Have you ever met one of those girls who you instantly want to be best friends with, drink coffee and chat all day with? I did today. I knew before I went to our meeting that I loved a lot of the same things that Jess, creator of Rockin B’ Clothing, does. I knew we had a lot in common, but I didn’t know how down to earth and sweet she was! We chatted for awhile about the one of a kind dresses, skirts and jacket that she has on exhibit at K Dee’s Coffee, but it didn’t take long for the conversation to turn towards our other common interests.
My husband recently completely rebuilt a Scotty Serro camper from the 60’s, and Jess has been looking for one to turn into a mobile clothing store/dressing room to take to weekend car shows and events. How cool to be that girl, rollin’ up in a little canned ham with some of the most awesome, hand made, one-of-a-kind, retro, western wear you’ve ever seen! Sooo cute! We both have a passion for collecting, possible hoarding, depends on who you ask, so we indulged our need to talk about vintage tablecloths, mid century modern furniture, favorite antique stores and junk shops, as well as a few upcoming ‘can’t miss’ yard sales.
She has been asked a lot about designing other sizes than medium, which is what she has been doing the one-of-a-kind pieces in. Her medium actually fits a lot of sizes, because her garments are a heavy stretch cotton which provides control but allows for a lot of different shapes of girls, but she is currently working on having her patterns graded to fit size small through extra-large, and will consider plus-size in the future if she sees the demand. Her current line is inspiration for her wholesale line which is set to debut this Fall, in several stores in the Midwest, as well as internationally. She has had a lot of interest in the wholesale line and is working with some other people on the sizing of the patterns, which is a pretty in-depth process, handled mostly by computer. She uses such a neat mix of fabrics for the accent pieces on her garments. She has collected fabric from places she has lived, Chicago and New York, and gets a lot of it on-line, along with the occasional local fabric store. I loved the flannel panels she used on one of the dresses that has retro appliances and kitchen items on it, including a sweet blender.
When we visited today she had a really striking outfit on, a black and white striped sweater, really pretty floral skirt and a soft pink beret, with her pale skin and ice blue eyes, she is a stylish classic beauty, and looks to be from another time. She is the cutest, sweetest thing I’ve seen since, well, her clothes! She isn’t just another pretty face either. She has personally designed and created her awesome retro website and all of her promotional materials. Check her full story out at www.rockinbclothing.com .
Most of her sales are currently through her etsy site or direct sales. Her site provides all of the pertinent links. I anxiously await the wholesale line, and can’t wait to go to the yard sale she told me about tomorrow morning!
