Shop Talk: The Dresser's Room

I think I have only ever done a post about shopping in Glasgow once. That's because for the most part it sucks. Allegedly the next best shopping destination to London within the UK, I have to assume that the person who wrote that has clearly never been to both cities. They simply cannot be compared. I will admit that Glasgow is probably the best shopping destination in Scotland, but to even suggest it comes close to London is ridiculous.

I will admit too that it does give exceptionally good high street, but even that is suffering from the recession as I watch shop after shop close their doors. Pound shops are doing a roaring trade though and appear to pop up the length and breadth of Argyle Street daily. However, when it comes to supporting small, independent boutiques the extortionate rent/rates and general lack of support is usually enough to drive them away, leaving boutique shapes holes all over the city.

Needless to say I was thrilled to walk into The Dresser's Room at the weekend, which is located a stones throw from my house. A vintage boutique, but not in the usual piles of polyested shirts, vintage track tops and dreadful 80's prom frocks style. 

The Dresser's Room is a much more refined affair, with a perfect selection of higher end vintage ranging from the Victorian era up to the 80's. After having a long bitch fest about the state of Scottish fashion with charismatic owner Jade, I came back and took some photos and got her to answer some probing questions.

How long has the shop been open for?
The shop has been open since 2nd of April which was the launch night, so just over a month now!

What's your background? Have you always been in retail or is this a new venture?
This is my first foray into retail; my background is in fashion journalism and styling and I run my own personal shopping and styling business, The Dresser. Loads of my clients in Glasgow were looking for really good quality vintage evening wear and there just wasn’t anywhere in Glasgow catering to that market. I was sourcing high-end vintage from all over the world for clients, so it seemed like the sensible thing to open a shop! Glasgow has so many great vintage shops where you can go and pick up something cute for £20, but to get the really high end stuff was impossible, so that’s what The Dresser’s Room really focuses on; beautiful, immaculate vintage.

Why did you choose the Southside as opposed to, say, the west end as a location?
Personally I think the west end has more than it’s fair share of vintage shops and I generally struggle to differentiate between them; it’s more retro as opposed to vintage I’d say. Also, as a south side native I was sick of always having to drag myself across the city to the west end to find vintage and more often than not come away empty handed. The Dresser’s Room is special, and I felt that the south side was the best location. Shawlands is really coming up in terms of the businesses that are starting to open here, so it made sense.

Everyone loves to say they are wearing vintage, but I feel somewhere along the line the definition of vintage has been lost, and has become the blanket term for second-hand. How do you define vintage?
“Vintage” is the most over-used word in fashion; people seem to apply it to everything now and it is so tiresome. True vintage clothes are at least twenty five years old; that doesn’t mean that some nylon 1960s horror is vintage, it might be old, but that’s all it is. I’d class vintage as the very best of the era - a garment that is in pristine condition and instantly synonymous with it’s time is vintage. For example, to go back to the 1960s nylon horror, a 1960s silk, wool or crepe (or really good quality polyester) dress, in a great design would be vintage. A dress which happens to be from the sixties, but is in bad quality polyester with poor finishing and bad overall design isn’t.

You have a very carefully edited selection of clothes, but I was especially impressed by the immaculately presented early 20th century pieces. Is this your favourite era?
Absolutely. The 1918-1940 period was just so stylish and elegant. Clothes were made properly, beading was done by hand, garments were cut by real cutters, the finishing was so well considered and everything was made from beautiful fabrics. It’s testament to the era that there is still such interest in the clothes, people are fascinated by the glamour of it all, from fashion to music and film. The pieces from this era that I have in the shop are like true works of art.

I notice you have some small concessions within the store like Dazed Dorothy and Pea Cooper. Is that something you are planning on expanding upon?
I think it’s important to offer diversity in the shop by including really innovative new designers. Dazed Dorothy bags are just so well made, the workmanship is beautiful and that’s something that’s very important to me. Same with Pea Cooper, she’s up for the Milliner of the Year award, so to have her designs in the shop is wonderful. In terms of expanding the concession, if talented new designers approached me and their work was of a standard then it is definitely something I’d consider.

