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  • 10 YEARS IN BUSINESS

    I can't believe it's been 10 years in business!!! I remember dreaming of opening up a clothing store and having a business ever since we were little. I remember our first business in college, a coffee drive-thru.  We were two broke college kids trying to make ends meet, put ourselves through school and follow our business dreams.  My sister and I combined all our money (about $1200) we bought an espresso machine and a coffee cart cart from a garage sale.  We worked our butts off every morning 4am-11 serving coffee drinks then going to school full time and working part time jobs.  We loved our customers and loved having a business.
     
    After graduating SSU and expanding our cart to 2 spots we knew our next step. We wanted to sell the coffee cart and start our clothing store.  We were scared, it was a huge step, we just graduated and the economy had crashed. We decided what better time then now.  We wanted to start small in a 500 sq ft loft in the back of another store in our downtown Petaluma, a place we always shopped and called home.  We used our money from the coffee cart to buy used clothing, jewelry and shoes. We scavenged every thrift store and garage sale looking for the perfect pieces for our store.  We both had half our bedrooms full of clothing.

    I remember the day we opened we were so nervous and excited. We were still getting the store setup and we heard a customer in the fitting room trying on, we looked at each other beaming! Our first customer bought a dress for $25 and we were ecstatic. We worked in the store 7 days a week, switching off days and working other jobs to make ends meet. We were exhausted but we loved it.

    After about 1 year we started having a regular flow of local customers and were able to quit our day jobs and just focus on the store. After a year our lease was up and it was time to close or expand.

    We both knew we wanted to expand and so we got our next huge spot downtown in an old bakery on the Main Street 2100 sq ft.  It was a huge step for us and a real gamble.  We decided to do new clothing and used clothing since we had the space. We started a website, that we figured out on our own. We worked everyday and started getting a loyal customer following.  I remember hiring our first employee after 2 years in that spot and we were terrified of leaving the store with someone else. 

    When we decided to expand again we thought, why not a mall that we grew up shopping at the Santa Rosa Plaza.  We got a temporary spot and people liked that we were local. But soon our spot was getting taken by another tenant, we were upset because we were doing well there. We decided on a permanent smaller space across from Starbucks (best decision ever).  This new space thrived and allowed us to grow our business more.

    This year we have expanded to beautiful Healdsburg and another location in Santa Rosa (our fourth space). My sister and I have been able to primarily focus on our fast growing website, which is so much fun!

    We now have 20 amazing employees that our part of our team.

    Our Sonoma County community has been a huge part of our success and we want to thank all our local long time customers for their continued support and helping us fufill our dreams!!

    Fashionably Yours,

    Cristina + Michelle Wilson
    OOHLALUXE.COM

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  • CURRENT SUMMER TREND OBSESSION: The Two Piece Set

    All summer long your instagram feed will be filled with bloggers and trendy women wearing two piece sets, and we are here for it! A two piece set is such an essential outfit for everyone to own because it is so versatile. Buying a set is basically like buying three outfits in one. Here are some helpful tips to style your next set!

    1. Top and bottom worn together.

    Our Cora Set scores extra bonus points because it is striped, and stripes are clearly the hottest trend this summer season. This set looks adorable paired with your favorite tan strappy sandals and wicker beach bag. Check out our Bali Purse for a trendy touch.

     

    2. Top worn with a high waisted skirt.

    Our Ditsy Top obviously pairs seamlessly with our Ditsy Pants, but looks just as cute with a high waisted denim skirt. Since tie tops are another favorite summer trend, the Ditsy Crop Top delivers warm weather vibes with it’s fun print and cropped construction. Pair this top with our Free People Modern Femme Skirt and sandals or wedges.

     

    3. Bottoms worn with a cropped top

    Since most of our favorite sets are high-waisted, the bottoms can be mixed and matched with any cropped top in your closet! Our Darling Pants are not only extremely comfortable, they also look amazing paired with our Free People Take Me Back Brami and a pair of cute slides. The Christy Sandals are our newest obsession to complete casual yet cute outfits.

