Tell us about your business.
Dorothea's Closet Vintage is a vintage clothing boutique and website in Des Moines, Iowa. On the website you'll find an extensive collection of high end vintage clothing and accessories for women, curated to offer the best of pieces ranging from the 1800s to the 1980s. For the modern fashion-minded, there are designer items from the likes of Halston, Oscar de La Renta, Thierry Mugler, Lagerfeld, Yves St Laurent, Pucci and Lanvin as well as one of a kind pieces to mix and match with a contemporary wardrobe. A serious vintage collector will find dresses by Ceil Chapman, Claire McCardell, Patou, Germaine, Givenchy and Helen Bond Carruther along side unique pieces from the 1800s to the 1930s. The website is arranged by decade, with separate pages devoted to jewelry, bags, hats, lingerie, shoes, coats, gowns and a section to view and research the archives.
Dorothea's regularly works with stylists and has been seen in fashion magazines (including Vogue, Vogue Japan, Steven Meisel, Grace Coddington, Interview Magazine, V Magazine, Romantic Homes) , wardrobers for film and television (Grey Gardens, seen on Jessica Lange...Peacock, seen on Susan Sarandon...the Playboy Club), local publications (DSM, ISU's Trend Magazine, DSM Woman, Core Magazine) and has celebrity clients including Dita Von Teese, Tracy Ullman, Sherilynn Fenn, Rose McGowan, Amy Smart and Mia Sara.
The local boutique is a little more street in it's approach to fashion. The dresses, coats, scarves, hats, bags, shoes, lingerie and jewelry range in date from the 1940s to 1980s, with an emphasis on moderate to lower price pieces for every day wear. There is a rack of menswear as well as a small selection of children's vintage. The shop highlights more introductory pieces for the new vintage afficianado, easily worn with a modern ensemble in an affordable range. Most pieces on the website are not found in the shop due to their age, price or rarity but can be arranged to view.
How did you start your business and when?
I started Dorothea's in 2003, as a new Mom with some financial hardships. I began just selling off some of my personal collection on eBay part time while working a full time day job. I kept at it, hunting more vintage, cleaning and mending, researching dates and designers, taking photos and learning how to tweak presentation to sell online. After divorcing in 2004, I ramped up my approach and began working harder at finding vintage...networking locally with estate dealers, running ads, devoting more hours to the search. By April of 2006 the online business was doing well enough for me to quit my full time job and be able to stay home with my daughter, Ava. I began building my website off-line while still selling on eBay, and by August of '06 was able to debut the website and quit eBay altogether.
In November of that same year I saw an open shop front as I was headed to the shop next door to it to look for a new/vintage sofa. I looked into the space and started wondering how it would look full of my vintage (that by now was filling racks in my apartment in nearly every room as well as the hallway). I made a few calls and took the gamble, self-financed, opening in January of 2007. Until early this year I was running both the website and the boutique by myself but have been lucky enough to have 2 fantastic, fashionable girls come to work for me as the online business grows and takes more of my time.
Why do you think customers should shop local?
Shopping local, with small businesses, keeps your money in your own community. It supports entrepreneurs, enables families to spend more time together, encourages creativity, builds friendships and networks. Better yet, when you shop vintage locally you're not only supporting your community economically but minimizing your own carbon footprint by buying recycled goods! Plus you look cool doing it.
Does your business provide any special services for customers? (i.e. borrowing for events? Alterations? Rentals?)
I opted not to do rentals or loaning, due to the nature of vintage textiles and the paperwork involved in keeping track of items. I will occassionally loan out to a fashion publication for the exchange of exposure. At this time we do not offer alterations, but can make suggestions!
Why did you choose the location you are currently at?
It was there, open, reasonably priced and once I got inside and saw the traffic I was sold! The windows are a major feature, drawing in customers on a regular basis who drive by headed downtown or home from work. The Western Gateway area of downtown is really growing, with the addition of the new librarary, the Pappajohn Sculpture Garden, businesses like Finder's Creepers, the gardens at Meredith and new condos. It's an interesting time to be involved there.
What do you think sets you apart from other vintage boutiques?
My collection is all hand picked by me. While you will find things spanning decades in fashion, there is an overall cohesion to the collection....one "eye", so to speak. Vintage is fashion in my boutique, not meant to amuse or to costume but to be appreciated for the individual aesthetic...for the importance of the design, for what it meant in the time it was created....and for what each piece meant to the person who held onto it and all the memories it represented. My shop girls are brilliant at both wearing and helping people select vintage. We take vintage as fashion very seriously and are always thrilled to share it with others!
What do you think the benefits are for having a brick and mortar shop opposed to just selling online?
Certainly it's given me a chance to meet and get to know people who love vintage face to face, and introduce those new to it to the idea. It's easier, of course, for people to buy clothing they can handle and try on. It's also enabled me to buy large estates and have a place to share the pieces that weren't quite right for my clientele online. I have a background in visual merchandising, which is something I love, so it's been fantastic to get to do that again as well!
Tell me about some of your favorite vintage finds.
That would have to be Jean's estate. I had literally just quit my full time job and plunged headlong into doing vintage 24/7. I had a call from a contact I'd left my card with....a dealer sorting a Beaverdale brick that had belonged to a woman named Jean. I arrived and at seeing the small size of the home was not encouraged....but upon entering realized that this was the home of a hoarder. Not a dirty/garbage hoarder, but someone who just couldn't let go of things. I was led to a bedroom (and informed that a few days prior, the room had been so full the door wouldn't open and had to be emptied by reaching in and pulling things out til the door would offer enough room to get in).....and shown a closet that was truly a time capsule. At the very back were dresses from the 1800s, at the closest end the most recent were 1950s. Gorgeous deco silks, feminine 30s gowns, smart 40s gabardines with cherry embellishments, summery 50s cotton sundresses. Not only did I acquire all of those dresses, but hats, shoes, handbags, jewelry, coats, lingerie and menswear but boxes and boxes of photographs and letters and newspaper clippings. I ended up with photos of her in clothing I had and a cache of letters she'd received from her mother, father, brother and friends from the 1920s to the 1950s....stories of wartime America, of ration stamps and blackouts on Miamia Beach, discussions about fashion with her mother, sweet letters from her father calling her "Lambie", letters of concern when she had back surgery in Minnesota. Within the letters was a copy of a newspaper article about her 1928 wedding, and her invitation. Had I not come across that, I'd have not realized that I had her wedding dress! A 1920s cocoa brown silk velvet with lace accents, brown shoes with deco detail, a sweet cloche....all of which I've saved with all the letters and cards. Reading all of them, and getting to know her via her family's words as well as by her tastes in clothing and styles was a tremendous gift. I like to think of her as an adoptive grandmother, as she never had children or anyone to care for her memory and of my happening upon her wardrobe at the time that I did as a sort of turning point in my career, with Jean's blessing from beyond.
Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I think that sums it up!
Shop Dorothea's online at http://www.dorotheasclosetvintage.com
Find more vintage from Dorothea's in our shops on etsy
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If you are a local business in Des Moines and would like to be featured as a spotlight on our blog, please e-mail us at shoplocaldesmoines@gmail.com for more info!
Great article!
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