Pop up Nation

Well the preloved pop up road show made another stop last week.  We had ball meeting and greeting with a bunch of old and new preloved fans.  I love the opportunity to interact with our customers in these intimate settings, and I got tell ya, shopping is so much more fun with a glass of wine in hand!  Alice thanks again for an awesome pop up!

Inspiration Nation

As we begin to tackle the design process for our fall 2014 collection, it made me look back to where we were last year at this time, designing our fall 2013 collection.  It was all about Jean Shrimpton! Her hair, her style and  the carefreeness of that era,  all of it was a huge inspiration for us.  There are so many steps involved in getting a collection from a thought, to a final gorgeous product.  It's so fun to look back at what started it all!  The entire fall 2013 collection is available here 

Meet Doreen

I think this sweater is one of my favourites of our fall 2013 collection.  It is constructed from 100% up-cycled wool, a true preloved classic. The Doreen Cardigan is available in our online boutique as well is in store on Queen Street West.  These gorgeous photo's we taken by Lise Varrette for our fall 2013 look book!  Thanks Lise xo

Fall In Love

Well this is the big one.  Next to Boxing Week,  our Fall in Love sale is our largest sale of the year!
  20-70% off everything! And we do mean everything!!  Our customers love it, our staff loves it, and so do I.  It's the best time of year to stalk up on all your preloved wears.  And don't worry all of our cyber fans out there, a Fall in Love sale is coming soon to the online boutique...keep your eyes open, and fingers ready!
The sale runs in our Queen street West  boutique from October 24 - October 27th.  See you shopping soon xox

Miss Alice Has Arrived

The all time favourite hoodie has hit the retail floor! Miss Alice is created from 5 vintage sweaters and 1 flannel shirt, and in my opinion, is a curated work of art.  ( just saying) Nice work Lexie! I think Lex has personally select over 400 units of this sweater style.  These gorgeous photos were taken by our favourite photographer Lise Varrette for our Fall 2013 look book. Stop by this weekend to pick up a Miss Alice Hoodie, a perfect sweater for eating too much turkey!

bring on the sweater weather!

Last night we kicked off our month long sweater drive.  We are on our mission to recycled over 100'000 sweaters this season.  Bring in any unwanted sweater to our Queen Street location, and receive 20% off of our fall 2013 collection. We had a great turn out last night, fun customers, lots of great sweater collected, and only a little bit of sushi left over for Yuko to take home! That and  bottle of wine! ..hope you had fun after work Yuko!  Thanks to all that came out, and thanks to the incredible preloved retail team! Bring on the sweaters!!!

Sweater Drive

Our first annual sweater drive starts on Wednesday September 25th and runs through  till October 23rd.  Bring in any unwanted sweater (or sweaters)  and preloved will give you 20% off our fall 2013 in store collection.  Help us continue our mission of upcycling over 100'000 sweaters a year.  You never know, that old sweater collecting dust in your closet, just might turn out to be the hottest piece of our  Fall 2014 collecion!  If you are in Toronto stop by the shop at 881 Queen street on Wednesday September 25th , between 5 - 7 , for cocktails and big sales, as we kick start our sweater drive!

Meet Charolette...

Our beautiful sweater coat cardigan.  One of my favourite pieces from our fall 1 collection.  The Charlotte Cardigan is perfect for those first days of fall when you aren't ready to give up wearing shorts, or on those long winter days, when you need to add some spice to your boring, overly warm wardrobe. This must have sweater coat  is available in black or in grey, combined with vintage sweaters, to guarantee no two are the same! These photos were taken by Lise Varrette for our fall 2013 look book!

Dress Sale

Oh I love these dresses!!  Now starting tomorrow, all the dresses at preloved  will be on sale!  50% off.  It finally feels like spring around here, so we thought we'd help you get your spring in your step, and grab a new dress for the season.  Sorry ladies, but this is an in store only promotion, so if you happen to be in Toronto this weekend, please pop by!  Tell them Julia sent you!....oh, and for the record, the above dresses are not from our spring 2013 collection, but if Lexie has her way, they will be apart of the 2014 one!

Final Fit

Another check mark, on the 'complete fall 2013 list' is done.  We had our final fit meeting last week, and things went off with out a hitch.! I am telling ya, our fittings use to take us forever.  Peter would want it one way, I would think it should be the other, Ashley would never wear it that way, Lexie needs it be tighter, and Yuko at some point would lose her mind trying to record all these changes.  I am not sure what has changed, but man we whipped through this collection. Everything seem to fit perfectly and no major arguments. I think the only person disappointed in our new efficient fit meetings, would be Karen our fit model. Her half day booking turned into less than an hour!

What happens in Vegas....

DONE! First stop on the crazy ride of selling our fall 2013 collection is officially over! What a successful trip this has been. So great to see some of our favourite clients, and always a pleasure to meet new fans of preloved  Ashley and I have had a ball this week. And as fun as Vegas is ( even on this 14th trip of mine!) There is nothing like getting on that red eye, knowing when you wake up, you will be back home....even if it is only for 48 hours.....NYC here we come!!!

And we are off

Well the suitcases are packed, the posters are ready, and we still have over 24 hours till we get on the plane, headed for Vegas.  The beginning of the trade show circuit, for our Fall/Winter 2013 collection. I can't believe we have pulled this off.  As I said in the design meeting we always seem to do it.  I had my doubts this season, but no more.  The collection has never looked better, and I can't wait to show it off!!  With all this work, the only thing I didn't seem to have time to do before Vegas, is get my nails done!  I tell ya the stress I have in my life!
photo by the very talented Lise Varrette

Casting

 Finding the face of the collection is always a tricky one. It involves so much more than just the way the model looks. How does she move? How does the clothing fit? Does she register too young? Too thin? And most importantly can I hang out with her for a day of shooting!  It's funny, coming from a modelling back ground, I had no idea, that clients cared about anything other that how you looked!  Wish I knew that then, could of really helped out my 18 year old ego!

Sweater day

SWEATER DAY: happens at least once a month. Lexie and her team, head out to one of our suppliers to
process all of the vintage sweaters. It's something we have to do all year long, to keep up with our sweater demand.  This sweater day, the team went through over 10'000 lbs of vintage wool sweaters, that will be used for our fall 2013 production. Please note that the fall 2013 collection has not been completely designed
 ( no pressure Peter) not sold yet, and wont begin production for months, but once things get moving, we have to have the raw materials ready to do!  I must say sweater days are quite fun. Lots of laughs, lots of stories and everyone usually leaves with at least one ugly sweater to call their own.