The Future — Update
100% cotton skirt designs that will be available for presale September 10th
This is going to get a little bleak, please bear with me.
I've been transparent about my business's struggles the last two years: we released some unpopular designs, we chose colors that didn't match the photos we received of color swatches, our 2025 preorders didn't arrive on schedule and therefore we didn't have enough in stock for our 2025 holiday sale, we charged wholesale price to customers and cut into our margins to be semi-affordable, shipping costs are out of control, changing legislation in the EU has made it impossible for us to ship there.
And finally, UPS hit us with a surprise bill for tariffs that they failed to issue in a timely manner.
We're expected to pay $90,000 to UPS within 12 weeks. We've tried negotiating a longer repayment period, we've looked into loans, we've run sales, we've involved our lawyer, and now we're opening presale, all because UPS didn't invoice us properly and are refusing to accept a repayment period we can afford after their mistake.
This might put us out of business.
Preorders won't help — the product may not arrive in time for the holidays, putting us in the exact same position we're already in. We're seriously considering a gofundme — but it feels gross to accept money for nothing in return. We've skipped paychecks. We're out of ideas.
If we close, we may come back. We may not. I can't see the future.
It sucks because I was trying to do the right thing, and the right thing isn't enough. It feels like I've failed you all, and I've failed myself.
Devin has gone back to school for an intense technical degree in fashion design, patternmaking, and industrial sewing, but it's a two-year degree with advanced pattern drafting not starting until the second semester. We're considering made-to-order custom clothing and sewing more complicated garments in-house, but that's out of budget for most of our customers and Devin won't be able to sew at a scale large enough to pay the bills.
There are a few things that might happen:
One, we liquidate stock and close for 3-6 months. If we do a total liquidation we may be able to pay UPS, but we won't be able to pay the deposit for our next order. If that happens, I want to come back with a full collection and take preorders, which will take another 2-3 months to produce.
Two, we do a gofundme and hope we make enough to get through to the holiday sale and cope with the shame.
Three, we close permanently and hope we can get regular jobs in a market decimated by AI. Devin might be able to get a job in social media marketing and I might be able to get a job in art direction, but both of those industries are in shambles.
We've been telling ourselves that we just need to get to midterms. Midterms are in reach, but it may not be enough.
We're going to do our best. Thank you for your support and love. It means everything to me right now.
Update (9/7/2026, 2:30pm central time)
The support you all have shown has been overwhelming. Devin and I have been crying all morning — your kindness, your encouragement, and your hope have been so moving. i've been feeling more and more hopeless as this goes on, and you all have given me a light to look forward to.
many of you had suggestions that we're implementing immediately. devin's putting together a gofundme right now, and ash has finished setting up a 20% discount on gift cards (discount shown in cart)
all gift cards will be 20% off until we raise enough money to pay our $90,000 bill from UPS
discount shown in cart. sorry, we couldn't figure out how to make it display in the listing 😅
Thank you. Seriously. It’s hard to believe things might be okay after the struggles we’ve had the last year and a half, but you’ve given me the first bit of hope I’ve had in awhile.
Update (9/7/2026, 6:30pm central time)
i'm so touched by the support you all have shown me 😭 between store sales today and the gofundme, we have enough raised to pay for the next three weeks of UPS payments!
as a reminder, presales open on thursday. we're hoping presales, donations, and gift card sales will bring us to the finish line on the $90k bill UPS surprised us with
you can sign up for restock notifications on any of the listings
Update (9/8/2026, 8:00am central time)
Y’all, I can’t believe it. I woke up this morning and, between store sales and the gofundme, we’re nearly halfway to paying off this bill! We have about five and a half weeks of payments handled with six and a half to go, and we haven’t even opened presales!!! 😭😭
Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I think we can pay this bill. We might need to open preorders for the next skirt restock, but that’s not the end of the world.
I think we can make it through this, thanks to your help.
Update (9/9/2026, 6:30pm central time)
Y’all, we’re at 8 weeks ready to be paid! We have 12 weeks total but we’re so so so close, and presales open tomorrow morning. Presales SHOULD be enough to get this bill paid, and then we can look ahead at paying for our next restock!
Another update: we have found another avenue that may allow us to get the tariffs we’ve already paid, as well as these tariffs, refunded. We’re pursuing that already. If that goes through, we should be out of the weeds.
We reached out to Senator Amy Klobuchar and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Senator Amy Klobuchar sent us a stock response thanking us for our opinion but Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s staff suggested we reach out to Attorney General Keith Ellison. If this next avenue for refunds doesn’t work out, we’ll pursue that route instead.
We were also contacted about meeting with a reporter, but we'll have to speak with them more to see if our experience lines up with what they're looking for. Devin got the call while they were in class and didn't get home until 6pm so we'll be calling them back Thursday or Friday.
Again, thank you. Thank you so much. I don't know how to express my gratitude other than pushing forward and pushing my store to be what we believe in.
