Tag Archives: Thread Show

Purpose & Re-Purpose: THREADshow 2011


On Sunday April 3rd, I attended the THREADshow at Horton Plaza’s Event Space. I attended the event last September (see the post here), but sadly missed another one in December. I received an email reminder for this seasons show, which allowed me to attend as press this time around. I decided to head there early, and I’m glad I did! Arriving early allows you to not only take advantage of being able to get at the goods first, but it allows you to take in everything with a few go-arounds before committing to the booths you really want to spend some time in.

If you are unfamiliar with the THREADshow, here is a little summary:

About THREAD Show // Good Style. Good Value. Good Karma.
THREAD Show is a travelling juried showcase of the best independent fashion and home designers on the West Coast, and the music and art that rock their world. This dynamic one-day retail environment has showcased more than 7,000 emerging designers since its inception in 2003. THREAD allows consumers a unique opportunity to support their local economy, reduce their carbon footprint and discover emerging designers while scoring deals and purchasing one-of-a-kind wares in a fun and unique setting. For more information, visit www.threadshow.com.

If you like up and coming indie artists, clothing and accessory designers as I do, then you will enjoy this type of event. When I arrived, I bumped into one of my former choir members, who had won tickets from another blog. It was fun to catch up, but once inside, we went our separate ways in order to make it to all of the fantastic booths. I always love walking through the art area first. The coolest part of the gallery this year was the Toygami display, which is a play on origami, Japanese paper-folding art.


There were a couple of new things this year: one was the “Man Cave”, equipped with a bar and putting green. I considered asking my husband to help take pictures, and maybe he would have come if he knew about the “Cave.” What I liked instead of the runway show was the “Live Style Series”, which was a live display of models styled by 5 different local fashion bloggers. Attendees could then vote for their favorite. I will have to keep up on the THREADshow blog so that I can participate in their next blogger event!


After a couple of rounds, I stopped at a rack of eye-catching purses. They were convertible purses with a studded design that looked like the Union Jack. Called “The G Collection, Fashion with a Purpose” I met the creator, Galyn, who showed me around their little booth, which also displayed hats and jewelry. She basically does most of her business through these types of events, and a portion of her sales goes towards philanthropic causes, such as Doctors Without Borders. I knew I wanted one of those studded purses, and hearing everything Galyn had to say made for an easy decision to make a purchase. Already a great deal at $40, it was nice that it was also accompanied by warm feelings of doing something good.


I was very glad to find a knit clothing line out of New Orleans called liaMolly. I was not able to really dive in and look at all they had to offer last year. When I saw their booth this year, I knew I had to stop by and hang out a bit. The line consists of beautiful knit clothing that are not just your typical sweater set. These are delicately crafted retro/vintage looking knits done in exquisite patterns and colors. I found a beautiful kimono-style black sweater and snapped it up at a mere $45. I got the chance to chat with Kaye, the C.O.O of liaMolly, who was very gracious although she was quite busy. I loved the little suitcase display!


I ended my day at a booth called Bottle Hood. My upcycling radar honed in on this display because of the unusual use of Bombay Sapphire and Skyy Vodka bottles that I saw in the distance. I spoke to Leslie of Bottle Hood, who gave me a little background on their concept. Bottles are reclaimed from local restaurants, bars and even local events which would have been thrown out. They use local crafts people to turn these ordinary bottles into fantastic glassware such as tumblers, lamps, vases and candle accessories. Visually, I couldn’t get enough of all of the items, but purchased just 4 pieces of shaped glass that I intend to turn into necklaces. That doesn’t mean that I won’t buy more! The actual store is located in El Cajon, but they also sell their items online. Additionally, they also make appearances at local farmers’ markets and street fairs, accepting bottles that would have been thrown away or recycled, to create more of their wonderfully earth-friendly goods.


All in all, another fun and successful THREADshow. I found a few good bargains that not only keeps me stylish, but saves the planet and gives back to the community. Special thanks to Dara Bu from Elle Communications for the reminder email (I’ve signed up for the updates now!). Thanks also to Gayln Gorg of The G Collection, Kaye Bertheaud of liaMolly, and Leslie Tiano of Bottle Hood for taking the time to chat with me.

