Friends since elementary school and fashion enthusiasts Dominique Jones, and Maya Meredith have launched “Broke Stylelines.” This online shopping website thrives on the idea that vintage clothing can be both affordable and stylish.

“When I picked the name, I was thinking more along the lines of style guidelines [or] typical fashion rules,” said Jones, a sophomore public relations major. “So when I picked the name ‘Broke Stylelines’ I was thinking about broken style rules, wearing whatever you want, whenever. No matter the season or style you should be able to create your own look.”

Finding different clothes from local thrift stores in the area, they have a design aspect to their product. They buy items that play well into a DIY (do it yourself) reconstruction. One of the prime examples of this is their distressed denim, a trend that has been seen all over fashion blogs lately. This customized design makes sure their buyers have something unique.

Meredith is currently a fashion merchandising senior, so this project was right up her alley.

“As a team, we aspire to have our own line with our brand name and designs,” Meredith said. “Individually, I would love to link up to NastyGal and other online shopping boutiques to collaborate.”

When deciding they were going to launch, they had to decide what domain they would use as a webpage (they currently house on bigcartel.com), figure out the creative aspects and what types of looks they wanted. Then they had to go out and buy the clothes, conduct photo shoots and decide what prices they would be selling the items for.

“Over the years, I have always loved shopping for used clothes. I found the beauty in finding used vintage clothes and remaking them into something new,” Jones said. “After reading the book ‘#GirlBoss’ [by Sophia Amoruso founder and CEO of NastyGal] I began to realize that starting an online store is something I would really love to do. I would love to go out and find lost clothing items and bring them back to life for others to enjoy.”

The team has also been using a lot of social media to get the word out about their website. “Promote until everyone is tired of hearing your company’s name,” Meredith said. “You want to promote until people are either familiar with your brand or are so annoyed that they become inclined to check out your merchandise. Remember, you want people to know you exist.”

Meredith gives some tips on how to “start a business when you’re broke.” Some of her tips include things like, making sure you have a starting budget, learn how to manage it, and learn how to recycle money if you go over your budget slightly.

“Don’t think you’re going to be the next big thing since Taylor Swift. Slow down, think realistically, and shake, shake, shake, it off,” she said.

She also suggests researching similar companies, they looked at stores that started with online consignment, and see how they got their customer base.

“Broke Styelines” had a huge turnout in its first week and in the past couple weeks there have been a few sells. The goal is to eventually have a large customer base from all over.

“It has always been our dream to show people the amazing finds you can find at thrift stores,” Jones said. “I hope everyone checks out our page and finds something that’s perfect for them.”