Smak Talk

Abby Kessler and Katie Loftus, best friends and boutique owners, talk business and reworked vintage pieces.

There’s a place where the walls are hot pink, the tables are covered with lacy panties and handbags, and the gilt mirrors show your greatest desires. The walk-in closet of your dreams, this place is Smak Parlour, a boutique located at Second and Market Streets in Philadelphia.

Abby Kessler and Katie Loftus, who have been best friends since they were 15, are the owners of Smak Parlour. Since bonding over the application of black eyeliner, the two have developed a shared aesthetic.

This aesthetic translates into the “fun rock ‘n roll, retro, girly, glam, 80s, pin-up, vintage-inspired styles” they design and stock in the store.

When designing, Kessler and Loftus draw inspiration from each other. “We love looking back at different eras of fashion and getting inspired! We love bouncing ideas off each other,” they say.

Their favorite pieces on sale now are the Smak Parlour embellished vintage tees (pictured in our “That’s So Raven” fashion editorial). These pieces “have our hearts at the moment,” Kessler and Loftus say. “They are all different and, well, just plan cool. Many are wide and boxy and look awesome with Many Belles Down fitted knit skirts.”

These are the very styles the Drexel-educated ladies created when they started their wholesale clothing line SMAK by Abby & Katie in the early 2000s.

Educated in design and merchandising at Drexel University and after a year in New York City working in the fashion industry, Philadelphia-area natives Kessler and Loftus decided to open their own boutique in which to sell SMAK by Abby & Katie.

They derived the name Smak Parlour from the name of their line, which they loved because it has many connotations and is “playful and fun,” and the sewing parlor where they created their pieces. “We were making ‘Smak’ in the ‘Parlour’ and so it became!” they recall.

Without any assets, the ladies financed their business with credit cards. This move, they say, “absolutely” scared them but “it was our only choice if we wanted our dream to come true.” And they handled it beautifully, paying off their debts in three years with manageable monthly payments.

For the first four years, they exclusively sold pieces from their own line. They have since expanded and added indie designers to the mix. Kessler and Loftus explain, “We buy what we want to wear when looking for new designers and hope other people will want it too!” 

Apparently they do, as it has been six years since these best friends opened Smak Parlour. “It’s absolutely a dream come true to work together,” Kessler and Loftus agree. 

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This piece appeared in the second issue of M.L.T.S. Magazine, a publication I started. The issue launched on September 5 and this piece appeared in the Most Stylish section.

The New Rules

Rosella Eleanor LaFevre tells you how to dress if you want to impress on the job or at your internship.

Over the course of our young lives, fashion has changed quite a bit. Designer wares are now available at affordable prices and street style bloggers have placed an emphasis on the everyday style of regular women. It’s also made dressing for the work place a little freer -- if not also a little more confusing. 

So how do you dress for success these days? The short answer is by mixing classic business wear with pieces that have more personality.

Most of us will be entering companies that are more creative in nature, meaning our dress can also be more creative. Try jodphor pants or other unexpected cuts. One of my coworkers recently wore green khaki pants with black stripes down the sides. She said they were old pants from the Gap, but, boy, did she look cool, especially when pairing those pants with a black cardigan. 

Another great way to inspire confidence in your abilities, try mixing in suitwear pieces with your more unusual or basic sportswear pieces. While you’re in college especially, it’s more age-appropriate to mix up suitwear like jackets, skirts and pants than to wear an entire suit. Pair the jacket with a dress and tights, wear the skirt or pants with a tank top and cardigan. Wear a dress tucked into the skirt, like our cover girl does on page 31 (although perhaps you should save the strapless numbers for after work). 

Remember, too, that dresses are your best friend. They are simple and quick to throw on and 

usually look great. Just keep the hemline near your knees, the cleavage to a covered-up minimum, and you’re golden. We like dresses with simple, classic lines, like a shift dress or the pink dress at left. 

You can still also get away with wearing leggings under your skirts and dresses, which you should definitely do if they’re closer to mid-thigh than your knees.

Play with proportions and wear a full skirt with a well-fitted t-shirt. Wear a dolman sleeve top with a pair of skinny leg pants.

Remember to keep even your casual looks somewhat dressy, as I did with the outfit Julie wears on page 43. Here, I paired a chambray button-down shirt with black dress pants and a pair of strappy heels, which easily dress up the denim shirt. Play with accessories, too, as I did by wrapping a floral print H&M scarf with touches of blue around our model’s waist.

Wear ballet flats on days when you’ll have to run around a lot, and heels when you can, if you are a fan of elevating footwear.

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I wrote this piece for M.L.T.S. Magazine, the publication I started last March. This appeared in the Most Stylish section of the first issue.

Shop Class: Connections of vintage love in Philadelphia

Fashion columnist Rosella Eleanor LaFevre finds the vintage jackpot in Queen's Village.

My love for vintage started in sixth grade when I realized dressing like the so-called popular girls would never make me one of them. This is also about the time I learned Gwen Stefani had scoured thrift stores as a high school student wearing men’s pajama bottoms she had pegged herself.

After forcing my mother to take me to a thrift store, I had a religious experience. There were rows and rows of clothing, and each piece was different from the others – as different as I was from every girl in my class.

Since fondling fur coats and trying on men’s vests in that thrift store, I have loved vintage for its increased power of expression and for the stories woven into every fiber. Recently, I took a walk around Queen’s Village and found four incredible vintage emporiums just south of South Street.

Read the rest of my fifth "Shop Class" column for The Temple News here.

Shop Class: Love in the hands of a Claddagh ring

Toast to love this St. Patrick’s Day with the Irish ring. Its origin and purpose dates back to love.

I am not Irish, but growing up with two very proud Irish Catholic cousins, I can appreciate the culture.

In high school I even joined Irish Club, and although I only went to a handful of meetings, I spent $25 on a black hooded sweatshirt that had my last name printed on the back and that proclaimed I was a member.

On the topic of St. Patrick’s Day accessories, I had no clue what to suggest other than telling you to take a trip to the Party City located at 330 Oregon Ave. There, you can stock up on sparkly green top hats and four-leaf clover-shaped beaded necklaces.

Then I thought about that Irish Club hooded sweatshirt and the design on the chest. It was a simple drawing of the Irish ring. I knew the design – a crowned heart held by two hands – but did not know the name.

Its proper name is the claddagh ring. I cannot properly pronounce the word, but at least I can spell it.

To read the rest of the article for The Temple News, click here.

Shop Class: Spring into this season...

Rosella LaFevre lays out the dos and don'ts of spring fashion this year, so ladies on campus can look their best while soaking up some sun.

This winter, a nearly unanimous – if objectionable – vote by my lovely peers in favor of a comfortable three-piece ensemble had many them traipsing through the snow in North Face jackets, leggings-as-pants and Ugg boots.

This spring you can, and should, be just as comfortable in a softer, more feminine look. Think sundresses and cropped blazers, sun hats and brand-spanking-new white Keds sneakers. Consider Sookie Stackhouse from HBO’s True Blood your warm weather style sister.

Sookie Stackhouse, played by a beautifully blonde Anna Pacquin, is a waitress at a bar in Louisiana’s Bon Temp who happens to wind up dating a vampire for those of you who don’t know. She favors sundresses and cardigans and other style choices appropriate for a ladylike southern belle.

“I’ve shopped for most of the cast at Walmart, Kohl’s, Kmart, JCPenney, Sears – all the stores that real people from Bon Temps could afford,” Audrey Fisher, the show’s stylist, told Amy Wilkinson with MTV’s Hollywood Crush.

To read the rest of my third fashion column "Shop Class" for The Temple News, click here.