The first thing you’ll see walking into Gemma Amorelli’s shirt-mobile is a mannequin with googly eyes glued all over its face, sporting one of her thrifted tank tops. To the right, there’s a wall of earrings made from thrift shop finds. Barbie arms, miniature shark figures and Hot Wheels are just some of what she’s used to make her thrift shop art. “Made in small batches, like grandma’s cookies,” is written on a chalkboard in the trailer.
Amorelli wanted to recycle by taking used items, like shirts or trinkets, and making them new.
“I think used things are better anyways. I find way more unique things in thrifting than any mall shop,” she said.
Buying clothing from thrift stores and rebranding it was an idea that originally came from her boyfriend. He’s in a band called Plagiarist, and they thought it would be funny to buy shirts from other bands, then put Plagiarist’s logo on it. Even though their plan never came to fruition, it sparked an idea for remaking something used—Triangle Shirts was born.
One of Amorelli’s family members had a small trailer that was sitting idle, so she thought she could put it to good use. Technically, Triangle Shirts is a mobile business; all she needs to do is hook the trailer up to her car and go.
Triangle Shirts opened at the end of August and has only done a handful of events, including the second annual Fish Creek Festival in Spenard, a First Friday show at ACW, and some winter bazaars for the holiday season, but is eager to do more. Next summer, Amorelli hopes to be a part of more local music festivals and even food truck carnivals.
Amorelli is originally from Los Angeles, but moved to Kenai five years ago. She lived there for four years before moving to Anchorage.
“We all live in igloos, ride polar bears and know Sarah Palin. Also, it’s dark all year.”
“All my artistic side sort of went dormant when I went to Kenai, it’s not as conducive. There’s no print shop in Kenai,” Amorelli said. “When I moved to Anchorage, I kind of found that again.
”One of Amorelli’s common stops is Goodwill, but she also finds gems by sporadically going to garage sales or hole-in-the-wall thrift stores. All of the designs on Amorelli’s shirts were drawn by her.
She uses the silkscreening press at Anchorage Community Works through Tent City Press to print her designs on the shirts. Tent City Press teaches classes on screen printing, collagraph, letterpress, linoleum block printing and more.
“They basically had exactly what we needed; no more, no less, just exactly the perfect stuff that we needed,” Amorelli said.
Amorelli gets creative with her pieces. Some shirts have Alaska themed art on them, like a salmon wheel or nest of bird eggs, while others have witty sayings. One shirt reads, “We all live in igloos, ride polar bears and know Sarah Palin. Also, it’s dark all year.”
“I know that people love to rep Alaska, and I’m not as much like that, I do a lot of weird things that don’t have any consistency really,” Amorelli said. “I think the clothes really stand out to people.”
She even replants sempervivum succulents in discarded glass that she finds at thrift shops, like shot glasses or salt and pepper shakers. Everything in her shop came from a thrift store of some kind.
“It’s really flattering — even at events where we don’t make a lot of money or anything, it’s rewarding because every other person that comes in says, ‘Oh man, what a great idea.’ It’s really reinforcing for me,” she said.
For more information on Triangle Shirts, visit their page on Facebook, @triangleshirtsalaska.
Samantha Davenport is a student at the University of Alaska Anchorage double majoring in journalism and political science. She is 21 years old and was born and raised in Alaska. Samantha enjoys London fogs, pad thai and a good baseball tee. Samantha is the Executive Editor at The Northern Light, UAA’s student-run newspaper. Samantha is also the Managing Editor of The Spenardian, a hyper-local news source for all things Spenard. For more information, contact Samantha at samanthabdavenport@gmail.com
The first thing you’ll see walking into Gemma Amorelli’s shirt-mobile is a mannequin with googly eyes glued all over its face, sporting one of her thrifted tank tops. To the right, there’s a wall of earrings made from thrift shop finds. Barbie arms, miniature shark figures and Hot Wheels are just some of what she’s used to make her thrift shop art. “Made in small batches, like grandma’s cookies,” is written on a chalkboard in the trailer.
