Photographer with ‘city-wear’ style opens up hat shop

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A photographer with a passion for city fashion turned his style into a local Brownsville business.

Tom Ortega, owner of Motley Hat Co. in Brownsville, decided to start selling hats in 2018 after receiving an abundance of requests from people asking where he bought his own hats. Prior to the hat shop, Ortega specialized solely in photography from a business he ran out of his home.

In 2018, Ortega opened a shop out of the Coca-Cola building in downtown Brownsville for his photography and moved to the current location in 2020. Motley Hat Co. and Tom Ortega Photography & Design can now be found at 800 N. Expy 77/83. Ste 33.

The name Motley Hat Co. is a play on words that symbolizes Tom’s name spelled backward and his wife’s nickname Ely spelled L-E-Y. The couple also comes from a Christian background and chose the sheep as its symbol.

Ortega said his hats are made of 100% felt and range in price from $125 to $165 depending on the customization. Buyers can customize their hats with feathers, bands and other accessories.

The local business offers reshaping, cleanings, and customizations for hats. He also educates customers on how to properly care for and store their investment.

Motley Hat Co. sells designs such as the traditional flat hat, the Panama straw hat (handmade in Ecuador) and the teardrop fedora.

Ortega walked ValleyCentral through the hat-shaping process which consisted of a jiffy steamer that made the felt hat malleable and moldable. Ortega shapes his hats by hand at the shop.

The hat shop owner said part of the reason why he wanted to open a shop in Brownsville was that no one in

… Read the rest
SHOPPINGPosted on:

Owner’s passion for fashion fuels J’s Fashion & More | News

A 37-year-old mother of two boys and the wife of Anthony Grable, who is the owner and operator of All Clean Professional Carpet Cleaning, Jessica Grable says that she has always had a passion for fashion. She says that said passion dates back to an early age, recalling a particular store from her childhood and the memories she made there.

“I can remember that my best time was spent on Saturdays going shopping with my mother and sister to a store called the 7-dollar store,” Jessica Grable recalls. “I would always imagine owning a store just like this one. So many beautiful clothes and shoes as well as jewelry all in one.”

Due to that passion, Grable explained that she considered opening a store of her own several times. 

In 2018, the lives of Jessica Grable and her family were forever altered when Jessica received a Lupus diagnosis. As a result, she found herself with a limited ability to work. Grable decided it was finally time to make her lifelong dream of owning her own store come true for herself and her family. She says that with the blessing of God and support from her family, that dream is now reality with the opening of J’s Fashion & More.

Being from Milledgeville, she felt that it was only right to open J’s Fashion & More here.

“I wanted to bring something to the community that we didn’t have. Some different merchandise for the people,” Grable remarked. In her words, Grable says that being able to help the community through her business has brought her joy. She emphasized that it has taken a lot of hard work and dedication to get to this point, where J’s Fashion & More has received great support and feedback from the community. the business

… Read the rest
SHOPPINGPosted on:

Are Jeans Business Casual? | POPSUGAR Fashion

As POPSUGAR editors, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you’ll like too. If you buy a product we have recommended, we may receive affiliate commission, which in turn supports our work.

Jeans are the number one staple for so many people around the world, but they haven’t always been considered the foundation to a solid business-casual work outfit. However, following the pandemic, many office dress codes have gotten more lax, and we’ve seen a rise in denim trends that do feel appropriate for teaming with boxy blazers, structural bags, loafers, and modest shirts — even if it’s just for a midday business meeting out to lunch. Even polished co-ord sets come by way of denim and are easily complemented by a power pump or leather boot.

As for other silhouettes to try, there are high-rise trousers with ornate-looking buttons that have either a wide-leg or tapered hem with a front slit or zipper. For the former option, allow your “sailor pants” to have full attention by tucking in a turtleneck or pussy-bow blouse and finishing with a chunky shoe. For the latter, a cropped jacket and some eye-catching jewelry feel a touch edgy and are an easy way to play up your hardware without going overboard.

Of course, ’80s-inspired paper-bag pants also often come in super-dark washes or a more movable, stretch linen blend that fits the bill when you’re on the job. Stirrups are yet another detail you can look for to keep your pant hem clean, rather than rugged and distressed. Finally, you can nod to the fall 2023 runways, where we saw many a skirt or dress layered over pants, and allow just a peek of your denim to slip out from under a free-flowing silk or chiffon midi.

