I want to share an interview I did with Marché Mag, the journal of Trove Market. Trove is a new digital platform that is somewhere between Craigslist and Chairish. Lightly curated (home furnishings and decor), and they have a beautiful mobile app where you can browse your local listings.

Here’s the full interview:

The Distillery Market is quickly making a big name for itself in the design decor and fine goods world! The Distillery is a family-owned and curated lifestyle brand and collection of vintage, handmade, and specialty goods! In a world of mass-production, the owners and curators – siblings Catelyn Silapachai and Clif Claycomb – wanted to provide an alternative that’s unique and authentic. They’re always on the hunt; whether it be at a local estate sale in Texas (they call Austin home), or in traditional villages in Thailand and Panama! Now THAT sounds amazing.

We had the wonderful opportunity to chat about The Distillery with Catelyn. Here’s what she had to say:

TM: What do you love about what you do?

CS: I love seeing the ideas that Clif and I have dreamed up around the kitchen table come to life! I used to work in finance. Managing a vintage and handmade shop is really a 180º turn from that. It’s really creatively energizing to be my own boss and really see my ideas come to reality! The hardest part is actually the human limitations of running the shop with just two people – sometimes our ideas take months and months to implement. That’s something new I’ve had to learn: how to be patient, but also remain inspired and passionate about what we’re working on.

TM: You and your brother founded The Distillery in 2013, and you currently manage the day-to-day. What’s it like starting and running a successful venture with your sibling?

CS: Working with my brother Clif has been really cool because we’re both great at very different things. I’m great at executing, being disciplined, coming up with new ideas, business development, managing the day-to-day uploading products, social media, etc. Clif is more techy than I am, so I can always reach out to him if we need to update something major on our site or fix an issue. He has a lot of experience with Photoshop and photography, which of course comes in very handy! We look at social media from different perspectives and both add a lot of value there.

Clif tends to think REALLY outside the box, and comes up with some really cool and fresh ideas. Honestly, I could see our partnership growing and changing over the years. I think what has worked for us is not having any set ideas of either of us doing specific things all the time. We both pick up the slack when needed.

TM: Kelly recently spoke with you about Antique North African Wall Hangings. Those are really special artifacts! Have you had any other “favorite” pieces in the past?

CS: One of my favorite items that I always talk about is an 1800s cast iron coffee mill by Peugeot that was about 2 feet tall and weighed 20 pounds! Before Peugeot made cars or bicycles, they made coffee and salt and pepper mills! I love antique coffee paraphernalia, so this was a big win for me. It sold to a customer with a gorgeous modern, rustic home in Dripping Springs.

TM: On your website, you mention sourcing items from Thailand and Panama- that’s pretty amazing. Have you been able to visit either place?

CS: Yes! For the handmade portion of what we sell, we only sell items that we’ve picked up from a talented maker that we’ve met in person. My husband is from Thailand and Clif’s fiance is half Panamanian, so we get to visit both countries about once a year. Clif and I share a love for traditional handmade wares with a modern touch (even if it’s just in the styling!).

TM: What can we look forward to in 2016, from The Distillery Market?

CS: In 2015, we started partnering with 3 boutiques to curate vintage collections specifically with their customers in mind. We’d love to continue to grow our relationships with these shops, as well as begin relationships with new stores in 2016.

Last year, we hosted 2 pop up events called The Fine Goods Pop Up. We’d love to host a couple of these pop up events in 2016 as well, and keep building on what we learned from the first two! And of course you can expect more beautiful and unique vintage items to be added to our online store and partner’s sites like Trove’s regularly. :)

I can’t believe how fast this year has flown by. If anyone has any tips on how to slow down time, please send them my way (seriously). I used to journal a lot, and haven’t as much in the last 10 years or so. I’ve decided to start journaling in the mornings again this next year in an attempt to at least acknowledge events, good and bad, as they pass by. Hopefully that will help bring things into focus a bit. 

In that vein, I wanted to write this post as a bit of a journal entry on what’s been happening for us at The Distillery over the past year. I’ll just hit the highlights, in no particular chronological order.

