Marnie Dashwood, founder/owner of The Mint Sweater, grew up living with her mom and sister in Ventura, California. Her mom loved dressing her in unique and fun clothes. Marnie was teased when she started school.
“I learned quickly how to dress to fit in with what the cool kids wore,” Dashwood says, remembering the heartbroken look on her mom’s face when she started to do this. “After high school, I didn’t know who I was and felt like I should start with my clothes.”
The year between high school and beginning her studies at Ventura College (where she earned her Associates in Business degree) Dashwood experimented with clothes to discover what made her feel like herself. She, her mother and sister visited local clothing boutiques, experimenting with different styles.
After college, Dashwood, her mom and sister moved to the Pacific Northwest, but she didn’t like the slow pace of rural life so she moved to Virginia to be near her father in Virginia Beach.
Dashwood started her business by writing and blogging but she wanted more. “At a creative conference,” she says, “I was exposed to business branding.” From her online business, she blossomed into pop-up shops because “people wanted to try on the clothes.”
The connection and experience customers encountered by shopping with her drove them to love her shop even more. When The Painted Tree, a consignment shop in Virginia Beach, opened, she leased a booth and her business continued to grow.
Dashwood wanted the women she served to be the face of her business. She pivoted from blogging to focus on her customers. “That’s when I came up with The Mint Sweater,” she says.
A mint sweater reminds Dashwood of the movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, about a magical pair of pants that fit anyone and fostered friendships. “I see that when I look at a mint sweater,” she says. “When you see somebody wearing a mint sweater, you know she could be a friend. Everybody looks good in a mint sweater.”
Helping women find their own unique style and have the courage to be themselves is a huge motivator for Dashwood. “I am learning to sew and design clothes, with plans to eventually design my own collections,” she says.
“I listen to my customers when they talk about clothing styles.”
“I have found my color,” she says with a smile. “If my soul was a color, it would be mint. Every touch point of the business, and who I am, is mint.” Dashwood tries not to stick to a particular style, believing The Mint Sweater has its own style.
Dashwood hosts monthly events including workshops to help women through struggles with self-expression/self-love, figuring out what to wear and how to wear it, finding confidence along the way. She has a sticky note that says, “You’re not too old, too young, too tall or too short.” She believes clothes “are meant to be fun, self-expressive and a way for us to play dress-up.”
“I’m looking to get involved through local connections,” she says. “I located in Hilton because merchants here care about small businesses, support one another and good business. It’s fun to try something new because I get to play and be creative in a different way.”
“The Mint Sweater is such a happy place,” customer Madison Bryant says. “Marnie holds events that support women and encourage them to feel good about themselves and what they wear.”
“Everything you see in The Mint Sweater is carefully selected and thought out by Marnie,” customer Jenelle Hibbs says. “She wants everyone to feel like they belong when they step into her clothes.”
“It’s easy to wear clothes that follow trends,” Dashwood says. “It’s more important to find out who you are, what your style is and what you like. I have a sign that says ‘Fashion rules don’t apply here.’ I want people to create their own style of self-expression through clothes.”
TO THE POINT:
The Mint Sweater
Address: 10345 Warwick Blvd., Unit A, Newport News, VA 23601
Contact: marnie@themintsweater.com
Phone: 757-753-0284
Website: themintsweatershop.com
