Friday, April 17, 2015

short trip to a foreign land

A few years ago I buy a long, black linen dress with thick rope ties for straps. I can never get the ties right. They are too big and bulky to layer over, and they never stay in place. As a result, I hardly ever wear the dress.

This year, the dress is produced in a much better version: thin rope straps have now replaced the older, thicker ones.  I had planned to bring the dress to a tailor to see if he can change the ropes/straps, but then I get a better idea. The company, Pip-Squeak Chapeau, is located in Brooklyn. 

I've never been to Greenpoint— the section of Brooklyn where this small boutique is located.



I take three different subways to get there (including the G line which I'd never even heard of before today). But it only takes 35 minutes. It's an easy trip. I arrive feeling like I'm in a totally different place from the one I've just left.




Greenpoint doesn't have the hip vibe of some other Brooklyn neighborhoods. That's why when I find the very chic Pip-Squeak Chapeau it looks like it's in the wrong zip code.

Lilly, whom I spoke to yesterday, could not possibly be more helpful.  She takes my dress, finds a thinner rope, and while I try on some things (but thankfully buy nothing— the one dress I love is out-of-stock in the color I want), Lily remakes the straps on my dress.



While I'm waiting, the owner comes in. I ask her how much for the re-done straps and she smiles and says, "Nothing."

New neighborhood. New-ish dress. No money spent. It's the perfect small adventure for this cloudy pre-spring day.

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