Tea Time

The weather out here in California has gone up several degrees this week, so my “Coat of the Week” idea didn’t quite make sense, even when most of my day is spent in an air-conditioned office.  Since I’ve been wearing these great shoes everyday from the moment I bought them (seen here and here), I thought I would make this more of a “Shoe of the Week” pictorial. 

Along with my platform pumps, I wore a tea dress with my brand new ring that I got from the Thread Show (seen here) and black tights for contrast.  Pretty tea dresses are wonderful things to own because they can be dressed up or down (I like mine in polka dot, ditsy floral or Liberty prints).  Although it’s as hot as it is, I tried to ring in the fall by topping the outfit off with a cardigan.  But I’ll be drinking iced-tea instead of my favorite piping hot English Breakfast or Earl Grey with cream until the weather cools down again.

Outfit:  Topshop tea dress; H&M cardigan; clutch from Urban Outfitters;  Target brand tights; Bamboo shoes; Rings by Forever 21 and Nifty Curly; my own prescription glasses

Pull This Thread

On Sunday, I went to a great independent fashion event called the Thread Show.  What is it?  Here are a couple of quotes from their site:

THREAD is a curated showcase of the best emerging, trend forecasting, style breaking, genre bending fashion designers, and the music and art that rock their world.

THREAD is a dynamic one day retail environment, bringing new fashion and art to more than 200,000 fashion savvy, trend pushing, music loving, taste making movers and shakers, all keen to get first dibs on what drops next in the emerging fashion designer world.

The San Diego event was held in a “recycled” space at the Horton Plaza mall and reminded me of a space out in the Reseda/Ventura area that held several booths of independent vendors selling everything from handmade jewelry and fashions to vintage and reworked items.  The Thread Show, however, premieres up and coming fashion, accessory and home-wear designers.  It also includes a salon, a bar, a DJ, food samples from local eateries and two runway fashion shows.  Since this was my first time attending, I walked around a little to get a feel for the event.

One of the first vendors I stopped and made a purchase from was called Double Take Fashion.  Owned by identical twins Nicole and Shelley Dozier, they began their business as a way to cope with their own personal illness.  They are based in Los Angeles and this was their first time at the Thread Show.  The little bolero jacket Nicole is wearing is adorable in person.

A booth called Nifty Curly was one that I stopped at briefly, then came back to to really dig into all of the wonderful pieces they had available.  Ellen of Nifty Curly stated that the pieces are “Upcycled Handmade”, meaning they get their leather pieces directly from apparel, accessory and furniture manufacturers to get the best quality possible.  There were so many pieces to select from!  My purchase for the day was the cute little button ring that had a gold leather band (third picture down of the Nifty Curly series).   Other standout pieces included coated leather leaf pendants (they looked so life-like), the “Wonder Woman” leather cuffs, and the leather wrap-around wrist bracelets that were actually hidden wallets!

My final purchase came from a booth called De La Luna Designs.  At first, I thought that the pieces had artwork on them.  I found out later through their website and after talking to the designer, Virginia Ayala, that they are re-worked vintage pieces.  The purse that I purchased was a vintage snake-skin purse with a cut-out fabric flower that was coated onto the purse.  The resulting look is amazing, as you can see in the pictures below.  They sell their items wholesale and their website has locations on where you can purchase these one-of-a-kind pieces.  I also love their tagline:  “Bringing Earth To Life Through Design.”

My day at the Thread Show ended with a fashion show, showcasing some of the designers who had booths at the event.  Because of where I was standing and the fact that I didn’t have my husband’s wonderful camera, my pictures were less than worthy.  I included just one of the shots of the runway where I had an actual full shot of an outfit.  Note to self:  take the hubby or another friend to future events to allow for better photo coverage.

I absolutely loved going to the Thread Show and I have to thank my friend for turning me onto this fantastic event (that’s you Christina!).  In chatting with Dara from Elle Communications (a local PR, marketing and event planning company whose client is Thread Show), I found out that this is a seasonal event occurring during the spring and fall.  Because of the indie vibe and exciting atmosphere, rest assured that this is an event that I will be attending season after season, whether it’s here in San Diego or elsewhere.