We were lucky to catch up with Becky Witte-Marsh recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Becky, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

I was interviewing a blown glass hot shop artist and business woman named Ruth for a column I wrote for Pepper magazine. During Covid lock down, the hot shop was closed and Ruth just gave up on dressing with anything more than jeans and a tee shirt. When I styled her for the shoot, you could literally see the awakening in her. She was smiling more, sitting up straighter and glowing with confidence. She told me it had been a long time since she felt that way. Ruth has become one of my best clients. We have audited her closet multiple times, sourced pre-loved items and styled her for business related interviews and television shoots. Her wardrobe is 90% pre-loved items that reflect her creative side while supporting her business director image. I have also taken into account the functionality of her wardrobe to include fashionable items that can be worn in the hotshop. I have come to know Ruth so well that I routinely source items that consistently work for her and she loves them! All fashion goals have been met including how Ruth feels about herself and it has all been done with pre-loved fashion.

Becky, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My company provides styling services and fashionable options for any project including: personal styling, fashion shoots, fashion shows, closet audits and movie, television and theatrical costuming all with pre-loved, sustainable clothing and accessories.
Not only is my business “green” and good for our planet, it also is a great creativity boost. I put my artistic styling eye to work utilizing found fashion. My goal is to bring out the individual person or character using only pre-loved items.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

As a child, all of my clothing was pre-loved out of necessity. In college I continued to source almost all of my clothing at thrift stores and garage sales. When I started working in corporate environments in the 80’s, power suits were in, so I joined the rank and file, but I always accessorized with Vintage jewelry and handbags. Others took notice of my styling abilities and asked me to go shopping with them or to help them weed out their closets. Referrals kept coming, so I started a side gig styling mostly women part time. I was a writing and theater major in college. That led me to auditing theatrical performances for costume clarity and continuity. I consulted on costume design and helped source character driven pieces that supported theater productions. That rolled into styling fashion shoots and then ultimately to producing fashion shows using all pre- loved clothing and accessories. I wound up retiring from the corporate world and am now a full time sustainable stylist.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

For me, personal referrals have been my best resource for gaining new clients. I also do pop-ups to meet new people and make a personal connection with them. I have been styling so long that I can size someone up almost immediately and begin to style them in a way that brings out their personality. I specialize in getting women out of fashion ruts and showing the world a more authentic version of themselves. My clients include women from sizes 2-22 and I strive to have vintage, designer and what I call “Funky Finds” for all of them. My inclusive approach opens a lot of doors.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @beckywittemarsh

Image Credits

Kat Day Gomez
Yvette Hartridge