Are

… Read the rest
JEWELRYPosted on:

Independent fashion boutique wins tribunal against Zara over ‘identical brand’ claims

Darlington-based House of Zana (left) wins tribunal against retail giant Zara (House of Zana/Getty)

Darlington-based House of Zana (left) wins tribunal against retail giant Zara (House of Zana/Getty)

A small fashion firm has secured a victory against high-street brand Zara over claims its branding was “identical” to the latter.

Zara, which is owned by the biggest fashion group in the world, Inditex, threatened to take legal action against Darlington-based boutique House of Zana.

Amber Kotrri, who launched House of Zana online in 2018 and opened her first physical store a year later, received a notice of opposition when she attempted to trademark the name.

This was followed by a letter from lawyers representing Zara saying her brand was “conceptually identical” to theirs and “confusingly similar” for customers.

She said she was urged to rename her business and remove all existing branding.

However, Kotrri refused to sign the agreement and said there was “no risk to confusing us with Zara”.

She also argued that rebranding her business would cause “irreparable damage”.

A tribunal judge has sided with the small business owner and ruled that House of Zana can keep its name.

Judge Matthew Williams said: “I am satisfied that the differences between the marks … are sufficient to rule out the likelihood of direct confusion on the part of the average consumer.

“I accept that the choice of name is prompted by Ms Kotrri’s Albanian heritage and the idea of clothes manufactured with the magical delicacy of fairies, and I find no cynical motive in the use of the name.

“Even for those who, based on their perception of the similar component, call to mind the word Zara, I am not satisfied that the mental link would be more than fleeting.”

In its letter to Kotrri, Zara had argued that there was a risk that “consumers will misread, mishear, mispronounce and/or otherwise perceive House

… Read the rest
SHOPPINGPosted on:

Small fashion firm wins tribunal against Zara over ‘identical brand’ claims

A small fashion company has won a tribunal against high-street giant Zara over claims it had an “identical brand”.

The retailer had threatened legal action against Darlington-based firm House of Zana.

Owner Amber Kotrri launched the clothing brand online in 2018, and opened her first store in Darlington a year later.

When she attempted to trademark the name House of Zana, she received a notice of opposition, followed by a letter from lawyers representing Zara saying the brand was “conceptually identical” to theirs, and “confusingly similar” for customers.

Mrs Kottri said she was urged to rename her business and remove all existing branding, but she refused to sign the agreement, saying there was “no risk of confusing us with Zara” and the change would “cause irreparable damage” to the business.

Now a tribunal judge has sided with Mrs Kottri and ruled that House of Zana can keep its name.

Judge Matthew Williams said: “I am satisfied that the differences between the marks … are sufficient to rule out the likelihood of  direct confusion on the part of the average consumer.”

The tribunal judge added: “I accept that the choice of name is prompted by Ms Kotrri’s Albanian heritage  and the idea of clothes manufactured with the magical delicacy of fairies, and I find no  cynical motive in the use of the name.

“Even for those who, based on their perception of the similar component, call to mind the word ZARA, I am not satisfied that the mental link would be more than fleeting.”

Mrs Kottri told the PA news agency: “I’m so pleased. It literally does feel like a weight being lifted off your shoulders.

“I really believed I would win – that’s why I fought it so hard – but in the last bits of the court hearing when

… Read the rest
SHOPPINGPosted on:

The Vancouver Fashion Truck pops-up all over Lower Mainland

It’s kind of like an ice cream truck for stylish adults.

Megan Currie could see the world of retail was changing.

Six years ago she managed a brick-and-mortar boutique that she loved as if it was her own. When it came time to open a store for herself she was able to take the parts that she liked – like shopping parties – and identify creative solutions to the ones she didn’t.

“I knew the landscape of retail was changing so I didn’t want to open a traditional brick-and-mortar store, particularly due to high costs and the uncertainty of which location to choose. So I decided to create a business that combined the fun element of shopping parties and pop-ups with a mobile component that allowed me to reach multiple cities.”

How does the Fashion Truck work?

Currie created the Vancouver Fashion Truck, a roving women’s boutique that pops up all over the Lower Mainland, to allow her the freedom to figure out which city would be best to open a permanent space or give her the option to keep a mobile business model. The business model comes “with the excitement of ‘here today, gone tomorrow,'” she adds.

The truck usually pops up at markets or celebratory events so the experience of shopping is slightly different each time, which Currie says is part of the fun as opposed to the same stagnant setting.

However, she also launched an online store at the same time as the truck so that customers could still shop for the things they liked after she hit the road again. There’s a “find the truck” function on the website that tells people where they can expect to see the boutique on wheels next.

“Also, what store rolls up to your driveway and brings the

… Read the rest
SHOPPINGPosted on: