Get To Know: Shearless

Ever wished you would’ve had your make-up done professionally before that big event? Or wanted a blowout, but couldn’t get an appointment with your regular stylist? Or maybe you just had a half hour open up in your day and you’d love to tame those eyebrows. Well, now you can do all of that thanks to a handy online booking service that you can even use on your iPhone. Enter Shearless.

Shearless is an online appointment service that offers customers last-minute bookings with top talent in some of Nashville’s best salons including Eyecandy Salon, Fresh Salon, Fruition Salon, Salon nFuse, Shine – The Salon, TRIM Classic Barber & Legendary Beauty and Woo Skincare & Cosmetics.

Here’s how it works. Participating salons post their openings within a 24-hour window and you search among 17 exclusive services to book appointments that fit your same-day or next-day needs. It couldn’t be easier and some of the services are even offered at a discount when you book through the website.

We spoke with co-founder, Susanne Shepherd who also owns Shine – The Salon, to learn more about Shearless and its services.

What is the inspiration behind Shearless?
Over dinner earlier this year Dr. Dave (Gilbert) and I were discussing how few digital tools are available to help salons build their businesses and maximize revenue, and how “daily deals” sites like Groupon just don’t understand the specific needs of salons.  We also thought about how frustrating it is to have to wait several weeks to get a cut, color, or styling from a high end salon, especially if there’s an upcoming event.

Why did you feel there was the need for this service in Nashville?
At my salon I see seats that go unfilled every day due to last minute cancellations or just holes in the books of talented, but new stylists.  Nashville is a great place to launch the service because the entertainment industry creates a lot of demand for high end salon services and there are so many social events that require women and men to look their best.

Who is the Shearless customer?
There are several Shearless customers.  Women who need a quick blowout, special event styling, or color service because they have an event to attend.  College students and business travelers who are new to town and don’t yet know where to go.  People who may be between stylists, and men who want a high quality cut but don’t want to have to schedule up to several weeks in advance.

What’s the best advice you can give someone who is thinking about using Shearless?
If you want a great deal go for one of the discounted services — these are top salons and they almost never discount their services outside of Shearless.  If you want service from one of the top stylists in town, choose a higher-priced service and you’ll likely end up in the chair of one of those stylists that you’d ordinarily have to wait months to see.

With these being last minute bookings, what services do you feel are the best value?
To find the service you want from top salons on short notice without Shearless you’d have to call half a dozen salons to find openings and you’d have to write everything down to compare availabilities and prices.  With Shearless it’s all there to discover, compare, and reserve with a couple of mouse clicks (or taps on your iPhone).

How did you choose the participating salons?
I’ve been in this business for 18 years.  While there are many worthy salons in Nashville, we chose the best.  In the future we’ll be gradually adding more.

Are there any other services we can look forward to being available soon?
We have several new features we’re cooking up, including a referral program for individuals and an affiliate program for local businesses in the fashion, style, and fitness areas.  Also expect us to focus on mobile in the near future.

Thanks Susanne! This is such a great concept. We can’t wait to try it out for ourselves and Susanne and Dr. Dave want you to try Shearless too. You can take 10% off the price of any service. Use the code Stella10 when you book your appointment through the Shearless website.

Get To Know: Honey & Marrow

Photo by Kelli Dirks

A few months ago, we got a message from our friend and stylist Katherine Mez, who is also the Store Manager at Ivey, about a new jewelry line we had to see called Honey & Marrow. It’s sold exclusively at Ivey in Edgehill Village and online at honeyandmarrow.com. Husband and wife team, Danny and Kelly Magnino are the designers behind this beautiful line of necklaces and wallets using vintage finds. Every piece is handcrafted and one-of-a-kind. If you’re still shopping for the holidays, Honey and Marrow pieces make perfect gifts and they have some great pieces for guys too! This talented couple took some time out of their busy schedule to answer a few questions for us.

Where did the name Honey & Marrow come from?

We wanted to represent the business from both perspectives, from myself and Danny. Since it’s a husband and wife team, we wanted to choose words that described both a feminine and masculine viewpoint. Honey, obviously means sweet, and Marrow means, core, center, strong.

