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Middleburg shop is the ultimate in recycling
Middleburg shop is the ultimate in recyclingBy Betsy Parker
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
Call Timmie Jane the "wave of the future," like a customer did her first week in business, and proprietor Nichole Stephenson will blush with pride.
Too, tell her the brand-new Middleburg shop could use some updating, and she'll thank you just the same.
You see, newer, in Stephenson's opinion, doesn't necessarily mean better. In her estimation, her vintage venture blends the best of the past with the present.
Stephenson's Timmie Jane markets vintage clothing — anything, and everything, in women's fashion — recycling, reinventing, repurposing, rehoming and, best of all, redefining classic and retro pieces she finds by haunting estate sales and auctions worldwide.
She delivers it back to what she's finding is a receptive audience in Virginia's Piedmont.
After a year of planning and decades in preparation, Stephenson debuted Timmie Jane last month.
"I'm optimistic," said the 29-year-old Warrenton native. "I realize the economy is bad, but, from the reception I've gotten so far, everybody's pretty excited about the shop."
Timmie Jane, named for Stephenson's two grandmothers, melds recycling, timeless fashion and the newly fashionable "green" movement of responsible living.
"I like the thought of changing people's minds about what 'second-hand' is all about," she said. "I prefer to think of as 'well-edited.'"
True to form, Stephenson is dressed for this day in a pair of "retro 1970s cashmere plaid wide-leg, high-waisted slacks" with a long-sleeved striped rayon shirt in a complementary — but not quite matching — shade of navy. Tall, with long, straight blond hair, Stephenson looks for all the world like a perfect porcelain mannequin, one that might sit in her East Federal Street storefront.
Absently rubbing the slick fabric on her arm, Stephenson pointed out that "all the high-end designers were like 'oooooh' over rayon when it first came out." Even polyester, she said, was considered cutting edge formalwear when first introduced in the 1960s before being relegated to big-box store fashion. "Totally retro."
Stephenson attended Highland School, then Hotchkiss, and later Hamilton College in upstate New York. In addition to a BA in French literature, she has an associate's degree in design from the Art Institute for Fashion Design in Seattle as well as coursework from the Massachusetts College of Art and School of Fashion Design.
She'd always been interested in fashion, Stephenson said. It was a natural progression that, in 2004, led her to the hub of U.S. couture, New York City.
"No job, no place to live, no prospects," she recalled with a laugh, but with plenty of enthusiasm for design and fashion. She immediately landed a job as a designer and in sales for tiny T.S. Dixin, a women's sportswear manufacturer that sold, on the large scale, to chains like Bloomingdale's, and, on the smaller scale, to boutiques such as Middleburg's Lulu.
Green industry
It was her growing desire to "start out with something 'green,'" Stephenson said, that helped channel Timmie Jane plans.
"I like the recycling aspect of vintage. Even better, I like the thought of buying a unique piece, a cocktail dress, say, that you can trust will be 'one of a kind' at a party."
Pick pieces that are timeless, Stephenson recommended. "You can never go wrong with classic."
Keeping with the green theme, hangers in her store are made from renewable bamboo, and shopping bags are reusable and made from recycled plastic and printed with vegetable ink. Many of the furnishings in the store are reclaimed architectural finds, Stephenson said.
Parkway Cleaners in Maryland ensures that Timmie Jane apparel is sold in pristine, condition (see sidebar). "Plus, I can point customers to Parkway for their vintage cleaning, later. They are great — they'll remove every button, every bead, from a dress before they clean it, and then sew them back. Impeccable."
Timmie Jane offers women's fashions from ball gowns and cocktail dresses to boots and shoes. There are extensive casual and sportswear lines, plus handbags, gloves, belts, hats, accessories and more. Prices range from $25 vintage shirts to a $900 Oscar de la Renta embroidered lace cocktail dress that cost "at least $2,500, new" in the 1950s, Stephenson said. "The price point is competitive."
As to her "competition" in the area, Stephenson said there is none. Though there are several thrift shops and consignment shops in Warrenton and Middleburg, "they don't take clothes over 10 years old," she pointed out. The closest vintage shop, Stephenson said, is Annie Creamcheese in Georgetown.
Stephenson shares the Timmie Jane space with Natasha Curry-Kurfees and her Viccor Custom Jewelry design, repair and consignments.
Stephenson lives on the Stephenson family farm on Wildcat Mountain just north of Warrenton, and she's "thrilled to be home again. It feels like this is the exact right time and place in my life to make this work."
Timmie Jane is located at 10 East Federal Street in Middleburg. A Web address, www.TimmieJane.com, is under development. The store is open Tuesdays-Sundays, closed Mondays. Call (540) 687-3740 or E-mail Stephenson at nichole.stephenson@gmail.com.
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