So far, do you have a typical customer?
Not at all, I get all types of people in the shop. People who are curious about vintage and want to see what all the fuss is about, trendy young things, women who know style and quality when they see it, people who are serious collectors, I even have two fashion historians who come in and spend ages studying the clothes and finding out as much about them as they can. They are horrified every time I sell something!

How far back into vintage territory do you plan to go? I see you even had a late 19th century piece - who do you envisage buying something like that? Is there alot of restoration work involved with clothes of such an age?
The oldest thing in the shop is a Victorian collar and muff which is made entirely from feathers. The type of person who would buy that would be someone with a real knowledge of the era, who recognises how rare it is to find something like that so beautifully preserved. I also have an Edwardian black silk and tulle gown with beading which has the royal seal embroidered inside. It is just a beautiful dress, anyone with an interest in vintage clothes will know how rare it is, however, it’s design speaks for itself and I don’t think you have to be a vintage aficionado to appreciate how beautiful it is. The 1920s gowns are just gorgeous, the time and effort that has gone into them is so evident in the detail. These are always real red-carpet gowns and people tend to buy these for big events. There are always small things that need to be repaired with the clothes, especially the heavily beaded things, but we try to mend things as safely and carefully as possible so that the mend is invisible. 

It's great to see a shop open in Glasgow that's actually worth writing about. I find it really difficult to find out what's happening in fashion within Scotland. It's as if the PR is negligible at best and non-existent at worst. There doesn't seem to be an emphasis on any real support - do you think that's because there isn't much to support or because Scotland just isn't focused on fashion in the way London, for example, is?
I don’t actually believe the PR hype that a Scottish fashion industry actually exists. What there is is an incestuous community of people who always seem to be years behind the rest of the world and always looking inward. I went to uni in London and the sheer energy of the city propels the fashion industry there forwards. There is massive support and a really great network of people in fashion, always being creative and encouraging each others talent.

The Scottish press rave about people like Jonathon Saunders and Christopher Kane, but both of them are effectively London designers who first found fame in London. Scotland only cottoned on when they were already famous. Interesting fashion happens completely in the back ground in Scotland; people have to do it for themselves because there is no support whatsoever.

What are the future plans for the shop? Any gems coming in we should know about?
Future plans for the shop are to keep bringing beautiful, immaculate vintage to the city, to find and support real talent and to keep on raising the profile of the business. I also have loads of beautiful vintage clothes which unfortunately are beyond repair, so I’m planning to use the original patterns and as much of the original components as I can to reproduce the clothes faithfully. Also, much of the clothes are tiny sizes, so we’ll be reproducing in bigger sizes too to make vintage accessible to everyone.

The Dresser's Room is located at:
47 Skirving Street
Shawlands Glasgow
G41 3AH

Queen Michelle

Comments

[Moda]

Wow! It's great to see you promote a real Scottish boutique and fantastic to have a discussion about the state of the "Scottish fashion industry". I couldn't agree more that Saunders and Kane are London designers who are absolutely within that community. Having worked closely with one of them, their business simply couldn't survive in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Their studios are widely supported by student interns from London institutions and there is financial support from the area too. International links are stronger to London than to Scotland as a whole and unfortunately the fashion industry just isn't here in Scotland. There are some exceptions with boutiques like Che Camille and designers like Olanic but as someone who has trained to work in fashion marketing and wants to stay in Scotland it's mighty difficult to do so! Even "Glasgow Fashion Week"is organised by a businessman who has little knowledge/contacts/interest? in the fashion industry.

But hey, like the Murphys - I'm not bitter. In Kingdom of Style we have an internationally renowned website, in The Dressers Room we have jaw-dropping individual style. We have creative talent for which we have to drum up our own support. I am in the process of setting up a textile business which will be based in East Kilbride, Scotland.

Fashion Scots - we can do it!

