high plains sneak peeks

Posted on November 22, 2010 by highplainsthrifter

Rae, sweetie that she is, put together a sneak peek shoot for a bunch of merchandise that’s up for grabs at the next Mighty Swell sale. Many thanks to Jamie Otto and Emily Tetens for rocking the crap out of these clothes.

Vintage gold beaded tunic top, $28. Perf for the holidays!

Silky blue secretary dress with neck tie & gold buttons , $26. Lovin’ the cuffs on this little dress, too.

Satin and plaid dress, $25. Warm and comfortable for holiday parties, with a super flattering cut.

Just one of the maaaany ’50s/’60s coats we’ll have for sale. I’m in love with the fur detailing on this one, and the muted mocha color.

One-shouldered razzle-dazzle dress, $28. Sequins rule…that is all.

Classic brown & white gingham shirt dress, $24. Got to love the nice tailoring on this, and how wearable it is practically year-round.

For even more sneak peeks, click here.

Nighty night…

Meghan

adventures in merchandising

Posted on November 2, 2010 by highplainsthrifter

Howdy all!

Have you heard the exciting news? The deets for the Mighty Swell holiday pop-up shop have been finalized!!! Hop on over to our Facebook page to get the scoop!

One of the things I love most about putting together a pop-up shop is dealing with each location’s set of quirks. It’s our job to make sure the merchandise looks awesome, and that the store’s easy and fun to shop in. Our new location, Tarnish & Gold, has double the space our first pop-up spot had. Meaning, we’re going to have more room to play in. Yesss! Here are some merchandising ideas that have caught my eye lately…

Etsy vendor Nice is an experienced pop-up vendor & merchandising pro. I love the sneak peeks she posted before Chicago’s Vintage Bazaar on her blog. It’d be cool to do little outfit set-ups like this throughout the gallery.

At the last sale, we overloaded a coat tree with purses, making it fairly cumbersome to browse. I think we can do better. Maybe filling a wall with them would work well, like Kate Spade did in her London pop-up shop? They’d be a pain to get down, but at least you can see what’s what.

I adore the interior styling of Sarah Illenberger‘s apartment in Berlin. And seeing her letterpress jewelry display confirmed that Rae and I need to thrift one to use for our shop. Check out more pics from her space here.

I caught a glimpse of the home studio belonging to the beautiful Miss James, owner of Bleubird Vintage, on her blog today. I liked how she used wooden hangers to show off sunglasses and headpieces.

I’d love to track down a couple more mannequins and group them together like these frocks in this purty painting by Janet Hill.

Anyway, we have lots and lots of work to do in the next six weeks. Tonight, I’ve caught up on inventory (blah) and now am fixin’ to make some more tags. First up though, a break for homemade cashew chicken. Yummy!

xo!

Meghan

pop-up pictures

Posted on October 5, 2010 by highplainsthrifter

Hiya pals!

In case you couldn’t make it to the awesomeness that was Mighty Swell, here are some pics taken by our photog pal Kate NG Sommers Saturday morning. Seriously guys, it was so much fun.

If you did come by, thank you, thank you, thank you.

xo,

Meghan

mighty swell giveaway

Posted on October 1, 2010 by highplainsthrifter

Hello lovelies!

If you’re in the Twin Cities area, and are planning on coming to Mighty Swell, pop on over to our Facebook page and enter to win $50 worth of vintage goodness from me and Bourbon & Lace. You must enter by 3 p.m. today to be qualified!

Happy Friday!

xo,

Meghan

mighty swell vendor profile: tulabaru

Posted on September 28, 2010 by highplainsthrifter

Howdy ho!

Cute headbands & hair pieces make me weak-kneed, but I’m especially susceptible to splurging when they’re designed and made by my talented pal, April Swinson.

Her one-of-a-kind creations, retailed in her Etsy shop Tulabaru, are put together with the prettiest lace, ribbons, bows and feathers, with a healthy dose of both wearable-ness and whimsy. April thinks nothing of spending hours upon hours poring over drawers of vintage lace, boxes of trim and spools of ribbon, and then incorporates these vintage materials in her thoroughly modern, flattering designs.

I’m so excited Mighty Swell shoppers will have the chance to nab up all kinds of Tulabaru pieces to wear proudly atop their pretty little heads. Read on to learn more about what handmade loveliness will be available this weekend!

