweater. Or even the Princess Diana look of biker shorts and sweatshirt, casual things, are all things I do to transition into the summer. I switch from long sleeves in the summer to short sleeve button-ups to protect my back and tattoos from the sun.
What is a current fashion trend you either love or hate?
I know it’s controversial but I really love low-rise. Everyone’s like, “Oh, the skinniness,” but I want to see bellies. I like all bellies, I think they’re cute so I think everybody can wear low-rise. That’s my hottest take right now. I got literally booed by some friends the other day for this.
With looking to the past, what is an older fashion trend or style you’d like to see more of?
I have noticed this with hand-sewn stuff on Instagram like repurposing of vintage tablecloths and handkerchiefs, but two-piece sets or playsuits. I’m really into those right now and think they’re super cute. The A-line, but not boxy, silhouette is, I feel like, going to make its way back. I’m excited to see that.
Did you make any style goals for yourself this year?
I want to have more pieces that are true vintage or made of cotton, plant-based fabrics. I’m looking to replace some things I like in my wardrobe but are maybe fast fashion with more slow fashion items. In general, most of my stuff is slow fashion but taking the time to be intentional about if I’m adding a piece, does it check that it’s either authentically vintage, ethically and sustainably sourced. If it’s not, I don’t need it.
What advice do you have for curating a vintage, second-hand closet?
I would say finding your personal inspiration helps. Knowing what you like. Look at your closet with a critical lens. Don’t buy clothes that would fit someone else’s body. I think that’s a hole that you can fall into vintage shopping especially if you’re not super tiny. I’m pretty straight sized but I’m tall so that affects what vintage clothes I can buy. I’m not going to change my body, but change the clothes I buy. I would start by looking at the thrift [stores], do your research, take the time to get interested in fashion history. Then, look for what you want. You can find way better stuff if you know what you’re looking for. Set that intention before you go in. There’s so many great places to find vintage in the cities.
