I have 3 brothers & a sister & they're all very athletic, just like my dad. I always did sports through high school with art & theater on the side, but when I went to college on my own, I was like, okay, I think art is my thing.
Of my family, I would say my mom is the creative one. She's really good with interiors & has a great eye. I remember she would do craft shows where she would iron things onto clothes & sell them. I probably get my interests & creativity from her. I've always been interested in so many things, & knew I wanted to pursue something creative, but wasn't sure which direction to go. Honestly, I never thought I would own a business.
I studied art, which included painting & drawing, some sculpture, some graphic design. I liked each one for its own reasons, but continued to have a really hard time narrowing down what I wanted do. I loved drawing & painting, but wasn't sure specifically what I wanted to do with that. I thought maybe it would be good to have a little more sculptural background. I used to think my dream job was doing the window installations at Anthropology. I started taking more graphic design classes, because I thought it was a more practical route. I really admired graphic design & could tell when I saw something I loved, but it was a lot harder for me to learn the programs & execute it. But I thought I should try it, so I took an internship in Nashville for a small fairtrade boutique as their graphic designer.
When I got there, I realized I was a lot more interested in the processes of readying the shop & the buying. That shop was my intro into sustainable fashion. This was almost 10 years ago, before people really started using that phrase, so it was really new to me. Part of my training was to watch a documentary called The True Cost, which really effected me. While I was there I asked if I could create a line of vintage for them. They had a lot of sustainably sourced items from makers in the U.S. & overseas that were all well paid, but they didn't have any vintage representation. They agreed, so I gathered a collection of vintage Levi shorts & would embroider flowers, cactuses & things on the booty & would sell them for the boutique.
This wasn't a paid internship, so when I wasn't at the shop, I was waitressing, but I still needed extra cash. I decided to start selling vintage on my own. I'd always been into sourcing vintage & antiques for myself & always have a surplus, so I opened up an Etsy shop & started selling online.
That's when I technically started Able Shoppe, but I never thought this would ever be my full time job. It was just a fun side thing. I loved this idea that you're able to make better choices when it comes to fashion. Which is part of the reason for the name, but it really comes from a little shop in Nashville. I would pass this empty retro storefront on my way to work. It had the cutest sign that said "Able". I always thought it'd be so cool to open a shop there someday & we wouldn't even have to move the sign!
My senior year, though, I moved back to the Chicago area. I was doing freelance graphic design & was a stylist at Madewell in Oak Park, but was still selling vintage on the side. I started realizing I had a lot more fun sourcing & selling vintage & it seemed like there was more potential for growth. I was also feeling like I wanted to own my own thing. So I decided to quit & pursued Able full time.
I didn't have the storefront starting out, it was entirely online. Mostly Instagram. I had a spare bedroom at our house that became my studio where I'd take photos & store product. My partner Erik & I live in a Queen Anne style house built in 1892. I adore it. Working in this house is a dream, but this kind of work can take up a lot of space. There's so much that goes into selling vintage, at least how I like to do it. I enjoy keeping up with what's happening on the runways & then going out & looking for those things. I want to make sure the items I'm selling are good quality, which takes a little more time to find. After collecting the pieces, you have to clean them & figure out the right pricing for your market. Then I photograph everything & create posts to market them online. Everything here is handpicked & curated. Similar to the art world, each item is chosen because of the aesthetic, the materials & the vibe. My intent is to create a certain story that is a reflection of the artistic part of me. I love things that are timeless & beautiful to wear, that are great quality.
Having my own shop, I'm able to decide the story I want to share and it can alway evolve with me. I love following the world of art & what's happening in fashion. Able is just an extension of those interests & a reason to get to play with clothes & texture in a different way. I notice when I try to buy or curate things that I think people will like instead of just what I like personally, that's when it kind of falls flat. When I'm creating out a place of what I think is beautiful or curious & interesting, I think people are attracted to that.
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When COVID hit I was trying to find different ways to source things, but a lot of the places I typically go where closed. Luckily I'm a bit of a hoarder, so my home studio was full of back stock. I also started making earrings because I've always liked making something on the side to sell with my pieces. But I was missing interaction with people & was getting so dogged down by DMs & emailing & the back & forth. You lose so much when it's just words on a screen.
