Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Make Music Madison 2017

We're participating in a city-wide event called Make Music Madison where over 400 bands play throughout the entire city!  We're featuring 4 different artist June 21st, here's our lineup:

12pm Jourdin Hines - Acoustic
1pm Brian Jurczyk TBA
2:30pm Matty and the Hitman - Folk/Indie Rock
5pm Jacob Grace - Guitar/Vocals


Also, our lovely Amy Lang did an amazing window display that you just have to check out, and we're handing out $5 off coupons!



See you June 21st!



Saturday, June 10, 2017

Festival Season

It's festival season world wide, but most importantly, it's finally festival season here in Madison,WI. Marquette Waterfront Festival is considered our first festival of the season.  Sure there are little fests all over town, and we don't want to discredit them because they are fun as all get up!  However, the Waterfront Fest (a.k.a. Yahara Fest) is a festival where you can kayak, canoe, or pontoon up to the shore of Yahara Place Park and listen to tunes for 2 days on June 10th and 11th.  You can bike or walk to the festival and put out a blanket as well to enjoy the music.  Check out their webpage for more info on the festival as well as their Fool's Flotilla Parade at this site.

Festival season comes with a whole set of it's own fashion trends and here in Madison we are the epitome of hippy chick festival wear!  Coachella may be one of the more well known fashion festivals, but in Madison we rock hippy clothes year round, it just hits peak level during the summer months when festivals happen to be lighting up our little neighborhoods.

Festival fashion - think quirky hippy gear and there you have it!  At Upshift we have a store full of fashion that will fit right in at any festival; fringe, flowers, beading, leather, and flowing fabrics.

High-waisted short-shorts with a flowing beaded top and a straw hat with military boots.  Boom. Festival.

Floral gaucho pants + flowing top + thick sole tennies + flat brim hat - bra = festival gear

Tribal print flowy pants, crochet trim top over a swimsuit, finished off with platform espadrilles 

Hippy skirt with a tube top swim top and leather huarache sandals, so festival!

Upshift: Up Close and Personal

We're knocking down the 4th wall for this blog and I'm going to speak first person so you get a better understanding of where we're at at Upshift! I love blogging for Upshift, it serves so many purposes that my other social media does not; the blog gives you, the reader and loyal customer, a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes of Upshift and what makes us tick.  I get to be super candid with my blog and use wording and a vernacular I wouldn't ever use on my very public social media; Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Those platforms are reserved for a more professional and polished attitude. On this platform I can talk about how much we love fashion and drinking wine and cocktails as well as any triumphs or struggles regarding Upshift.

With that said, it's kind of obvious that I haven't had time to blog in a while.  There are so many reasons, but mostly because owning a business keeps me on my toes and constantly on the go.  Additionally, I am an instructor in the Fashion Marketing Program at Madison College and teach anywhere from 25-75 students in any given semester.  When I'm not keeping Upshift going or teaching on campus I'm teaching in the Madison Metro School District as a substitute teacher (which I totally love doing more than anything).  At this point it might sound like I'm telling a sob story on why I don't do more to connect with my customers or even an excuse as to why I'm not more visible at the actual store.  It's not that at all, I'm sharing everything I do because believe it or not all the amazing things I do in my life are interconnected, if I'm teaching at Madison College I'm interacting with future employees that could work at Upshift, additionally I'm using Upshift as a teaching platform so students can practice their craft in our store.  When substitute teaching I'm connecting with the community that shops and supports local businesses.  I run into fellow teachers and students at Upshift all the time.  So, beyond all of this, Dustin (my badass other half) and I have a super healthy social life.  We spend every second away from Upshift talking about Upshift!

Alright, so here's the scoop, it's SUMMER holiday break and I'm not teaching June through August so be prepared for much more of a social media presence.  Starting with my next blog post about festival season!

With all of that said, Upshift is doing great thanks to all you amazing people that support us.  In order to keep moving forward please spread the word (our best advertising!) so more people come through our doors.  The more people that come through our doors guarantees we'll keep fresh inventory and it'll keep our mission alive!

Peace, love and be fabulous!
Lindsay