When she was laid off from her job as technical designer for a designer handbags company in April 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sarah Anzalone fell back on her alteration and fashion design skills and her longtime interest in creating new garments from old clothing.
“Since I had more time in 2020 working for myself, I decided I wanted to share my passion in upcycling with the rest of the world through Sarahndipity Style,” she says about the business she launched in 2020, which will be located inside Noella Luxury Beauty at 32 Court St., Plymouth as of Aug. 12). Anzalone was rehired last fall by the handbags company, but is still pursuing her own business.
“I upcycle clothing in a few different ways. Sometimes if the piece is beautiful as is but just has some ugly buttons, then I just replace the button or if it has a stain on it then I figure out (my favorite problem-solving situation),” she explains. “How can I cut away the stain to make it into something really stylish? So really I am just evaluating each piece to see how I can give it another life and make it brand new again and give it the potential quality and style it deserves.”
Sarahndipity Style receives clothing donations, men’s or women’s plus women’s shoes and accessories. “Our goal is to reduce our carbon footprint by repurposing your preloved articles and accessories.”
“We go through each item to determine how it can be reimagined, and given new life,” Anzalone says. “We can also simply fix each piece and bring it back to what it once was or to fit your individual style. The donated clothing and accessories are made new again. Our reimagined/restyled methods include anything from cropping, dyeing, replacing hardware, tightening a loose button, and much more.”
Each item is cleaned before and after revamping.
“As an incentive, when you donate to Sarahndipity Style, you will receive a refund for your shipping costs and a discount at our store,” she adds.
Anzalone currently does most of the sewing, calling on her best friend Matalyn Simpson to lend a hand in prep work, such as removing a stain or seam ripping.
“She is also super craftsy and has made my Sarahndipity Style sign that we will be hanging at Noella Luxury Beauty! It looks beautiful! She is my partner in crime or in this sense, in fashion!”
In addition to selling upcycled garments at Noella Luxury Beauty on her website (sarahndipitystyle.com), Anzalone does custom work on request.
“Sometimes, customers want me to upcycle a garment of their own, a beloved jacket or dress, for example, which I totally understand because sometimes we hold memories in our clothing or we become attached to how it makes us feel when we wear it,” she says.
Anzalone hopes that if her Court Street venture is a success it will lead to a brick-and-mortar shop of her own some day, as people have told her they’d love to see a clothing boutique open on Court Street, which is mostly filled with restaurants.
“The fashion industry is continuously innovating new ideas to be more sustainable,” says Anzalone. “Sarahndipity Style’s goal is to be part of sustainable fashion by not purchasing new textiles or working with overseas factories. We believe that recycling clothing to make on-trend clothing is the future of fashion.”
Visit https://sarahndipitystyle.com/ for more information.
