McCormick alumna shares creative outlets at local pop-up

Photo by Aanika Sawhney.

Class of 2024 alumna Emily Gordon found herself back at Northwestern this October, as a vendor at the first Seasonal Finds Chicago pop-up, located in downtown Evanston. 

On Oct. 26, Gordon contributed both her own clothing pieces and original art as a vendor at Wicked Finds, the Halloween-inspired rendition of the event outside of D&D Finer Foods. As a local, Gordan brought her artistic expertise to the market, and continues to explore her creativity in daily life.

She told STITCH all about it:

STITCH: How did you get involved with the Wicked Finds event? 

Gordon: I first heard about the event, my friend Oliver messaged me and said he was thinking about putting together some kind of vintage art fair. He thought of me as a vendor, and was wondering if I'd be interested. So I was really flattered. I was like ‘I'm on board let me know how I can help.’ I spent the next month working on pieces and collecting things. I’m actually moving out of my apartment. I started to clean out my closet, and I was planning to bring all that stuff to Crossroads, but then that I had a lot of clothes that I could sell at this event. So that kind of worked out in a funny way. It was really successful. 

STITCH: How was your experience being a vendor for the first time? 

Gordon: I really wasn't sure what to expect, especially in terms of sales. I didn't really know how to price stuff. But I made everything $10. Because these are things that I've had for a while and I'm ready to get rid of, so I'm happy to undersell them, even if I could have made more money. I was really happy to see that people were interested in everything. I wasn't expecting all that foot traffic, but there was probably over 100 people who stopped by and looked through everything. I didn't buy anything to sell, but I think I would feel more confident next time. It was cool and informative to get a sense of what people are interested in and what they might buy for next time.

Photo by Aanika Sawhney.

STITCH: Can you tell me a little bit about your experience shopping secondhand?

Gordon: I've always been a thrifter. I think I got it from my mom. For one it's sustainable. I don't really like buying new things. I don't love fast fashion and how that industry has evolved. I'm a student, I'm pretty broke, so it's nice to be able to get cool things for cheap. Also, I've been loving estate sales, and what I really like about those is you actually get to know the person. It's like being an investigator. You get to learn about them as you go through their things. I think about that every time that I wear their clothes. There was a vest that I was selling that was from Rose Rosenthal. I get to think of that experience of going through her things, and getting to know her and her family. I always think about the friends that I was with when I buy clothes too, whenever I put them on the morning. I associate them with memories. I love the experience of thrifting. It pushes how I define my style in ways that I wouldn't expect. 

STITCH: I love that aspect of thrifting. How has your style developed over time? 

Gordon: Yeah, my style is all over the place. It's funny, because in middle school, I used to only wear sweatshirts and sweatpants. It really wasn't untill the end of high school that I started to experiment with it at all. College was great because everyone's the same age, and you don't have that judgment of other generations looking at you. So I've kind of gone through everything, and I still cycle through everything. I've had more feminine, where I really like wearing dresses. I've had more masculine, where I like wearing baggy pants and baggy shirts. 

STITCH: I love the way that you explained fashion as a creative process. I also know you had some of your collages on sale. What is your identity as an artist? 

Gordon: I think it's really similar to my fashion identity, where I like to pull from pieces that already exist and just put them together in new ways that are exciting to me. I get pretty overwhelmed with a blank canvas, so it's nice to have a little bit of structure that I can work from. Although I do I like a blank slate sometimes. I just started a new painting of my cat. Collaging feels a lot like thrifting, where you're using materials and getting inspired from those, as opposed to coming up with your own ideas all the time. 

STITCH: You are also a content creator on TikTok. How did that start, and what have you learned from it so far?

Gordon: I came out to the whole internet before I told my friends and family, although I'm sure they had some suspicions, and it was because there was a girl that I liked. It was my first time having a crush on a girl, and I painted this cup for her. I was showing this whole elaborate gift that I had made, so people resonated with that story. I think it's a common thing to be a little bit scared the first time that you have new feelings. People were really impressed with the artwork that I was making, and thought it was a very thoughtful gift. I wasn't sure how it would go after we broke up, but actually what I realized is what people enjoy are the things that I create and the conversations that I like to start. 

STITCH: you mentioned earlier, the juxtaposition of feminine and masculine in fashion. Where does the gender spectrum and sexuality fit in the industry? 

Gordon: Yeah, I think sexuality is a big part of fashion. I just feel like gay people have great taste. It's hard to meet gay people where they don't have good taste. I think that they've done a lot more inner work and figuring out who they are. That comes through in lots of ways, but fashion is definitely one of them. The queer community, has just pushed creativity and fashion and expression so far, and it's cool that it's just something that gets to be celebrated now, at least in our bubble of Evanston. It's very liberal, very progressive and it's a safe space to do that.

STITCH: Have there been specific communities where this creativity was able to grow for you at Northwestern?

Gordon: I actually produced lipstick burlesque my senior year, and that community is unlike anything else I've experienced on campus. It was just like pushing the boundaries of so many things that it was almost hard to be uncomfortable anymore, because if you're on stage and you're taking your clothes off … I can't even describe that feeling and the acceptance and the freedom that it gives you. I think a lot of people think of it as only sexy, but really, you can be funny, you can make it sad, you can tell a story, you can do so many different things with it. 

STITCH: It sounds like creativity in all different forms, dance, fashion, and art has really been like a consistent theme in your life. Why does creativity matter to you? 

Gordon: It is what makes us human. I think to express yourself creatively is to be so in tune with your own personality, your own belief system, and that's how you can share it with other people. It's funny because I majored in mechanical engineering, and I have all this pressure on me to be an engineer, but what I found is that what I'm really passionate about is all the arts, and it's not that I don't like engineering. I do love solving problems, but I've also found that all of these creative outlets are actually teaching me things along the way that I get to bring back and use when I'm solving engineering problems. It sounds crazy, but it happens, and I think that's what's made my projects throughout college, very successful. I think maybe I’ve been really deep in the weeds of engineering, and it's been nice to just have a few months to completely focus on the creative stuff, those are my roots.