Rags Restyled 4u is selling more than just thrifted clothes, its 19-year-old founder shared; it’s using apparel stitched with self expression to give clothes a second life.
“The end goal is really just to have a brand that makes a difference and makes people feel safe and comfortable and like they can fully be themselves,” Maci Shaw explained.
A graduate of Blue Springs South High School who recently got her associates degree in business, Shaw originally had the idea to start a thrift store during her senior-year business class, she said. With encouragement from her teacher, she turned the idea into reality in September 2024, just months after she graduated.
“(My teacher) told me in front of the whole class that I would be the best entrepreneur,” said Shaw, the daughter of Portrayals XR founder Tricia Keightley. “And I was like, ‘OK, fine, I’ll take my idea and I’ll get started.’”
After recently closing her Rags Restyled 4u booth at Merchant Square in Independence, she sells her thrifted finds online on Depop, Poshmark, and Instagram, plus at popup events.
“No two pieces are the same,” she said of what she loves about thrifting. “You’re not seeing aisles of clothes that are copy and paste of each other or what everybody else is wearing. You’re seeing pieces that can be made to be you.”
Shaw — who keeps all her inventory in her apartment — said she normally sources her finds from thrift store bins, a friend in Tennessee, and from people who reach out with items to sell or donate.
“I get excited whenever I find good shoes — that’s the rarest thing — especially because I do go to the bins,” she continued. “But my chiropractor gave me a Harley Davidson shirt, two leather jackets, and two Harley Davidson hats, and I feel like that was definitely my best donation or find in general.”
Unlike many other thrift stores, Rags Restyled 4u’s inventory isn’t sorted by by size, color, or clothing type, it’s sorted by style: simplistic (basics, minimalistic), alternatives (band t-shirts, emo, punk), rewind (Y2K and streetwear), chic (business casual, classy), eclectic (artsy, indie, bold), old school (90s, vintage), earthy (boho, whimsy), and country.
“Everybody’s style is all over the place, and I feel like that’s the glory of it,” said Shaw, who also is working to launch her own YouTube channel related to the business. “It’s not to give you one place to shop in the store. It’s really just to give you an idea of what you’re shopping for when you’re shopping for it.”
On top of selling her finds online and at popups at places like The Cherry Bomb Tattoo Co. in Lee’s Summit and 11th Street Vintage Flea Market, Shaw hosts her own events, she noted. One such gathering in downtown Lee’s Summit in 2025 drew 30 vendors — all thrifters themselves — and a Shoot and Shop event at Cherry Bomb Tattoo with seven vendors and a photoshoot to capture different styles. She plans to organize more this year, likely one per season.
“It was really nice to bring together a community of thrifters,” she said. “That’s another thing I want to do eventually is make a good networking community for people my age and for people that do what I do in Kansas City. I feel like that would be really good.”
This story was originally published by Startland News, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