We re-designed our online shop! 

We knew we wanted to make the shopping experience as easy as possibly, and prioritize beautiful photography. Clif and I also wanted to simplify our inventory. Our old site had about 100 different categories of items; our new site has just 5 collections. This way we can rotate the collections periodically, focusing on what we’re passionate and excited about at the moment.  

We branched out of online retail into brick-and-mortar retail with 3 in store partnerships! 

It’s so important for people to be able to see and feel our vintage items, and these collaborations allow us to offer that. Currently, we are curating vintage collections for Hacienda, Mill No. 3, and Sabia. We love that our products are the only vintage items in these stores, so we can really focus on bringing in special items that we think will resonate with each shop’s customers.

We hosted two pop up events: The Fine Goods Pop Up on September 10^th and a Holiday Edition on December 9^th. 

My husband and I first started brainstorming a Distillery “market” all the way back in March. Looking back on the year, I’m so happy and proud to have put these together. We partnered with 9 to 10 local vendors, amazing venues like The Paper and Craft Pantry, Baked by Amy’s, Fairweather Cider Co., Austin Cocktails, The Miracle Foundation, and Love Ding to make the events amazing. The first one was attended by over 200 people, and the second by over 300. The best part was getting to meet and showcase talented local vendors and also to meet the guests who took time out of their night to take a chance on a new event.

We are so thankful for all of our friends and partners that have supported us over the past year, especially our families and our little community here in Austin. We feel so encouraged and inspired by you.

Cheers to 2016!

Catelyn

Photo credits (top to bottom): Nicole Mlakar, Chelsea Laine Francis, Clif Claycomb, Clif Claycomb, Chelsea Laine Francis

• Tags
• fine goods

I’m really excited about this interview today, because it’s with my brother, Clif! As some of you may know, Clif started The Distillery with me two years ago. He also has his own brand called The Early Hours. I thought it would be interesting to hear about Clif’s two businesses in his own words. I even learned a few things about my brother through this conversation that I didn’t already know! I hope you enjoy it. 

- Catelyn

The Distillery: Tell us a little bit about The Early Hours, and how the company has evolved over the last 4 years.

Clif: I started The Early Hours with Loren (my fiancée) in November, 2011. We had finished school in Chicago earlier that year and were working various jobs. We were just kind of having fun and toying with ideas of what we wanted to do for the next 5 years, or few years even. We’d been anxious to do more, and to pursue something that would allow us more financial freedom in the future, to travel etc. I’m still trying to convince Loren it was the right decision, but hopefully we have more freedom for the rest of our lives if we build our businesses correctly.

I originally had an idea for a polo shirt with a red cup embroidered on the chest. I thought if we could market it to college kids correctly we could make a really simple, successful product that could live on its own. I came up with The Early Hours to brand it. We sold them fairly easily but I quickly realized, at art school we had been living a very, very different reality than most college kids, which would be the largest potential market for that product. I didn’t know how to market to them, I was out of touch. But we had a lot of creative friends interested in the brand - we were all sharing late nights with each other in the studio, at shows, at bars, encouraging each other and helping each other, even if it was just blowing off steam about life. They got into the brand, even though I didn’t see or anticipate it originally. I was trying to force it to a certain market when another was ready to accept it.

So, I saw two ways to take it - keep it at the one product and figure out how to market it, with a team of friends or people who went to larger schools with traditional academics, frats etc, or expand the brand to reach a larger percentage of the niche markets I was hitting already. I wanted to stay involved in the brand personally and not just sell it off, so I pursued ways to expand the brand. The Double Cup (Texas hip hop, drank culture), Bolt Cutters (graffiti, exploring), Candle (writers, night owls, workaholics), and our newer designs came from that intention. I don’t want to try to put out products to a market I don’t understand. So I looked at my life and what stood out, and looked at my friends and associates. I realized I want to focus on things that bring people together, things that remind us how we relate to each other when we’re at our best.

We’ve found a great niche in customers who are a part of all types of different sub-cultures, and see themselves differently than the rest of the world - namely, they don’t want to be a part of the rat race.  

