RETAIL REVIEW: BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS

I just got back from a great work trip to NYC and I have so many great things to share with you that I discovered while I was there.  I spent a few days wandering through Coterie and Capsule and found some interesting new lines as well as some new ideas for the Spring 2013 season. I also helped my clients, Alex & Lee with an Art and Antiques show that was held at the Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East side.  So many beautiful things were there, and I had a Mary McFadden sighting that I am very excited about! In between all the traveling from uptown to downtown, I spent some time visiting stores that I had heard about and did a little bit of shopping.

The most inspired moment I had on the trip was visiting Williamsburg’s Beautiful Dreamers boutique.  I first heard about this store through my friend Joanna of Keep Feeling Fascination, and a few other similar minded friends also told me to check it out.  I reached out the the owners, April Hughes and Marina Burini, about featuring Alex & Lee in their store and when I got there I realized what a perfect setting their store was for the jewelry.  I literally got chills when I walked in.  I had a vision of this kind of store shortly after I started working with Alex & Lee, and here it was straight from my dreams into reality.  OMG!!

I love how they created shapes from the woven rugs

Close up of large scale photograph on the wall by Venetia Dearden

Fixtures are made of driftwood and hung with rope; plant life is all around and dreamcatchers & textiles hang at every turn

Colorful handmade shoes by LA’s Beatrice Valenzuela

Handmade textile art jewelry by Tamika Rivera

The store is filled with handmade things from apparel to accessories, wall art, rugs and floor pillows, plant hangings, pots and ceramics and apothecary.  Beautiful Dreamers transports me into one of my favorite reference books, Native Funk and Flash, an iconic book that features artists from the 1970′s art to wear movement in Northern California in the 1970′s.  Alex & Lee were featured in this book and the photo below remains one of their most referenced photos of their history.

After talking with the owners, I found out that they were very much inspired by this book and the wearable art movement that was created at that time.  What they have created in this space is a modern version of the same values and thought process that artists used to create during the 1970′s.  Handmade, sustainable, handcrafted conscious art to wear.  YES!!!!!!!!!

A handmade, hand-dyed, hand-knitted vest by Correll Correll

Handmade apothecary

I was so excited to see so many of my favorite artists on display from Los Angeles including Annie Costello Brown, Adina Mills Designhouse and All for the Mountain. There is definitely a kinship happening between Los Angeles artists and Beautiful Dreamers.  Apparel designer/artist Jesse Kamm is featured as well as textiles from Kneeland Co.

They carry jewelry from all of my favorites including Pamela Love, A Peace Treaty and Lauren Manoogian in this picture.

Necklaces and belts by Lauren Manoogian and Annie Costello Brown

Adina Mills Collection

Wooden necklaces by Nancy Stella Sotto

All the home decorative arts in the store are amazing and I literally wanted every single one so that I could create a hippie dreamhaven in my apartment! I know my Laurel Canyon and Topanga counterparts will be right there with me coveting every piece.  I’m so excited about textured wall art coming back.  I have been predicting it for awhile and it’s finally back in full force with some of the best I’ve seen at this store.

LOVE this pillow by A Detacher

Love this corner in the back of the store

Macrame wall hanging by Renata Abbade

Woven basket by Nanette Sullano

Amazing patchwork textile wall piece by Daniel McRorie

Beautiful dreamcatchers by Electric Love

The piece on the left was made by Alia Penner and the ones on the right are a Rose bowl find

Pottery and art sculptures are also a part of the lifestyle boutique.  All handmade of course.

Pottery by Staci Cushman

Ceramics by Paula Greif

Love these vase heads by Meghan Petras

The dressing room :)

I can’t express to you how inspired I am by this space and this lifestyle.  If you have been following The Sche Report for awhile now, you know that I have been supporting this type of handcrafted luxury for sometime now.  I really believe in what this store stands for and the aesthetic is completely in line with who I am.  Beautiful Dreamers is by far the best representation of this idea that I have seen anywhere and I am so thrilled that they now have a collection of Alex & Lee in the store.  What an amazing collaboration it is!

The next time you visit NYC, this store is a MUST SEE! Spread the word….

Beautiful Dreamers

326 Wythe Avenue – Corner of South 1st

Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Tel: 718.388.4884