Inspired by the Kalani hand-me-down culture, pop fashion icon,/hip hop sensation Macklemore will be paying a visit to the Free Boutique this week to select pieces for his upcoming Thrift Shop Jungle line, as a followup to his #1 Billboard hit, Thrift Shop.
Kalani veterans fondly remember the Free Boutique in its fledgling form, the Free Box- a modest and unassuming corner in the long since abandoned corridors of upper Hale 2. The Free Box has hosted its fair share of everything a volunteer could ask for, from half-used toiletries such as shampoo, toothpaste, foot fungal ointment and sunblock, to elastic-waisted yoga pants, broken umbrellas, shorts with buttons missing, stained t-shirts, adult diapers, dental floss, and cheap sunglasses. All this was feared to have gone the way of the dinosaur never to be experienced again with the closure of the upstairs of Hale 2.
But thanks to innovative and “out of the box” thinking, the Kalani free culture is experiencing a renaissance. Step through the door of room 122 and into the new Free Boutique and you’ll be in the pulsing heart and soul of the volunteer trade system. Maybe it’s the feeling of possibility or maybe it’s the gently-used smell of that pleather crop top, but something about the Free Boutique keeps volunteers coming back for more. And more. And more. And more and more and more. A true cultural melting pot, this marketplace has seen the wares of volunteers from every corner of the world- from exotic Asia and faraway Australia to more frankly pointless places like Missouri, Kansas , New Jersey and Arcola, Virginia.
Not convinced that the Free Boutique is a portal of miracles? Well then, consider Bodie. He has secured a modeling contract with Macklemore thanks to his spectacular Free Boutique Fashion Show appearance wearing an audacious open-front Aloha shirt with contrasting hot red short-shorts, and oh so jolly Jungle Santa Hat by one of Macklemore’s talent scouts.
You can see Bodie in a runway show in upper Hale 1 after next Sunday’s Ecstatic Dance, which will be featuring live music by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. And while you are up there, check out the Free Boutique. You never know what miracles it holds for you.
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