Down The Rabbitt Hole

I just love my skirt custom made for me
by White Rabbitt Clothing 

Part of what I love about dressing with a retro/pin up/vintage look is the way the clothing makes me feel so very feminine! Full skirts that swish and sway when you walk and that are so very twirlable! In Sacramento there is not any places that you can buy such clothing...at least not brick and mortar shops. So what is a girl to do? Well, mail order is the only option, or very long drives to the Bay area one way or Reno the other, and both are pricey even before you begin to shop. There are of course all the online shops that cater to the look, and quite a few home based businesses, both of which I have shopped with mixed results..mainly due to fit issues; I like many women fall between sizes. Then there is the cost. Even with sales and coupons often both the larger and the home based companies are out of my budget, especially right now as I am trying to fill the voids in my closet. Then there is that cookie cutter, everyone has that print skirt or the super kitch look which is fun, but not sure it is for me. Lucky for me, I discovered just by chance and as I call it, falling down the rabbit hole of seamstresses I follow on Instagram, Lily of White Rabbitt Clothing . 

What had began first as lady (me) swooning over some fabric Lily had posted, and then deciding to buy a skirt, and then discussing it all via private message on Instagram soon turned into an appreciation and an admiration for the woman behind the business as well as, once I received my skirt, her skill. When I wore my skirt recently for two separate occasions, the compliments never stopped coming, the skirt was a hit, and admired by all and in turn of course so was I for wearing it. I decided right then I would be ordering more skirts from Lily and White Rabbitt Clothing and that I wanted to share her and her creations with all of you....especially once I heard just a little bit about her current situation. I asked Lily if she would be willing to send me a short bio about herself and her company, give me a bit of her back story that I could share here and some photos to share of her other creations as well. 

White Rabbit Clothing 

by Lily Pena aka Lily Von Zombie

The Beautiful and Talented Lily

Tell my readers a bit about yourself and your back story....

"My name is Lily, I started off as a pinup when i was 16 years old, although I never told photographers for fear of not getting photographed. I loved being able to dress up, and step in front of the camera but vintage dresses were either to hard to come by or were to expensive and my family didn't have much money to buy me these beautiful dresses."

 "My big brother gave me the idea of making my own. At the time and for a long time I didn't have a sewing machine. My first real attempt was at The Grand National Roadster show in 2009, I made a polka dot wiggle dress that everyone loved. I had made the whole thing by hand, I mean it was literally hand sewn *hahaha* took me 5 days to finish it but it was worth it!  After the success with my dress, I decided that I wanted to start a vintage inspired clothing shop that could be affordable to all, but starting up isn't very easy especially when you don't have much. When I began, for the first 4 years I didn't dedicate to much time and I sewed everything by hand, it would take me much longer to finish each skirt. I didn't really focus on my shop until 2013 when I really wanted to push my store and things had finally gotten easier with my family."

Lily's brother wearing his custom bow tie 

"I worked part time at a restaurant and worked on my shop during my free time, trust me it wasn't easy, especially because I was helping support my family. I later on lost my job due to the fact that I got pregnant and my bosses didn't like that; they found a loophole to fire me without getting in trouble for discrimination. I was unable to get another job due to my pregnancy, and all I had was my little shop, so I dedicated night and day to growing it and using it to support my family. I kept the prices low so that anyone could afford a vintage inspired skirt, because lets face it not everyone has the money to buy expensive dresses, they are worth every penny, but most of us have families to support and bills to pay and that's the point of my shop to make custom vintage inspired clothing for pinups on a budget. "

Wiggle Skirts for that classic Pin up/Bombshell look,...

"Right now my shop is all I have to support myself, and my son, since I am a full time mom and have not had any luck finding a job. I have been blessed that slowly my shop has grown and I've had some amazing customers I'm glad I can call my friends. I plan to continue to grow as far as I can take my shop and never to loose the principals of why my store was started. At this moment my life is at its toughest, all my work goes to raising money for a home for my son and myself, and it's not easy... we will get there, and as we do, it will help grow my shop." 

...Custom baby bows.. 

"I have been blessed with an extremely supportive family, plus I became part of a new family that encourages me just as much!  I couldn't be more grateful. I've come from having only an idea, to running my shop, making the clothes all by myself, and then being a full time mom as I did so. Life has been tough, but its shown me what I'm capable of. "

...Pillows in your choice of fabrics, like these fun
Halloween and travel themed ones....

...fun custom head scarves/bands ...

...bombshell tops ...

...along with the pencil, pleated and circle skirts are all  available
customized from fabric to style and to your precise measurements.  

Any final thoughts Lily?

"Yes...Never stop chasing your dreams, no matter what anyone says they are your dreams and anything is possible just have faith in yourself and it will happen! "

Just have to share more of the beautiful skirt Lily made for me...

Lily and White Rabbitt Clothing can be found on Instagram under @whiterabbittclothing and soon also on Facebook.  For any information on how to reach her for pricing, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to put you in touch if you do not have Instagram. I will be doing another blog once she has a FB face with new photos of my other purchases from her hopefully in the very near future. I was not paid to do this blog and purchased the skirt. I also had Lily's permission to use her photos from Instagram and those sent to me via email for the purpose of this post.