HOP SING VIBES... with Gudrun!

From the very first time this tall, attractive, and quietly confident woman walked through the door, all I could think of was how incredible she would look in our clothing... I wanted to run over and just beg her to try on a few choice pieces that would look perfect on her, but I refrained from accosting her - for at least 30 minutes! The power of restraint! Haha!

Meet Gudrun, she has been a Hop Sing enthusiast for about 3 years and she appreciates the whole unique process...  meaning she loves the involvement when we make special suggestions and help her choose styles that she may otherwise have passed by, especially when those pieces become favorite additions to her wardrobe. To my delight she allows me help her choose pieces that will compliment her life & personal style. It's truly a love, love relationship!  We love her & she loves us!  - Lauren

Name:  Gudrun Miller

Place of Birth:  Goerits, East Germany near the Baltic Sea, formerly Prussia.  Born right after WWII.  I grew up in Berlin and my family emigrated to the United States when I was 7.

Occupation:  Professional Counselor, Visionary artist and metaphysical teacher focusing on soul psychology.

Age: 67

Describe your signature look:  Funky but fashionable.  Casual but stylish. 

Who or what inspires you?  I am influenced by current fashion trends.  Lauren has been my greatest inspiration recently.

What makes you feel beautiful?  I like to look different.  Good quality stylish clothes help me feel beautiful.

Name an item of clothing you can't live without:  A great pair of jeans or two or three!  Now AG jeans.

What's the biggest splurge in your closet?  I think now it is Odd Molly clothing which I love and treat almost as collector's items!  Other than that, it is Native American jewelry made by artists who are friends. 

The biggest waste of money in your closet:  When clothes look good on me, I want to purchase them.  A lot of clothes look good on me so I am having to be more mindful of what I will actually wear!

What's the most memorable piece of clothing you've worn and what made it special?  I am looking for that piece!  It is the primal quest!

What is your guilty pleasure/something you can't resist?  A great glass of red wine.  or white!

Do you have a style icon?  I think now it is Lauren who embraces beauty in women regardless of age or size.  Other than that, it is whichever woman I may see that is happy in her skin.  I saw this a lot more in Europe and in South America, mainly Brazil where the women seemed so confident of their beauty regardless of age or body size.

What is your beauty/skin care routine?  I do minimal things regarding makeup.  I am very conscious of eating healthy and I use mainly simple things on my skin, organic if possible.  I am now also using essential oils internally and externally which seems to be helping my overall health and well being.

"...one of my missions in this life was to learn to love myself."

What has been the biggest surprise about the age you are now?  I am amazed that I love life!  I see the signs of aging and I am not overly concerned.  Mostly I am grateful to have wisdom and inner peace.  I wish I had known this when I was younger.

The best advice you have ever received:  This came from a spiritual source that informed me that one of my missions in this life was to learn to love myself.  I do now and that love has allowed me to forgive all that have ever hurt me and to forgive myself for my own shortcomings.

Do you believe in destiny?  Yes.

What's next for you?  I am open to that.

Thank you so much, Gudrun! You inspire us!

♥

Living Vicariously... It's fun!

Everyone believes in the sun, even when it doesn't shine...

I believe in love, even when it isn't shown. I believe in GOD, even when he doesn't speak. 

I love life and I'm in pursuit of living it to the fullest...  But, I admit, I really enjoy living vicariously!  

In this age of information we are able to find inspiration through design, film, social media, and google - just to name a few... For me, my mannequins, aka "the Natashas", allow me to take (size 6) fashion journeys; imagining what they're going to wear, "cuz shes going on an adventure, a first date, a wedding... Ohhhh ohhh ohhh, shes the Bride!...." See, I'm all ready getting lost in my own story, in my mind.  In the Natasha's hollow little plastic minds... 

Thankfully there are the ladies who often ask me, my favorite request:  

"Can you help me with some fashion inspiration?" 

These are the moments when my passion for vicarious fashion becomes sport!  So fun, and so wonderful to go on these little adventures with you!  Live vicariously through you... Just for the moment.  

Who do you wish you could live vicariously through?  Just for a minute... just for fun...