Where do you find the pieces you use?

We typically do our best at flea markets and antique stores. We have fallen in love with the Nashville Flea Market, so that’s where we have the best luck.

You have some pretty unique names for your necklaces.  How do you decide on a name?

It’s funny, because there’s really no method to the madness. It’s basically a brainstorming session for every piece. We find something that is unique to the piece, whether that’s where the piece originated, any writing that’s on the item, what it represents…or the first saying or phrase that comes to mind. i.e. – The horseshoe pieces, horseshoes represent luck, so we call it “Stay Lucky”; “Artifact” has a busted old pocket knife and an old rusty flat key…

Stay Lucky, $65

Artifact, $45

You can never have too many

Skeleton keys, records, shoes.
You couldn’t live without

Each other (obviously!), our pup Joaquin Phoenix, supportive family, encouraging friends, Jesus, good food, even better coffee, art and design, music, the list could go on and on…=)
Song that can be or is your theme song

The sound of crunching leaves..that’s about good as any song can get!
Best holiday memory (since it’s the holidays!)

Well, three Thanksgivings ago, Danny and I went to visit my family in Birmingham. He secretly asked for my parent’s blessing to propose, and one thing led to another, and the entire family was toasting to our future marriage with a 20 year old bottle of Dom Perignon. It was totally unexpected or planned, but my parents were just so excited they spoiled the surprise and told me! I did, however, let Danny properly propose a few weeks later surrounding our friends, and yes, that was even a surprise too!

Tough As Nails, $50

Favorite hangouts

Crema, the dog park, front porches, the Nashville flea market
Inspirations

Anything old with a good story behind it, friends who live out their dreams, family who stays strong in times of hardship, vinyl, the hardware store, coffee culture.

The Russell Wallet - Black w/Red Stitching, $25

What’s next for Honey & Marrow?

We’re hoping to find new ways to share and display what we are discovering; basically we are so excited to share a lot more pieces with a lot more people!

Windsong, $50

Thanks Kelly and Danny! Purchase their pieces online at www.honeyandmarrow.com and in store exclusively at Ivey in Edgehill Village. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter too.

 

 

Stella Shops on Style Blueprint

Photo by Ashley Hylbert

We had a lot of fun working on our FACES of Nashville interview for Style Blueprint.  Thank you’s definitely go out to Liza and Elizabeth of Style Blueprint for featuring us, Ashley Hylbert for taking loads of great photos and Posh in The Hill Center for letting us basically take over the store the day before Thanksgiving. You can read the full interview here and see more of Ashley’s photos on our Tumblr and on Ashley’s blog.

XO,

Carla and Mizzie

Don’t forget to LIKE us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter.

Designer Spotlight: Debby Kidder of Re-Creating Juliette

This month’s Designer Spotlight features a jewelry line Mizzie and I discovered when pulling items for our June Her Nashville Favorites column.  We were instantly smitten with this line of repurposed vintage necklaces.  Many of designer Debby Kidder’s pieces have a steam punk twist that we are a bit obsessed with.  Her line Re-Creating Juliette can be found exclusively at our August Spotlight store, Serendipity.  Serendipity owner, Julie Lutz, happens to be Debby’s sister!  So we’re pretty lucky to be have this jewelry line all to ourselves in Nashville.  We asked Debby to answer a few questions for us so we could get to know her and her jewelry making process a little better.

When did you first start repurposing jewelry?  I started making jewelry in January of 2006 using vintage jewelry and other found items in my designs.

Where do you find the pieces you use?  The pieces I use are found at estate sales, garage sales, flea markets and on the internet.  I’ve been an antiques and collectibles dealer for over 30 years and love looking for interesting items that can be repurposed or up-cycled.

Do you design with something in mind before you actually find the piece you’re going to use?  Or is your design process more driven by what you’ve found?  My designs are usually inspired by items I find.  A vintage bracelet inspired me to make the “Little Black Dress” necklace. An antique Sterling mesh change purse made a unique necklace. A realistic rubber frog fishing lure turned into the “Ribbit” necklace. Beautiful antique buttons make unique earrings and necklace parts. Steampunk is very popular and fun to make using old watch parts, clock gears, keys and hardware.  More often than not, I find a piece and just start working with it to see what evolves.

