What are we doing these days?
We are preparing for the wind down from summer to fall. We have stopped buying summer items and are sprinkling in fall both in store and online. Cardigans, Pants, Heavier Blended Skirts, Tops And Jackets. Boots, Lace Up Shoes.
Pretty Penny welcomed a unique collection of apparel a few weeks ago. In March, Sarah visited a local private seller’s home, where she purchased dozens of vintage pieces made throughout the 20th century. The ensemble features a variety of vintage styles: delicate, muted, and feminine pieces with trained skirts, ruffles, intricate detailing, and lace.
Two dresses in particular caught our eye. The first dates from the late 1960s: a deep onyx-black frock with horizontal accordion pleats and fine, floral lace. What we love most about this dress is its striking leg-of-mutton sleeves, which complement its otherwise gossamer composition. The puff-sleeve made a comeback in 2018, drawing inspiration from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. It has remained popular since, taking root as an enduring style. Similar creations were featured in the decorated 2023 movie Poor Things. Set in 19th century London, the film won numerous awards for best costume design (from BAFTA, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Costume Designers Guild), reviving our love for Victorian fashion. This dress reminds us why we’ll always buy vintage: these styles are timeless, and recall the charm, glamor, and romance of the past, all while offering a sustainable way to indulge in fashion.
The second is a black dress with bright, arresting polka-dot roses. The whimsical print is perfectly balanced by the piece’s elegant silhouette. And again, we are obsessed with its puff-sleeves! But, what makes this dress so special is its story. The collector had a knack for fashion, and loved to alter and personalize her own clothes. When she bought this charming dress in the early 1970s, she added velvet trim and a panel of black fabric to its bottom. The style is reminiscent of color-blocking, a trend that grew popular during the late 1960s. Her personal touch adds a layer of contrast to the piece that enhances its look. Wearing something that was carefully reworked and customized by another will always feel special. We love learning and sharing the stories behind our clothing; it’s part of what makes shopping vintage so brilliant. You can check out these two new pieces, in addition to the entire new collection, in-store and online. Come visit!
I am back!!!! I have been gone from the store for 2 months due to a medical emergency that ended with surgery and recovery. I have one more final doctors appointment Monday February 12th that will give me the final O.K to be back to full capability status. I am grateful for all the support me and my family have received over the past few months. I love our community. I am excited to see everyone in the store again and get back to normal routines and activities. I am on the other side of this thing !!!!!!!!!!!! I am especially excited to start this new year off in better health and am looking forward to putting all my energy into maintaining and growing our business. Lots of love and peace in 2024 from our family to you. Sarah + Nick + Vienna
Pretty Penny
2981 College Avenue
Berkeley, CA. 94609
Hours Wednesday - Saturday 12-6 Sunday 12-5
ONLINE: www.prettypennyclothing.com
UPSTAIRS
Hey Pretty Hair Studio w/Nick St. Mary
Book At: www.heyprettyhairstudio.com
We have both an online store and a brick and mortar shop. Both of these are full time jobs. You can shop in store Wednesday - Saturday 12-6 and shopping online is 24/7.
There are over 400 listed items for sale on our website and over 3000 items available in store. We choose the items for the website that are the most unique and have wow appeal. It is challenging for us to sell basics online like cotton t shirts or jeans and when we do we have to add high detail photos and style the items. It is an ebb and flow when it comes to finding what appeals to an online shopper vs in store. There is a lot of psychology that goes into shopping and decision making.
After 17 years in business our customers have grown into shoppers who look for high quality, unique and accessibly priced items. Anytime we have tried to deviate from this formula there is resistance. We started carrying new items we call our "curated collection" and had to ease our customers into the idea of branching out to new items. We showed customers how to mix modern with vintage and showed them how it could work and 10 years later it is still a wonderful union.
We have loyalty to the people who have helped us survive and grow our business. We give our customers what they want. You ask for it, we try to get it/find it. It is challenging to keep the inventory fresh and rotating daily but the excitement of seeing new items keeps the customer coming back often. We do have customers who refuse to shop online and we have customers who refuse to shop in store. So we have both. Customer service is the key to success and longevity to our business. We answer questions and share photos, tips and tricks on how to get an item that fits what you are looking for.
Thank you for shopping in store and online. We appreciate you.
photo Fryers Sunglasses as part of our curated collection. Available In Store And Online.
We took a family trip to Italy in October. It was the first time we had a vacation in almost 7 years. Its not cheap to travel but luckily square has a loan program that really worked for what we needed. Plus a travel credit card. I mention this because I believe in financial transparency especially these days when things are so expensive. We started our trip in Rome. It was a great introduction in how to order food, take public transportation and begin to learn the cultural norms of Italy. We saw most of the tourist places like the coliseum Vatican. We really wanted to eat as much food as we could and do some vintage shopping. And we did. After 5 days we took a train to Lecce in southern Italy. This was my favorite part of the trip. It was a smaller town and incredibly beautiful. We shopped for vintage and ate some more. We learned about the culture in this part of southern Italy and we absolutely fell in love. It was very hard to leave and I day dream of living there someday. We then rented a car and drove to Cosenza Calabria where my husbands family is from. We explored the town ( which was not touristy at all ) and toured a castle and graveyard looking for my husbands family members. We then drove to the almafi coast. It was beyond beautiful and the food was delicious. After a few days we drove to Naples, which was a big switch up from smaller towns to a big bustling city. It took a few days to get adjusted to being there but once we started exploring we feel in love. The art, music, culture and food were amazing. We stayed for 5 days which was enough time to really see everything and learn so much about the city, history and people. We returned our rental car and headed back to Rome by train. We stayed in the outskirts of Rome which was such a new perspective from staying in the center of Rome. We went to a big mall, saw monuments from the Mussolini era. It was 3 weeks of exploring and we were ready to come home completely changed from this experience. It was eye opening to see a country that has healthy food, health care and a culture that supports small business. The markets were bustling and there was an ease that felt different than how we live in the U.S We cant wait to go back and visit. I have a dream that we will go back and live for a few years and if they will have us be able to live out our lives in Italy. Being part of the EU would be an amazing experience for our entire family and would give our daughter a chance to see that there are different ways of live other than the American hustle culture and capitalism on a toxic level. There are problems everywhere but Italy gave us a chance to see there are different ways to live. And bonus we brought back over 200 pieces of the most amazing vintage for our customers. Available in store and online.
CIAO xo
