At its very essence, fashion at the shore is about creative expression – mixing and matching accessories and clothing to represent a unique style. While many store owners browse through catalogs searching for eye-catching accessories and attire to add to their shop, Sun Dog Imports owner Michelle Palladino navigates the streets of Bali-Indonesia, Thailand and India to handpick the shop’s unique items.
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| Photo by Ryan Johnson The textile room is complete with intricately designed bed spreads, pillow covers and tapstires. |
The authentic Asian goods, including sterling silver and stone jewelry made in Thailand as well as traditional Indian women’s wear such as saris and sarongs, are found in small shops and street marts during her annual travels in January and February, which began when she was 21 years old.
“I just always traveled and thought, ‘How can I create a business through my love of traveling?’ And this is what came about,” said Palladino, standing among racks of intricately beaded tops and skirts.
While some of the items in the shop’s Ship Bottom location (now in its 16th season) are bought directly from the rack, most are imported via cargo agents. Clothing takes about six weeks to make, Palladino explained.
“The colors are just so rich and vibrant, and that’s what I love. That’s what I love about traveling,” she said. “You can be having a hard day traveling, you’re trudging around, thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to find this stuff.’ And an elephant walks down the road and it’s painted.”
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| Photo by Ryan Johnson Brooke Rullo and Michelle Palladino, the store's manager and owner respectively, travel to Asia during the winter in search of new inventory. |
After traveling to Bali and Thailand with Palladino and her family in search of new inventory two years ago, Brooke Rullo, the shop’s manager, journeyed to India on her own.
“I prepped her and wrote her lots of notes,” Palladino said. “I introduced her to the tailors and where to buy this and where to buy that, and how to get to places. I helped simulate her into those different cultures – because it is another world.”
Rullo, who found she loves the textiles and colors as well as the culture and weather in Asia, took on the entire venture by herself this past winter.
“The people are so happy,” said Rullo, who has worked at Sun Dog Imports for eight years. “It’s just a different way of living. And we’re handpicking everything, which is nice.”
Other handmade items include intricately designed scarves and bags, vibrant-colored dresses and rompers as well as pretty, detailed sandals and Buddhist prayer beads. A textile room located in the back of the shop also offers unique items for the home such as bedspreads handmade in India, pillow covers and tapestries.
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| Photo by Ryan Johnson Beaded tops and skirts as well as vibrant-colored bags are just some of the beautiful accessories available. |
“When I first started, and what I try to bring across in this inner space, is a place to come in, get away from everything and just relax for a minute,” said Palladino. “There’s no sales pitch. There’s no up selling. People can come in, they can be in the back for two hours in the textile room, looking at fabrics and everything else that’s back there, and there’s no pressure. That was my number one priority when opening.
“Our focus is keeping it clean and neat and feeling good and fresh, so people can come in and find things – so they’re not rummaging through racks of clothes all over the place. It really makes a difference,” she added.
Handicrafts such as wooden Buddhas and instruments, including shakers and drums, as well as books made from the barks of trees in Bali also make for beautiful gifts in the home or workplace.
“We go to different places, and you can see them carving (the different items). It’s all a work in progress,” said Palladino.
“Everything’s absolutely handmade. Nothing here is machine-made, which is kind of the beauty of it. It’s just us going into a place and looking at different items and picking out what’s great, making sure it’s done well. It’s much more fun than going through a catalogue and saying, ‘Oh, that’s made in China. I’ll order five of those.’”
“I’ve never experienced a retail store like this, really,” Rullo added. “There’s a lot of clothing stores everywhere, but not as many that have those different types of pieces.”
During the summer, the shop is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
A sidewalk sale offering everything outside for $5 or $10 will be held Aug. 19 through 21, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A Labor Day sale with 40 to 50 percent off everything in the store will be held in September, when hours decrease before the shop closes for the season in December.
For more information, visit sundogimports.com or call 609-361-2777.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The Beachcomber.
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