[Queen Michelle]

Glasgow 'Fashion' Week was an embarrassing joke. The hideous parochial tartan fest that was the "PR"? Totally cringe worthy.
It's ridiculous that Scottish designers have to drum up their own support or just up sticks and move to London. The whole 'Glasgow: Scotland with Style' campaign throws a few quid at obvious events like the Scottish Fashion awards, another farcical event if ever there was one, but little else. The only people who benefitted from that was the agency who designed the bloody logo!

[jade]

Thanks Michelle, photos are fantastic! Love it!

[Cadmiumgold]

Wow! That was a great read. I loved what she had to say on vintage clothing and her pieces definitely sounded interesting.

Did you get any pictures of the Victorian and Edwardian clothes she mentioned? :)

[Caitlin]

i totally agree, if you are a fashion student in scotland you have to face the fact that at some point you will have to live in london. its crap not really having a choice, and i also bloody love living in edinburgh xx

[Ditte]

Those rings!! I am speechless! http://www.velvet-snow.blogspot.com/

[dust]

the situation is the same in every single country, trust me. Also there are countries and there are countries. Anybody, Amsterdam Fashion Week? It's a joke..
Fashion is one centralized affair.

[Lucy (The Fashion Setter)]

I love this shop! I must note down the address and visit it as soon as i arrive in Glasgow!

http://thefashionsetter.blogspot.com

[Suzanne aka Punk Glam Queen]

Thank you for a glimpse into your part of the world with this lovely article on what seems to be a delightful shop and owner!

BTW, its the same in the US -- ever see LA Fashion Week? HA! If you want to make it in fashion in the US, you go to NYC. We're a much bigger country, but the little outposts still can't compare with the cache that comes with being a NY based designer.
XXX
Suzanne

[dust]

But we have blogosphere now! Complete online universe! I tried to complain about fashion being centralized, but I sound lame to myself. Is fashion now really international and decentralized, or I'm being too optimistic?

[Queen Michelle]

In theory it is, or certainly could be, decentralised but the reality is that is very much still revolves around the main 'fashion cities' such as London and New York because fashion still adhere's to the old fashioned system of having fashion weeks. Lose them and then I think fashion could be decentralised.

[dust]

I've just lost them!
I'm free!
Thanx dear

[Rose]

how much do the clothes go for?

[y]

great that's only a 10 minute walk from my house! definitely checking it out.

[susie_bubble]

I think Dust makes a good point about the internet decentralising things.... the BUSINESS of fashion has to still go on in the main cities but the dissemination of information and stock is going beyond those cities.... and that's down to buyers taking more risks on an international scale, press being more fluid and expansive... it's all good me thinks....

[Cassiopeia]

gorgeous... those bags are uber-kwl. "beautiful immaculate vintage" is where it's at! ;-D

xxxc

[vancouverista]

It's interesting to me to read about the dearth of fashion in Scotland. I'm Canadian and I can tell you it is exactly the same situation here. Everything is influenced by the U.S. and it means that there is very little original thought. We also have the problem that when Canadian designers make it big in the states only then can get recognition at home. How can we smaller countries push the boundaries? It can't always be mukluks and yoga-wear for Canadians!

[eyeliah]

Now I am dying to go there!

[myriam]

Well ladies, you know that in Tijuana Mexico we have a fashion week? and... its not more than a simple runway in a fancy hotel, siblings of the models cheer when each model comes out, its more like a pageant event. Crazy small considering we are the fourth largest and most important economic city in the country and right in the border with the US. Fashion designers here try very hard but they never shine through.

[lorena]

oh! here is the link to the Tijuana Fashion Show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=U9G3HMZrOto&gl=US

[Queen Michelle]

Rose, the prices range from £30 up to around £200 for a 20's heavily beaded evening gown.
Susie, I think in theory the internet should be decentralising things but sadly it really isn't the case, certainly not enough to impact on places like Scotland. Yes, we have the best selection of new and established designers online than ever before, but at actual city level the support still isn't there. It means that any local talent still has to head southwards to get noticed, and only then will boutiques, which sell online, take the chance and buy them in. Put it this way, if Christopher Kane went to the Glasgow School of Art rather than Central St Martins you can bet your ass he wouldn't have been noticed as quickly, and not at all if he remained in Glasgow.

[Moda]

So true QM.