The best advice you can give someone interested in repurposing jewelry.  My advice to anyone interested is to find items you like and they will inspire you.  I try to respect vintage items and use them in such a way that keeps them intact if possible. It is more satisfying to use a broken piece of jewelry than to take a perfectly good piece apart.

Inspirations:  Unique vintage items.  Found objects. Color.

You can never have too many:  Jewelry parts and beads.

Song that could be or is your theme song:  No song comes to mind.  I love listening to music.  Anything Bon Jovi!

Your perfect day:  My perfect day is a whole day off to stay home and relax and create jewelry.

Coffee or tea:  Coffee!

Thanks Debby!  All of Debby’s pieces are one-of-a-kind and they’re super affordable making them perfect gifts.  Something to keep in mind when you’re working on that Holiday shopping list!  Visit Julie at Serendipity to see what new pieces she has in stock.

Serendipity is located at 2301 12th Ave South and they’re open Monday – Saturday 10am-7pm.  Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

A big thank you to our photographer, Daniel C White for the photos in this post.

Get To Know: Bailey Spaulding & Robyn Virball of Jackalope Brewing Company

Nashville, there’s a new microbrewery in town.  Located on 8th Ave in the Gulch, Jackalope Brewing Company is quickly becoming the new ‘it’ place for Friday happy hours.  We needed to know more about Bailey Spaulding (left) and Robyn Virball (right), the two rockin’ ladies behind the brew.  They took a few minutes to answer some of our more pressing questions.

You can never have too many

Bailey Spaulding: Rowboats? Earrings?  Rowboats and earrings.

Robyn Virball: flip flops, cupcakes, compliments.

You couldn’t live without

BS: My airbrushed Jackalope sweatshirt that the nicest man in Gatlinburg made for me, beer, steel-toed rubber boots & water-wicking socks, maple syrup, bad jokes, good friends.

RV: People Magazine, Burts Bees chapstick, beer and wine (variety is the spice of life), Modern Family.

Inspirations

BS: My parents.  They live their lives with passion, care, and joy.  Also, Diane Von Furstenburg, Helena Bonham Carter, and Amy Poehler.  I’m not sure how it would work out, but when I grow up I want to be a combination of those three ladies.

RV: Fashion wise…. My niece, while only two, is pretty styling.  She boldly mixes colors, patterns and styles all while looking adorable. She can also rock a pair of binoculars as an everyday accessory like nobody’s business.   I will also have to copy Bailey and say my parents.  They’re entrepreneurs and have always been encouraging and being able to follow their example on this venture has been incredibly valuable.  They also have lived their lives in a really interesting and inspiring way and I hope I’m as adventurous as them when I’m 60.

Favorite Breweries

BS: Lawson’s Finest Liquids (Robyn calls me a hipster for this one…it’s this little nanobrewery up in Vermont, I dunno, you’ve probably never heard of it), and I was just out in California so I’m on a Lagunitas kick right now.

RV: Ours… and Green Flash for their IPA and Dogfish Head for their innovation.

Favorite Hangouts

BS: 12th South Taproom, Fido, The Basement, Climb Nashville.  Also, I hear this new place, Jackalope, is pretty bitchin’.

RV:  Our taproom, I’m pretty much always here.  Also Bongo Java, Melrose, and my friend Sally’s house because she has a double slip’n slide and that’s pretty amazing.

Song that would be (or is) your theme song

BS: We have a ton of those, actually. One being Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us    Now.”  Then our friend Steve (not Intern Steve, another Steve) in fact wrote a theme song for Jackalope, at this year’s Robbie Burns Day party (it’s a Scottish tradition that we have bastardized because we love plaid and whisky.  Everyone get excited for January!).  It goes like this:

Oh, drink ‘em high and drink ‘em low,

to Jackalope in my kilt I go,

All the Lassies say A-LLOH!,

Oh Sh%!, where’s me trousers?