Tell our readers a bit about your involvement in the Distillery.

Catelyn and I started The Distillery when she was moving back to Austin after she married Komson. I had The Early Hours and was still working another job, but I pitched the idea to her that we could start an e-commerce site. I had experience with several companies - fulfilling orders, social marketing, and customer service -  and she had the brains to make it profitable sooner than later, with low overhead running it from home etc. We both inherit an eye for antiques from our mom, and have a similar dark but goofy aesthetic. Our mom had a bunch of antique booths around Dallas for years, and some stuff she bought just wasn’t for that market. Catelyn said she was down to go for it and we came up with the name and logo, color scheme, etc. and dug in. We bought a lot of our mom’s inventory and some stuff to round out our aesthetic for the brand and started hammering out product photography in Catelyn’s house with a simple roll of paper and a Canon Rebel t2i with a flash. I handled most of the web development (modifying Magento themes to our taste, making graphics etc), photography and editing, and showed Catelyn what I knew about social media marketing. We worked every day for months to get it up and running and teaching each other what we could.

Now, Catelyn handles most of the day to day while I run The Early Hours with Loren, and we conspire on big picture, event planning (which she really has taken front man on as well), and general branding and development. I brainstorm new creative directions and projects as well as new products for the brand, outside of vintage (art and manufactured goods). I hope to move into producing videos for The Distillery, which we’ve brainstormed for a while now, and working with Catelyn’s impressive network of creatives she’s built to come up with new projects and products. We have a lot going on, and it’s all really exciting. :)

What does “The Early Hours” mean and what does the brand represent?

The Early Hours is a reminder to me of the late nights I’ve put into things I care about, and the late nights and early mornings I’ve shared with friends exploring ideas, pushing each other, and celebrating.  That’s more personal to me because it’s a congregation of my ideas, but I want other people to get that from the brand too. It represents a moment in time, that some are wistful for and others live for - you have no responsibilities, you are free to choose. Are you just going to sit around or are you going to do something you love?

I know hip hop culture and graffiti culture have been influences in the past, how would you say they’ve shaped the brand? Do you come up with the  designs yourself?

Hip hop and graffiti have been big parts of my life. Dallas did not have a big hip hop scene that I was exposed to growing up, but it had some great graffiti, albeit pretty localized to certain areas. I loved music growing up. I like all types of music because people are pushing ideas - whether it be jazz, blues, hip hop, punk, rock or country. I liked hip hop in particular so I started to look into Texas hip hop, since I didn’t know what they were talking about in New York, Chicago, Atlanta or California. Texas is such a different place than any of those cities. I found Houston’s scene that was going wild in the early 2000’s, DJ Screw had just passed away in late 2000 and sparked a huge fire. Everyone wanted to show that Texas could be a part of the game, and deserved to be on the map. They had their own style and it was big and bold and different. It’s everywhere now - the drank culture, slowed down raps, big heavy bass, but a lot of that started in Texas.

Texas graffiti is the same way. I am a part of the internet graffiti generation - there’s a clear divide of how graffiti existed before and after the internet - but I tried to learn from the resources and stay out of the shit talking and self-promoting. You could look at how the rest of the world did it, and then drive around and see how it was done locally. And again, Texas did it so different. For one, there’s so much space in Texas. You cover ground no matter where you’re going, there’s not a lot of the stop and go traffic you see in Chicago or New York or the Bay area with rooftops and commercial buildings on both sides. In Texas you have big highways, wide streets - it means you have to go bigger and do more to be noticed. But Texas is still pretty conservative so you actually have more problems than a lot of places, with a lot of “Joe Heroes” here who will try to stop you, or call it in - or worse, pull a gun on you.  Long story short, you learn a certain way to carry yourself and a certain way to paint, that carries with you wherever you go. You move with a purpose. It’s a big, loud, Texas personality that a lot of locals in other cities decry. We are polite, and we have our manners. But we’re not here to follow your rules…we’re here to show you that we can do it too, and we can do it our own way, and we can earn your respect that way, not by following your rules and doing it how you think it should be done.

