Ever wish you could raid the closets of the stylish local women you follow on Instagram? Well now you can! The second annual Closet Collective is this Friday night starting at 5:30pm and I'm counting the minutes. With the help of an incredible group of inspiring and fashion savvy Ottawa women, the one and only Carolynn Lacasse of J’Adore This has teamed up with the Ottawa School of Art for another chic and unique fundraising experience at the Ottawa School of Art in the Byward Market.
This Friday night the OSA will be transformed into the Closet Collective: a curated shop of Ottawa's finest closets, complete with fully styled mannequins and organized racks of clothing for you to comb through. Where are these clothes coming from exactly? Carolynn (who I'm pretty sure knows EVERYONE) brought together an incredible group of local fashion bloggers and tastemakers, and convinced them to donate items from their oh-so-stylish closets. A few of the generous fashionistas giving so generously:
Katie Hession, Creator of YOW City Style and Host of Kids Outside the Box
Carolynn Lacasse, Digital Marketing Strategist at CarolynnLacasse.com
Justyna Bedford, Photographer at Joel Bedford Photography
Katherine O'Halleran, Executive Assistant to the National Director at Liberal Party of Canada
Julie Lan, Software Engineer at Ciena
Ashley McConnell, Community Manager at Maker's Space
Maxine Patenaude, Account Executive at McMillan
I hope to score a vintage DVF wrap dress, because how badass is she? A girl can dream.
And that's just to name a few. Since this year’s tastemakers include such inspiring women in wide range of industries (politics, creative, engineering), there's sure to be something to suit just about anyone's personal style or workplace.
So how does it work? Buy your ticket online for $30, and upon arriving at the event you'll receive an empty shopping bag that you can fill with as many items as you can stuff inside. Once your bag is full you can either buy a second bag for $10, or purchase additional items individually. This an absolutely genius way to refresh your work wardrobe or to score a new-to-you cocktail dress on the cheap (just in time for the holiday party circuit!). To top things off, you'll shop to a soundtrack of great beats and there'll be a bar on-site so you can indulge in a cocktail to celebrate your finds.
Your shopping bag will include a girly gift from H&M's new cosmetics collection! Will you score some lippy, gloss, or nail polish?
Proceeds from the Closet Collective will go directly to the Ottawa School of Art to help them fund programming for 3000 students annually, and to help run their outreach program offering free art classes to Ottawa's at-risk children and youth. All surplus clothing from the sale will be distributed to Dress for Success (empowering women to dress professionally for job interviews and succeed) and to St. Joe’s Women’s Centre (to help marginalized women keep warm this winter).
“By bringing together this unique group of women we're able to tap into their fashion sense and help shine a light on these charities that serve the Ottawa community,” says Carolynn. “We also have the chance celebrate this city’s most stylish women by seeing how they showcase their own personal style through our used items.”
Bravo Carolynn, I can hardly wait for Friday.
A FEW MORE HIGHLIGHTS
Tickets can be purchased in advance via Eventbrite
Expect some H&M swag: rumour has it some of their new cosemetics will be up for grabs!
Be entered to win one of two $50 gift certificate from St. Laurent Centre when you mention all three charities (Ottawa School of Art, Dress for Success, and St. Joe's Women's Centre) plus the event hashtag (#ClosetCollective) on social media.
Brands you can expect to see: Theory, Diane Von Furstenberg (!!), Opening Ceremony, Pink Tartan, and Michael Kors, with more being donated daily.
St Laurent Centre will also be draw two winners of from the first 100 tickets sold: each will win a $100 gift card for the entire mall.