Hello dolls!!
I am so excited to introduce you to a new series on small businesses featuring women entrepeneurs. I happened upon this delightful woman on Instagram as @thevintagestylist where she sells an amazing array of vintage clothing. Naturally I was hooked. A friendship soon developed and now I want to share her story with you as she opens her new shop Flappery Company. Here is Janice to tell you more about this exciting new endeavour!
BACKGROUND and INSPIRATIONI started selling vintage items at 5 years old with my mother. We would pile items into the back of our station wagon and rent a booth at the flea market every other Saturday. We held a booth there for 2 or 3 years, but later stopped doing it until we purchased our brick and morter shop in 1997 and ran it until Mom retired in 2015.
I really didn’t care for vintage items as a younger kid. Several years ago, mom bought 5 vintage 1950s dresses from a gal at our shop. I didn’t care for them at all. (I was 23 at the time) I got irritated with her and told her to donate them. But, she bet me a milkshake (our usual bet) that they would all sell. She pulled out a small special rack and stuck them right next to our cash counter. She sold every one and sold them quickly. That was truly when I perked up on vintage seeing I could turn them quickly for a great profit. My love affair has grown leaps and bounds since then. I have now been doing it for over 30 years and just love it.
WEARING IT and LIVING ITI began modeling in vintage styles about 5 years ago for some local photographers. I then connected with a local paper and was hired to write a vintage column which I did for about 2 years. During that time my individual style for vintage began to blossom. I started learning how to do my hair and make up in styles from the periods and with my vintage collection at my shop I was easily able to put together the look. My favorite era has always been the 1950’s. I adore Dior’s New Look and watched I Love Lucy with my mother every day at lunch since childhood. I was always enamored with her style and it simply stuck with me. As I have grown older I now am really loving wearing items from the 1940’s too. My favorite label is Bonwit Teller. I am totally in love with everything they offer from the 40s through the 60s. (although they were around through the 1980s). Here I am in my favorite 1950’s dress (also a Bonwit Teller dress) while I was hosting human vintage models in my friend’s front window during a special event. There were 7 of us in the front window all in different era’s. It was a wonderful event and the public enjoyed it so much we made press.
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