Heaven Has Leopard Upholstery

Poppy circle dress, $156
Crinoline, $90
Bolero, $44
Bow belt, $10
Scarf, $10

I've been in love with the dresses and skirts and blouses and crinolines from Bettie Page Clothing for about two years now. I clicked through the website and sighed, "Being a temp/permalancer/underpaid publishing professional/poor person in general is awful because I want everything here." And I closed the window and hung my head. They opened a store on the Lower East Side in the fall. I went to visit last Tuesday to and fell in love again, this time a little harder.




The LES location is absolutely gorgeous, like very grown-up candy store. I didn't know where to turn first: the perfectly dressed mannequins, the fragrance display (the newly released Bettie Page fragrance smells delicious), the jukebox. There's so much loving detail here, even down to the floor.




Manager Hayley Griffin was my friendly tour guide through the vintage wonderland. She's sweet as she can be. Hayley's been with Bettie Page for quite a while; this is the seventh store she's launched. She started loving vintage after she went into a shop for a pair of cowboy boots and applied for a job opening they had.

I asked Hayley if most of the girls that came in were hardcore rockabilly or vintage-loving girls. "No, they're mostly normal women." And the store's personnel? One woman is a burlesque performer but everyone as for everyone else, "Just girls who love dresses." Each display is so carefully done. Is it any wonder I just sort of walked in circles with my mouth agape? Hayley laughed a little when I said "Oh my goodness" for the twentieth time and said, "Welcome home, honey."

Is it summer yet? I need these in my life.

Even the dressing rooms are sexy