Fashion with Compassion: Gracewear Collection

This month's series of Fashion With Compassion, we are introducing our sweet friends Wendy Strong Lupas and Mary Strong of  Gracewear Collection.

Gracewear Collection is a beautiful and stylish line of inspirational jewerly and accessories that is both purposeful and powerful! The signature Shield of Faith design was founded by two 'real life sisters' on a mission to create a Christian lifestyle brand with an impactful mission and message.

Both sisters continue to experience the amazing testimony of God's Grace daily- and want to share the Power of the Shield with others through Gracewear. The Shield of Faith Collection is based on Ephesians 6; 10-18 and represents spiritually dressing in the Armor of God daily for all the battles that come our way. The Collection inspires to celebrate the love and faithfulness of Christ and the importance of being covered in God's protection, mercy, and grace. —GWC

The Gracewear Collection Story:

"My sister, Mary and I were inspired to start a business with purpose that gives back to those in need. The mission was a result of a very trying time in both of our lives- and had it not been for God’s Amazing Grace- we would not have endured. Mary and I felt called to share with women about the unconditional LOVE and Mercy of Christ… and GRACEwear seemed to be the perfect name. We started in lots of different directions- including a clothing and accessory line… however, the Lord continued to open and then SLAM close doors, until we developed the SHIELD OF FAITH jewelry line.

The signature Shield of Faith design of Gracewear happened completely by default- so we have NO doubt that it was a divine intervention! The beautiful symbol appeared to be a SHIELD- and we were immediately drawn to the Ephesians scripture 6: 10-18 about putting on the FULL ARMOR of GOD for His mighty protection from darkness in this world. The design that God gifted us for Gracewear allows the wearer to go thru the entire Ephesians Scripture to spiritually dress in HIS armor. This was truly a ‘God thing”- we could have never come up with this on our own!

One of the most wonderful aspects of wearing our Shield of Faith jewelry line is that women are able to WEAR and SHARE the message and meaning with others. Gracewear becomes an intentional reminder and/or witnessing tool for the wearer and a blessing to those that hear the message.

Gracewear is truly a family affair… my business partner is my sister, Mary- and at almost any day- one of our six children (or staff’s children) are found helping with anything from design ideas, helping customers in our retail shop, cutting ribbon for packaging, counting inventory… you name it- we all wear many hats to keep the ball rolling!

“Trust in the Lord God with all your heart, soul , and mind… and do not lean on your own understanding” is a scripture that keeps us going. Another is Jeremiah 29:11-“ For I know the plans I have for you….plans to prosper, not to harm, plans to give you a hope and a future.” WE live it, claim it…breathe/ eat/sleep/rest in it!! Our faith has had to strengthen- or we would not be here. We press through so many challenges knowing that God does have a mighty plan for our mission. It is not easy- and some days… just out right HARD- but the hard parts are usually just the BUSINESS of the BUSINESS (yuck!) Fortunately the true JOY and PURPOSE we experience is so worth it. When we hear how Gracewear blesses others – how it gives them a sense of peace during tough times- how beautiful and meaningful the Collection is… then, we know that we are doing HIS will- and that HE will be with us through it all. WE TRUST, WE PRAY… and we are so grateful that God has chosen us to be HIS hands and feet in this mission. Many days we say that HE has chosen the wrong girls- because somedays….we mess it up every other second- but then again- that is why it is called GRACEWEAR- and we know we have a chance to hopefully get it right the next time!"

The Compassion Part:

"The Shield of Faith Brand is expanding and we look forward to how God can use our Christian lifestyle brand for HIS glory. Our mission is to develop products with purpose that GIVE BACK to those in need.

We work with many local, national, and international ministries- however the epidemic of Homeless Teenagers and Human Trafficking are very dear to our hearts. We developed a Shield of Hope Collection and are presently working on a program to donate a portion of sales to PUREHOPE ministries – who rescue and restore victims of Human Trafficking. We also are launching a new line of Accessories called “BE SHIELDED” tag line: ‘It’s a Battle Out There!” and are going to partner with Covenant House ministries- whose mission is to rescue homeless teens and give them a safe haven and place to start over.

Gracewear recently launched a fundraising division called ‘Gracewear Gives Back’ that partners with non-profits, schools, and individual affiliates. We donate a portion of sales to their missions as well."

The Fashion Part:

"The Signature Shield of Faith design is both stylish, fashionable- yet powerful and purposeful. Wearing Gracewear is a wonderful reminder to the wearer to put on her Armor Daily and a GREAT witnessing tool to share with others. GW is wonderful to WEAR and SHARE.

