Where Fashion Goes Green: The Heart and Brains of Fort Collins’s Repeat Boutique
Laura Green is the owner of Repeat Boutique in Fort Collins, and has been so since the opening of her first location in 1987. Green was originally born in and raised in Colorado Springs, but joined the Fort Collins community as she started college at CSU. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1981, Green decided to pursue a different passion of hers: fashion. Beginning with a small consignment store in Old Town, to having two shops at once, and now having consolidated both shops into her current location; Green has always focused on recycling and repurposing previously owned clothes. She shared a bit of her journey and process over a phone call interview.
Zail: I’d love to hear a little bit more of of your time before you became more passionate about eco-friendly fashion, your fine arts and where those passions came from.
Green: Yeah, I come from a long line of artists, visual artists, my entire family, all my aunts and uncles. They’re all visual artists. And I just didn’t, I have some skill, but I just didn’t have the passion for the visual arts. And then I realized that fashion is an art and that I can, you know, make it my own. That’s where I came from on that. Combined with being artists, we were somewhat poor financially. So we had to make do with what we had. So I had to buy, you know, used clothing growing up in my teen years, going to thrift stores and things like that and sewing my own clothes. And so it was just a natural conglomerate of those two things in my life. And I you know, I love it. I still go to work every day and I look forward to it. And don’t hate it. Even after 34 years.
Zail: I’d love to know more about the sewing piece. I’d like to know when you learned how to sew, who taught you, and how that actually played out in your life until now.
Green: You know, my mom — she was taught by her mom, and her mom before her, and so sewing of course, has been a generational must know how to do and it also adds to a lot of creativity. You can remake items from sewing, you can create brand new items for sewing. It is an art in itself and, again, was a means to an end. Not only financially but expressing creativity, and reprocessing materials, and things like that. So I, everybody sewed in my family as well. And it’s a fine art mom taught me and grandma. And I’m hopefully teaching — well, at least one of my daughters can sell. That’s enough for them to continue passing it on. So checklist satisfied. I’m sure you know this already, you don’t have to say, but in the past couple of years, that that delicacy that comes with hand sewing or just like hand creating a garment has kind of gone away with how easily accessible fast fashion is now. We can just, “Oh, I don’t really like this shirt, I can get five new ones for a fraction of the price and just restock my closet.” That’s kind of the style of today.
Zail: I’d love to hear your thoughts on the way that that emergence of fast fashion has appeared in your life? Considering that you’ve sewn all of your clothes and design them yourself. What do you think about the fast fashion uprising?
Green: Yeah, I’m kind of in war with it. I’m violently opposed to fashion on every level. And that’s kind of become my crusade at this point because it’s only getting worse. So that is my priority in business currently: is to kind of turn people away from the notion that fast fashion is the answer. And put it back in, you know, the reuse and repurposing and, you know, creating your own fashion and not looking like every department store walking down the street. So yeah, that’s a big deal to me. It’s a drop in the bucket, my crusade, but hopefully it will change some people’s perspective on that. They will not buy and promote fast fashion.
Zail: Have you ever thought younger generations are more likely to be eco-conscious, but they’re also more likely to participate in fast fashion? Have you struggled with that piece at all in the past couple of years?
Green: Yes, very much. And like I say, it’s taken some of the younger generation to come around to shunning it. And the other half are not even considering, shunning, you know, they just go buy it straight off the rack and promote. I’m so thrilled, though, to see that at least half of you know, your generation is embracing it and not participating in the whole fast fashion thing. It’s encouraging.
Zail: Would you say that it’s a lot different in the past couple of years? Because being in Fort Collins is a is a feat in itself because a lot of your clientele, is people from all over the place. So I’m assuming maybe every four years or even every couple years, your business practices must have to change, right?
Green: Yeah, very much. I’m 58 years old, so I am really not savvy with the social media. And I’m really been given that all I’ve got, you know, asking all of my staff, my daughters to help me reach, you know, the generation that thrives on social media. And that has changed my entire operation and added a whole lot more workload because I really don’t want to give up the brick and mortar because it’s the only way you can really successfully sell resale items. You can, you know, do it online but it’s not about buying the items. It’s about the experience of looking through the items. It’s like a journey in the store to go walk through and see what grabs you instead of you grabbing it, and that’s the thing about fast fashion; you go and you grab it and you move on. Whereas resale you go in and it grabs you. It’s kind of hard to explain but I see it happen every day — people come in and they say, “I wasn’t looking for this but this is the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” So yeah, you can’t do that online, you can’t touch it you can’t, you know, just be taken by it. So doing both brick and mortar and online is really challenging but it’s the only way to reach the next generation.
Zail: I’d like to hear maybe an instance in which you could describe you feeling that journey of an item reaching out to you or or a time when when that magic happened right in front of you. and how do you tailor to every individual person while also keeping enough diversity that that keeps a steady clientele like how do you choose enough pieces that look like and feel like your store but also don’t look like anyone at all How do you pick and choose that yeah,
Green: That is another separation between my brick and mortar and you know online stores like Poshmark and things are selling only the designer pieces. But designer wear isn’t always for everybody. It’s expensive, it’s you know, has some stigma to it that’s good for some people that like to have their logos, but for others they want quality. So we are really really picky about what we can find and that’s where consignment is fantastic because the consigner brings it in, we look through it, we turn away I’d say 80% of what walks through our door — it just doesn’t cut the mustard. As far as our requirements go, it’s either condition, or style, or label, or season, or maybe the consigner wants to net too much money for it. And it’s a balancing act. We try to appeal to anyone from 2 years old to 90 years old, and really trying to get you know the 20 to 30 year old to embrace it — most of all because they have and potentially will have the most expendable income in the future. So, it’s it’s a challenge and we’ve been putting in many, many hours, you know, selecting and staging it, and marketing it, and pricing it, putting a barcode on everything. And so I think we found the balance and it’s just kind of happens organically. I think me overseeing it every day and being in the trenches working everyday kind of helps that keep a vibe, my vibe. And so I think that’s the trick.