     

    Ooh La Luxe Stylist, 

    Laurie Kelso



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  • Luxe STYLE Society

    Ever wished you could sit back and have someone plan the perfect looks for you?  With our new Luxe Style Society you can! Join the club and enjoy monthly, in-store sessions with a stylist dedicated to making sure you look amazing.

    Luxe Style Society pairs you with a trained personal stylist based on your unique tastes and fashion goals.  Whether you are looking to go glam for an event, find next season essentials or build a collection of basics, your stylist will have you feeling like a celebrity, hand-selecting the latest pieces in the perfect size and style for YOU.  Best of all, there is NO obligation to purchase and you get 20% off any pieces you choose to buy!

    Ready to get started? SIGN UP HERE Send us your name, email address, the store you will be styling in (Petaluma, Santa Rosa or Healdsburg) and a little about your fashion goals. You’re stylist will get in touch to schedule your first appointment. 

    If you can't make it in we have you covered! Just sign up for our online Style Box HERE.

    Happy shopping!

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  • About the Ooh La Luxe Team

    Twin sisters Cristina and Michelle Wilson have dreamed of owning their own boutique since they were little girls. Their first business endeavor was a coffee cart they owned in college which quickly expanded to multiple locations. After years of countless 4 AM shifts while also putting themselves through school, the twins graduated Sonoma State and their next move was immediately clear: it was time to live out their dream of opening a clothing boutique. 

    So Cristina and Michelle sold their coffee cart and used all the money they made to open their first store in downtown Petaluma. It was a quaint 500 sq ft. loft and they worked tirelessly to hand select the perfect pieces from thrift stores, vintage shops, and garage sales. After a year in business in their first location, the twins knew they were ready to expand and opened shop in a new space more than four times the size of their first one--and that became the Petaluma store you know and love. Once Ooh La Luxe became a Petaluma staple with a steady flow of regular customers, Cristina and Michelle thought the Santa Rosa Mall would be a perfect place to continue to grow the business. The new store was a hit, and with the introduction of a booming online store shortly thereafter, it was clear Ooh La Luxe was bound for success. Now with almost 10 years in business, Ooh La Luxe has three locations, a thriving web store, 19 amazing team members, and a loyal handful of celebrities/influencers supporting and sporting the brand. Meet those team members here:

    CRISTINA

    Co-owner Cristina Wilson was inspired to open her own clothing store by her natural tendency towards business and her passion for curating unique and beautiful pieces. She sees fashion as a means of self-expression believes that your personal style is a way of letting people get to know you a little just from looking at you. Because of this, she loves helping customers find clothing that makes them feel confident and look amazing. An avid thrifter and a talented DIY artist, Cristina hand makes many of the ornate visual displays featured in the stores. A perfect day to Cristina would be grabbing a coffee, hitting the antique fair, crafting, and spending time with her husband Shane and her daughter Summer.

    MICHELLE

    Co-owner Michelle Wilson has always loved the eclectic and expressionistic nature of fashion, admiring how it's unique each individual locale. Her travels all over the world have been a major source of inspiration for Ooh La Luxe and big part of the reason the stores feature such unique items. Her favorite place she's ever traveled was Morocco, and you can definitely see that influence in the store displays and homeware items! Michelle's other passions include hiking, home styling, and spending time with her husband Colby and her daughter Harlow.

    NATALIE

    Natalie is the store manager and lead stylist in the Petaluma location. If you've ever visited the store, you know her as the curly haired boho goddess with a contagious smile, usually seen wearing fabulous printed pieces from Spell and Free People. She's a Sebastopol native who studied ballet for 20 years before moving to London to study fashion. Natalie is a huge foodie with an extensive knowledge of Sonoma County eateries, so feel free to ask her for a restaurant recommendation while she's helping style you for your next event.

    BRANDI

    Brandi is the operations manager and loves music and shopping for records to add to her collection. My favorite find is an original pressing of a Buddy Holly record I found at a local shop when I lived in New Jersey!

    Who is your style icon and why? Stevie Nicks is my biggest one. I love putting on a flowy, Stevie-inspired kimono over a basic tank and adding a few rings to it. I'm also inspired by Sienna Miller's take on boho in the early 2000s. I love print and I've never met a floral pattern I haven't liked. Also, anything Anna Sui creates (past or present) is such an inspiration.

