Today I am kicking off a new series of blog posts, featuring some of my favorite unique small businesses and independent designers. As a former online boutique owner myself, and a current small business owner of my blogging business, I am always in admiration of other women who decided to follow their dreams and passions, however scary and hard that may be at times.
And what better way to kick the series off than with this joyful dress from MAE {Mae’d in NYC}. I instantly fell in love with Sarah Mae’s colorful designs and impeccable tailoring, as soon as I saw her fun prints and classic styles, with a romantic twist. Reading the brand’s story made me into an instant lifelong fan. I couldn’t help but connect to the sentiment Sarah shares of people constantly asking her “Why are you so dressed up?” to which she answers “Well, why are you not?” by creating MAE. Overdressed girls unite!
A bit about the brand: Sarah was previously a designer for Kate Spade and decided to create her own collection, after the corona virus challenged the fashion industry, leading to her losing her design position. She wanted to prioritize ethical business practices, while expressing her love for all things feminine and sparkly. Those ethical practices are shown all throughout the design process from each piece being made to order, eliminating excess inventory and minimizing environmental impact, to each garment being hand-cut and hand-sewn in NYC, by local artisans. Yay for more local jobs and fair wages! MAE sells their pieces directly to customers and uses fair trade fabrics which are sourced from fair-trade countries like Italy and France.
All of this came through as soon as I opened the pretty box which housed my whimsical yellow dress, which fit like a glove. It’s a piece I will cherish for years to come, and I’m sure Grace will have her eye on it as soon as she can fit in to it as well. In our current world of fast fashion and quarterly closet clean outs, it feels so good to add something to that closet which truly tells a story and has heart. I hope Sarah inspires more independent designers to start their own sparkly journey and I’m so excited to follow along as she creates future collections!
Favorite Unique small businesses
