Brookfield Resale Store Reinvents Style

Retired paramedic Paula Moylan said her career was rewarding but she knew she wanted to start a new career "on the happy side of life."

Opening Urban Upcycle, 2863 N. Brookfield Road, in July 2012 was a culmination of what Moylan said she's always loved to do — work with clothes.

"In high school, if I didn't have something to wear, I would make something new out of the clothes I had by remaking them," she explained.

While the store has racks of clothes that are a staple of resale, Moylan also has an eye for consigners that don't just make clothes, but create art.

"I'm looking for artists, and I guess you'd call their clothes wearable art, and really that's anyone who can recreate something worn into something reinvented," Moylan said.

One such artist in her store creates jewelry from bike parts, and it's all unique, handmade and something you never thought it could be, and that's the point.

Anne also is a consigner with Urban Upcycle. Her business, Trash Can Annie's, takes furniture that's old or outdated and repurposes it to give it new life. Many of her pieces help display other artists' wares, and it's been a passion of hers since she decided to stay home with her kids.

"I love Pottery Barn, but I wasn't going to spend $2,000 on a bedroom set that my kids would draw on with crayons, so I began with a set that a relative had given us. It wasn't very new, so I asked them if it was OK if I just painted it, and from then on I was addicted, full-blown," said Anne, who declined to give her last name.

After running out of room in her own home in Brookfield, she knew she'd have to consider selling any new pieces she did. Trying Craigslist first, her first item was "snapped up just like that," she said. Anne now features items on her own Facebook page along with consigning at Urban Upcycle.

Moylan said she welcomes new consigners, especially those who consider themselves artists first, to distinguish the resale shop from others. Urban Upcycle is open Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 5 p.m.