Let's Fix Retail....

After reading the blog of another retailer, I was inspired to write today about bricks and mortar stores and the effect online shopping has had on them.

The blog of C.C. on Whyte

If you get a chance, please read her post. It is most thoughtfully written.

This is the comment I left on her post about retail shopping:

Judy, you are such a caring person to write this blog post with us small retailers in mind. It is SO true that online shopping has forever changed retail. It would be such a shame if all of the individual boutiques closed for they add to the charm and aesthetic of a town or city. They are places like minded people can meet and chat. They are where you can be inspired to find something that evokes your true self….where you get to meet the person behind the curtain, so to speak. The person who put all their eggs in one basket to bring their customers a place to dream and to shop…to touch and feel the fabrics/surfaces and to see the inspired displays that hopefully, inspire their customers. Many of my customers have become my friends….including you! You can’t do that behind closed doors on a computer. Where’s the fun/adventure in THAT?

What's it all about? It's about disappearing retail stores, some that have been here since forever. Not the big chain stores....the smaller bricks and mortar shops that were lovingly created by individuals who had a vision that they brought to reality through a lot of hard work and long hours.

If we want our city to maintain a certain aesthetic and charm and beauty, part of that should always include the retail shops that line the streets in different areas.

When you  buy from a local entrepreneur's shop, you are helping to support them and their family and thereby keeping the local economy alive and vibrant. We are helping each other that way and not putting money in the hands of some unknown entity across the ocean that mass produces merchandise at an alarming pace. When you shop online, you are putting money in their pockets and economy while ours dries up...leading to fewer jobs, closed businesses and a depressed economy where WE live.

As one after the other stores are closing in Edmonton, we are losing something great. But if we all start shopping in our own communities and city, it could lead to a much improved local economy, a more interesting city and good things for everyone, like friendships. That's always a good thing.

Colour is the New Black......oh oh.

Spring 2020 is shaping up to be a season of colours.....in particular,  mustard, chartreuse, gold, saffron, and shades of yellow that only look good on a small segment of the female population.

From a personal standpoint and as the curator of everything that is in Tattered Rose, it has been a rare occasion to find yellow garments in the shop. I think we brought in a few pieces of sunray (yellow) in the Sympli the Best line back a few years....before yellow was ubiquitous. Only a handful of our customers were interested in and/or able to wear it.

So we nixed that idea outright. After all, most women like and wear black and darker colours. Black goes anywhere and is so easy to wear and co-ordinate with accessories and other items.

We do offer many colours in the shop which are subtle shades of pink, turquoise, cream, green, blue, teal, burgundy, etc. but yellow has never been a mainstay for our shop. Our apologies to those who love yellow and wear it...nothing personal.

The only yellow dress I have ever personally loved was the one Cameron Diaz wore in that movie with Tom Cruise....."Knight and Day". It was so pretty on her but for me, it was what she wore with it (black biker boots and shoulder ) and all the action adventure she had while wearing it more than the actual colour of the dress.

So...what can our customers expect for Spring 2020? Probably some pretty colours like deep pink, light army green and blue. But we will still carry an array of black and grey clothing.....the owner has a fondness for black and grey. //(~_*)\\

The Feminine Waist

One thing that separates men and women, aside from their brains and how they work, is the shape of the waist.

As a designer and lover of clothing and history,  I know that the feminine shape of the nipped in waist is very important. It is immediately obvious and so appealing in it's pure depiction of the female form.

If you are one of those fortunate women who were born to have a narrow torso and/or shapely waist, you get to wear a corset with reckless aplomb....or a trench coat with the belt tied snugly to evoke femininity at work in a most charming way.

I personally have never experienced that due to a wide rib cage. But since this was my Mother's shape, I can live with that because I carry her around with me everywhere I go.

Besides, I get to live vicariously through my designs and vision for the shop (Tattered Rose) by showing the most feminine clothing silhouettes. 

I adore  that look of the shapely, nipped in waist that flows out to a full skirted whatever. Reminiscent of Dior's 1947 New Look, which is one of my all time favourite shapes for women's clothing and perhaps why I love dress forms so much, especially the Victorian ones with the tiny waists.

For those of us who never had or no longer have that small waist, don't fret....there are ways of giving the illusion of a smaller waist and ultra feminine shape. Seaming details do wonders for the feminine form and are always part of our repertoire.

♥

Time for Growth and Change.....again♥

Tattered Rose is my baby, so to speak. It was an idea that came out of my head back in 1998, when there was no Internet shopping to speak of and no other stores were carrying the Parisian and vintage influenced clothing we were about to be selling in our new shop. We were different (the store, that is) so it took a while for people to understand the aesthetic we were trying to share with our potential customers. 

We had to answer so many questions from those who dared to peruse our shop.....Yes, people DO wear this stuff. No, we don't get our clothing from dead people. Sorry, we only have one of that item....etc.

Since Tattered Rose was a spin off store from my romantic western store, Way Out West, there was still a hint of western influence amidst the feminine, lacy, ruffled, velvet clothing Tattered Rose was selling.  

Throughout the years, we have changed with the times and styles slightly but we have never really veered from our romantic sensibility. Even our Sympli the Best line, with all of their practical, wearable clothing, was chosen for the more romantic styles that blended well with the rest of our clothing.

The owner of Tattered Rose (that would be moi) in the last few years, has had some major changes in her (my) personal life. It took a while to adjust and to get some things out of my system, which meant that my designing took a back seat. It was difficult for my brain to even think about new ideas and sit down and design them while I was out all the time with friends enjoying my new found freedom.

But, as with most things, my life settled down again. I began to dream about clothing designs once again and imagine the endless possibilities of what could be.

Which brings us to this past week. After talking with a few of my customers, who are also dear friends, I had an epiphany. One morning, as I couldn't go back to sleep, the design ideas came flooding into my head so I got up and began sketching these clothing designs. It is a really new perspective. It is modern, urban but still romantic in a way. There are fewer ruffles...sometimes none, even. Great silhouettes and fabrics.....items that a modern woman would want in her wardrobe. From tops, to jackets to dresses and bags.....a cohesive, urban, feminine take on fashion....from my designer brain to the cutting/sewing tables to Tattered Rose.

I truly am inspired. I feel like I have (finally) gotten the wind back in my sails. The ideas won't shut off and I cannot make them fast enough. Everything I make is made by my hands...one garment or accessory at a time. No mass production.

Over the next few weeks, new items will be trickling into the store and live right alongside our existing romantic and urban wear.

God didn't make me a genius. But he sure gave me the love of creating. I am a clothing designer and I am putting my education and experience to good use. Oh sure, I have made and sold a ton of clothing over the years but this time, it seems so much more clearly defined. 

We are even considering having a website.........finally!

Stay tuned for more urban romantic clothing from Tattered Rose.