Boutique Freak

Vintage Stash To Vintage Cash

2006-06-09T00:47:00.000-07:00

Vintage Friends…Vintage Fashion…Modern Marketing Wizards!

My Vintage Baby
…Vintage Meets Modern Meets Mega Retail Frenzy!

I recently stumbled across this site on the web and thought it was pretty cool considering that two women, best friends who were moms founded it! As a custom
Boutique designer on ebay myself, I happen to be drawn to success stories of stay-at-home moms turned designers who do well for themselves. We’ve all heard the Greggy Girl and Baby Gassy Gooma stories around the discussion boards, and what’s not to love about those stories? Here’s an incredible one to tuck away into the old inspirational/motivational bonnet the next time your ruffler foot gives you problems and the baby puts cheerios up her nose and frazzled, you think, “am I crazy to be trying to do this?”

When I contacted their company, I really expected not to get an answer back. Not only did I get a return email, but the co-owner of the company, Jessica Wisall, personally took the time and answered all my inquiries!
Now that is service to be reckoned with ladies!

A little history:
My Vintage Baby, Inc. began in late 2003 as a collection of vintage nursery decor and accessories. “We helped people decorate their homes with vintage accessories, more specifically picture records (45s) from the 1940s that we turned into clocks, old ceiling tile tins transformed with vintage artwork, doorknobs had become picture finials just to name a few of the antique items brought to life again”. Customers clamored for a clothing line so, they gave it a try.

This new venture happened rather unexpectedly, and rapidly grew to include the creation of unique clothing items from vintage linens. Thus began the launch of My Vintage Baby; focusing on the use of old feed sacks, hankies, chenilles, aprons, and tablecloths to embellish their clothing and create unique one of a kind designs.

After only three short months of doing home parties, fashion design reps picked them up! They have taken one of the most chic and hip trends in children’s boutique clothing, turned the fashion reps onto it and cashed in on over a million dollars a year in revenues that retailers and e-tailers alike can not get enough of.

This is not something new, as boutique designers we all know that anything vintage is hot but I believe the way that they have done it, and in the time span that they’ve done it in truly lends itself to inspiration for the stay-at-home/design-at-home Moms that we see in our custom boutique ebay circles.

In two short years, My Vintage Baby has gained amazing speed; their designs are carried in over 500 retail boutiques nationwide including the Awe-inspiring addition of Bloomingdale’s recently! The public recognized this couture clothing line quickly as “a piece of yesterday for the hip child of today” en masse. What makes My Vintage Baby clothing and accessories different (than most on the retail market) is that they are vintage and truly one-of-a-kind. In late 2005 the line grew up to size 10 in girls, and the label My Vintage Closet was introduced, they have also added fabulous line of hair bows created solely from Vintage hankies, embellishments and materials!

When will the vintage madness end? They are truly marketing geniuses with print catalogs, a fun & funky website, and a showroom in Dallas just for merchandisers to browse their wares. A second site for a showroom is also in the works but the location is under wraps for now.

Being picked up by fashion reps was an exciting accomplishment for these ladies but not without it’s drawbacks of course. Jessica Wisall, co-owner of My Vintage Baby recommends that all of us designers with our nose still to grindstone move slowly when building a business such as theirs. She wished she's known to take it slow, and not move quite as fast. Good planning and capital to grow your business is key. She and her best friend/business partner have grown their company’s revenue to “over a million dollar company in just two and a half years.” This may sound exciting but remember ladies, we all know it takes money to make money in the designing world, and Wisall recommends plodding along with a purpose and goal in mind. Although they never sold their designs personally on ebay, some of the stores that carry their creations do.

Kudos to My Vintage Baby for turning all that vintage stash into Modern Fashion Cash!

Check them out!
www.myvintagebaby.com

Inquiring Minds Want To Know...

2006-06-03T12:52:00.001-07:00

So...are you forming a new ebay designers group? Have you just added a new member that is a high-profile designer? Have a big ebay guest launch in the works? Have you recently gotten an award or done charity work? We want to know about it!
Share all your news here...FREE! This is not a tabloid or scandal sheet/gossip blog, we are professional and down-to-earth here at Boutique Freak, so if you'd like to be included in a good weekly read with some interesting and informative, no non-sense boutique happenindgs-check us out AND submit your news for publication: Be sure to include Who, What, Where, Why & When and a contact person's name, ebay id and email and it will be submitted for review and possibly pulished here-on Boutique Freak!

Advertising on Boutique Freak

2006-06-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

As crazy as this sounds, at this time Boutique Freak is NOT accepting outside advertising for designers or designer groups. We want to remain a truly unobjective source for your boutique news. We think that accepting advertising may influence our partiality and being true to journalistic integrity, we will not be accepting advertising or sponsorships at this time.

Is Your Child A Model Citizen?

2006-06-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but mannequins and clothes laying flat on a floor, just really don't "do it" for me as a buyer, OR as a designer. Clothes are made to be worn and how can a buyer get a feel for what a dress or a twirl skirt might look like on their own child if they can only view it on a stiff dress form or even worse, sprawled out across the kitchen floor? To really get a feel for how a garment will drape and hang and move with a child, it is very important in my opinion to put it on one when taking photographs for your auction or website. Some designers have been blessed with beautiful girls and boys whom the camera adores, and are very photogenic...and then there are those of us whom have nothing but a blur on our computer screen while trying to photograph our child in a custom set that we've created as a sample. I have two boys and if I came anywhere near them with the girly things I create they'd run faster than a racehorse out of the gate! This leaves me with two options, retire or get a model! We've all heard (and many of us have used) super models of the ebay set like Chaislyn or Sophie whom in exchange for modeling and fantastic photography get to keep the garments, which is fine if you like to create things several times, for those of us who don't want to go this route, or create only one of a kind items, I wanted to share one of the best kept secrets in the boutique world! I've stumbled across a great service called Free Custom Models. These are mommy/model pairs (boys and girls of all ages) that volunteer their child, time and photography skills for FREE. (Yes, I said F-R-E-E!!) You send them your item, they model it and email you pictures and they either send your set back to you (with a pre-printed postage label you have already paid fo) or they will send it onto your customer from their home or office. What's the catch you might say...what's in it for them?? Well, some Mommies may not be able to afford the gorgeous hand-crafted clothing and accesories that they adore from custom designers, but they get a thrill out of seeing their child all dressed up to the nines and then being able to share the pictures with loved ones or maybe for Christmas cards. Some might have aspirations of becoming the next child "super model" and they do it to gain exposure, one model mommy whom is a dear friend of mine is taking photography classes and wants more practice and to spend a fun afternoon with her child doing something they both love, "playing dress up!". I would highly recommend using one of the darling models on FCM, in my experience they have been nothing short of wonderful, extremely efficient and professional and it has helped with my presentation and sales in a BIG way! If you'd like to find out more about Free Custom Models click here:

http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=freecustommodels

Welcome To Boutique Freak!

2006-06-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

Boutique Freak is The Newest, Hippest and Hottest custom boutique inside news source for designers, buyers and admirers of custom boutique clothing.

I am very excited about this new blog as I have a background in journalism, marketing, advertising and am a children's custom boutique designer as well. It's an opportunity for me to blend my interests, my talents and my hobbies all in one and present the inside scoop on all the hottest designers and the latest news on the trendy design groups across ebay and the web found~all across the country-and yes, even across the pond!

I'll be bringing you interviews with some of the top movers and shakers in the design community~tell all your friends about this blog, bookmark it and visitevery Friday for your weekly dose of Boutique Freak!

Bookmark Boutique Freak Now!