From the Burlington Free Press – a great article on one o
f Goodwill’s guest bloggers!
Cheetah print wedge ankle boots rested in a tiny Burlington closet with about three dozen other sets of footwear. These were lined up beneath a celebration of neatly hung vintage summer garments, soon to be swapped with a newly unpacked fall line.
Closet owner, Caitlin Pierce, 24, of Burlington had 81 page views by mid-day on her Burlington style blog, Wore Out.
“It’s about facing the challenges of being fashionable here in Burlington,” she said. “You can’t wear heels on these streets, but there is a lot going on. It’s not all Birkenstocks and Carhartts like people think. It’s so much more.”
Pierce said her style blog is becoming popular simply because it’s based in Vermont. She’s an avid style blog reader.
“A lot of the girls I follow are from New York
, Miami, Chicago, and there is this really great group of girls blogging from Atlanta,” she said. “A lot of them don’t have the weather challenges we have here.”
Pierce has never worked in the fashion industry. She said in high school her mother used to call her fashion style “homeless librarian.”
It wasn’t until her junior year abroad while at Champlain College that she turned things around.
“I lived in Italy with five other American girls from all over the United States,” she said. “They were from Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and New Orleans, and they had very specific and driven fashion styles. I showed up in leggings and sneakers. They were aghast. Living with them was just as much of an education as it was living in Italy.”
She’s done a lot of shopping since graduation. She shops for specific items that are easily mixed and matched.
“Vintage and second-hand shopping is my thing,” she said. “Downtown Threads, Goodwill and the Clothes Line are my favorite places to find really great items. Oh, and Old Gold has an amazing selection of boots. Boots are my favorite.”
Friends in town trying to transition from college attire to a young professional look started asking Pierce for advice and where she was getting all of her great outfits and accessories.
Six months ago, she decided to start a blog about her mix-and-match closet.
“I was working 70 hours a week, and people thought I was crazy for starting another project,” she said. “The name has a dual meaning. It’s about what I wear out, but at the time I was also wore out.”
Pierce admits to making a lot of humorous fashion mistakes.
“It’s a practical blog because I can’t spend $1,500 for Louis Vuittons,” she said. “I am blogging to show people we are more than flannel, and that Burlington has some pretty amazing street style.”
Read what’s hot according to Pierce at http://woreout.wordpress.com. Follow her @CPierceVT.