Zail: You said like you really want to make sure that you incorporate your vibe and your feel into everything and everything is obviously so meticulously picked. How do you also make sure that what you’re picking is trendy and in style? Or do you particularly like that ‘not trendy’ and not traditionally stylish aspect of everything?
Green: Yeah, well, it’s mostly just keeping your eyes open. You just watch what’s selling on a day to day basis. You watch what people are wearing. You watch the runways, what’s heading from the East this direction. But what I really do most is lean on my my younger staff and my kids and I I let them do the picking. And like most of the 1980s stuff that was when I was in college — most of it’s hideous to me but it’s coming back in style and I just have to bite my tongue and watch it on the racks and see if it sells. And if it does, roll with it.
Zail: I would like to know if you if you see like a reflection of yourself at any point in your life and the people that come through your store. Are there any times when you see a moment when someone picks up a garment or even puts down a garment that you remember when you were that person?
Green: Everyday! That is the magic of it all. That just makes me so happy. I think back when I was 12 year old and I’d get that item and I’d wear it, and people would be like, “Wow that looks so awesome.” Everyday that happens here. Every single day, and it just keeps me coming back for more. That’s kind of like my favorite favorite part of the whole business — seeing the magic happen for other people.
Zail: I’m sure you see a lot of different people and a lot of different styles walk in and out of your doors. Granted that Fort Collins has a very specific demographic to it, is there anyone, any fashion that you miss, that you sometimes wish will walk through the doors? Or is there sometimes people you see that do walk in that you’re like, Oh, this style is so specific that you don’t really cater to is that anything that’s always in the back of your mind?
Green: Well the one thing; Fort Collins is the strangest abyss for people willing to spend a little more. It blows my mind — it seems like there’s plenty of money in town. And when I do get designer goods in, say a Louis Vuitton, you know, never full bag which is just wonderful peace, they don’t want to spend a fraction of the price that they would for it. And I look everywhere else, they can’t keep them in stock and here you know, it just sits around for a long time kind of blows my mind that I don’t get those high end customers. But on the other hand, I don’t really want them because they are they have a certain attitude that doesn’t jive with with my vision. And I don’t want to become a high, high fashion consignment store. I want to be more of, you know, the magic. People that are finding their own style through my store and making it their own like I did and and making it an art instead of a cliche or fashion. So I’m sticking to that.
Zail: That also brings up another question. How do you make sure that your pieces are affordable and stick to that that accessibility, without them being so affordable that you don’t profit? Especially now as we emerge from this pandemic and as the economy starts to shake and wobble a little bit more, how do you make sure that your prices fall in line with your business practices but also what the consumers need?
Green: I’ve actually, for the first time in many years, had to up my prices a little bit — $1 or $2 maybe over 34 years which isn’t a lot, but I don’t like it. I have to do it because we really got taken down by COVID and then now with prices of everything going up, I can’t keep up with the utilities and the rent. an I’m not going to raise them astronomically because I do want to really cater to people that can’t afford otherwise. So it’s a little bit of a mission to be philanthropic and try and pay the bills at the same time. And it’s not anything I would ever get rich doing. If you wanted to open up a shop I’d say “good luck” because you might get frustrated after a few years because he wouldn’t make any money. It’s kind of a labor of love. It’s not about the money at all, it is more than that — way more than that. It is my lifetime endeavor and I hope to die knowing that I gave it hell.
Zail: I also would like to know for the future, what do you want to come from from your shop?
Green: Yeah, I do I have two daughters one is in the Fashion and Merchandising Department here at CSU. She’s in her senior year and she would be the most likely but now she’s like, “Mom, you don’t make any money why would I want to do this?” So yeah, I might have said the wrong information. Or maybe my other daughter that wants to go into a trade and trade school. She might realize that she loves it as well, who knows. But I would hate for it to die after 34 years, just when it’s about to take off. I think the next generation could really put it into the, the books with the social media and all the things I’m not good at. So you guys could really take it to the next level I think.
Zail: Lastly, I’d like to hear what fashion truly means not even just to you, but just in the greater scope of things. And what does it mean in Fort Collins?
Green: Yeah, to me, realizations that I wasn’t the black sheep of the family and that fashion was an art for me, it was like an “Aha!” moment. And so many people, you know, every day when they put on clothes, they are participating in art, and they don’t even know it. It’s emotional, it’s, you know, physical — everything goes into that decision. It’s just so complicated. Fort Collins is wonderfully diverse as far as some fashion goes, but it’s also not diverse ethnically. We’re missing a whole lot of pieces of the fashion world. So yeah, I would like to spread that around a little bit and inspire people to kind of make it their own art.
Zail: Very well said. My last ask of you is if you could just please let everybody know where they can find you at what time and what they can expect to see in your store.
Green: My store is at 1502 South College Avenue, and we are here 10am to 5:30pm every day, and Sunday from11am to 5pm. We are online a little bit at Repeat Boutique Colorado is our website, and we’re also on Facebook and Instagram. Mostly I think I’d love to see people come in and do the adventure of resale shopping because we’ve put a lot of effort into making it, staging it, and making it an experience that you can’t get anywhere else. So I recommend walking in the door.
