Volume 125 Issue 68
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
kansan.com
NIFTY THRIFTY
OLD CLOTHES, NEW BUSINESS
Student entrepreneur finds and resells vintage clothes from local thrift stores
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Jacque Amadi, a senior from Wichita, poses with some of her vintage clothing that she sells through her online store, shoplioness.com.
EMILY DONOVAN
edonovan@kansan.com
When Jacque Amadi hits up a thrift store, she means business — literally. Sifting through racks of stained prom dresses and T-shirts with quaint logos, she hunts for something fresh, something cute, or something that someone from New York, Texas or Australia will want to buy.
For Amadi, a senior from Wichita majoring in psychology with a business minor, fashion isn't just a hobby. Vintage clothes are her job. And she loves her job.
In Oct. 2012, Amadi decided to put her interests together and profit from the hobbies she would spend her time on anyway. She launched shoplioness.com, an online vintage boutique, to sell gently-used vintage and vintage-inspired clothing, accessories and jewelry to fellow young women in love with '90s style.
"The way you want the world to see you that day should be what you're wearing," Amadi said.
The transition to run her own online store didn't seem like a huge step to Amadi. Her blog, which she's had since she was 16 years old, had around 500 followers. The blog was where she experimented with photography and website design. She would receive requests from individual sellers and fashion producers asking her to give them publicity in exchange for a free sample. Since she started selling clothes she finds on eBay, she has purchased her own domain name and singlehandedly maintained all website design and upkeep.
A normal week will usually see four to six items sold, packaged and shipped. The package she currently uses allows Amadi to put up to 25 items a month. Although she plans to expand if her site gets more purchasers, she focuses on offering quality items that fit her style.
"I want to make sure that everything is wearable," Amadi said. Her clothing said.
Her clothing choices are both
"I decided if I'm going to make minimum wage, I might as well do it for myself."
JACQUE AMADI Wichita senior
cute and unique: high-waisted pineapple shorts, a "Fresh Prince" button-up top, a vintage ruby red blazer — all priced between $15 and $20. Despite the hours she pours into shopping and working on her site, Amadi said she keeps her prices low because she would feel guilty inflating the prices of thrift-store finds.
"I don't think I'll increase the prices anytime soon because I want it to be for people like me who don't have the money to be spending on secondhand clothes," Amadi said.
Profits from her boutique aren't enough to turn into a career, but Amadi isn't searching for a career in fashion. The hours she spends with her Nikon D300 camera, in front of her computer and inspecting clothes at thrift stores are an enjoyable replacement for a more conventional, less entertaining part-time job.
"I just really don't like the minimum-wage work," Amadi said. "It's a lot of work you don't like for a little bit of money. I decided if I'm going to make minimum wage, I might as well do it for myself."
Yemi Oyemusi, a senior studying cell biology from Maple Wood, N.J., and Amadi's boyfriend sees Amadi's hard work pay off.
"It's what she loves to do," Oyemusi said. "It doesn't seem like too much work to her — it's like a hobby. I have a part-time job and I hate going to work. For her, it seems like that's what she be doing even if she wasn't making any money."
Edited by Dylan Lysen
LAWRENCE
Free State Story Slam offers forum for individual expression
HANNAH BARLING
hbarling@kansan.com
Bring open ears, and maybe even a prepared story to tell, to the Lawrence Arts Center this Friday night.
Free State Story Slam starts at 7 p.m. with live music and cocktails. Josh Conner will be playing this Friday before the story slam. Story telling starts at 7:30 p.m. and lasts until 9 p.m. Most stories last between five and seven minutes, with impromptu short stories given in between.
The Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St., hosts a Free State Story Slam the second Friday of each month. Anyone 18 or older is welcome to come and listen to first-hand, live stories pertaining to the theme of the evening.
The idea of this informal get-together is for a group of people to share stories with one another and to enjoy live, true narratives. Acoustic music beforehand and cocktails throughout the night make for a casual atmosphere.
About 20 to 40 people usually attend the story slam. The only rules for the night are that the stories must be true and given without any notes.
David Hollond started the Free State Story Slam in Lawrence. Based off MOTH, a nonprofit story telling series in New York City, Free State Story Slam brings in a wide range of people from the community.
"Interacting and engaging with people, mostly strangers, is a way to get to know people around Lawrence," Hollond said.
"Crash and Burr" is the theme for the upcoming story slam
It's a group of people spending time listening to one another, which we don't always do..."
RIC AVERILL Director of performing arts
on Feb. 8.
Anything that connects with the theme and triggers a personal story is acceptable.
Ric Averill, artistic director of performing
arts at the Lawrence Arts Center, said it's an environment where someone in the audience can become a performer.
Free State Story Slams are not competitive but the audience does vote on its two favorite stories of the evening. During the story slam in May, the favorites of the season are invited back for a sort of best of show story slam.
"It's a group of people spending time listening to one another, which we don't always do in social environments," Averill said.
Anyone 18 or older is welcome to join in on the Free State Story Slam this Friday in the Lawrence Arts Center Black Box Theatre. Music starts at 7 p.m. and stories last until 9 p.m. There is no general admission fee, but donations are accepted.
— Edited by Hayley Jozwiak
ADMINISTRATION
Chancellor releases State of University speech
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little released her "State of the University" address yesterday. The video highlights some of the University's greatest accomplishments in 2012 and the school's continued efforts to fulfill its responsibilities as the state's flagship university and as a member of the Association of American Universities.
The Far Above Campaign, through the KU Endowment association, hopes to raise $1.2 billion through private donors. In the video, Gray-Little said the campaign will allow the University to be recognized as a top-tier research university.
Gray-Little said the University is a year deep into its Bold Aspirations strategic plan. A prominent step in this plan is the raised admission standards, which will go into effect in 2016. In the coming months, the University will also add 12 distinguished professors and 22 additional faculty members to campus.
Allison Kohn
- Elly Grimm
CLASSIFIEDS 7
CROSSWORD 5
More than 100 companies ranging from standard engineering firms such as Black and Veatch, Burns and McDonnell, Exon Mobil, and Spirit AeroSystems will be at the fair.
The School of Engineering is holding its spring career fair on Feb. 14 from noon until 4 p.m. on the fifth floor of the Kansas Union. The fair is primarily for students majoring in engineering and related sciences, but it is open to all KU students.
CAMPUS
School of Engineering to host career fair
CRYPTOQUIPS 5
OPINION 4
SPORTS 8
SUDOKU 5
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2013 The University Daily Kansan
Don't forget
Tweet with the hashtag #KUSuperFan to enter into SUA's Spirit Social Media Contest.
Today's Weather
Partly cloudy, Winds from the SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
A taste of global warming
4