Getting to know you: Miss Petra
Posted by Miss Chloe on
Miss Petra is loved by all who meet her. Her honesty and eye for detail have earned her a great deal of respect from customers who visit our boutique and she’s got a wicked sense of humour. But if you’re not local to Gosport, you may never have had the pleasure of meeting Miss P or any of our Dolls!
We love our wee team and think everyone brings something special to the VV experience, and we want our online audience to have the opportunity to ‘meet’ our fantastic dolls too. We’ve created a blog series called ‘getting to know you’ in which we’ll aim the Hollywood spotlight at a different doll each time and they’ll have the opportunity to tell you about all their weird and wonderful quirks! We’d be so thrilled if you would take the time to read!
We’re starting out with the Gosport boutique’s leading lady, Miss Petra. She’s a dog mama, she’s scarily efficient and she has quite the fanbase in Alverstoke Village! But did you know she’s also shoe obsessed? Introducing our amazing Miss Petra!
Our boutique manager models the Luxury Storks Gown
If there’s one song that’s going to get you up and dancing at a party Miss P, what is it going to be?
I love anything from the 90s – I think it was the best decade for music, there hasn’t been another that has thrown up more variety and diversity on the music scene in my opinion. I even named my daughter after one of my favourite songs from an iconic Britpop band that formed in the 90s – can you guess which? Ok the song was released in 2005, but still!
Ok miss P, imagine this: you’re moving to Mars, but you can only take one suitcase with you, what item of vintage finery are you packing?
Petra: A whole suitcase?
Chloe: Yep, one huge suitcase
Petra: I would fill my suitcase with shoes and then I’d most definitely be that person begging for extra baggage allowance. I just can’t imagine leaving any of my beauties behind… oh and I’d also sneak in a jumpsuit of course – they’re so easy to wear and you don’t have to iron them which is great because I won’t have space in my luggage for an iron amongst all the shoes anyways!
Our boutique manager wears the Gigi Roman Holiday Dress and a pair of her favourite shoes: the Gizo Sandals
This might be a difficult one to answer, but we’ll give it a shot anyway: what are your 3 fave brands in the boutique and why?
For shoes it’s Charlie Stone – They’re just the most stunning and comfortable shoes you will ever find, I really believe that!
When it comes to dresses, for me it’s Onjenu - Most of my wardrobe consists of Onjenu dresses and jumpsuits! I absolutely love their fabrics and prints, and they usually come in a stretchy jersey material that’s great for my body shape, plus there’s no ironing required and most come with pockets - what else could you ask for in a dress?
If it’s bags, then I’ll always choose Vendula London. These are bags that just make you smile, the thought and craftsmanship put into them is absolutely immense. I get stopped by strangers admiring my handbags when I’m out and about and I bet lots of people who own Vendula bags find themselves in same situation!
[Left] Miss Petra wears the Joni Neon Dragon Maxi Dress, and [right] shows off one of her fave Vendula handbags
Ok, so we’ve basically covered your perfect outfit, what about your perfect day, what does that look like?
Honestly just a day filled with happiness – it may sound silly, but every day is perfect to me when I’m happy*
*I’m sorry but isn’t she just the cutest?! We don’t deserve her!
Besides working on your shoe collection, when you’re not at the boutique, what do you like to do?
Well, after making sure that the kids and the pets have been cared for for the day, I set about climbing the leader board on Peloton - I am very competitive when it comes to anything with a leader board or ranking! Otherwise, I like a good game of table tennis, squash, or tennis. When it comes to T.V you’ll find me engrossed in anything to do with crime and murder investigation, oh and I love a good documentary!
How would you describe the vintage fashion world to an alien who’s just arrived on Earth?
Ah this is not my favourite question to answer - quite often I hear people debating about what is vintage, true vintage, antique and what is classed as retro. I get that it can be helpful to be able to label things, but it can easily become such a heated debate! So, I’d keep it nice and simple and say that vintage is any piece that strongly reflects the style and trend associated with a bygone era.
Honestly, the aliens would be lucky to be greeted by that face, wouldn't they?
Can you tell us about your absolute favourite part about being a VV Doll?
I feel incredibly lucky, proud, and honoured to be a VV Doll and for Mrs Darling leaving her boutique in my hands as manager.
Mrs Darling is the best boss lady you could ask for. Well, I wouldn’t say she’s just my boss really, she is an amazing mentor, teacher, and friend and is always there for me no matter what time of day I come to her. Before VV I had no background in fashion or retail so everything I know to date is thanks to her! Even after 7 years at the boutique I still wake up every morning looking forward to opening the boutique and welcoming customers in and that’s partly down to Mrs D and her enthusiasm for all things vintage – it’s infectious!
Customer experience is very important to me - I love all my lovely customers and think it’s important to celebrate people from all walks of life no matter where they come from. I treat everyone with respect and my end goal is to make them feel on top of the world with any purchase from VV no matter how big or small. Seeing someone leaving boutique with smile on their face is the most satisfying feeling and I think I speak for everyone when I say we do a little dance whenever that happens!
Helping Mrs D with selecting and ordering new pretties has also been great fun! I won’t go into the details of my managerial duties because I could spend hours explaining it all to you, but I do want to talk about online orders. All our online orders are hand wrapped and packed by me, so if you have ever received a package from VV you’ll see how much care and attention I put into each and every order. I try to personalise them with a little hand written note as we really are grateful for every purchase that supports our small business!*
*I can totally vouch for miss Petra here, she’s not overselling it one bit, her parcels are always beautifully presented with so much care and attention – I’m talking ribbon, hand-written notes, cute stickers, little extra surprises, just the whole 9 yards of fabric. Honestly, it’s like a little parcel of happiness and we just love when folks tag us in their unwrapping pics and videos on Instagram - you can catch us at @voluptuous_vintage if you want to have a nosey!
Can you tell us about your favourite era(s) and styles? Why do you love them?
Come on, it wouldn’t be fair to choose just one or two… Every era has its high and low points, even when it comes to fashion. I just think we are so incredibly lucky to be able to go back so many decades to pick and choose what we want to wear in the present day.
If you had to introduce yourself everywhere you went, what would you want people to know about you?
This would probably be better suited for someone else who knows me to answer, but in a nutshell, I will describe myself with this quote: I either keep it all inside or say exactly how I feel with no filters, there is no in between. I can be very direct, but I’m never unkind – and that’s actually earned me a lot of trust from our regulars, they seem to really value my opinion because they know I’ll be honest if something doesn’t suit them.
Ok we’ll end it the best way we know how: on a quirky note! Do you have any ‘weird’ talents you can share with us?
Weird talents? Nah I am perfect as I am… but my husband would probably list few if you asked him – he thinks I’m a bit weird and wonderful!