Amorelli wanted to recycle by taking used items, like shirts or trinkets, and making them new.
“I think used things are better anyways. I find way more unique things in thrifting than any mall shop,” she said.
Buying clothing from thrift stores and rebranding it was an idea that originally came from her boyfriend. He’s in a band called Plagiarist, and they thought it would be funny to buy shirts from other bands, then put Plagiarist’s logo on it. Even though their plan never came to fruition, it sparked an idea for remaking something used—Triangle Shirts was born.
One of Amorelli’s family members had a small trailer that was sitting idle, so she thought she could put it to good use. Technically, Triangle Shirts is a mobile business; all she needs to do is hook the trailer up to her car and go.
Triangle Shirts opened at the end of August and has only done a handful of events, including the second annual Fish Creek Festival in Spenard, a First Friday show at ACW, and some winter bazaars for the holiday season, but is eager to do more. Next summer, Amorelli hopes to be a part of more local music festivals and even food truck carnivals.
Amorelli is originally from Los Angeles, but moved to Kenai five years ago. She lived there for four years before moving to Anchorage.
“We all live in igloos, ride polar bears and know Sarah Palin. Also, it’s dark all year.”
“All my artistic side sort of went dormant when I went to Kenai, it’s not as conducive. There’s no print shop in Kenai,” Amorelli said. “When I moved to Anchorage, I kind of found that again.
”One of Amorelli’s common stops is Goodwill, but she also finds gems by sporadically going to garage sales or hole-in-the-wall thrift stores. All of the designs on Amorelli’s shirts were drawn by her.
She uses the silkscreening press at Anchorage Community Works through Tent City Press to print her designs on the shirts. Tent City Press teaches classes on screen printing, collagraph, letterpress, linoleum block printing and more.
“They basically had exactly what we needed; no more, no less, just exactly the perfect stuff that we needed,” Amorelli said.
Amorelli gets creative with her pieces. Some shirts have Alaska themed art on them, like a salmon wheel or nest of bird eggs, while others have witty sayings. One shirt reads, “We all live in igloos, ride polar bears and know Sarah Palin. Also, it’s dark all year.”
“I know that people love to rep Alaska, and I’m not as much like that, I do a lot of weird things that don’t have any consistency really,” Amorelli said. “I think the clothes really stand out to people.”
She even replants sempervivum succulents in discarded glass that she finds at thrift shops, like shot glasses or salt and pepper shakers. Everything in her shop came from a thrift store of some kind.
“It’s really flattering — even at events where we don’t make a lot of money or anything, it’s rewarding because every other person that comes in says, ‘Oh man, what a great idea.’ It’s really reinforcing for me,” she said.
For more information on Triangle Shirts, visit their page on Facebook, @triangleshirtsalaska.
Samantha Davenport is a student at the University of Alaska Anchorage double majoring in journalism and political science. She is 21 years old and was born and raised in Alaska. Samantha enjoys London fogs, pad thai and a good baseball tee. Samantha is the Executive Editor at The Northern Light, UAA’s student-run newspaper. Samantha is also the Managing Editor of The Spenardian, a hyper-local news source for all things Spenard. For more information, contact Samantha at samanthabdavenport@gmail.com
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Hi! My name is Sam Davenport. I am a freelance writer and lifelong Alaskan who loves reporting on the state’s history, food and culture.
I am a graduate of the University of Alaska Anchorage, where I received bachelors degrees in journalism and political science. I was the executive editor of The Northern Light — UAA’s student-run newspaper — for 2.5 years. During my time at UAA, I completed internships at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media.
I am the managing editor of The Spenardian, an award-winning hyper-local news blog and magazine for the neighborhood of Spenard.
I have been published in Vice, Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch News, The Rasmuson Foundation, The Modern Farmer, Alaska Magazine, Alaska Business, The Northern Light, The Anchorage Press, The Frontiersman, Alaska’s Energy Desk, KSKA, KTOO, Last Frontier Magazine, Crude Magazine, Mountain View Post, The Spenardian, Alaska Contractor Magazine, Wildheart Magazine and True North Magazine.
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