Hanging Out at Tattered Rose

"We" like to think that our shop is unlike any other...not only in what we are selling, but also in the way we present the store and "ourselves".

We strive for having a warm and relaxing atmosphere for you, our customers once they enter the store. Then we want your eyes to light up as you look around at a myriad of vignettes and racks of beautiful clothing. If you are in the mood for trying some things on, we want you to have fun and be daring....like you are playing dress-up in your fashionista-Auntie's closet.

The creation of our conversation pit, right in the centre of the shop, has been extremely gratifying, as we can sit and chat with our dear customers and friends. We talk of the clothing, certainly, but there is usually the personal side of our conversations that I find most special. To share your thoughts with another person in a safe and beautiful environment is really a gift and one that "we" do not take from granted.

Yesterday, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving weekend, two of my favourite and long-time customers/friends, were in simultaneously. They tried on some of the new Magnolia Pearl clothing....and the Grizas as well as some of our other lines. It was so much fun to share this time with these two special women...to express what we liked and what was going home with each of them. I just love days like that.

Now, if only we had a cappuccino machine.......♥

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all of our customers and friends (who celebrate) a Happy Thanksgiving.

Be safe and happy.

♥

Tales from the Attic and Real Life

Fall 2019 at Tattered Rose is one of the best we have ever had!

An abundance of beautiful clothing, from the very wearable to the the stuff dreams are made of.

It is a pleasure to bring all of this to you, our wonderful customers.

Stop by for a chat in our new conversation pit, peruse the beautiful clothing we have on display around the store.....and if you find something you love, you can take it home with you.

Wearable, Practical, Beautiful Clothing for Fall 2019

Tattered Rose is truly eclectic, which is why the store appeals to such a wide customer base....from teenagers to adults of any age....from business women to urban romantics.

This Fall, along with our more dramatic, ultra feminine, vintage inspired, Gothic, Steampunk and Victorian style clothing (that we are known for) we have some of the most wearable clothing we have ever had.

From beautiful sweaters to a varied collection of t-shirts to leather jackets and blazers. Something for everyone. Totally wearable and practical but still beautiful and romantic.

Our Fall stock is almost complete...still waiting on some new Magnolia Pearl coming next week and velvets soon! Can hardly wait.

You're welcome.

♥

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.

♥