So more than the Double Cup, or the Bolt Cutter designs, or anything super direct - the influence from hip hop and graffiti is more obvious in how we do business and how we carry ourselves. We pride ourselves on figuring our how to do things our way, especially when the odds are against us. It’s not the easiest route, but it fosters creativity and originality.

Other people like that drive me every day to do more and expand my ideas and reality. I like people and ideas that are pushing boundaries and influencing change - in a positive way, encouraging others to explore themselves and not be brainwashed into thinking there’s a right and wrong way to live your life.

I come up with a lot of the designs, and some are ideas from Loren - the pineapples, ice cream - and some have been from friends. Hunter Doyle has helped a lot, with designs and shaping the brand conceptually and pushing me to look for more. We’ve also had contributions from our friends Chase Sperry, Emma Wasielke, and more. People I have known since around 2008 when I moved to Chicago mostly. I hope to collaborate with new friends, old friends, and come up with more designs personally as well.

What are your current best sellers?

With our current products, the Outdoors Cap, Wallets, and Pins have been big. We used to use another brand of cap and embroider and tag them ourselves, but we have our own hats manufactured now and have had a great, really positive response. Some of our customers have started collecting the wallets, and a lot of one off sales - they’re a great product I carry myself every day. Then there are the pins and patches - we jumped on that idea early this year, seeing some other products pop up that we liked. We had no idea that we were going to see a huge revival of those products pop up in fashion - both high fashion and underground. It gives our customers a nice low price point to enter the brand and check us out without a huge investment. And they can tailor the pins and patches to any style - punk, rocker, streetwear, higher fashion, business wear. We’ve seen everything pulled off really well by our customers.

You went to SAIC in Chicago. What did you study there? What kind of art are you currently making?

Yeah Loren and I both went to SAIC, where we met. :) I studied a variety of things there - they encourage you to look outside your ideal concentration for “conceptual development” (read: everyone wants to take certain classes and they’re probably already full), but it was my choice too. I started in Graphic Design, and then Industrial Design, or product design, because I felt like I could find a career right out of school to make the investment “worth it.” I had a small scholarship but it was still an expensive school, out of state. I landed in fine arts, mainly because I realized I would be unhappy in either of the other two careers (graphic or product design). I settled in Fiber and Material Studies - textile and material design and manipulation in fine art, not fashion. Fashion was a completely separate department that I didn’t experience at all.  

After making that decision, design felt very pressured to me - to be the next big designer, to please your family or impress your friends, to reach a deadline that might not matter if the project is scrapped in the end. In Fibers, I found a very explorative, very unique perspective on art and design, surrounded by people who were not only exploring their own unique ideas on reality, but really hustling - either weaving, or sewing, or cutting seemingly endless amounts of work. It really appealed to me. I learned especially to respect the process of art and design, and learned to plan and be patient with my work. I am high energy and low focus by nature. I like these practices that focus my energy and reveal things to me in the process, whether it’s thread based, a drawing, a drip painting, etc.

Last question: have you read any good books lately?

I just read the first book in a comic book series called Transmetropolitan that’s really great, I’m going to continue the series.  I’m re-reading Show Your Work by Austin Kleon, and in the middle of Judd Apatow’s Sick In The Head as well as The One Thing by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan. I’m all over the place.

Find Clif at The Early Hours, The Distillery, Instagram, Vimeo, and Facebook. 

All photos by Clif Claycomb

• Tags
• inspiration
• theearlyhours
• clifclaycomb

Meet Mariska Nicholson, owner of Texas olive oil based skincare line Olive + M. We met last year at an Austin Fashion Week event, and I picked up a few of her samples. After trying them at home, I was hooked! Since then, I’ve gotten to know Mariska and am always impressed by her energy and passion for what she does. I’m also so excited to have Olive + M as one of the vendors at The Fine Goods Pop Up next week. If you’re in Austin, stop by to learn more about her products and try a few samples! In the meantime, I hope you find Mariska and her skincare line as beautiful and inspiring as I do. :) 

- Catelyn

The Distillery: Tell us a little bit about your background and the inspiration behind Olive + M?

