I watched BUY NOW: A Shopping Conspiracy on Netflix and still want to sell jewelry..... Here's why.
As I sorted fresh charms into charm bar trays yesterday, I was obsessively thinking about all the places and people and things that go into making all of these little parts. I had just watched the new Netflix documentary, BUY NOW: The Shopping Conspiracy and i was lit up! The massive problems talked about are why I started this business.
The next charm bar pop up will have a few hundred to choose from, that I’ve either found in a deadstock house or made sustainably with my partners. Some of them are as old as the 1930’s and from Czechoslovakia or West Germany or Cranston, RI where they don’t even exist anymore. Each part made by hand, before they sat abandoned in boxes for years waiting for one of two fates - a landfill - or being found by another creative like me- who will shine them up and find contemporary ways of spreading joy to the person who finally makes it their own jewelry to love for years.
These baubles have history beyond the place we find them, and I like thinking of the charm bar as a little stop on the road to being loved and worn on repeat, over and over until you can’t love it anymore.
And then I love thinking about that part too! Where, instead of throwing it out when you don’t want it anymore, you can send your worn & tired jewelry back to me!! And I, as a steward in the fashion life cycle of that thing I helped to make, know how to & can responsibly, recycle the materials. Because brass & glass & stone, what Gather jewelry is made of, can be infinitely reconstituted into another thing!
That is why I started this business. Because when I worked in fast fashion and went to the factories in China & warehouses in Rhode Island, I saw how much already existed. I also learned how talented and creative the people in my supply chain are, and how cool it is to make something with knowledgeable people, who have a creative passion, run healthy businesses that support ethical work. So together, we can make things a better way!! In circularity!! And you, dear reader, can sleep in your $44 hoops knowing that they are for the “greater good”, whatever that means for the actual disaster we have created and already live in. We can TRY. (My 2025 mantra!)
Anyway, this buying season, especially this Black Friday/Cyber Monday spree, look for brands and makers like me who care about the whole lifecycle of the thing you’re buying. It will make a difference!
In gratitude, I’m offering a free gift to my subscribers with your order, and 25% off when you buy 2 or more items through December 15th. It will be automatic in the cart at checkout, no code needed. Or choose not to buy more stuff & just spread the love <3
Xoxo, Jules
PS - Shop at any of my fabulous stockists, locally and the charm bar IRL:
December 20 & 21 at Brave Daughters in Providence & Seaport, Boston with my husband, pet painter All The Bad Cats
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