    ANASTASIA

    Petaluma assistant manager Stasia has an eye for aesthetics, as shown by her talents as a stylist. She moved from Moscow, Russia when she was a child. She's a Communications student at Sonoma State University. Stasia is head over heels for the brand Spell and the Gypsy collective, and right now she can't get enough of the City Lights maxi because it's a one-of-a-kind piece that also features a high waist and pockets. Girl's got her priorities in check.

    BRITTANY

    Brittany is a stylist at the Petaluma store. She's a Petaluma native who loves that Ooh La Luxe is in the heart of downtown and perfectly fits into the town's welcoming, chill vibe. Her passion is helping women feel beautiful in all regards, evidenced by the fact that Brittany had been a hairdresser for four years before joining the Ooh La Luxe team. Since beauty and fashion go hand-in-hand, the transition made perfect sense, and she loves styling customers and helping them feel beautiful.

    NACIA

    Nacia is a stylist and seamstress at the Petaluma location. She attends the Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm in Santa Rosa, which explains her array of artistic talents. Nacia loves being surrounded by the women who work at Ooh La Luxe because their individual style gives her creative inspiration, and one of her favorite parts of working at the store is one-on-one styling appointments with customers where she gets to really exercise her creativity.

    EMILIANA

    Petaluma stylist Emiliana is a San Francisco native, but that doesn't stop her from loving the family feel and small-town vibes of Ooh La Luxe. She's currently studying Communications at Sonoma State University, after which she dreams of being going to culinary school and becoming a wedding planner, so you know she's got you covered for those special events where you need the perfect dress! Speaking of perfect dresses, her current favorite piece is the Indio dress because of its bright colors and the way it flows. 

    ANDREA

    Andrea is Santa Rosa store manager, and she's been with Ooh La Luxe for five years--over half of the time it's been in business! Her prolonged background in fashion gives her an extensive knowledge of brands and trends, which is part of what makes her an amazing stylist. One of her favorite parts about being with the company for so many years is the relationships she's cultivated with regular customers, because being familiar with people's style and preferences allows her to be even better at helping them find pieces they love.

    MONICA

    Monica is the Manager in the Healdsburg store, and she loves that Ooh La Luxe carries brands like Spell, Free People, and Sbicca. Monica is a Sonoma County native, so naturally she loves being outdoors, camping, and hiking. One of her favorite things about being in nature so much is she can collect her own geodes and crystals; finding them herself makes them so much more special! She loves working for Ooh La Luxe because it's the perfect balance of her passion for adventure and her love of fashion.

    LAURIE

    Laura is a stylist in the Santa Rosa store and a self proclaimed brunch queen. She currently attends Sonoma State where she studies English/Creative Writing in hopes of one day running her own fashion/lifestyle magazine. One of her favorite things about working at Ooh La Luxe is how much women bring each other up both within the business and with customers.

    HANNAH

    The newest stylist at the Santa Rosa store is Hannah and she's so excited to be working at Ooh La Luxe because she loves fashion and how people express themselves through their clothing. One of her biggest passions is animal rights, so she loves that Ooh La Luxe has such a trendy collection of vegan garments. In her free time, Hannah leads an active lifestyle; some of her favorite hobbies include hiking with her dogs and going to the gym.

    ROSE

    Santa Rosa resident Rose is a stylist in the Healdsburg store. She's just finishing up her general education at Santa Rosa Junior College, after which she plans to study Fine Arts in Environmental Interior Design. Rose loves to see the beauty in the world from behind the lens of her camera, and her photography passion perfectly complements her love of interior design. On the weekends, you can find Rose exploring San Francisco, catching a concert, or grabbing an Acai bowl.

    MARINA

    Marina is the website operator for the online store and she's based out of the warehouse in Petaluma. She started as a stylist in the Petaluma store and she always knew she wanted to grow with the company, so managing the website was a natural progression for her. She's passionate about the fashion world in general, and working for Ooh La Luxe has been a great way for her to combine her love of style with her desire to help make a difference in fashion.

