a stylist’s postcard

I’m traveling to the West Coast this summer – specifically around the San Francisco area. While the itinerary is filled with a variety of family fun sites, I planned on carving out a few hours to explore some vintage clothing stores. Why vintage? I prefer to find unique pieces when I travel instead of shopping the brands I can find at home. The beauty of shopping second hand stores is that you never know what you may come across. Resort areas such as Hilton Head and Palm Beach can hold selections from designers such as Lilly Pulitzer, Pucci and old tennis brands like Boast. College towns are another great source for designer clothing and accessories. One of my best finds was a pair of Loeffler Randall snake heels for $75 in Chapel Hill, NC.

I had thought about what I wanted to focus on for my wardrobe if and when I had an opportunity to shop on the West Coast. Keeping a list of pieces you hope to find is always a good idea. I like checking out scarves, jewelry, jackets and dresses. San Francisco seemed like a hot bed for some fabulous pieces – with space at a premium, both women and men need to keep moving items through their closets. I imagine they utilize the “one in, one out” rule in order to keep their wardrobe at bay. When the opportunity presented itself, I peeled off from the family with my trusted companion…my iPhone…and started to follow the path to a little place called Torso.

After a healthy walk, I finally landed at the doorstep and immediately knew I made a good choice. I was greeted by the dynamic duo–Mark and Georgina. They were so gracious and asked if there was anything in particular I was looking for. Mark gave me a once over and assessed me as a ’70s enthusiast – impressive first analysis!

Taking a moment to peruse the racks is important before you hand over the experience to even the most helpful people – you may discover the most amazing leather fringe cropped jacket (I left this stunner upon seeing the price). One thing I immediately picked up on was that not everything had a price tag – this gave me pause that I was not necessarily going top find the same deals as earlier in our trip in Santa Cruz.

After I found one of my list items (crepe print kimono lined in silk) and had Mark put it in a fitting room, I decided to invite him to help me with my list sharing my professional status (it never hurts)…animal print coats? It was a quiet Saturday afternoon for Torso and that was in my favor because I was invited downstairs beyond the velvet rope! The lower level was the closest I’ve come to hitting Vogue’s coveted sample closet. Mark started sharing that many wardrobe stylists in the movie industry contact them for pieces and showed me something they sent for Sienna Miller recently. If it hadn’t been confirmed yet, I was now resolute in knowing I was in the right place. The racks were layered in no particular order, this being more of a stock area than general shopping space, but each rack represented either an era or genre of clothing.

The amount of inventory was beyond impressive. They had men’s ’20s bathing suits, full length suede fringe vests, crocheted wedding dresses, red suede over the knee boots…I could have spent hours exploring the racks but kept to “the list” and found my way out with one amazing piece that fits my cost per wear reason to purchase.

Thus far the wrap on this trip has been pretty successful. I found a killer leather jacket in Santa Cruz for $42 ~ very ’70s chic and the price was so incredible that I decided to bite on the ivory Cheongsam with embroidered roses on the front for $26. These pieces will immediately take me back to Santa Cruz and our great evening playing frisbee on the beach when I wear them, which to me is the stylist’s version of a postcard.

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Alicia McCaslin

Stylist | The Tulle Box

http://www.thetullebox.net/

aliciamccaslin@me.com

Alicia was born and raised in Alexandria, and married a local boy. She is happily married and the mother of two amazing children and one adorable and terribly smart border terrier named Dixie. Alicia has always known she was a creative. She collected editions of Vogue from junior high on and has always loved clothing and design. She studied interior design at VCU and parlayed that degree into commercial interior design, the web design, and ultimately found herself managing a local boutique and serving as a stylist to many Alexandrian women. She now has a successful full-time styling business, The Tulle Box, and makes it her business to make her clients feel great about themselves and the way they look.

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