March 30, 2023

The Night of The Arc Minnesota’s Gala!

 

If you missed my blog post at the beginning of February, I wrote about what to wear to Arc Minnesota’s Gala. If you’re not familiar with the gala, here’s a little recap: The Arc Minnesota’s Gala is one of our annual fundraisers that celebrates the work The Arc Minnesota does, and champions the work left to do for people with disabilities to live fully, inclusive lives in their communities. This year it took place on March 4th at The Depot in Minneapolis (streamed virtually too!). At this annual event, the Thrift Stylists (seen below), host a pop-up where guests can shop items that were handpicked and curated by donations from the Arc’s Value Village thrift stores! 

 

The Thrift Stylist team – Sarah and I 

 

If you’re not used to thrifting, there is a lot that goes into curating a pop-up like this one. Believe it or not, it took MONTHS of curation by us and the store staff to get this together. And each year, we always bring something new!

 

What We Look For

  • Something small enough or something that can be bagged easily since guests can shop during the event. The last thing someone wants to do is carry a bunch of large bags around throughout the night 😉 
  • One of a kind pieces. Of course, everything is legit one of a kind because Arc’s Value Village is made up of donations. However, we really try to find those cool vintage pieces that thrifters try to find. 
  • Anything designer! It’s not everyday that you can find an Alexander McQueen dress for super cheap! Yes, we had one at this year’s pop-up and it was gorgeous!!
  • One of a kind pieces. Of course, everything is legit one of a kind because Arc’s Value Village is made up of donations. However, we really try to find those cool vintage pieces that thrifters try to find. 
  • Anything designer! It’s not everyday that you can find an Alexander McQueen dress for super cheap! Yes, we had one at this year’s pop-up and it was gorgeous!

 

 

What We Had

When it comes to the small items that are easy to purchase and carry around, one thing we always grab for the men are cufflinks and designer ties! I think there was one year where we even had Tiffany cufflinks! Every man should have a good cufflink because you never know when you’re going to need them. This year was super unique actually because we brought vintage men’s hats!! They were a hit, every person that put them on wanted them. I even wanted one! I had a discussion with a man at the event and we talked for 5 minutes straight about how hats are totally underrated and how they can completely change the vibe of an outfit!

 

 

Other accessories we always have are brooches, ALL the jewelry from fashion jewelry to real gold and silver, scarves, belts, and shoes – this year one pair of shoes were hand carved out of wood!

 

 

The one thing we always have are fur coats! Most of the time they’re vintage, too! Of course we also have fabulous faux fur as well! There was this faux fur I tried on and LOVED!!! It was so comfy, however, it was way too big 🙁 . But for the short time I had it on, I felt like a million bucks! If you want to see what the coat looked like, there’s a video of me doing a catwalk on my Instagram under the Events highlight (haha). Also, if you’ve always wanted a fur (or faux) make sure to check out Arc’s Value Village during the winter – we tend to have some that were locally made, and again, vintage! Sometimes you can even find one that has a name stitched inside the coat. What a treasure!

 

 

Lastly, we had those fabulous rare clothing items that are designer made, like the Alexander McQueen dress mentioned above 😉 We also had a classic Coach leather work bag which was fabulous! If I needed another work bag I would have gotten in – there’s nothing like the old Coach leather bags, am I right or am I right? Speaking of bags, we also had a few Dooney & Bourke bags, a Hermes handbag, and although we didn’t have a Kate Spade bag this year, we did have her jewelry!

 

How it Went

The best part of the gala is that all the money from the pop-up also goes to The Arc Minnesota and this year we raised over $2,000! So thank you to all who came to the event and shopped with us. It meant the world to us. 

So if you’re just finding out about the gala, next time you get a newsletter from Arc’s saying they’re selling tickets to their gala, just know that we will have the best of the best at the pop-up 😉 Hope to see you next year! 

 

-Melissa

MHstyleconsultants.com / IG: @MH_style_consulting / Facebook @MHstyleconsulting

If you would like to book your free personal shopping appointment at any of our 3 locations, visit: https://arcsvaluevillage.org/shop/personal-shopping-service/