On more than one occasion I've been asked by a good portion of my female fans where I get the retro clothes that I wear while hanging at my artist alley booth. I always like to look my best when representing myself and my artwork. And for curvier girls such as myself, the retro pinup style is very complimentary to my figure.
NYCC '09
Well, me being the sweetheart I am, will share with you some of my favorite stores for retro clothing. Just promise we won't show up somewhere in the same outfit. ;)
Mode Merr makes awesome stuff. Of my 'dress up' clothes I'd say about 60% of it is Mode Merr. Their pencil skirts are a great foundation piece to build off of. Every girl should have at least one. Just be careful getting in and out of cars, if you're a tall, clumsy girl like me who tends to plop down where ever she's gonna sit, you'll run the risk of busting the back seam of a pencil skirt and run back in the house to emergency sew it back together. Their tops are also great, I love the peasant tops and the 'Everyone loves cleavage' blouse with the Mandarin keyhole. It definitely lives up to it's name. My boyfriend Phil has basically forbidden me from wearing that top anywhere he is not also present, as 'the girls' are very much on display.
I've actually have worn Mode Merr so much that I was asked to take part in the upcoming Mode Merr Fashion Spectacular in Brooklyn on April 25th! Sooo excited! If you can come out I highly suggest it- it's at the Bell House in Gowanus, Bk which is a great venue (with an awesome bar) and they have all their current stock on sale along with uber-cheap clearance items a fashion show for their upcoming new stuff and an AMAZING burlesque show featuring acts like The World Famous Pontani Sisters, Miss Delirium Tremens and Dirty Martini. Sooo excited!!
Other stores:
Babygirl Boutique - Unstoppable Quickening Retro, Rockabilly & Indie Clothing, Jewelry, Shoes & Accessories!
Babygirl Boutique has alot of cool jewelry and a wide variety to their stuff.
Stop Staring! is my go-to brand for when I've gotta get uber-dressy, like for weddings, dinners and various other fanciness.
Daddy O's was one of the first stores I went to for my retro-inspired shopping. Not only do they have alot of great dresses (some Stop Staring! dresses are cheaper here than on the actual SS! site) they also have alot of guy clothes, particularly lounge and work shirts. Phil gets stuff from here regularly.
Pin-up Girl clothing has some AWESOME STUFF. Great selection, a bunch of exclusives, one of the few stores I can shop at where I know stuff will usually fit me without getting it tailored to my hourglassy figure.
***** I have yet to actually buy anything from any of these stores, but I PLAN to: *****
GORGEOUS formal dresses from a variety of eras.
Where I plan on getting my wedding dress one day.
Suuuper cute swing dresses with very full skirts and crinolines. I've seen them in person and they're beautiful.
So wait! Now that you have all these uber-hot pin-up clothes, you gotta get the foundation garments to wear underneath to get that va-va-voom hourglass shape!
Girdlebound has some great selections on bullet bras, waist cinchers and girdles at totally decent prices. I know I rarely go out in pin-up style without my RAGO waist cincher.
There's also Secrets in Lace (who has a betty Page AND Dita Von Teese collection!) and Dirty Dolls Lingerie, who make excellent vintage style underthings that are a wee bit out of my price range at the moment. ;) But one day....
These are all the stores I can think of off the top of my head. If you have more to suggest by all means leave a comment!
Hiya, Paigey! I remember you (and your awesome outfits) from King Con. My name is Rachel Freire and I work at Jim Hanley's Universe in Manhattan. They're putting together a signing for "Ladies in Comics" the Thursday before MoCCA and I was wondering if you'd be interested in signing! Please email me at RVFreire2@yahoo.com. Thanks!
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