While more and more people have been in search for unique and original fashion and everyday life items, Etsy is becoming more popular as a result. For those of you who may not have heard of Etsy, It’s a site which started in 2005 that allows people to sell their handmade and/or vintage items for a fee of $0.20. These items include art, photography, clothing, jewelry, food, bath and beauty products, quilts, and just about everything else you can think of. This website is a brilliant way for artists to get there products out there and made available to the world. The name ‘Etsy’ came from one of the website’s creators: Robert Kalin, who stated that he “wanted a nonsense word because I wanted to build the brand from scratch. I was watching Fellini’s 8 ½ and writing down what I was hearing. In Italian, you say ‘etsi’ a lot. It means ‘oh, yes.’ And in Latin, it means ‘and if.’
For a couple of days Etsy hosted a free 2012 holiday pop up shop at Greene St. is SoHo. There was also free beer and wine, as well musical performances by artists Eric Harvey (of spoon), Izzy & The Catastrophics, Way Yes, Gem Club, The Late Show Gospel Choir, DJ Jonny Santos, The Maybelles. There was even an amazing performance on the last day of the four day event by Reggie Watts. Everyone was free to come in listen to live music, grab a drink, and if you wanted, do some holiday shopping as well, except this time you can skip the part that requires you to wait impatiently for your package in the mail. Or, if you didn’t mind the wait for shipping, there was a table with tablets that let you shop on the site.
Walking in on the day of Reggie Watts’ performance, it was definitely a good turnout, of course with free beer and live music why wouldn’t it be? The shop had a warm glow to it, there was plenty of art on the walls, and even a swing hanging from the ceiling that everyone was welcome to chill on. Everyone seemed to mingle comfortably and have a good time. Of course there was a line for the bar, but shout out to the bartenders, who worked at a fast pace, it didn’t take long to get to the front of the line at all. Once you made it to the bar table there were delicious cookies provided for anyone to take.
The Late Show Gospel Choir provided an amazing performance for everyone. With upbeat Christmas songs that shoppers and visitors were able to sing along to, the vibe was very fun and energetic. Reggie Watts seemed to have a great time during his performance, making jokes and with the audience and talking about the importance of buying from and supporting our fellow artists. He even made a song dedicated to the event. It was definitely an exciting performance. Anyone interested in purchasing unique, fun, and creative pieces and would like to support lots of artists and students should definitely check the website out at Etsy.com. For more pictures from the event check out our Tumblr page at Seclectic.tumblr.com, or our Facebook page at facebook.com/soniceclectic.