From searching for the perfect pair of jeans, to planning, painting, shipping and receiving payment, senior Amelia Spicola has sold a variety of self-designed pieces of clothing. Spicola has enjoyed painting since she was a child, and for the past couple of years, she has been making decorative jeans. 

“I’ve been painting for like forever,” Spicola said. “I just love to paint. I just have so much fun doing that.” 

Though the tasks of buying, producing and selling her clothing can often be time-consuming, Spicola finds enjoyment in each of the steps along the way. For example, going thrifting for a pair of shorts to paint also gives her time to spend with friends.   

“Honestly just going to the thrift store and like picking jeans is just so much fun because I get to go and hang out with my friends for that,” Spicola said. 

Spicola sells mostly to local costumers like friends or people going to the same school as her but has previously made customers out of state. Spicola enjoys the local stage her business is currently at, but looking to the future, she would enjoy selling to more people.   

“I have a shop on Instagram where I just post pictures and sell them, so it’s mostly local people, but I have shipped a couple out to people who found me and wanted a pair,” Spicola said. “It’s fun to do it locally, but if it blew up and I could ship them all around it would be really fun.”  

Junior Morgan Austrich also creates designs on shoes and shorts in a similar process to Spicola. Like Spicola, Austrich’s process is time-consuming and involves multiple different steps such as designing and painting.   

“I started because it was a way to have fun and wear my art,” Austrich said. “I thought that there were a lot of different things I could do with it.”  

Austrich looks forward to expanding her business in the future, but currently due to school and other extracurriculars, it is hard for her to focus on it. Austrich now sells locally to people she knows, but she plans to expand her business after High School.  

“When I’m older I would like to have an Etsy account,” Austrich said. “I just don’t have time right now with like high school and sports and stuff, but I would definitely like to have like an actual business.”  

Austrich began selling her pieces for the enjoyment of art and process, but also for the ability to wear and express creativity. Austrich takes pride in her art and enjoys the freedom she feels from wearing and selling her art to others as well.   

“I thought it would be a remarkably fun thing to do like I’ve always liked making art,” Austrich said. “I like that you can wear your art — it’s not just something hanging in your house that no one can see. I think you can be really original with it.”