About NROR
NO RHYME OR REASON ART (NROR ART) is FUN-ky fashion brand created by Samantha Gottlich
Creator, Samantha Gottlich, was diagnosed with Lupus and Chronic Pericarditis in March 2017. Samantha began painting in 2018 - creating visualizations of the pain and symptoms she experienced. Through her art, Samantha moved into her own unique abstract style of showing what it feels to have an autoimmune disease.
Always passionate about fashion, Samantha turned her paintings into "wearable art" (painting on buttons and glazing them) allowing her paintings to become a part of her fashion. From there, her love for art accessories combined with her studies connected to her sustainability minor led to the growth and path of what is No Rhyme or Reason.
Today, you can find Samantha and NROR at pop up events, on the online shop, in independent retailers, and at the No Rhyme or Reason Studio at the Winsmith Mill in Norwood, MA.
Notable NROR Moments
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Earrings
The Crafting Process
Our earrings are known far and wide - but the process of how they're made isn't as known! The NROR earrings are made with an array of lightweight and quirky materials including vintage gumball machine prizes, cake toppers (cupcake rings, cake picks, sandwich picks), ornaments, game parts, doll pieces, and so much more. These mini materials are drilled, twisted, sanded, and crafted into the earrings that helped make what NROR is today!
Clothing
Inspired by the lack size inclusivity and few colorful, sustainable fashion brands - our clothing offerings bring a uniquely nostalgic twist to apparel. For our clothes, materials including vintage bedding sets, tattered and worn shirts, old children clothing, plushies and soft toys, scrap fabric and secondhand clothes are used. Remaining scrap fabric is used to line patches made from sheets and cut into letters for our text shirts. Smaller scraps that cannot be used as interfacing for sewing projects are collected and saved for textile recycling.
keychains
In the early days of NROR, toys too heavy and large to be earrings started to accumulate. The charm and cozy feel of vintage goodies from childhood led to a lot of brainstorming for their use. Eureka! Keychains were born. Our keychains are made from everything from Kids meal toys, cake toppers, bath toys, dolls, smaller plushies, figurines and action figures. They make the gaudiest, goofiest, most iconic addition to any bag or belt loop - and they're not newly produced in questionable conditions with questionable impacts on workers and the enviroment. Sustainable bag charms - woo!
Hair Clips
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A lot of folks have asked if NROR would carry clip on earrings. Imho, clip ons squeeeeze the ears too hard or can slip off too easily. With that in mind, hair clips were created as a response to funky fashion for the face! These clips are made alligator styled hair clip bases, construction level adhesive, and a mix of everything from Barbie shoes to game pieces to even dollhouse miniatures! (They also double as tie clips.. great funky Father's day gift)
Buttons
Our buttons have two stories - with a nearly 5 year gap. No Rhyme or Reason Art's first appearences were at art shows and galleries, showcasing the paintings inspired by struggles with health. Simultaneously, I'd thrift and yard sale around for old promotional buttons to paint phrases and images. Those buttons sold at art fairs and markets were eventually used to help fundraise for the Lupus Foundation and other organizations and charities. Painting and buttons were paused once earrings became the focus.
5 years later, when visiting the goodwill bins, I noticed that folks were digging in all the bins besides books. The book bins were the most overfilled bins with the least interaction. After noticing this, I brainstormed ways to incorporate paper materials into NROR. Then buttons were born! Our current button offerings are made with vintage and secondhand books, magazines, advertisements, the little paper booklets in kids meal toy packs, greeting cards, trading cards, boardgame cards, VHS and DVD packaging, CD and Cassette packaging, and more!