Vintage Atelier 2013 | A Year in Review

In the month of May of this year I made a big move for Adored Vintage and that was to get myself a little vintage atelier! A vintage work studio all of my own with lots of natural light! You know, that was my FIRST and most IMPORTANT prerequisite for a work space? Lots and lots of natural light! I am crazy for spaces that are white, bright, and clean. And all the light is also most needed for all the vintage clothing I photograph for the online vintage shop! 

I've moved around the studio, not even joking, a dozen times. I'm never fully satisfied with the layout and feel I must constantly change it. Shift it. Move it around. I can't stand when spaces becomes stale and stagnant. I'm never inspired in spaces that just don't evolve and change. 

Although I've only been in this space for 8 months I am already outgrowing it. So who knows what 2014 will bring! 

So some common questions I get asked about my work studio are the following...

1.] Where did you get your vintage dress forms?

2.] How many clothing racks do you have?

3.] How do you shoot your pictures for your online store?

4.] Where did you get your racks? 

5.] Where did you buy your wooden hangers?

So answer those...

1.] My collection of vintage dress forms have been sourced from antique shops, flea markets, and a sewing supply company in downtown Los Angeles. Yes, they are expensive! I'm still on the hunt for a size 0 vintage dress form and 0/2 lingerie form. So if you know of any...let me know! Expect to pay $200-$800 for a vintage dress form.

2.] Last I counted I had 20. I constantly feel like I need more, but there's no room to put them!

3.] I shoot all my vintage clothes against an off white wall near the large windows in the studio and use only the sun as my light source. Check my blog post about How to Photograph Vintage Clothing.

4.] I got the rolling collapsible racks at store supply stores in Los Angeles called ACME Display. The white racks are from IKEA (and only $10!) While they're not racks I'd permanently have, they work well and I like how minimal they look. The industrial pipe racks my fella built for me using pipes and wood from Home Depot.

5.] I bought some of the wooden hangers from Store Supply Warehouse. Most of them I got from IKEA. I did the math on the amount I needed and IKEA hangers were a bit cheaper (I think by like 6 cents hanger) If you want hangers with notches for lingerie or pants hangers, then definitely Store Supply Warehouse!

For more photos (and a list of where I got a lot of my furniture in the studio), Apartment Therapy did a Vintage Workspace Tour of Adored Vintage this past summer!

First Look Inside the Adored Vintage Studio |Behind the Scenes

Well you're probably wondering whatever happened to the brick and mortar since we moved in 5 months ago! Well, we never even finished it before we needed to move into a bigger space! Luckily the space RIGHT next door was available, so the move wasn't bad! Now that we have a lot more wiggle room, we've been moving in things and setting up the studio/showroom just so.

I never had plans to have an actual retail brick + mortar with regular shop hours, I have several friends that own shops in LA and their biggest complaint is being tied to the shop every day, and well that doesn't sound like my cup of tea. The studio shop is more of an atelier where you can make an appointment to peruse our vintage wares. I'm there basically every day anyway, so if you're in the neighborhood, 95% of the time I'll be there Monday-Friday :)

The space is basically a big rectangular box with big shop windows in the front, a back door to a corridor lined with bamboo, and a back room with a kitchen, walk in closet, and bathroom.





I wanted the space to be light and airy and filled with plenty of plants. The macrame plant hanger is from Chiron Creations on Etsy. I love it so much!








There's still a lot more to do, but I just wanted to share some progress snaps. You can always follow Adoredvintage on Instagram to see the progress!

Just Processin' Stuff

I feel like I lived 3 different lives this weekend. Past, Present, and Future. Do you ever have those weekends that go by so slowly and yet you feel like you've done so many things?

Saturday was so hot in my work studio that I pretty much just lazed about bemoaning the heat while sipping at a gigantic serving of peach and blueberry iced tea (with fresh mashed up fruit...mmmmmm) I snapped some photos here and there of the studio and when I got home to look at the photos it made me realize I'm due to upgrade my camera. *le sigh*



Woooororroroororfgghhh. That's me just shaking of stuff. New week! It's rare I'm glad it's Monday. Monday, bloody Monday.

But this Monday is bringing a lot of things to the table and just dealing with things one at a time and feeling good, well more hopeful about it.

The weekend was really balanced and I need more weekends like that. Spent some solo time, made lunch for a girlfriend and I, went on a date with the fella, Church fellowship on Sunday...upgraded to an iphone 4GS which isn't a big deal to most people, but I'm not really a techie person (in fact I didn't even have a cellphone until I was 23-24, haha) so to me, was kinda a big deal.

How was your weekend?

Vintage Workspace | When Things Get Messy

I've been wanting to change the layout of my vintage work studio for a few weeks now as the current layout just isn't conducive to the way I want the space to function.

So, on Saturday, with the help of my beau and my friend/assistant, we moved around the studio. There's still more that needs to be done... but I am the kind of gal that really loves before/after photos and tracking progress. So, here are some snaps of my vintage atelier when it's one hot mess.


I had to move all the racks out into the hallway of my studio. Luckily on Saturday I'm the only one that goes to work on my entire floor, so this wasn't a hindrance to anyone.



Moving my work table to the other side of the room and facing the windows. I'll be adding pinboards right along this wall for inspirations and what not.


A vintage mess... I have a lot of plants in the work studio (and plan on getting more) I definitely want a garden feel in this space.


And here are the strong fellas! We still need to install curtains to help protect my vintage clothes from the sun. And of course I haven't even started to organize and decorate (my favorite part!)

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I am planning on putting a little sitting area right by the window. I've always imagined I'd have a pot of tea or coffee in the morning with croissants and fruit (I do have a mini fridge and a microwave here!)

So many plans for the future... I can't help but get really excited and want to skip ahead a few steps. But there's definitely a lot of small changes happening and there's been a lot of adjusting. It's been different and nice.

More photos soon!

Vintage Atelier Inspiration | Haute Hippie

Today I had to call a showroom owner to get some marketing/merchandising advice (for my day job, not A | V) and was introduced to this brand called Haute Hippie. I think somewhere along the time of me living in LA I've heard of this brand but never really cared to look it up until today (since I had to, for research)

I saw these AWESOME photos of their stores in New York and I am totally completely in love!



This is definitely the direction I want to go in for ADORED VINTAGE when the time is right. For now, wishful thinking and dreaming...but always nice to have something to work towards and look forward to.



So on Friday I am picking up some new industrial clothing racks for my vintage atelier! I'm getting a deal on them from one of the showroom owners I know here in LA. Yippie skippie! At first I was only going to buy 1 since I only have space for 1, but I figured they're such a steal I better buy all she has!

I think over the summer I'll really put some more effort into decorating my work studio. I've been liking the layout for the most part right now, but I know there has to be a different way of placing things so the space is utilized in the best way.

Right now it's just mostly a really pretty storage room...

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes...

Lately I've been musing around with the idea of someday having an actual vintage studio. Not just a place with plain walls and a plain door where I tinker with photographing the vintage wares in the shop... but an actual cool space that looks a bit industrial, a bit bare, but definitely pretty...





I've been Pinning ideas the past couple days, just trying to see where these ideas are going. Sometimes it just takes a little spark to ignite a fire... and baby, I want a bonfire on the beach, the whole shabang!



Do you ever feel like you're on the brink of something kind of amazing, kind of fantastic...and you're a little afraid that if you just take one more step, it could all be too much? Maybe this is just the medicine I just took talking, but I truly feel something amazing is just around the corner, I feel it with every fiber of my being...but I can't quite place a finger on what it is yet.



Once I know I'll let you gals (and guys if the gentlemen population is reading this) know.