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I’m Melanie. I’m a designer, storyteller, and lifelong lover of vintage. I’ve always been drawn to pieces that carry energy and memory, with a little bit of soul in every stitch. For almost twenty years, I’ve been running my shop, Retro Kandy Vintage. I’ve spent a lot of time searching for clothes that tell the truth about where they’ve been. Somewhere along the way, I realized I was trying to do the same thing with myself.
I’ve worn many roles over the years as a business owner, artist, partner, and mother. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I started to wonder which parts still felt like me. That’s where UNfashioned began. It’s my space to slow down, reflect, and talk honestly about what it means to let go of who you were so you can become who you really are.
UNfashioned is where fashion meets feeling. It’s raw, personal, and the most honest work I’ve ever done. It’s about unraveling what doesn’t fit anymore and learning to rewear what was always real.
SEASON 2 W'26 - STORY 5 The Closet Between Seasons
00:00:07 The Closet Between Seasons: Hi, I'm Melanie and this is UNfashioned, a podcast about unravelling what no longer fits and rewearing what was always real. The last story of the season took me a lot longer to write than I had expected. I had so many ideas about what it should be. I started writing one version and crossed out most of it. Then I tried writing from another direction and gave up on that too. At one point I looked at my notes and I realized I had pages of thoughts and ideas, just small fragments of things I wanted to say, but no clear place to begin. As I sat there trying to disentangle all of the ideas I had for this story, it finally made sense to me. Since November, that's really what this whole experience has been. A slow unraveling, a slow untangling. Not the kind where everything suddenly falls apart, but a more softer, slower kind. The kind that happens when you start paying closer attention to your own intuition and your own life. When this podcast began, I thought I simply was telling stories about life through clothing and the way garments carried memories and meaning in the ways that we rarely stop to notice. But in the middle of all this, I realized something else was happening. The unraveling wasn't just in these stories. It was actually happening to me. Each episode unraveled another thread I thought I hadn't examined before, a role I had been wearing for years without realizing how tightly it fit a belief I had carried for so long that it had started to feel almost permanent. Reading your comments and listening to people's opinions and ideas made me understand more clearly that this is a story about the lives of many people, not just me. So once we start pulling at these threads, we begin seeing things differently. We start noticing the small details we used to overlook. The expectations we've been carrying, the habits that quietly shape the way we show up in the world. The parts of our lives that we've been wearing automatically, simply because they've always been there.
00:02:37 The Closet Between Seasons: We might not just have an epiphany all at once, but we do begin to unravel the threads of our lives. As they unravel, they slowly connect and accumulate little by little, until eventually we find ourselves looking at our life with a new kind of curiosity. Which brings me to the other day. We had a moment of warmer weather here in western PA, and I was looking at my closet for something more spring like to wear. If you have ever lived somewhere with real seasons, you know the moment I'm talking about. The weather softens just enough that winter suddenly seems like it's behind you. One afternoon, you open the closet and you realize that the warm, heavy things don't belong anymore. The sweaters that got you through January suddenly feel too warm. The boots that carried you through the snow look out of place. And so you start pulling things down and reorganizing. Standing there doing that, I realize how much the last two seasons of this podcast have felt like that exact process for me. Season one started with the closet itself. Just opening the door and looking honestly at what was hanging there. Looking at the life I had built. The rules I had stepped into overtime. The pieces that felt familiar because I had been wearing them for years. Some things still fit beautifully. Some things I realized I had outgrown. And some things I began to understand I had never really chosen in the first place. That's when the unraveling began. Season two took that curiosity a little deeper. Once you start looking closely at your life, it's hard to stop. You begin noticing the details you once overlooked. The ways you've described yourself for years. The expectations you carried without realizing they were there. Writing these stories changed the way I see things. Every episode made me pause long enough to notice something new. I didn't know about the life I had been wearing. Sometimes it felt exciting. Other times it felt uncomfortable. But more than anything, it felt clarifying. Because unraveling when it happens slowly and honestly doesn't destroy your life. It helps you understand it. It helps you make the necessary changes you have discovered. You begin seeing each piece more clearly. The choices that shaped you. The experiences that strengthened you. The places where things stretched you thin, and the places where they held strong. And eventually you find yourself right back where you started. Standing in front of that closet again. But this time, something inside of you has shifted. The closet hasn't changed. But you have. Now, when you move things aside and make room for the new season, it feels less overwhelming. You're not trying to hold on to everything anymore. You're simply choosing. Keeping what fits the life you're living now. Letting go of the pieces that don't move with you anymore. And appreciating the fabric of the life you've built along the way. That's what unraveling has been for me. Not pulling everything apart. Just paying closer attention. Understanding the threads and learning slowly how to wear the life in a way that feels more honest as the seasons change.
00:06:36 The Closet Between Season: Before we end this season, I want to leave you with a quiet invitation. Take a moment sometime soon and stand in front of your own closet. Not just the one with clothing in it, but the one that holds the life you've been wearing. Look at it with fresh eyes. Notice what still feels like you. Notice what feels a little tight, a little heavy. Or maybe just a little outdated. Notice the pieces that have carried you through the hard seasons, and the ones that are ready to be folded away. You don't have to change anything unless you choose to. Sometimes reflection is enough. Sometimes simply noticing is where the unraveling begins. And if these stories have done anything, I hope they've helped you pause long enough to see your own life a little more clearly... and maybe even appreciate the fabric of your own life. Thank you for spending the season with me. UNfashioned will be back this summer with season three, and I'm already looking forward to continuing this process together. Until then, take care of the life you've been wearing and wear it well.