News & Events

On a Journey
Sunday, March 07, 2010

Everything's on a journey, observes Cara Monigold, a full-time respiratory therapist, mother of two, and proprietor of a newer downtown store that on one side promotes recycled fashions and on the other creative pursuits, including belly dancing.

The latter seems an unlikely activity to be unfolding behind the JourneWear storefront at 141 N. Fourth St. but on Mondays at 7 p.m., a faithful group of women bedecked in coin belts gather to shimmy and shake under the tutelage of one very pregnant instructor, Kate Stapleton of Pittsburgh.

Monigold says it was her intent from the get-go, though, not just to open the store that she did in August - one that reflects a recycled clothing passion turned business - but to foster an environment friendly to creative experiences, too.

So that means for now belly dancing on Mondays at 7 p.m. and the return of Friday "acoustic night" from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., a free music event Old Man Winter has been interrupting, but a fairer-weather opportunity to "come in, have coffee or tea, hang out and listen to music."

JourneWear's evolving constitutes what Monigold sees as part of her life journey, fulfilling a desire to open a store in the downtown and at the same time surround herself with creative energy and creative people she said she otherwise might never meet.

"I have a passion for clothes," says Monigold, a native of Steubenville and 1994 graduate of Edison High School.

"I've been sewing for years, and I make and alter some of my clothes. Recycling clothing is such a big thing of mine. I've been doing it for years, so this is kind of a hobby turned into a store. I think having recycled clothing is such a good idea. We throw away so much anyway so if we can still have current trends in a store for a fraction of the price, I thought with the economy the way it is that a store like this would be perfect," she said.

Monigold appreciated the presence of buy, sell and trade clothing and accessory stores in Columbus where she lived briefly, and figured last year the timing was right to open one herself when she returned to the area.

That she chose the downtown to do so was no fluke.

"Well, I grew up here so when I was younger the stores were still open, not all of them, but we still shopped downtown, and the buildings are absolutely amazing. I think there's still a lot of value in what's here and what's already built vs. like a clean, sterile shopping center," Monigold said, recalling her long-ago dream intent to one day open a store in downtown Steubenville.

Monigold raves about the 3,000-square-foot building space JourneWear is in, its charm and character with hardwood floors, painted tin ceiling and its history and journey, too. It was home in earlier times, for instance, to Robinson's Music Co., a sign still hanging as proof. Mongiold said next door business owner Jerry Barilla of Frank & Jerry's shared with her a photo of the original store. "It's really cool, she said.

"The storefront window is great for display, and everything in here is recycled with the exception of my cash register - the garment racks, the display racks," says Monigold, intentionally mindful to keep startup costs at bay.

Monigold's nickel tour of JourneWear - which is closed Sunday and Monday but open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. - includes the declaration that it's not a thrift shop but instead a business that sends clothing and accessories such as purses, belts, jewelry and shoes on a new journey.

She explained how the buy, sell trade store concept works.

"My target market is 14- to 35-year-old men and women. I sell current, classic and vintage trends that kind of mix into the fashions of today," Monigold said. "People can bring stuff in. I buy based on rack levels, colors, styles, sizes and season, so they bring stuff in, and I go through it. What I can sell at the store, I price it at about 10 to 30 percent of what it would be retail. Of that selling price, the customer can get 30 percent in cash or 50 percent in trade, so if you trade you can get more stuff for your clothing."

"I still have brand new stuff in here but for the most part it is recycled fashions, and I have some vintage stuff, too," she said, noting she has received "really good" support from the business community and patrons.

She finds irony and encouragement in the fact that some other businesses new to the downtown - including Forever Young and Book Marx Bookstore - have similarities to hers. "We're all kind of like on the same line of recycling, repurposing and valuing what's already here and giving it a new home," she said of a downtown on a redefined journey itself.

The business also has artwork of local artists and one-of-a-kind jewelry, including butterfly jewelry made from the wings of dead butterflies, she said.

Monigold said "the journey" for recycled clothing is that "you put it together and match it into something in your wardrobe or your outfits that the other person wouldn't have looked the same in but you incorporated it into your style."

The mother of 2-year-old Parker and 15-year-old Sierra said she enjoys being around clothes and styling people.

"Women don't always feel so confident about who you are as a person in your body but if you can figure out how to dress their body appropriately - the one you have, not the one you want to have - to hide your flaws and accentuate your positive attributes, you can walk out of here feeling so much better about yourself. It boosts your spirits. I'm ultimately about just wanting people to feel better about themselves and the clothes you're in, and you shouldn't have to spend an arm and a leg."

Monigold's comments came Monday evening before the start of a belly dance class as instructor Kate Stapelton listened, drawing a parallel between the intent of the store with one purpose of the bellydancing class - having women be comfortable in their own skin.

"I think as American women we can be so uncomfortable with our bodies and feel like it's not right because it's not this 'Photoshopped' (altered) this is the size you're supposed to be. Belly dancing is such a great way for women with a whole different range of bodies to do these movements that are beautiful in their bodies," Stapleton said.

"Right," agreed Monigold. "You want women to feel good about who they are and the bodies they have. Look in the mirror and say, 'This is my body and feel beautiful in it.'"

It was through a customer that Monigold enlisted Stapleton, also a freelance harpist, to teach the one-hour classes that begin with conditioning and progress from there. Stapleton, a native of North Carolina, has taken lessons and performed herself. Just weeks away from her delivery date, Stapleton will continue the classes through month's end and hopefully resume them later in the spring.

Belly dancing is historically a female dance form pulling from the musical and dance traditions of different countries in the Middle East, acording to Stapleton. "Usually, it's 99.9 percent women," she said, although she knows a couple of male belly dancers.

"It's a dance class," Stapleton continues. "A lot of times what's interesting with belly dancing is that it's a very entry-level dance class where it's the first kind of dance that they've done. A lot of times it's adults saying, 'Hey, I want to take a dance class.'"

Monigold, one of the class members herself, finds belly dancing to be "a beautiful expression of what you can do with your body. Women should be proud of the bodies they have."

Class members apparently enjoy the experience that many might find an unusual thing to be happening in downtown Steubenville on a weekday evening.

Twenty-two-year-old Robyn Geier, a student at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, "loves it. I just feel really feminine doing it, and it's a lot of fun."

Suzanne Welker and Emily Wurzler, both of Steubenville, like the experience, too. "It's different. I just wanted to try it out," Welker said. Adds Wurzler, "It's really cool."

"It's fun, and it makes you fit," said Cyndie Howard of Steubenville.

Laura O'Brien of Steubenville said, "My main reason was because I was trying to get physically fit after having given birth, and I'm six months post-partum. It seems kind of gentle, not jarring."

Rebecca Weiss of Hopedale, a friend of Stapleton's, also is a post-partum participant. "I had a baby recently, and I don't like the way I look if I'm doing aerobics, but with belly dancing moves, it's really made for the female body in whatever stage it's in, whether in great shape, getting in shape, younger or older," Weiss said.

"And you don't need to come to class with a partner or have started when you were 3 like with ballet. You can really throw yourself into it without having any of those other worries."

(Kiaski can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com)