We’ve all felt it: We’re out shopping, and we see a piece at a store that just screams “[insert friend’s name here]”
We call said friend. Tell them all about the piece – how we think it’d be PERFECT for them – and then, if we’re lucky, encourage friend to drop by the store on her own or with you as her companion.
But, usually neither happens — you just excitedly share the glorious potential of a piece of clothing if and when worn by your friend. The conversation is meaningful at the moment, and then forgotten. We’re too busy to actually go check out the piece, and we end up buying whatever we come across on our next shopping trip – instead of taking the time to listen to the opinions of others and to shop “around” for investment pieces that help us to reach our full style potential.
That’s why I love running my own vintage clothing business. I can acquire pieces with particular clients in mind and encourage them to see me at my next sale to check out the piece. My pieces are one-of-a-kind, and so there’s a greater draw for my clients to visit me when I request that they can. They know that if I’m telling them I have a great find for them, that it’s almost 100 percent true that it’s a freakin’ GREAT find.
And, much to my satisfaction, many of my recs have worked. My client’s eyes get wide and a huge smile appears on their face when they try it on and see the magic before their eyes – even if they are hesitant before hitting the dressing room. It takes encouragement and faith to instill style confidence in others.
Darla’s Christmas gift is one such example of having a piece that just screams someone’s name. This piece was literally shouting DARLA!!! all day and night. But unlike other clients, Darla didn’t need coaxing to put on this hot number. She knew from the moment she unwrapped this present that it’d be her next big ticket outfit.
I’ve had this amazing gold sequin dress, with tassles on the sleeves and along the angular cut of the body’s bottom, for about a year. I’ve actually worn it before – so I know firsthand its potential for greatness.
It’s one of those dresses you wear once a year because if you wear it any other times among the same social group, they will undoubtedly remember the last time you wore it. It’s a stop-anyone-in-the-street dress – one of those pieces that strangers grab you by the arm to question, and then gingerly touch regardless if they asked whether it was OK to cut into your personal space like that.
Thankfully, Darla is open. She’s OK with people fingering her sequins. And that’s exactly what happened when she wore this gold baby at a NYE party in New York City two evenings ago. She rocked the hell out of the party – full of socialites and important people I could only ever dream of meeting, but of course in her dress, she couldn’t help BUT meet. They were attracted to her like a shiny pretty thing.
Thanks for networking for S&S, Dar. It was all about the dress and the SDV touch.
Darla Christmas morning. Clearly enthused about her gift, she had to try it on at 3AM.
We grabbed a shot of the back to see how her tattoo showed. Definitely catches your eye, although you can’t see it in all of its glory — it descends down her entire back in leaves.
Um, can you tell what kind of view this is? That Darla went to a party on the 32nd floor of a Central Park West & 82nd Street penthouse, 3-floor apartment with 360 degree views of the city?
She saw the fireworks. She was ABOVE the fireworks. Lesson learned: Sequins get you far (and up!) in life.
Darla: “I love my dress from SDV so much! Look at me smiling, I love it so much!”
No, she didn’t really say that. But you get my drift.
