Let’s face it. It’s a Saturday Night and you’re going to a party. You shower, open your closet doors, stare into the abyss, and think to yourself “I have a full closet of silk tops here”, and absolutely nothing to wear tonight. Maybe the fact that you’ve seen them hanging in there for weeks now has made their novelty worn off, or maybe you simply brought them to school from home, and they sit there, unworn.
For a busy student with a college-budget, a quick run to Bloomingdales every time you’re having one of these fashion crises is out of the question. As is the haul to the Salvation Army with the suitcase full of old clothes that your mom says you need to give away before you buy anything new. Lucky for us, Columbia University Alumnae, Carolina Garcia and Alexa Varsavsky, the faces behind the new fashion start-up, Modabound, decided to turn the very art of raiding your best friends closet into a bustling fashion market place—all from the comfort of a few clicks on your MacBook Pro.
Carolina and Alexa describe Modabound as a “social marketplace that organizes, expedites, and enlivens thrift shopping, for the stylish, broke, youth. A simple, comfortable way of obtaining fabulous clothes from the people you know.” Modabound is a college-based website where you buy and sell clothes from the people around you: a “Craig’s List” for fashion that is a lot less creepy and a lot more useful. You sign in with your college email account, and the site hooks you up with all other users from your campus. Those around you who are registered can then snap photos of their clothes, accessories, or jewelry, upload them from their computers or mobile uploads (it’s also connected to your Facebook!), tag the items and set the price. You do the same and suddenly your mini fashion crisis is on its way to being resolved. Not only are you selling things you don’t want anymore and buying things you do, but also it doesn’t require a credit card, boxes, waiting in line at mail services, or any of the other hassles of online shopping. You can choose when you receive your purchases and when you give away the one’s you’ve sold. All you do is contact the person who wants to sell you their item or buy yours via a commenting system on Modabound.com, and you meet somewhere convenient to do the transaction: perfect Butler study break, anyone?
Since its launch on the Columbia Campus, Modabound has acquired 120 users in 10 days and looks forward to having the community expand. In hopes of getting Columbia and Barnard students excited about Modabound, and shopping and saving money like its never been done before they have a raffle going until Thursday. If you like them on Facebook and sign up to the site and post one item for sale you get the chance to win 150 dollars to your favorite store! Furthermore, if you purchase something on Modabound, snap a picture of it, email it to lianagergely@hercampus.com, and we will feature you as our campus style trendsetter of the week! Get shopping girls!