I Am So Not Cool (689 Dr. MLK St N, Suite B), a vintage clothing and gift shop, will celebrate its grand opening on Thursday, February 6, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Uptown Eats will supply scrumptious mac and cheese, Wide Sky will give away totes, air fresheners, and key chains, and Will Crum and The Dirt Bags will perform folky rock. Flower, tarot, and henna vendors will also be on hand, offering beautification activities and even a little fortune-telling.
The debut of I Am So Not Cool marks a significant milestone for owner Cheryl Howell. Having built her reputation at markets for years, Howell is excited to open her brick-and-mortar shop—a welcome revival for boutique vintage wardrobe stores. Her shop operates by the motto: “Affordable, sustainable, and giftable.” Local art and artisanal crafts make up the giftable items, while affordable, sustainable clothing spans decades of style.
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Curiously curated clothing racks
Rather than organizing clothes strictly by era or style, Howell curates items into playful groups like the “pastel rack” or the “pirate energy rack”—a nod to the Gasparilla spirit. The “Valentine rack” features slips, satin, velvet, and strapless dresses that evoke a lacey joie de vivre, while for men, there’s even a “Burt Reynolds rack” stocked with button-down western snap shirts. Sometimes sections are curated by color and sometimes by pattern, making shopping at I Am So Not Cool an ironically very cool endeavor.
Howell’s love for vintage began with her grandmother’s button tin. She recalls marveling at where each button came from and joking that she loved them so much that she once lodged one up her nose. “I wanted it to be part of me,” Howell chuckles. Memories of her grandmother’s closet—sequins, lace, leather, pleather, and myriad textures—fueled her passion. “I pretended to be Elizabeth Taylor,” she says, a sentiment that eventually evolved into a tangible reality. I Am So Not Cool is now St. Pete’s newest addition to the vintage clothing scene.
Follow I Am So Not Cool on Facebook for updates and more details on future events.
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