Mariska: I like to say my background (and my foreground for that matter) is all things visual and tactile. I studied Fashion Design at FIT in New York and then moved on to visual display for likes of Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. After 8 years in NYC I moved to LA and became a wardrobe stylist on commercial film sets. And then after moving back to Austin, came culinary school and babies.  

My inspiration for Olive + M was exactly that, visual and tactile. I had been using oil on my skin for over a decade and i got curious about the different properties in the oils and their benefits to the skin. I wanted to create a formula that would assist my skin in being as visually hydrated and glowing as possible while reducing fine lines and wrinkles. I wanted it to feel luxurious to the touch and penetrate quickly and deeply. So the next natural step was to get into my kitchen and experiment with my own blends, which I did.

I feel that the creative energy in Austin makes it an ideal place to start a business. Do you agree?

I have lived in Austin since I was 4 and it has changed dramatically in its population and its culture, but the creative spirit you speak of has always been a part of this city. My father is an interior designer who graduated from UT and moved back down to his south Texas roots after college. He returned to Austin with his young family to open his own design studio here because of the creative possibilities here. It is a melting pot of entrepreneurs and creative energy and it is people, like my father, that have inspired me to have the courage to create my own brand.

How does olive oil work as a cleanser? What are the differences in ingredients in your cleansing vs. moisturizing oil?

Cleansing with oil is the bomb!! By using the right oils, you can cleanse your face naturally, gently, and effectively. Our cleansing oil contains castor oil, which is the key ingredient in our formula. Castor oil acts as a drawing agent that goes deep into your pores to pull dirt and bacteria to the surface, and replace the dirty oil with beneficial oil.

The cleansing oil formula besides the olive oil and the Castor oil has the wonderful addition of cardamom essential oil.  When it comes to getting perfectly radiant skin, very few things are as effective as cardamom oil. Being rich in Vitamin C and manganese, it works as a potent antioxidant and detoxifies our whole body.   As we get rid of damaging free radicals, our internal system becomes healthy and our skin starts reflecting it clearly.

Our light weight Face oil formula is packed with anti-oxidant rich oils like pumpkin, pomegranate and rosehip seed. The high note fragrance in the formula is Neroli Oil which is derived from the petals of the orange blossom. Neroli oil regenerates the skin from a dermic level making the effects of this ingredient a main contender in the fight against aging.

What are some of the most interesting things you’ve learned working with a chemist on Olive + M’s formulas? 

I think the most interesting thing I learned from her is that I was able to use high levels of antioxidants to act as preservatives in the formulas. Because there is no water in any of the formulas, and water is where bacteria grows, we need not dip into all that crazy chemical preservative world. Instead we use Vitamin E, raspberry seed oil, cranberry seed oil, rosemary extract, rice extract and sunflower extract.

What items does your product line include right now, and where can we find Olive + M’s products?

Right now our product lines includes my basic skincare regime, which was another motivating factor in creating the line.  I had women asking me all the time what I use on my skin and it just seemed so simple, wash with oil and hydrate with oil. So we have the Cleansing Oil (I also shave my legs with the cleansing oil…makes them so soft!) the Face Oil and the Body Oil.

Lastly, I always end by asking: have you read any good books lately?

Honestly life has not really allowed for the escape into a good book lately. However, I picked up the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell again and I have been noodling through it trying to de-code my own tipping point with Olive + M. And I have read some beautiful and enlightening articles in the Sun which I always enjoy.

Find Olive + M online: shop, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Product photography by Ashlyn Allison

• Tags
• inspiration
• oliveandm
• mariskanicholson

This punch includes some of my favorite summer cocktail ingredients: lime, Tequila, and cucumber.

We used Austin based Tequila 512, which is really delish.

Ingredients (makes 6 servings)

9 oz. Tequila 512 (Tequila Blanco)

1 c. aloe vera juice

2 c. lime juice

½ c. simple syrup

1 c. Topo Chico (or to taste)

½ cucumber, sliced

Garnish: cucumber slices

Muddle cucumber with simple syrup and lime juice in a punch bowl or pitcher. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and garnish with cucumber slices.

