KEEP MONCTON GREASY

This week, someone on Instagram (what’s up, Romina from Toronto!) asked if I could talk a bit about our new KEEP MONCTON GREASY shirts and photo shoot so… here we go:

A few years ago, when I was living in Nova Scotia, I connected with Kat & Julie, the owners of a shop in Moncton called OK My Dear. They also happen to be members of Les Hay Babies, a band whose two albums I’ve listened to on repeat more times than I care to admit. Anyway, I just liked the girls right off the bat. It’s funny how that can happen, isn’t it? So when I decided to make the GREASY shirts, I asked Kat & Julie (and their friends, Nathalie & Alex) if they’d be up for modelling and taking a few pictures of them and, luckily for me, they were. You can see more images from their awesome shoot here if you like.

After I first posted a mock-up of these shirts on IG, a couple of non-maritimer friends were like: “Great shirt but what does it mean?”, which I thought was funny but also a completely legitimate question. Especially if you’ve never lived in the Maritimes. The answer, by the way, is sketchy. On the East Coast (of Canada), “greasy” essentially means sketchy. Or rough around the edges. Or gritty. Or even scumbaggy. As in: “That guy with the pack o’ darts hanging out his sleeve was greasy AF.” Also, darts = cigarettes.

To be clear, though I think it may already be, I like sketchy. And greasy. And bits of life that are not perfectly wrapped in an Instagrammable bow. I mean, how can you not love a place that has its own word for sketchy?! I think there’s room in the world for both the obviously beautiful things and the not-so obvious ones.

And that’s pretty much it, pals.

If you have a question - about the things I make or running a small business or anything I might have the answer to - drop me a line!

Lastly, shout out to my former Monctonian ex-boyfriend Aaron who helped me come up with the idea to make this shirt.