Trash Queen is an online clothing brand made by a weirdo, for other weirdos. Originally created with the goal of making something unique and interesting that is plus sized friendly and affordable, the brand as a whole is heavily inspired by punk and harajuku fashion, internet culture, and everything cute & a little bit off-putting. 

THE OWNER

Trash Queen was created by me, Paige McKinney. I'm a 24 year old graphic designer/illustrator, and I also run a fashion blog in my spare time. I'm the sole owner, maker, designer, fulfiller, everything! By day, I work as a graphic designer for a major lingerie company, and by night (and weekends!) I work on all aspects of the business--I code and design the website, write all the copy, make advertising materials, design the clothing, physically make a lot of the items, and I pack up all the items and take them to the post office! My finger print is on every part of the business, from the concepting stage of me making the clothing to me trimming excess threads off of garments before packing them up and sealing them with a cute little logo sticker to get back out to you. I started selling items under the shop name "Trash Queen" online in 2014, and started out selling just a few small accessories, intending to sell clothes as soon as I possibly could. As the shop grew, I was able to sell tshirts, and then more complex garments like skater dresses, skirts, and tights. Every year the business and my vision for it grows a bit more! 

THE MISSION

I started Trash Queen because there was a giant hole in the market, one that I came across repeatedly in my job as a fashion blogger. I always found myself struggling to find affordable plus sized clothing in cute, on trend prints--especially in regard to more alternative fashion styles, styles like goth and punk, as well as Japanese Harajuku subcultures like fairy kei and kawaii fashion. The pieces you could find in plus sizes were often incredibly expensive hand made pieces, making them inaccessible to many buyers and restricting plus sized folks' creativity and ability to quickly dive into new exciting fashion trends that they were finding online. Even in terms of mainstream fashion, only a few brands targeted towards trendy younger people had a plus sized line that was affordable--forever21 and h&m's plus sized lines were extremely popular, but even they were extremely restricted, offering only a small fraction of the pieces that their main lines contained. 

I felt that as a designer, a fashion enthusiast, and someone who embodied a lot of intersections that fashion usually ignores, I was someone who could step up and do something about this issue. I decided to make a shop using my talents as a sculptor, seamstress, graphic designer, illustrator, and fashion blogger, and launch a clothing line that not only appealed to the plus sized people that the fashion industry was letting down, but also all sorts of people that the industry doesn't focus on--people of color, transgender people, the disabled, and all sorts of people who are beautiful and deserve to feel that way. I decided that I was going to do all I could to create a unique and playful alternative fashion brand that made people truly feel like royalty!

THE METHOD

This shop is entirely run by me, from the designing process of our original in house collections, a lot of the creating and making of products, selections of supplies and materials, packaging up the orders and taking them to the post office, as well as all the graphic design surrounding the brand, and customer service! I run the business out of my living space, and work with a few trusted manufacturers and suppliers to keep things affordable. Because of the very hands-on way I run the business, a lot of items have longer production times--this is one of the small sacrifices I make in order to carry the large assortment of items in a large range of sizes for such an affordable price!

Because of this limitation, items may take up to 4-6 weeks to be produced and shipped out--please keep this in mind when ordering, especially if you require an item for an event. If you are unsure of whether or not you will get something in time, I suggest sending me an email through our contact form--I will get back to you within 24 hours (generally within one hour! I'm pretty intense!!!) and I can get you some information so that you can make an informed decision. :)

We also take custom orders--such as existing prints on different silhouettes I currently sell and color changes to existing prints. Feel free to ask if you have an idea for something and I will do my best to make something special specifically for you!