♥

Who has been your Mount Everest person?

Meet Patty. 

She is my Mount Everest-equivalent person. She influenced and challenged me. She trusted my instincts and my choices. She encouraged me, and ultimately instilled in me- a confidence that might never have manifested itself otherwise. If I had never met her, "I" as you know me would not exist. Because of her, my quirky, fashionable self exists today. Twenty five-ish years ago we met.  She was, highly educated and self taught in almost every facet of business... polished and cultured.  I was not.  But despite all our differences, we hit it off and she hired me to work in her amazing, world famous store!

I was always the horse-crazy daughter of surfer parents, who had moved to the island a decade earlier to surf and ride horses for a living. Years before making my living on horseback and in the hotel entertainment industry,  I sold surf wax, surfboards, wet suits, flip flops,  bikinis and  beaded peasant dresses to other surf hippies, from our family owned, coconut-scented,  rainbow-spectrum boutique. Later other surf shops followed...  My Dad was a globally celebrated surf superstar; meaning any and all local shops were willing to put me to work. 

I had been raised in the pro-surf/skate retail world, but that was a far cry from the unique upscale fashions and merchandise in Patty's high roller-packed store- which famously catered to Kauai's celebrity-clientele.  Yes, Harrison Ford to Julia Roberts, and dozens of equally famous movie stars visited the store for private shopping experiences.  Many a  rock star, international model, pro-athlete and VIP often dropped into the store (still do!).  Patty worked tirelessly to create an atmosphere like no other.  She has always been the hardest working woman I've ever met.  With a work ethic that matched or exceeded my own, her example has influenced me to my core.  

Fast forward... A couple years later, after a devastating hurricane hit the island.  

The financial going got really, really, really tough.  The lush scenic beauty of the garden island was blown to mostly compost.  The storm damaged everything.  Hotels and homes were either leveled or nearly so, and construction was the only viable business that the island would see for the next year or two. Upscale retail became irrelevant.  Cute home decor, basics, and affordable, extremely wearable fashions were what we needed. Realizing that tourists dollars were going to be scarce for many months, possibly years; reinventing the retail concept was a necessity.  Patty and I  put our heads together and created a plan to source sustainable merchandise and bridge the gap between upscale and affordable.  Finances were going to be very limited, but the objective was to protect the highly cultivated image and the future image of her historical boutique marketplace and the island institution that was/is Kong Lung Trading Co. established in 1892... No pressure there, huh?!  We needed money, we had little to invest in the concept, and it needed to be successful....

Thank God for blessing our collaboration! Thanks to Patty's incredible business acumen and my street-smarts, our combined styles, talents and resources... we found a way to maximize our life experiences into a cohesive and locally-relevant fashion concept.  We were able to generate a sustainable income by combining vintage upscale and very wearable pre-owned fashions. We found success even when others were condemning our strategy, deeming it beneath the reputation of Kong Lung's historically upscale aesthetic.  Saving the store from financial ruin was more important than snobbery. Patty did what needed to be done, even when her reputation was being dragged through the storm debris. Although we were from opposite worlds, we had connected like sisters trying to save the family farm, and to this day both of us remain grateful for one another. What began as a job became a sweat equity partnership, and that partnership resulted in - Best Friends Forever! 

So when I'm at market purchasing fashions for Hop Sing, I draw inspiration from my past experiences... the surfer girl at heart, and the cultured business-savvy woman (lovingly known as Auntie Patty in our family), who helped cultivate my taste for the finer things in life.  Although I may have dirtied her up a bit... I'll never forget how much fun we had digging through the darkest basements in downtown Honolulu, to the finest walk-in closets on the island- seeking vintage treasures. Both of us thoroughly hooked on the thrill of the find.  And yes, she loved it! Our lives forever bonded by pulling together during difficult times, and being true friends no matter what life had thrown our way.

I love the yin and the yang of our story, and the yin and yang of our styles - the practical with the extravagant... After all, we are influenced by what we surround ourselves with... and I have been fortunate to be surrounded by Patty's wisdom, strength and beauty.