*Note: make sure to buy an Aloe Vera juice (also called Aloe Water) that doesn’t contain any added sugar or flavor. 

**We used the 1960s party glass set for this cocktail. 

Photos by Well Cultivated

• Tags
• fine goods
• tequila punch
• cucumber aloe punch
• cucumber tequila punch

Meet Leslie Torbett, owner of Austin-based online vintage clothing store: Dalena Vintage. Her shop specializes in gorgeous vintage and antique dresses ranging from Edwardian to 1960s mod. Her taste and standards are impeccable, setting the bar high for the garments that make their way to Dalena Vintage. One can spend hours (guilty) perusing her dreamy vintage dresses or learning a bit about the history behind the pieces on her blog. Leslie has become a good friend and is a big inspiration for me as a fellow online shop owner. I hope you enjoy learning a bit about Leslie’s life and work in this interview!

- Catelyn

The Distillery: Tell us about the origins of Dalena Vintage and what type of clothing you specialize in.

Leslie Torbett: Frankly, Dalena Vintage began as a means of spring-cleaning my house. In 2007, I started buying vintage pieces with the intention of redesigning them and using the fabric for sewing projects, and after a year I’d acquired a large collection that I couldn’t wear myself and didn’t have the heart to cut up. I was looking to simplify my life and get rid of as much material excess as possible around that time in early 2008, so I decided to start a shop for the sole purpose of cleaning out my closet. I came up with the name Dalena Vintage by combining my first name with those of my two best friends, and opened up an Etsy shop one afternoon after work.

I listed a few vintage dresses at first, and when they sold within a few days, I was inspired to add some pieces from my personal collection. When those sold quickly as well, I decided to start buying pieces to sell in the shop specifically, and honestly, it just kind of took off from there. As I mentioned, that was in early 2008. For the next two or three years, the shop was very much a hobby, and I eventually closed up shop to move and work abroad. When I returned to the US a year later, I decided to reopen and pick up where I’d left off. It wasn’t until February 2014 that I finally took the shop full-time and now here I am!

Dalena Vintage offers women’s vintage clothing from the 1900’s through the early 1970’s. While we have everything from wedding and day dresses to hats and purses, I’d say we’re specializing in 1950’s dresses at the moment.

I know your grandmother has been a big inspiration to you. Tell us a little bit about her and your relationship.

Both my mother and my grandmother had a big influence on my craftiness and love for antiquing, which were important factors in the creation of Dalena Vintage. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents growing up, and much of that time was spent diving into boxes of old family photos and listening to stories about my Granny’s childhood; she even told stories she’d been told by her parents and grandparents about coming to Texas in a covered wagon. We watched old movies, went antiquing, visited cemeteries, drove the country roads where old family homesteads used to be, and always had various craft projects in the works from quilting to canning.

As neat as it would have been to have some of her old clothes from the 1930s and 1940s, that just didn’t happen. She grew up in a big family in central Texas during the Depression, and because they didn’t have much too spare not to mention much money, I believe most of her clothes were probably worn to death, passed on to younger kids or used in quilts. That said, my Granny didn’t necessarily inspire my love for vintage fashion, but she definitely provided strong insight into my roots and the past in general, also instilling a huge appreciation for reuse and frugality in me. Without this sort of background, I may never have started buying vintage clothing in the first place. 

How long have you been working solely on Dalena Vintage? How has the transition been to self-employment?

I went full time in February 2014, just under a year and a half ago, and it’s definitely been an interesting transition for me. Before I took the leap, I had notions of what self-employment would be like and how it would affect my life, and had been considering it for some time. I eventually hit a point where I was so unhappy with my office job that I had to find a way to take Dalena Vintage full time, so I came up with a loose six-month survival budget and started saving.

It was actually pretty simple for me because the shop was an existing business, albeit more of a hobby at that point. I didn’t have to deal with the stress of legalizing it or any other red tape. After I made the decision, I didn’t look back - I may not have made it if I had! I had to quit my former job for my sanity, and was going to find a way to make Dalena Vintage a full time venture work no matter what. Luckily, the shop was really taking off around that time, as I’d been putting in more energy and work during the three months prior to leaving my office job.

