Today we’d like to introduce you to Jacqueline Whitmore
Hi Jacqueline, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always been an aesthetically attracted person who’s somehow always been gravitated to old things. Cliche old soul syndrome. I have a background in retail, merchandising, and buying for both national and local businesses before opening my shop.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Everyday in the creative field is a mixture of joy and/or terror. We’ve dealt with so much within the shop, displacement, pandemic. But I really like the reframe the struggles into resilience. Being able to trust yourself with being able to face hard things is beautiful. Creating calm thru chaos is a skill, and many small businesses are so talented at looking at obstacles and challenges thru their lens and continue to create their special space.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Mostly people know me from Copperhive Vintage, a small vintage clothing store and indie artist shop in South Salt Lake Utah. This is a big year for the shop, celebrating 10 years in business! I think thats so cool that a creative business can celebrate such a milestone! I’ve been excited recently about how the shop is evolving in the past couple years, we’ve added indie artists to our store front, and its so special to be able to curate the shops vintage offerings along side artists work.
I also have my own line, Chubby Dust Bunny, where I make plus size clothing from vintage or secondhand materials I source, I make hand poured soy wax candles, and accessories. My hope for Chubby Dust Bunny is to be a practice of conscious consumerism thru revisiting old and used.
What matters most to you?
I never started my business with the intention of it being a sustainable clothing business, I truly just loved beautiful old things, but I am seeing how special these old things are. I’ve really been focusing on leaning int0 the question, how can we as aesthetically driven ppl also participate in sustainable fashion. I’m learning how important it is to develop personal style identities, and how standing in power of your aesthetic, buying secondhand or indie if you need to buy something is really the best things we can do right now to combat fast fashion’s unethical over consumption model. I’ve grown stronger with my communities, and dream of a world where wealth is redistributed to artists and small businesses in my neighborhoods. Big thoughts from pretty trinkets.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shopcopperhive.com
- Instagram: @copperhivevintage & @chubby.dust.bunny
