Welcome To The Blog!
Hello everyone! My name is Nadia and I’ll be your host for this first one. If you’ve been into the store and made it onto our email list, there’s a good chance that fashion is important to you. We could talk forever about how fashion is a beautiful way for someone to express their true self – to explore who they are and who they want to be. But at the end of the day, people are better when they feel good. They feel good when they look good, they look good when they are authentic, and that’s good! That’s good for so many reasons! Take a look at this lil lady, for example.
That’s me circa 1990 just living my best life and clearly aspiring to be a serious business woman.
The whole room is so nostalgic, but it’s the outfit that totally gets me! I mean, I get her! I mean, I still am her – and I love that! I’ve gone through lots of different fashion aesthetics over the last 30 odd years but my current aesthetic is actually pretty close to what you see here!
When I rediscovered this picture, I immediately felt like I was looking in the mirror. Not a lot has changed! I’m a huge fan of nostalgia-paraphernalia from my childhood in the late 80’s to my early teenage years in the 2000’s. By the way, if you also like nostalgia-paraphernalia I highly recommend turning on your sound and checking out The 80s Are Awesome.
I started dressing myself a few years before this picture was taken and never looked back! My love for costumes and dressing up was definitely influenced by my years of dance training and performance. That’s where I discovered so many new textiles that the average youngin’ would never have come across, and it was the first place where I saw that clothes could be fun, bright, and expressive. THANKS DANCE COSTUMES! My dance experience also lent to the confidence I found at a very young age, combined with the fact that my dad was an aspiring photographer who was constantly documenting any moment possible with a camera or camcorder. I would pose and dance and vogue as soon as a camera was around. I got REAL good at hamming it up.
I still have every dance costume that I wore since the age of 3. They might be some of my most prized possessions and they’ve certainly influenced my desire to create things! I was lucky to be brought up close to an Aunt and Grandmother who loved to sew. I learned to sew and crochet by the age of 8 and even tried to sell handmade pouches and coin purses at school around that same age. My sewing projects became more elaborate as I got older, and I eventually got into full DIY-reconstruction mode with many of my clothes. I could write a whole blog post about that journey, and I probably will!
Fast forwarding a bit, I got a degree in Fashion Design and Merchandising and I have a passion for sustainability, recycling, upcycling, and minimizing waste – especially in the fashion industry.
Before we finish, here’s big me in a recreated version of little me’s outfit.
I recently purchased this acid wash, high-waist, ruffle-tiered skirt from an awesome spot in Denver, Goldmine Vintage. I fell in love with it immediately, because it took me back to the ruffle loving days of my childhood, and it fits me like a glove (a glove that fits just right).
That more or less brings me to the here and now. I’m so excited and proud to offer Strawberry Mountain to Denver and the world! If you haven’t visited the store yet, get on it! 825 Santa Fe Dr. Denver, CO, 80204.
Until next blog, be well!
-Nadia
