by Nash Alonto
March 20, 2024
Amy McQuillan loves vintage clothing, especially when it’s plus sized.
The Charlottetown resident occasionally goes to thrift shops to find what she wants.
“It’s a sustainable way to shop and it’s also (finding) something unique and one-of-a-kind,” McQuillan said.
However, clothes in her size can be difficult to find. Often, it’s only once a month.
“We just have limited options in stores that offer plus sized (clothing), so your kind of going to the same store all the time… we just don’t have as much variety and options as much as regular sized people do,” she said.
So, when McQuillan saw a social media post about a pop-up shop at Holland College, she was excited.
McQuillan was one of around 50 people who went to the pop-up shop by Gracey’s Vintage and Thrift at Florence Simmons Performance Hall on March 20. The store usually sells its merchandise through social media, then they’re picked up at the owner’s home in Cornwall, P.E.I.
Kate Gracey-Stewart owns the online store. This was the fourth pop-up event Gracey-Stewart has hosted, with the previous three held in Western P.E.I. This is also the first time in Charlottetown.
Gracey-Stewart came up with the idea because she has a love for fashion and has been plus sized her entire life. She finds it difficult to source clothes that she loves and that fit her at the same time.
“This sort-of came about just based on my own personal struggles and wanting to provide a space for other plus sized women to feel cared for and beautiful and confident, and choose items that actually fit them,” she said.
There are not a lot of stores that exclusively sell plus sized clothing on the Island, though most stores do have a small section for plus sized people, Gracey-Stewart said.
“But often, it’s a completely different style than what might be in the regular (sized) sections … they’re not as stylish as regular sized clothing, so I have to work hard to find plus sized clothing that to me is fashionable,” she said.
Gracey-Stewart heard a couple stories from her customers, where it’s hard to find clothes for special occasions before they found her store.
“There isn’t necessarily one particular story. It’s actually everybody’s story … because it’s just not easy to find plus sized clothing that is stylish, or more importantly, a welcoming space where people can come in and feel that this space is for them, and that there’s clothing that fits,” she said.
Gracey’s also collaborated with a men’s clothing and care products store, as well.
Jannett Jones runs Jonesy’s Style Men’s Fashion in Summerside. Jones reached out to Gracey-Stewart for a collaboration after noticing one of her pop-up events in Summerside a few months prior.
“That way, it would give us both a bit more exposure, and (Gracey-Stewart) would do the marketing, essentially,” she said.
Prices range from $5 to $30, which became popular for students.
“Affordability is definitely something that they focus on, so they can get really great items from us at probably half the cost from a retailer.”
For Gracey-Stewart, seeing people happy with their purchases is why she does it.
“I know personally the struggle and the heartache of shopping with friends who are standard sized (sic), and you’re kinda off to the side not really saying anything but knowing that there’s nothing there that fits you,” she said.
“When people are happy and are appreciative of what I’m doing, it’s the reason that I started it, and it means the world.”
Gracey-Stewart will be hosting more pop-ups over the next few weeks, with the next one at the Winsloe Thrift Market on March 23, and another in Montague in April.
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