Some of the T-shirt sizes that are offered through the business and movement, Drop the Label, are: “I am Powerful,” “I am Enough,” and “I am Original,” instead of Medium, Small, or Large. Angela Gomez, 31, and her mother, Leslie Gomez, 56, came up with the idea of starting a business that encouraged people to show compassion for themselves and for others, and to remind people that they are so much more than just a body.
“Our brand decided to replace traditional clothing sizes with positive affirmations, unrelated to physical appearance, for a lot of reasons. We wanted to be intentional about our sizes and use them to take the focus off the physical to remind people that their worth is not found in their appearance or their body. We wanted
to encourage people to choose a shirt to wear because they loved it or because it was comfortable, without the size on the tag deterring them.”
Along with empowering clothing, Drop the Label also offers small pins and stickers including one that features a small green cactus hugging itself that says “self-love cactus” and another of a corn on a cob that says “I love myself elote.” Elote means “corn” in Spanish, therefore sounding like “I love myself eh-lot.”
Creating stickers is where Gomez’s passion towards pursuing her business started. “My partner gifted me Adobe Illustrator, which I am still figuring out,” She said. “With my next paycheck, I printed 12 shirts through a local company. A couple pay checks after that, I would just make small purchases to stock more items. Once my mom was on board, she started funding the business because I had to complete a nine-month, full-time, unpaid internship for my full-time job as a registered dietitian.” Gomez has two undergraduate degrees, one with a double major in psychology and biology and the second in nutrition dietetics. She also has completed courses in treating eating disorders. “Even though my student debt tells me I should stop pursuing higher education, I hope to one day get my master’s degree,” she says.
The original name for Drop the Label was “Nixx the Label,” which happened to be taken already. “We wanted to trademark our name (Nixx the Label) and we hired a lawyer to help us with that process. Our original name “Nixx the Label” wasn’t available so we had over $1,000 of product we couldn’t sell. Lesson learned there.”
Gomez and her mother had a difficult time trying to talk to people about their business. “We got a lot of ‘that's cute’ type of responses. Although they said they didn’t want to say it aloud, I got the impression that they didn’t believe in our business or what we were trying to do. So we received a lot of inauthentic verbal approvals in a well-meaning effort to not hurt our feelings.”
Although Gomez identities as Latinx, she admits that her and her mom both have “white-passing privilege” along with “skinny privilege and several other privileges.” Gomez explained that they both identify as women of color, but they are well aware that they look white. “Due to this privilege, I don’t think we have truly faced any challenges that others in relation to being entrepreneurial women of color.”
Gomez hopes to create T-shirts that people can associate meanings that resonate with them the most. She explained that in one of their newer shirts that simply says, “My body. My standards,” the intention was to reject any and all of the standards that are forced upon people and their bodies.
“The society we live in constantly policies bodies and tells people whose bodies are worth dignity and respect,” She added by giving examples of young, thin, white, cisgendered, and abled-bodies. “We wanted to remind people that their body belongs to them and only them, despite the societal and cultural messages they are immersed in.”
In another one of their designs, a T-shirt with the words “My size? Powerful” she wanted to emphasize that “bodies are capable of so much more than physical size. That we are powerful in so many ways and that is more important than our physical.” She added, “Maybe someone is literally a powerlifter and this shirt resonates with them. Maybe someone is channelling their inner power to be an activist for social justice, and this shirt resonantes with them.”
As for the future, Gomez’s goal for Drop the Label is to be able to expand the line to inlcude larger sizes. “For traditional sizes 3XL and 4XL shirt styles are limited, and 98% of the styles are unattractive. We only want to create shirts that we would enjoying wearing ourselves.” In addition to this, Gomez wants to serve the community in some way. “We understand that a $30 shirt is not accessible to everyone, so we want to get our message out there in other ways.”
For now, Gomez and her mother both have full time jobs, but hope to get to the point where they can devote themselves to Drop the Label full-time. “If I am dreaming big, which I usually do, I see Drop the Label creating a community center.”
Drop the Label currently gives part of its proceeds to organizations like Embody Love Movement, Nalgona Positivity Pride, and Trans Folx Fighting Eating Disorders.