My favorite of all time piece is our Cuff Bracelet- the Cuff is a stunning signature item.- However, I can not live with out my Linked Medallion Hoop Earrings… and the new leather Cuff… and the bangle bracelet- and… (sooo many) We design to layer- so one piece is NEVER enough."

How can our readers connect with Gracewear Collection and where can they go to shop?:

Gracewear is available in over 400 retail stores all over the United States and online at www.gracewearcollection.com. We are on Facebook at GraceWear, Twitter @gracewear, Instagram: Gracewear Collection, and Pinterest, "Gracewear Collection."

Fashion with Compassion: Faithfully There Apparel

We are so excited to introduce to you our new friends over at Faithfully There. I discovered their hip and edgy clothes line while perusing on Instagram recently.

The name Faithfully There came from the never ending love, grace and mercy that the Lord continues to pour out on our lives. Faithfully Their purpose is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through fashion and outreach. 

The aim is to create fashion that encourages conversations that lead to the Gospel, thus opening up a door for sharing the Gospel to others. We pray that Faithfully There will be a vessel to inspire others to live and share the Gospel.

The Faithfully There Story:

The majority of my life I gave all my attention to everything except God. When my mind and heart were wrapped up in the world, I always knew they didn't belong there. In the winter of 2011 I approached a period in my life when I was searching for something--I began working on my relationship with Christ. I was making progress but I knew I was not giving Him my heart, mind, and soul. So, He sat me down ... literally.

I’m going to take a few steps back. I'm a hooper! I have played basketball the majority of my life and continued to play after college. I spent a lot of my time in the gym practicing and playing basketball. Sometimes, I would put basketball over spending the much-needed time with God. Like I said, he sat me down. I tore my Achilles in the spring of 2012 and I couldn't play basketball for months. To say this was the easiest thing I've ever been through would be a lie. I was torn, not just my Achilles, and even had bouts of depression. I realized that I found my identity in basketball rather than finding it in Christ. But it was during that time that I was able to put everything aside and truly see who God really was in my life. This ended up being the most rewarding trial of my life.

Towards the end of the summer 2012 the Lord really put on my heart a passion to spread the gospel and to help the community I live in. I had no idea that Faithfully There was in his plans. There has been one common thread throughout my life, The Lord’s faithfulness, and that’s exactly what Faithfully There is about. To spread the gospel and to be faithfully there for our community, family, homeless, and people who we come across every day. And our hope is that The Lord uses Faithfully There as a vessel to point people to the cross. - [Kevin Perry, Owner]

The Compassion Part:

Since the establishment of Faithfully There in June 2014 we have grounded ourselves on spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and encouraging others to do the same. If people ask questions or make comments about Faithfully There’s apparel, share the gospel with them. Our apparel has an eternal message.

We are currently in the process of partnering with The House DC based out of Washington D.C. whose aim is to transform and empower the lives of inner city youth and their families through Christ, by giving them hope, a productive future, and a changed community.

We have had a great opportunity to go out into Washington D.C. this past October and hand out clothing and talk to the homeless in the community. We not only want to cloth them with clothes but also with an eternal message. We are looking to expand this aspect in the near future and continuing to grow the outreach in our community.

The Fashion Part:

All of our designs are created with the intent of spreading the gospel. With that being the center of our approach we aim to create unique, thought provoking, and eye catching designs, which will encourage people to ask questions or make comments about our apparel. And when the questions are being asked or comments are being said it opens up a door to share the gospel with that person. All of our designs have a deeper meaning than what first meets the eye. For example, our Die Daily shirt has the “i” lying down like it’s dead, the Don’t Obey People’s expectations shirt is referring to Acts 5:29.

How can our readers connect with Faithfully There and where can they go to shop?

Our website is FaithfullyThere.com. To keep up with new apparel and promotions you can find us on Twitter and Instagram @FaithfullyThere. And you can also subscribe to our website to receive monthly updates on promotions, blogs, and events.

Get some Christmas shopping done today! Faithfully There is giving our readers 15% off your entire order until November 30th. Go shop and enter discount code: MadeWhole to get your discount.

About the Author :

Carmen Miller is happily married mother of 5 and wife to Jarrad. As Founder of Whole Magazine, and Co-Founder of God Over Porn; Carmen's heart's passion is to see broken women made whole through the power of Jesus Christ.