Support Our Mobile Dress Boutique

High school fat girl in the 90's and the origin story of Bad Taste Boutique. I never had the chance to wear a fabulous fancy dress. Being a fat girl in the 90s meant you were automatically undesirable. I was too ugly to be invited to prom and looked over for every fancy dance. I broke free from that small town and blossomed. But that fabulous sparkling formal still evaded me.

When I got married, we eloped! Even though I wore a wedding dress, it was short. We were on a beach, of course it was! Years later, still married but longing to rock a gown, I always asked my farmer girlfriends to go to a wedding place with me just to try on dresses. The bigger, the better! But with our busy farms and need for rugged, farm-tough clothes, we never had the opportunity.

For my 47th birthday, my girlfriends threw me a birthday party on one of our farms. I seized the opportunity, ran to a local thrift store, and bought each of us a thrifted prom dress. My girlfriends obliged me; we put them on and spent the afternoon running around on the farm, barefoot and in ballgowns! It was beautiful, and it made the best memories. I will always love them for doing that for me. Farmers and ballgowns don't normally go together, but they did that day!

I share this backstory because us farm ladies are all Silkie Chicken Breeders in Michigan. We all run our separate farms but we support each other. We each have a supportive and beautiful following on social media. Friends near and far. When the pictures from my party were posted, our internet Friends loved it as much as I did. They truly are kind hearts.

I put on an Expo every August on my farm and invite the public. I decided I wanted everyone to have the chance to wear a dress if they wanted! Last year, we had over 300 people. I started shopping for dresses and my generous followers started shipping me their thrifted finds too! I was overjoyed! But it was also sad. These dresses were meant to be worn, and here they are collecting dust. Formal dresses are usually worn once and hung in a closet and forgotten about. Eventually, they get donated. And that's where I decided to save them from the boring life hung on a rack and give them a new night out! And that's how Bad Taste Boutique began!

Formal dresses are expensive and worn once?! Not anymore. I started a small business in which I offer thrifted formal dresses for rent. Guys rent tuxedos, let the ladies rent their dresses too! And let those dresses live the life they were made for!

My rental process has 2 options, www.BadTasteBoutique.com will offer online formal dress rentals, shipped anywhere in the US and after the rental period is up, the customer will ship them directly back to me with a prepaid easy return package. But this isn't enough for the dresses; they need more. I'm going mobile in Michigan! Bad Taste Boutique Mobile will be a passenger/party shuttle bus converted into a boutique on wheels. The custom bus will include a dressing room, mirrors, lighting, clothing racks full of gorgeous thrifted dresses, a tiny mobile office, and music. There are custom packages available for the mobile party bus and dress rentals. The bus will be fully stocked with dresses. Clients will choose a package with a date/time for our mobile bus to arrive. Packages include 2 hours of dress-up time for the ladies to choose their rentals plus one free rental and a keepsake for the host. Once everyone chooses, each rental will come with prepaid packaging for shipping to keep an easy return process in place. The party bus is perfect for getting all your girls together for a ladies' night out, bachelorette party, divorce party, milestone birthdays, charity events, photoshoots, or no reason at all except to put on a fancy dress for the day! We all deserve to feel grand! And these dresses deserve to live the life they were intended for.

I mentioned charity events and I want to follow up with my plans for giving back as well. My background (pre-farmer) was running after-school programs for inner-city kids. I'm familiar with their specific needs. I want to continue to give back. We know formal dresses are expensive and no child should have to sit out of prom because of the cost. I plan to work with the local schools to help identify students in need. Students who won't be able to afford a new dress can borrow from me, no charge. Imagine the excitement on the students' faces when the Bad Taste Boutique on wheels shows up on campus so they can find the dress of their dreams!

Currently, my inventory is 250 dresses with more arriving every day. We have our system for inventory, sales tax, EIN, DBA, website domain, marketing materials, social media platforms, merchant account, etc. We plan to have our soft launch Aug 10th, 2025, at this year's Expo. The only thing left is to buy the bus and get it wrapped with the logo! I'm currently looking at Ford 450 shuttle buses with a handicap ramp so everyone can be included.

How funds will be used:

Used Shuttle Bus $8,000-$15000

Vinyl Wrap w logo $5000

Custom updates for Boutique accommodations $1500

This is a super short deadline, but WE got this, with your help.

I want to be ready for the Expo, 2025-2026 school season, as well as all the fun winter holidays. This is where I need your support. Any contributions that you can donate to help heal the heart of this former fat girl, who can then heal others, would be cherished.

I will continue to update and share this journey on Facebook/TikTok @Badtasteboutique and Instagram @badtasteboutiquemobile. I also have a beautifully done pinned story about Bad Taste Boutique origins on each of those platforms.