Fashionista Stitches It Together

While Covid-19 restrictions have inspired many to become more resourceful for the first time in their lives, Todd Lyon and Nancy Shea are continuing to practice what they have preached for 15 years through their partnership in Fashionista Vintage and Variety: reuse, repurpose, recycle.

Since closing the doors of their storefront at the corner of Whitney Avenue and Trumbull Street in March, Shea has taken up the business of selling Fashionista’s wares online while Lyon has been using her sewing skills to create unique masks that not only protect the wearer, but benefit a cause close to her heart.

The store closed officially on March 15 ​“with no pomp or circumstance,” according to Lyon.

“We literally walked out and left it the way we left it,” she said. ​“Everything is still exactly how it was,” though Lyon did go back and change the signage so customers would know the status of the business.

While Shea made her way to isolate in Tennessee with a car full of stock — where she took up the task of opening an Etsy shop called Fashionista VintageV — Lyon began making masks almost immediately at her home. Most of her first masks were for friends in immediate need, but as the need grew, Lyon became busier. Her posts on Facebook, which showed some of her more ornate creations, attracted even more buyers. But Lyon had others on her mind, including those at the Mary Wade Home on Clinton Avenue.

“I was an editor at CT Life magazine (aimed toward people over 50) and as a result was very familiar with them and always loved Mary Wade’s backstory,” Lyon said. ​“I woke up on a Monday morning and thought, ​‘I wonder if they are in trouble.’ So I sent them an email and got an email back immediately that said they were in dire need.”

Lyon said that the nursing home — nonprofit, family run and including an adult day care center — has always been special to her.

“It’s a wonderful organization,” she said ​“It’s been part of New Haven for so long.” She noted that when Mary Wade started out, the organization not only ​“helped girls shunned by their families, but gave them marketable skills so they wouldn’t be dependent on men. It was run by the founding mothers of New Haven. We should be proud of our heritage in New Haven.”

And with that, Lyon decided to sell her masks in a way that benefited the home: for every mask purchased for $20, Lyon would donate two masks to Mary Wade. Lyon put up a post on Facebook the first week of April with the announcement and she hasn’t stopped sewing since.

The response has been ​“really extraordinary,” she said. ​“I’m making as many as I can.”

Her ​“friendly ex” Hayward Gatling, who lives across the hall from Lyon, has learned to sew and is making masks with her. Another friend, artist Candace Klein, is also helping. She had three machines to work with, noting she had a fourth but had to ​“cannibalize that one” to fix the others.

All materials used are ​“recycled, repurposed or vintage,” Lyon said, with many of the materials used found in the stockpile of saved goods at the store and others received as donations from the community. ​“There’s a SoHu newsletter, from a neighborhood group, and a blast goes out every time I run out of elastics” said Lyon. One quarter-inch woven elastic is needed and is difficult to find now, but Lyon also found some at, you guessed it, her beloved ​“Fash.”

“All these years Nancy and I have purchased sheet sets to make the bindles used to carry Fash purchases,” said Lyon, referring to the store’s signature hobo-style bindle that is used instead of bags for customers. ​“The fitted sheets have elastics in them, and we never threw them away. We harvested them. I have no idea why. So, we found a big bag and Hayward got the job of liberating the elastic.”

“Ah, the life of a scavenger,” she added with a laugh, but for Lyon and Shea it is so much more than that.

A collaboration that was born 15 years ago in Shea’s apartment from her and Lyon’s personal collections grew into a storefront that saw its 10-year anniversary celebration on March 1 come and go without the fanfare originally planned. A gigantic sale was scheduled for the month, its details outlined in a resplendent press release that never made it to the papers. True to Fashionista’s reputation, it included not only details about the deep discounts expected, but also a lengthy and loving paean to the store’s history, owners, staff, customers and, of course, its hallowed merchandise and the vested spirit of vintage itself.

As Lyon put it in the release: ​“It’s March madness, without all that pesky basketball.”

Now the two are working to keep the business going even if it is in a different form.

“Nancy is doing a ton of selling on eBay and is also doing photos for the Etsystore,” said Lyon. Both websites have items from the store listed under the name FashionistaVintageV.
Mask sales ​“became so brisk” that Lyon has not had a chance to contribute to the online sales part yet, and she is still unsure of what the future looks like for the business beyond the pandemic.

“We don’t really know what is happening yet,” she said, though she did note that they had been turned down for the grants and loans they applied for. ​“It is going to live on, but it may look different.”

“For better or worse, we can live on through markets and festivals. There are loads of ways. We are not sure how yet, but it’s possible. We can keep it [the store’s stock] in storage and spend years selling it. We have thousands of pieces of jewelry and clothing. No matter what, we have a collection, a totally lovingly handpicked collection, and we still have our name. People recognize us. There aren’t many of us around anymore. We can send the word around. This is our real estate, and it is very much still alive.”

“Fash is … on life support, but the heart is still beating,” Lyon said.

She is not sure how many masks they’ve made so far, but noted that ​“we’re pumping them out.” She has a no-touch system for delivery, using porch pickup at her home. ​“There’s something sweet about it,” she said. ​“Talking to people from a distance after they get them. It’s a nice little social moment. It’s really beautiful.”

Lyon has also been putting that care and detail into her creations, making masks that are ​“beautiful and fun, but not disrespectful.” At the time of our conversation, she was about to make masks out of a vintage 1950s embroidered fabric with horses on it. She also noted that she had made a series of tie-dyed masks with materials donated by friend and local chef Dave Foster, who drove over with ​“a clown car full of tie-dyed material.”

The partners’ commitment to their communities and causes — the environment, the arts, and New Haven — continues to be highlighted. ​“The mask project has been great,” said Lyon. ​“It connects with a really deep part of me, that reusing, and it feels like little pieces of art made with a lot of love.”

Love being at the center of everything Shea and Lyon do. ​“That is the part of Fash that is indestructible,” Lyon said. She also referenced another part of that press release when talking about her and Shea’s commitment to keeping the business going. ​“At the bottom it says ​‘Fashionista Vintage and Variety is a division of Sisyphus Industries.’ That’s us: always pushing a rock up a hill.”

If you are interested in buying a mask from Fash please contact them via the Fashionista Vintage and Variety Facebook page. The Fashionista VintageV eBay and Etsy pages are also open for your perusal. Click on the video above to watch a recent interview with Lyon on WNHH’s ​“Behind the Brand.”