Angela Montague has always loved shopping for vintage clothing.

A sophomore retail and supply chain management major, Montague decided to take her passion a step further when she opened her own vintage clothing shop on Etsy in December 2014.

“I’m always looking for unique pieces,” Montague said. “It’s almost like treasure hunting.”

Montague’s shop, The Esme, is filled with high-waisted jeans, chunky heels and geometrically patterned sweaters. Montague finds these items in thrift stores, then curates them for her own shop based on both her fashion sense and a consideration of what will sell best. Currently, Montague’s favorite piece is a pair of lime green Levi jeans made from tough, vintage denim.

Jingyu Wen | Staff Photographer

While working as a seasonal manager at a thrift shop in her hometown, Montague began to promote pieces via Instagram, acquainting herself with online sales. She then transferred this knowledge to Etsy, creating The Esme as a personal project.

“One day I was just looking through Etsy, and I was like, ‘I could do this myself,’” Montague said. “I had way too many clothes, so I gave it a shot.”

She chose Etsy as the platform for her shop because of its pre-established customer base for vintage clothing and its ability to reach an international audience.

Pulling inspiration from current trends both locally and internationally, Montague has learned what sells. She always keeps three aspects in mind when picking and selling clothing: price, quality and “uniqueness.” To ensure customer satisfaction, Montague always includes the marked size of the clothing along with measurements, attempting to ease the difficulty of online shopping.

Jingyu Wen | Staff Photographer

Montague strives to appeal to “the idiosyncratic individual looking for a statement piece.” However, she sometimes finds herself unable to part with the clothing she curates for the shop, instead keeping it for herself, at least for a month or two.

In the future, Montague hopes to become a merchandise buyer for a fashion company and eventually open her own brick-and-mortar resale shop. She places great emphasis on customer satisfaction and takes pride in her ability to find different and interesting pieces she said.

“With thrift shopping there’s always a challenge to find something,” she said. “I like the thrill of the search.”

Published on April 6, 2016 at 12:01 am