Buttoned Bears, a Waco lifestyle and fashion blog run by Baylor students, gathered students and Waco natives together at their fifth annual holiday pop-up shop Saturday afternoon at Pinewood Roasters.
The pop-up was held on Pinewood’s deck, and every inch of the space was filled with people from the Waco community.
The Buttoned Bears’ social media advertised the event for weeks leading up to the event, and student members of the blog publicized the pop-up on their personal accounts, as well.
Peoria, Ill. senior Amanda Seaboch, Buttoned Bears editor-in-chief, said the pop-up shop was created to branch out into the Waco community. She said there are so many creative Texas-based people, especially in Waco, many of whom are Baylor students or alumni.
“This is a way that we can use our Baylor connections within Baylor to connect with Waco creatives or Texas creatives so that people can know what’s out there and get something that you really can’t get at Baylor,” Seaboch said.
Seaboch said that Buttoned Bears really wanted to push for special goods at the pop-up so that recent grads, college students and families would be able to buy loved ones amazing gifts without having to spend too much money.
There was a diverse body of Waco and Texas-based vendors at the pop-up shop. Established & Co. Apparel, Bittersweet, H & H Design Co., Second Time’s the Charm, Harper Neitzey Embroidery, Pretty on Paper and DotHope were among the businesses in attendance. Many of these local businesses were created by entrepreneurial Baylor students.
The baked good company, Bittersweet, started by Houston junior Hanna Austin, sold out in about 45 minutes.
Established & Co. Apparel is a “collegiate streetwear” clothing company that is officially licensed with Baylor and SMU, and was started by Baylor alumna Sarah Gardener. She said her business got started as a project in an entrepreneurship class and received funding through Baylor’s Accelerated Venture Program.
Gardner designs all of her clothes, fueled by retro/vintage inspiration. A staple from her collection is the “Baylor University Bomber Jacket,” inspired by ’80s fashion.
“The inspiration for the jacket actually came when I saw another student wearing one from the ’80s that he found at Goodwill, and so we just wanted to recreate it for Baylor students,” Gardener said.
Many of the vendors hand-make their items, like H and H Design Co. The owner, San Antonio sophomore Holly Higgins, makes custom handmade cards with watercolor and gold or black calligraphy, as well as custom snowflakes ornaments. She hand paints sorority letters, monograms, and sayings on her ornaments. Cards are $8 and ornaments are $10.
The two-year-old business was inspired by Higgins’ mom.
“I grew up in San Antonio and just always watching her and always grew up being very creative, but not knowing exactly what I wanted to do,” Higgins said. “In high school, I started doing calligraphy and really liked it and then came to Waco got involved with Cultivate 7twelve and started selling there, and now I am just going pop-up shop to pop-up shop.”
Button Bears’ mission is to bring creative fashion and lifestyle content to the people of Waco and highlight the amazing and creative members of the community, Seaboch said.
She said every Monday Buttoned Bears has a “So Hot Right Now” article, which features someone either in Waco or at Baylor that is doing something different. Whether it be through clothing, hobby, occupation or other element of lifestyle, the articles demonstrate there are countless creative individuals in the community, each of whom has a unique style.
For more information on Buttoned Bears, visit buttonedbears.com.
