2018 October Issue PASO Magazine

LOCAL LOCAL BUSINESS BUSINESS
Cotton & Rust
By Melissa Chavez
Cotton & Rust, a clothing
and home boutique clothing
store in Templeton, is celebrating
its first year of business
and owner Alyssah Goss couldn’t
be more pleased.
“No one around carries what I
do,” grinned Alyssah of her Western-Boho
fashions. “We carry
niche brands that aren’t readily
available on the Central Coast, so
I travel to Texas to hand-pick my
stock.” Her labels include Buddy
Love, Ivy Jane, Cousin Earl, Sister
Mary, LuBella Candle Co. and
Double J.
Prices range from $32 to $110,
with some exceptions, such as
handmade hide leather handbags.
Alyssah also stocks home décor,
accessories and gifts, including
hand-poured candles, wooden
signs, hand-tooled leather shave
kits for men, jewelry and hats.
“I’ve dreamed of a career in fashion,
but I just wasn’t sure how on
the Central Coast,” Alyssah said
“I hit the ground running last year
and got lucky finding a storefront
in Templeton. I love Templeton;
it reminds me of growing up in
Arroyo Grande.”
Alyssah heavily credits her fiancé,
Brett Harradence, for helping her
open the store.
“I wouldn’t have a shop if it
weren’t for him!” she said. “All the
furniture inside except two chairs
and a desk is repurposed. Brett
rewired the whole thing and put
tin on the ceiling. The doors to the
dressing room are from my dad’s
120-year-old Victorian house.
Blood, sweat and tears went into
this place.”
And indeed, they did.
Alyssah’s father died in 2016 at
the age of 57, just six years after
she lost her mother, age 49.
Many knew Jerry Goss through
Goss Body Shop, his 63-year-old
family business or his hobby, racing
sprint cars. Alyssah’s loss was
devastating but it provoked in her
the courage to launch her first
business.
“It’s been a dream of mine,” she
said. “When I was very young, I
played dress-up and Mom would
call me her little fashionista. I
love fashion; I always have. I love
making people feel beautiful from
the outside in. That’s probably the
most rewarding part of what I do.
I never thought of fashion as an
actual career but I took my hardship
and turned it into something
beautiful — that’s how Cotton &
Rust was born.”
Alyssah misses her parents terribly
but the hard revelation that life is
brief is what propels her passion.
“Why not live your life doing
what you love? And, what better
way could I honor my parents?”
said Alyssah. “Doing what I can
to help other people feel great is
helps keep their memory alive.”
38 | pasomagazine.com PASO Magazine, October 2018