I started dreaming about what could be next. During that time my partner & I would go on a lot of walks around downtown Elgin. I'd see so many cute empty store fronts & I was like, okay, wouldn't it be so fun just to have a space?! We could even call it mostly a studio & primarily use it to house my stuff. It could be a beautiful space for people to come shop. I already had people coming to my house & doing a lot of studio visits. I knew that there was a customer base. The majority of my customers are in Chicago, but were coming out to Elgin for my pieces. I had been doing markets in the city, but people would ask to come & see everything together & shop at my house. I was receiving requests like that from my interior designer clients, art directors & people just for their own home & wardrobe. It was really fun, but I had to make my house perfect every time & it started to feel like having a space that was always set up would be a better way to go. I had no idea how much a space would actually cost though, so we just started inquiring.
When I found this space on Spring Street it just needed some new paint, new lights & a new floor, which my dad helped with. We started by being open a couple days a week, which is how we still operate. Above all, I needed it to work for me & my lifestyle. I've always seen it as a shop/studio. It's so nice to have everything hung up, steamed & ready so people can come & shop & also have the white gallery space for photoshoots. It gives me some separation between work & home & also variety of places where I get to work.
The storefront adds an additional dimension that is really fun, but I am still learning to navigate. There's a new set of things you have to learn about & take care of. Like when the fire department came & gave us some changes we had to make, & also making sure that you're up on Google & the hours are right. There's a lot of little details. It's like having a second house that you have to keep very clean. I feel like cleanliness is especially important with vintage. I want everything to feel fresh & new. I think about it as I'm giving these pieces a new life, in a new context.
I'm also learning how selling in person, in your own shop, is really different than selling online or at markets. I get excited when people come in & are like "What?! I didn't know this was here!" & are really excited to discover us. I want the shop to feel like a little treasure destination. Like a shop that would be in Chicago, but is in the burbs. When people are like, "Wow, it just feels like this would be in Wicker Park!" I'm like, "Thank you!!" Most of the people that come in are super excited about the space & have fun trying things on. That's my favorite, when people get to play dress up. You can tell they're having good time & that feeling is amazing.
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There's been so many special moments for me in doing this kind of work.
There was a woman that came in once & got very excited about a coat. She told me her grandmother had had the exact same one & she'd been looking for it for years & now here it was in the shop! She got really emotional. She had been looking for so long & now the search was over. It was really satisfying to see a piece mean so much to someone & be able to be a part of it.
On a totally different note, one summer I was doing a market in Chicago & a woman stopped by & decided to buy some lamps & home decor. I always like to ask what people are going to use the pieces for. She told me she was an art director for a show that Leonardo DiCaprio was directing that takes place in the fifties.
I once was hired to art direct a music video for the band "The Head & The Heart" & got to use a lot of my vintage from the shop. Charity, the female vocalist, was so sweet & encouraging which was so nice because it can be kind of intimidating to work with artists that I admire & had been listening to for a long time. She told me that normally she gets a little nervous about the stylist, sometimes people don't quite get her, but we totally clicked. She's was like, "I really love your taste. You nailed it." That felt huge & very validating, to be able to work with them & dress them, with things I had found.
It's such a rush to get to be a part of projects that are bigger than me, even in a small way.
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I'm not a big planner. I kind of like to fly by the seat of my pants, but if I had to say what dreams I have, I would love to eventually live in Chicago above my own storefront. Maybe run a Airbnb, one that feels very boutique. We'd also love to live abroad & sell vintage & source. Specifically, I'd love to live in France. The vintage & antiques & fashion in France is just next level & so fun. I draw a lot inspiration from there. Those are the big dreams I have. But also, right now, I just love being in Elgin. I love our house. I can't imagine ever leaving it. I have a lot of hopes for Elgin growing in the downtown. I'm just taking it year by year & seeing where it goes. One thing is certain, I'm always evolving & changing & excited for what's next :)
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Favorite Restaurants: Arabica, Cafe Urbano & upstairs at Al's
Favorite Shops: Mine ;) & the antique stores on Chicago St.
Favorite Spot to Meet Up: Lords Park or Viator
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Liv is the owner of Able Shoppe on Spring Street in Downtown Elgin.
Follow her on IG @ableshoppe
Shop her collections at able shoppe.com