Photo courtesy of The Neighborgoods

DC residents have seen a significant shift in pandemic response over the last few months. Now that most retailers, restaurants, and DC apartment buildings are requiring patrons to wear face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Washingtonians are using this as an opportunity to demonstrate their individuality and help support local brands.

While a number of the local mask sellers below offer really unique and creative designs, you can also check out your local Dry Cleaner or drugstore for more traditional masks.

Atelier Nomad

This mask designer creates cute, feminine, lightweight designs perfect for summer. For each $22 mask purchased from Atelier Nomad, the owner will donate a mask to a local DC organization (currently over 100 masks have been donated to St. Elizabeth’s hospital and Everyone Home DC). Their two and three-layer masks are reusable and machine washable though not ‘medical grade’. The important thing though is they keep your nose and mouth covered to prevent contamination.

BicycleTrash

The Northeast DC store BicycleTrash sells homemade gifts for bicycle lovers (and beer enthusiasts). Goods and accessories are made by the owner, using original designs from locally-sourced spare bike parts. Recently, face masks were added to the collection so you can cycle the city safely! Check out their instagram page for updates.

The Neighborgoods

The Neighborgoods has some great masks! A few weeks ago they were donating a portion of their sales to Color of Change, now it looks like donations are going towards Parkinson’s research. So you can buy local at the shop on 8th Street NW and help support these causes. Win win!

In addition to these three local retailers, you can also find masks made by Washingtonians on Etsy (etsy.me/18SuFUW), Handmade-facemasks.com (can ship to you directly or you can pick up in Georgetown), and Custom Ink. Though CustomInk is a national brand, they are actually headquartered in the DC area. When the pandemic first hit, many employees were laid off but in the last few months they pivoted away from the standard t-shirt and rehired most of the team to help with the creation, marketing, and sales of face masks.

ATTIC

If you prefer to use a single platform to search for all the different Washington face mask sellers, check out Attic — a platform that aggregates independent stores, dealers, and designers in various US cities.