If we had a flower for every time we drooled over one of Studio Sides’ upcycled pieces, we could walk in our garden forever. Shelby Osides brings us upcycling with a refreshing twist.

I like to think of flowers as one of nature’s biggest personalities – delicate but bold, painted in vibrancy and always being the star of the show without putting in any effort. (Ok,excuse me while I personally geek out over this flower description.) Anyhow, there is no person that creates absolute flower magic as well as creative visionary and artistic botanist, Shelby Osides, creator of Studio Sides. Studio Sides is a local brand dedicated to bringing new life to imperfectly perfect clothing pieces in an effort to spread the message that you don’t always need to buy something brand new to feel beautiful.

Brought into fruition only a few months into 2020, Studio Sides has blossomed into our favorite upcycling brands. Using a combination of primarily spent florals and a variety of food waste, they have truly mastered the art of capturing pieces of nature on second-hand garments in the most alluring way possible. We got to speak with the lovely flower connoisseur herself to get the inside scoop on how Studio Sides has bloomed over the past year.

Tell us more about what inspired Studio Sides?

An ordinary evening spent cooking dinner funnily enough. I was making a random stir-fry that had some turmeric in the sauce and some of it splashed onto a brand-new white tee. I couldn’t get the stain out and I felt pretty awful about just chucking it into a donation pile. After some random searches, I came across botanical dyeing and thought I would give it a shot!

How do you keep your pieces sustainable and can you tell us more about where you source your vintage pieces?

All of our pieces are second-hand garments or fabric remnants that would otherwise be sitting in a landfill or donation center. We try our best to source garments from local second-hand retailers but we typically use online shops specializing in thrifted fashion. A few of our current

favorites are @c.u.t.market, @shopthrftd @the.golden.boheme, and some others found via Poshmark.

Can you explain your natural dyeing process?

The natural dye process typically starts with prepping our garments. This includes removing any surface stains, dirt, or chemicals that build up over time, along with using natural fixatives to ensure the longevity of the color. From there, we use a few different methods to dye the fabric with a mix of botanicals and food waste. The more time in-between washing and being subjected to light the better, so we typically aim to give each piece a minimum of two weeks to cure.

What are your goals for Studio Sides?

There are a lot of milestones that we are looking forward to hitting in the coming months and years, but our biggest goal is to use our pieces and overall platform to further upcycling as a more consistent trend. I am hoping to integrate workshops and eventually a service where we take your well-loved or stained clothing and create something “new” for you to wear. We truly believe that with a little knowledge, time, and effort, anyone can take something that would otherwise be sitting in the back of the closet and give it a whole new look and feel. And if that is something that they simply cannot be bothered to do, then we are happy to do it for them!

In addition to that, we are also hoping to get other local businesses and community members involved as we expand sourcing our dye materials beyond the homestead.

It’s always so refreshing to see brands who are staying authentic to their roots and creating something so beautiful as a result. We can’t wait to see this brand continue to bring on the flower power!

You can keep up with these beautiful works of wanter @studiosides on instagram. x