HLN meets: Beth Chappell, owner of The Pansy Garden Vintage

Who in your mind is The Pansy Girl?

A Pansy Girl could be anyone—there is no one characteristic which could define my girls, other than a deep love for vintage. I have customers from New York to Hong Kong and each and every one of them shares that passion.

Do you enjoy shopping and wearing vintage clothing yourself? Do you have a favourite era or style to buy for TPG?

I have always been obsessed with Subcultures and this is the main reason I entered the world of vintage all those years ago. When I was sixteen I’d dress head to toe in vintage, from 60’s crimplene dresses to 70’s flares. It’s strange because back then vintage wasn’t seen as cool as it is now. These days my outfits are a lot more relaxed, I like to style myself in a way that doesn’t look costumey. Pansy mainly focuses on late 60s and 70s fashion, as I believe those eras are the most wearable and frankly, they’re timeless. Designers like The Vampires Wife and Gucci heavily influence Pansy, just as they themselves are vintage-inspired.

Vintage clothing is a token of the past, and often has a backstory. Are you able to find these out, and are these important to you?

I have been told many amazing stories about some of the pieces I have. Not too long ago I bought a group of dresses from a woman who had actually used them for a charity fashion show herself in the ’70s, she told me about all of the mischiefs that went on that night, which is just so wonderful. Although I do love the stories behind the garments, this isn’t really what I look for—I look for quality first. Secondly, I always ask myself if the garment is wearable, I like pieces that someone could buy look totally on-trend in.

We love the many beautiful prints available at Pansy. Do you have a favourite print style to wear or sell? 

I love, love, love chintzy floral prints, those that resemble an old Laura Ashley wallpaper—this is undoubtedly my favourite style. They are just so wearable and modern prints are never quite the same!

What do you think vintage shopping or shopping small offers in comparison to other larger retailers?

When you shop vintage or from any small independent designer you know you are getting something totally unique. I think the reason my dresses are so popular is because there is usually only one of them! Although, a couple of times I have managed to find the same dress twice. Of course, there are positive environmental factors too, which is so important.

Competing with fast-fashion retailers that arguably contribute to the pollution of our planet, do you feel like you are playing a positive role in promoting vintage clothing as a source of sustainable fashion?  Is the sustainability aspect important to the brand?

Sustainable fashion is hugely important to me, although I would be lying if I said I didn’t wear some modern clothing too. I always ensure anything I do buy will be worn plenty of times and that it’s a staple. I feel like Pansy promotes sustainable fashion well, especially since considering over this last year the prairie trend has flooded the high street. I am trying to show people that vintage is the original, and the original will always be the best. I’ve seen a huge influx of people buying vintage who have never shopped it before. The tides are turning and it’s amazing to see so many people are steering away from fast fashion and moving into vintage or even buying from independent labels.

What does a typical day running TPG entail for you?

Pansy is solely run by me and I usually work seven days a week, from morning until night. Some days are more relaxed than others, but they all consist of something work-related, whether that be shooting stock or catching up with customer queries, I am always on the go. I recently got my first little studio in Heaton and I spend four days a week there shooting stock, sizing up and matching edits. My favourite part of the job is sourcing and matching. I have an obsession with curating edits and drops and putting a collection together is the task I thrive on.

We love your look books, brand imagery, and how inclusivity your model choices are – is this important to the TPG? 

To me, one of the most important things about my brand imagery is relatability. I don’t want anything too perfect looking, I want my girls to look and feel a correlation between the images and themselves. I recently began working with a local photographer and stylist Darina Mohammed, (@d_a_r_i_n_a_x)https://www.instagram.com/d_a_r_i_n_a_x/. Darina has the perfect style for Pansy and she’s such a lovely, creative person. I try to choose relatable and diverse models more than anything else, although I would like to be even more diverse and showcase plus-size models, but as I said it’s so tough with vintage as the sizes are generally really small.

What do you hope for the future of the brand? What are your short term and long term goals? 

I have big dreams for Pansy, although I’m sure it will be a long and bumpy road. I plan to keep sourcing the best garments I can and eventually have enough products to cater to everyone. I also really want to keep growing the Pansy Collections and editorials, I feel they are the thing that truly makes Pansy more than a standard vintage shop.