When deciding what to cook you turn to Ina Garten and Wishbone Kitchen. When you’re in the mood for a romcom you watch anything that Glen Powell’s cooking up these days. It’s just what you do. When you’re in need of a vintage fashion-fix, you turn to Grace Brinkly. The 25 year old from small-town Lewiston, Idaho has gained a cult following obsessed with bingeing her latest thrift finds. I had a chance to chat with Grace about all things fashion, the creator space, and why her ultimate goal in life is to make a claymation.
Starting off strong. What is your guilty pleasure?
Grace Brinkly: I feel like my current guilty pleasure is, and it’s crazy, but trad wife rage bait on Instagram Reels. I watch to just get mad and observe them but it’s definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. I like exploring crazy sides of the internet.
What do you think of when you think of home?
GB: I think of Idaho and I think of the cold. I also think of my siblings because all my siblings are still there and they’re what I associate home to be.
What’s one skill you wish you could instantly master?
GB: Sewing and cooking. I cook a lot but sewing is so daunting to me and I wish I could just get it because I know it’s going to be such a frustrating road. I’m always taping things and pinning things to my clothes like “let me see if I can create this without having to sew.”
What’s the most random thing on your bucket list?
GB: I have only one thing on my bucket list: to make a claymation. I’ve been obsessed with claymation since I was a kid. Five years ago I wrote it down and was like “one day I’m going to make a claymation” but it takes so long I need like a year of my life to dedicate to it.
Where do you get your eye for fashion/styling and what do you take inspiration from?
GB: I feel like this is the hardest question for me. I think I was actually born with an obsession with clothes and fashion. I don’t know where it comes from, my family is so not fashionable and I didn’t grow up around anything like that.
I was also on Tumblr a lot, but I think my eye has evolved from just growing up being in a thrift store and spending physical time with clothing and getting to know clothes. I don’t really consume any fashion content but if I had to say where my visual inspiration comes from, it’s old movies. I was obsessed with 80s movies in high school.
What movies influenced your fashion choices?
GB: I loved Heathers. I feel like my answer is always Heathers. I also loved Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, specifically the sister. I just remember pausing and being like “I love what she’s wearing.”
Getting into the Nitty Gritty, what sparked your move to LA and how has it affected your work and personal style?
GB: I genuinely moved here just because it was warm. I came here for an event and was just like “I want to be here,” it wasn’t even the career of it all I just wanted to be in the warm sun.
For the first year here it definitely made my style worse. I loved Idaho because it was so easy to know what I was doing was me, because I wasn’t really comparing myself to anybody. For the first year I experienced insecurity here that I hadn’t had in so long so I think my style got a little less risky. But now, I feel inspired by those around me and I love that there’s a reason to dress up here.
What are some of your creative passions and how are you actively developing them?
GB: Fashion is always a creative passion of mine and the way I pursue that is through selling clothes, thrifting, xyz. Fashion is my number one hobby, it’s kind of all encompassing.
Tell us about your vintage shop. How did it come to be and do you have any updates on next steps?
GB: I actually closed the physical store a few months ago. I was located in a loft space above a rug shop where my friend Cesar works. We had connected about a year prior when I posted a video promoting his shop that went viral and really helped their sales. He later suggested that I move my vintage store into this space as a way to generate more sales. Sadly there was very little crossover in our markets and I felt guilty remaining in the space free of charge, if it wasn’t benefiting Cesar. I’ve been selling vintage for 10 years now, starting out of the trunk of my car in my high school parking lot. So getting to have a physical shop was a really crazy experience, one that I hope to have again. But I also learned that at this point in my life I really prefer selling online. I left with an insane amount of admiration for brick and mortar business owners!
Who are some of your favorite creators right now? (fashion or otherwise)
GB: I really don’t watch fashion content, I truly like to keep my brain clear of other people’s fashion ideas because it will really cloud my judgement and make me second guess myself. I hate when I find a new fashion creator and they’re not wearing anything over again. I’m like “wear it again, you don’t love your closet.” It makes me want to consume when I watch that type of content because I feel like I always have to keep up.
This girl [@Kelitarosita] makes crazy food, she makes weird food out of things she has in her fridge. Like she turned her leftover pizza into sourdough bread and will see how many times she can bake her food.
The other person I watch is Doorknob Girl. She’s always doing weird crafts like she made homemade crayons.
A fashion content creator I do watch and think is really cool is @alwaysdressedbest. She’s an IG reels girl, and she’s a college student that makes fashion content. It’s not necessarily something I would pull inspiration from which is what I like, she has a different style than me but is so true to herself. It’s so rare to find that online which I think is really cool and I like people that inspire me to stay myself.
If you could have your followers take away one thing from watching your videos, what would it be?
GB: I would say to rewear things in your closet. I have things that have been in “GRWMs” for like three years straight and I’ll still pull them out. I used to feel weird and embarrassed about that but that should not feel weird and I don’t want people to feel that way about rewearing things. So I would love for people to take away that they should love their closet and their clothes are meant to be worn. Wear them until you can’t anymore.
What’s next for you? Whether that’s what you have happening next week, in your career, or in life in general?
GB: I feel like a different person is in charge of me everyday when I wake up so I never really know what’s going to happen. Long term I’m getting the vintage store more established and creating a website, and possibly getting back into styling. I used to do style bundles which is how I got my start so I’m planning on relaunching that. Besides that I’m a very day-to-day person, I have no idea what I might get up to tomorrow.