Me: How long have you been creating headbands/hairpieces? What kind of things will you be selling at Mighty Swell?

April: I’ve been creating fascinators and other products for nearly two years now. I’ll be selling handmade fascinators, headbands and barrettes that are made with vintage lace, brooches and other goodies I’ve found and collected over the years.

Me: What kind of vintage materials do you work into your designs?

April: I love working with vintage French and Russian lace—it’s always timeless and elegant. I also work a lot with feathers, brooches and old silk bows and flowers.

Me: What are the price points for your items?

April: Price points are based on the time and effort required to make the piece as well as the cost of the materials used. It’s important to me that Tulabaru is affordable for all and most items are priced between $25 and $50, with some goods being sold for under $20.

Me: What are some of your favorite things you’ll be selling?

April: I’ve been experimenting a lot with velvet—velvet bows on clips, headbands and barrettes especially. There’s also a handmade hat that I’ll be selling that I’m particularly fond of… it’s a beautiful sea-foam green with a removable vintage brooch attachment. The brooch can be removed to wear as, well, a brooch or an attachment for a different headband, etc.

Only a limited amount of Tulabaru items will be for sale this weekend, so hustle in Saturday to get first crack at it. (FYI, more sneak peeks of Tulabaru goodies and other items, up for grabs this weekend, are up on our Facebook page. ) April also takes custom orders, so if you have an idea for an original creation, she’s all ears!

Take care lovelies & we’ll see you back here tomorrow…

xo,

Meghan

merchandising mania

Posted on September 13, 2010 by highplainsthrifter

Hey lovelies!

Rae and I have been brainstorming up ways to make Mighty Swell the cutest pop-up shop on the planet without emptying our bank accounts. We’ve stockpiled the standard rolling racks, but are also scoping out other less traditional (and perhaps less expensive) ways to display merchandise. Here are a few of my favorite ideas that have caught my eye.

Belting up a body form, like the clever folks at Haberdash Vintage did, allows shoppers to see how they would look on an actual human form, and makes them easy to take off and try on.

I love this idea from Girls Love Shoes for displaying heels! Plus it’s shop-able from both sides and the grids would be light and easy to set up.

I see letterpress boxes like this all the time at flea markets for super cheap. Apron Thrift Girl just did a tutorial on how-to prettify the plain wood & use it for jewelry display, too, that caught my eye. The one pictured below is available here for $98.

We also have plans to cover the back wall of Umber with a rad collection of art that’ll be for sale, and make that area a sort of lounge-y/living room type space with chairs, books, mags, etc. Since we have so much stuff to hang, it’s definitely going to look a lot like this—packed. (How pretty is that pink chair, btw? Want it!)

source

Not sure yet what we’re going to do with the heaps of pretty purses and bags we have to unload. Maybe we’ll just pile them in a heap like London-based pop-up Rag & Bow did? Hmmmm.

I’m digging this antler jewelry display & the idea of hanging clothes on chains against the wall. Thank you Amanda, for sending!

source

What else should we consider as temporary retailers? What kind of merchandising/displays would you like to see at the sale? I’m all ears!

xo,

Meghan

introducing…mighty swell!

Posted on September 7, 2010 by highplainsthrifter

Hi y’all!

It’s my great happiness to introduce you, dear readers, to Mighty Swell, an affordable vintage shopping event, popping up at Umber Studios on October 2 & 3.

Here’s the story: Girl blogger and thrift-store shopping addict starts an Etsy shop. Girl is busy. Like, super busy. Time-consuming shop up-keep quickly gets relegated to back-burner. Girl’s soon up to her ears in adorable vintage and starts to freak out. First girl blogger meets another girl blogger and Etsy seller with similar stresses. The vintage-loving duo team up and a pop-up shopping event, unlike any other in the Twin Cities, is born. A mighty swell idea in their eyes!

Gah, what else to say?!! I couldn’t be more excited about this event! Rae and I are working hard to make Mighty Swell the kind of shopping event we’d want to go to. What would we like to see there? (Wearable vintage from the ’50s to the ’90s!) What price points would we like to see? (Sensible ones!) What kind of atmosphere? (Unstuffy & fun!) I’ll be blogging about the planning process as this month progresses…hopefully you won’t mind the occasional update. : )

If you’re in the Twin Cities area, here are all the details you need to know.