Do you do most of your buying locally or do you travel around the country?

This is definitely one of the things I imagined differently. I thought I’d be going on buying trips across the US at least once a month, but in reality my budget hasn’t really allowed for that yet. I travel out of state a handful of times a year to buy, but the majority of my pieces are sourced from central Texas.

I’ve come home more than once with a vintage piece that turned out to be pretty damaged and I never ended up wearing it. What advice would you give to someone who’s not a vintage expert? 

I hate that feeling! I know it all too well, unfortunately, but that’s just part of the vintage game. I tend to overlook things when I’m in a hurry or feel rushed or even when I’m hungry, so my first piece of advice would be to slow down and make sure you’re well fed.

Outside of that, I have a simple checklist that I go through when choosing a piece. First, I check the armpits for underarm staining. Because I’ve been able to remove a lot of perspiration stains, this isn’t necessarily a game changer for me, but I don’t think the average person would want to go through the hassle of such a cleaning process. Also, the staining is sometimes so severe that it’s a lost cause so I pass on a lot of pieces for this reason. Second, I hold a piece up to the light and check for holes or rips. The light is your best friend when it comes to this as any imperfections will literally light up for you to see. Finally, I do a quick overall scan for any mends, repairs or staining in other areas. These things won’t necessarily stop me from buying a piece either, but it’s good to know what you’re getting yourself into and if salvaging a garment is even possible.

Your newest venture is a wedding dress shop that you started with your mom – how did that come about?

My mother actually sells vintage as well, and at one point we both started receiving an inundation of requests from brides about wedding dresses. We knew there was a big demand and had talked about starting a separate bridal shop for a while, but could never quite decide if we wanted to take the plunge. I mean, another shop is quite the undertaking! Eventually, a buying trip led us to a vintage wedding dress museum that was shutting down, and our fate seemed to be sealed. We took it as a sign that, yes, we definitely needed to open a vintage bridal shop, and bought a number of dresses right then and there. We spent the next year collecting dresses, bridesmaid dresses and accessories before launching Beloved Vintage Bridal in August 2014. As a second venture, it has taken the backburner, but rest assured it’s alive and kicking!

What are you currently reading?

Right now I’m reading a novel I received in one of The Distillery giveaways called Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It’s been a while since I’ve read fiction, but so far I’m really enjoying it so thanks for that!

Where can we find Dalena Vintage and Beloved Vintage Bridal online?

So many places! We house everything related to Dalena Vintage on our main website, where you’ll find our blog and lookbooks, but you can also shop with us on Etsy. As far as social media goes, I’m a total Instagram addict. That’s the best place to follow us for shop updates, sneak peeks and glimpses into our buying trips. You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. As for Beloved Vintage Bridal, we’re pretty much active everywhere too! Our main website is the best place for shopping, but again, you can also shop through our Etsy store. And if you’re looking for updates, general information or inspiration, you can catch us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest as well.

All photos by Nicole Mlakar

• Tags
• dalena vintage
• beloved vintage bridal
• leslie torbett
• inspiration

We’ve begun a classic cocktail series to celebrate the end of summer!

A simple, lemony fizz drink to kick off our series..

The Tom Collins is a drink with a long and often quirky history. It’s simple, refreshing, and gender neutral (which is hard for a summery drink to pull off). 

Ingredients:

• 2 oz gin 
  
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice 
  
• ½ oz simple syrup 
  
• 3 oz chilled club soda 
  
• lemon slice  
  

Pour the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup into an ice filled collins glass. Top with club soda and stir gently. Garnish with lemon slice. 

*We chose Austin Reserve Gin to make this cocktail. It’s a local award-winning gin that we love. And it contains lavender, which is just really all you need to know. :) Regarding the glassware, we used mid-century Culver highball glasses and a vintage glass ice bucket. 

Cheers! 

Photos by Well Cultivated 

• Tags
• fine goods
• tom collins
• austin reserve gin
• culver
• mid century
• vintage barware
• classic cocktails