    ALEX

    Alex is a website coordinator for the online store. He helps package orders and keep track of inventory in the warehouse, and one day he aspires to get his Ph.D Biomedical Engineering. For now, he's happy with growing Ooh La Luxe as a company, and a fun fact about him is he drinks half a gallon of kombucha a day--gut health on point!

    RAQUEL

    Raquel is the main Ooh La Luxe model and an occasional stylist in the Petaluma store. She's working on obtaining her BS in Kinesiology from Sonoma State, so it makes perfect sense that she's also a pilates instructor in Petaluma! One day, Raquel hopes to be a pediatric occupational therapist. 

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  • Stella Hudgens Handpicked Collection

    Oh snap, it’s the second most wonderful time of the year! Well, maybe third because truthfully my personal most wonderful time of the year is Halloween (sorry Christmas). BUT ALAS, it is festival season. I am so so excited to share with you my collaboration with Ooh La Luxe! I put together some pieces to help make your Coachella (or whatever your festival poison is) experience all the easier. I will have a separate post about all my festival packing & surviving hacks but first things first, the outfits…

     

    You can find my collection here! So, let’s pretend we’re all going to Coachella and we’re trying to plan outfits accordingly. Here are a few possible options to endure that horrible horrible heat during the day and still look goooood:

    The Amy Jumpsuit is a perfect all day outfit. I picked this one because it’s flowy and comfortable which is number one on my list of priorities when it comes to Coachella (and everything in life #PRACTICALWOMAN). It also is one of my favorite colors! You’ll look like a cute Italian inspired sunflower.

    The Sure Thang tank (in either colors) is a perfect top! KEYWORD: top. It’s NOT a body suit. I always make the mistake of wearing a body suit similar in look to this top but then have to deal with the repercussions. That’s right, I’m talking getting fully naked EVERY TIME you have to pee. Horrible and very graphic, I know. Especially if you’re like me with a baby bladder but still chugs water like I’ve never heard of a drought – okay, getting off this topic… I would pair this top with any of the skirts on the collection page (especially the Legs 11 skirt) OR the Summer Rose shorts. 

    But with that heat comes the cold and being prepared for that is very necessary. You should ALWAYS have a good jacket to keep you warm. Sorry ladies, a cute light kimono does not count. I always bring a big enough purse or backpack to carry all my needs so don’t take practicality lightly! Whoever says ‘beauty is pain’ at Coachella probably ends up with pneumonia and dehydrated as hell by the end of the weekend. *a little dramatic I know but stranger things have happened!

    The Goddess Pants are a perfect option to change into at night. I’m not really a jeans person, as I usually refer to them as the restrictor of all things fun (now realizing how sexual that sounds), so I always vouch for something with soft material or is loose. You change into the pants, the Falling For You tube top and have your trusty jacket and be completely set to take on the nighttime. 

    As for shoes, I chose the Becky Sandal because it’s only one inch in height and easy to take off. I’m usually mostly barefoot the entire weekend so these shoes are perfect to look cute and be comfortable in the times you have them on. 

    I hope my selections inspire you to have some fun with your outfits! I am so excited for this festival season, and hey who knows, we could very well run into each other at Coachella with the same outfit on ;). Make sure you tag me in photos for whatever pieces you pick! Xx

    Photos by Eric Unger

    by Hudgens https://ateteatete.com/2018/03/17/ooh-la-luxe/

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  • What's New

    We just released our festival collection yesterday and it was a hit!  Check out some behind the scenes footage of our festival photoshoot on our Instagram .

    We are going to Coachella this year with our little ones, which will be quite the adventure.  Who else is going?  We are looking forward to seeing Beyoncé, The Weekend and all the amazing fashion. 

    We are also gearing up for our May fashion show in the Santa Rosa Plaza Mall.  We will be showcasing all of our newest Summer styles on the runway.  Right now we are scouting for models and starting to piece together the styles, colors and fabrics for our Summer collection. The show will take place May 5th in the afternoon and if you attend you will receive a special goody and discount on the collection.  We are excited to be teaming up with Urban Decay, who will be doing the models makeup and providing swag bags.

    Stay tuned for more info on our Instagram page about the fashion show and our Coachella trip!

    xoxo Cristina

     

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