6/24/20
Silas Redd & his Nostalgia Vintage Boutique: Post-Quarantine & the USA’s Interest in Shopping. Minority Owned Businesses
Silas Redd is the proprietor of the Nostalgia vintage boutique. It’s located in Purcellville, VA., a charming town 60 miles Southwest of Washington D.C. fondly referred to by its residents as “Mayberry”.
Silas, a VCU graduate, initially wanted to go into visual merchandising. He has a knack for creating. whimsical vignettes for his “girls”, the mannequins displayed in the big sprawling porch facing Main Street. His eye-catching displays brought me in the door one Sunday 2 years ago, & I’ve been a fan since then.
Silas’ dream of owning a vintage shop has deep roots going back to childhood. He was very close to his great grandmother, a talented seamstress & grew up watching Turner Classic Movies. He always felt connected to older people & to past eras.
“There was more thoughtfulness back then to how clothes were made, he ruminates, which resulted in a better coat or blazer.”
Like anyone in the retail space, large & small, Nostalgia has had a rough time since the shut down that began mid-March to curb the Covid19 epidemic.
“March is typically the 2nd Christmas for me, it’s a big month. I was supposed to open up full-on March 15. I had. squirreled away money for the new inventory I wanted to present.”
Instead, Nostalgia’s business was a mere 10% of what it was last March. As for Government assistance, it doesn’t apply to businesses such as Nostalgia that don’t have a lot of employees. Tiny businesses aren’t eligible to get relief help from the Government. During the months of. March & April, Nostalgia was open on a by-appointment only basis until Governor Northam okayed. the Phase 1 reopening in the County on May 29.
Business remained at trickle until the last week of May, when protest marches took place nationwide, precipitated by the brutal murders of George Floyd & Breanna Taylor on March 13 & May 25.
The Black Lives Matter movement also spurred increased awareness & interest in Black owned businesses across the country.
Before May, the @shopnostalgia Instagram account had just over 1,000 followers. A number of powerful Instagram accounts, such as @greenmatters with 492k followers, hash-tagged Silas’ boutique & that post alone generated 3,161 likes. Other Instagram accounts, @thriftwears in NYC, & @newalbanyoddshop in Upstate New York, mentioned Nostalgia on their feeds. Interest snowballed as others reposted to their accounts. Just like that, Silas’s little boutique was receiving nationwide attention. He was getting calls from new shoppers as far away as Hawaii, which has pushed him to increase selling online, rather than exclusively from his cozy boutique.
In his frank manner, Silas shares that he has mixed feelings about this unexpected surge of interest in Nostalgia.
“On the one hand, the demand is unreal. It’s been a nice boost from getting 60–70 likes to 300 likes a day, & my business is growing, which is wonderful, but — I don’t want to be a bitter Betty,” he shrugs. Someone in the vintage business I idolized & followed for a long time finally followed me back only after those posts went viral…”
One of the challenges Silas faces from the surge of attention on Instagram, is that people can see every single post & may want something that has already sold or may not fit as expected. He is doing some online selling now, but his true love remains old school retail brick & mortar.
Q&A
Q: How & why is Nostalgia here, in this big old house, in Purcellville? Why not in New York or Richmond? Did you ever want to live & work. in New York?
A: Happenstance is why I’m here. I was working for Abernethy & Spencer, the local garden nursery, and David, the owner, gave me my start. I had an early website up on my laptop I was looking at, & he saw it. Ugh, it was such a terrible name, I can’t even tell you, haha.
He told me to open up a dress shop in this big house he owns right on Main Street. He didn’t charge me for 5 months, & really took a chance. It made me think about what I could do to make it great on a shoestring budget. People come in & see the golf clubs & chairs hanging on the wall & say the vibe is very Ralph Lauren.
I never wanted to be Carrie Bradshaw. I looked at FIT & all those people were interning & waitering at night. I would never be able to do this here.
Q: The Fashion Historian is committed to teaching readers about upcycling & resale & vintage definitely falls into those categories. What are your thoughts about “Fast Fashion”?
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A: There’s always been a form of fast fashion, but each decade was defined. There are no defined trends today. My customers do however, understand that you can change-up a piece, up-cycle it. For example, a young 17 year old girl came in who had on a cami, my seventies handkerchief skirt, & Birkenstocks. She shortened the skirt & it was fabulous.
Q: People have progressively gotten bigger since the Fifties. How do you deal with sizing?
A: I’ve learned to size up, my customer starts at a 6. I’ve made an effort to buy larger sizes.
Listen, I’m not the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute). My bread & butter is Fifties & Sixties clothing. There are palazzos & jumpsuits from the Seventies. The Eighties are more for costume parties when the woman wants it to be spot-on authentic. That’s very different than being a Halloween destination; I never wanted to be that place.
Q: What do you think will happen with retail as we get deeper into Phase 2 of the reopening & then move into Phase 3?
A: What I foresee is that it’s going to open up, those on social are going to come in with a friend or sister & make it an event. I can have up to 10 people at a time now, & it’s opening up; each week has improved. One day, I didn’t leave until 6:00, they’re out & shopping longer & trying on things.
Q: The attention & support you’ve got from Instagramers recently is amazing.
A: Finally, there is a time for minority owners to shine, & it’s humbling. People prioritize in this order, I think. First, I shopped small & I shopped locally & then, I supported a minority owned business.
Q: How can we help Nostalgia through this time?
A: By spreading the word, & come in, if not for yourself, for your niece. Nostalgia & Nostalgia Boutique is supposed to make you feel good reflecting about a wonderful moment in the past.
If you do come in, just mention “The Fashion Historian” for a special -10% discount.
The Nostalgia Boutique is located at:
142 East Main Street, Purcellville, VA 20132
Tel: (540) 751–8252
www.shopatnostalgia.com
Email: shopatnostalgia@gmail.com
Instagram: @shopatnostalgia
Facebook: Nostalgia Boutique