I think my own theme song changes multiple times a day.  But more often than not it’s “Badlands,” by Bruce Springsteen.  His lyric ‘it ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive,’ just about sums it up.

RV: Again echoing Bailey with, Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” got us through last winter. As for a personal song, I don’t really have one, but I guess when times get hard during this venture The Avett Brother’s “Head Full Of Doubt” plays in my head a lot.  That or “Party in the USA.”

Your personal style in one word

BS: Jazzercize

RV: Existential

Style of beer or cocktail that best describes you

BS: Hefeweizen, ’cause I’m bananas.  Oh wow, it’s true, I really couldn’t live without bad jokes.

RV: A Cape Codder – classic and WASPy

Best advice you could give someone new to Jackalope

Get here early and have fun!  We have our own brews on tap as well as some regional guest brews, and while we brew literally day and night, until our big equipment is functional we tend to run out of our brews by the end of the evening.  A wonderful problem to have, but we promise everyone, we’re working on it!

Next up for Jackalope

Our August rotating brew is an IPA!  Also, getting the big equipment up and running so we can be open more and start distributing. That process has been a long one and we are really excited to be nearly there.

Thanks ladies!  You can try one of their tasty brews any Friday from 4-8pm, but definitely get there early.  Jackalope fills up fast!  To read more about Bailey and Robyn and the Jackalope story, pick up the August issue of Her Nashville magazine or read it here.

Jackalope Brewing Company – 701 8th Ave South Nashville, TN

Credits:

Styling & General Badassery: Ashley Sheehan & Kate Mills of Old Made Good

Photos: Jude Ferrara

Get to Know: Aubree Phillips & Natalie Sawyer of Fringe and Lace

We recently spent some time with the lovely ladies from Fringe and Lace, a traveling boutique that brings women’s clothing, jewelry and other accessories right to your house.  Aubree Phillips and Natalie Sawyer are so sweet we thought you needed to know a little more about them and what’s next for Fringe and Lace.

Your First Fashion Memory:

Audree (AP) – Dressing up in costume jewelry and pink plastic Barbie little kid high heels!

Natalie (NS) – A pair of pink saddle shoes that I HAD to have in Kindergarten!  I loved them and wore them almost every day.

Your Style in Five Words or Less:

AP – Trendy, feminine, accessorized

NS – Feminine, classic, trendy and comfortable

You Can Never Have Too Many:

AP – Shoes, earrings, blue jeans, nail polishes (I have a crazy obsession with buying them in every color!)

NS – Blazers!  I am obsessed with blazers and wear them all year round.

Favorite Designers:

AP – Way too many!  But I do love Vince Camuto’s shoes.  They are so affordable and beautiful.

NS – Kate Moss for Top Shop, The Row,  Rag and Bone and Alexander Wang

Favorite Hangouts:

AP – PM, Bongo Java and wherever my friends and family are.

NS – City House, Cinco De Mayo and of course my back deck with lots of friends!

You Couldn’t Live Without:

AP – My Blackberry (of course), lip gloss, coffee and my camera…along with everything else stuffed in my oversized handbag.

NS – Coffee and my iPhone

Inspirations:

AP - Cupcakes and Cashmere’s blogger, Emily Schuman.  Her style is so feminine, easy, different and always adorable.

NS – My amazing family and friends who are always inspiring me and supporting me!

Best Advice You Can Give Someone Shopping Fringe & Lace:

AP – Don’t be afraid to look at the price tag — everything is less than $100!

NS – First of all host a party of your own!  Such a fun way to shop and spend time with your girlfriends.  Secondly, don’t be afraid to ask us questions.  Aubree and I own almost everything we sell.  If you are wondering how something fits, message or call us and we’ll let you know.

Next Up for Fringe and Lace:

AP – Visit more cities and online shopping!

NS – We are working on getting an online store up and running so customers can get their favorite Fringe and Lace items 24/7!!!

Thanks ladies!  If you would like to host your own Fringe and Lace party, contact Aubree and Natalie here.