For those of you who think Vegas is all fun and games a la Chevy Chase, then you haven’t been to a fashion trade show. Team Shop Adorn took on Sin City with a no nonsense attitude with the intent to get down to business. Ok, I’ll admit it was fun and we may or may not have spent a couple benjamins on the penny slots (cough Nicole cough Wizard of Oz game). But that’s just chump change in the grander scheme of things, right?

But the trip was mainly business and we had a lot of work to do in a short amount of time. We had fully booked days at three different shows: Project, ENK, and Magic. Each days appointments started at 9 am on the dot and went all the way until 6 pm, where we were meeting with vendors, both brands that we carry as well as new ones.

We ooh’d and ahh’d, squealed, and asked “can I touch it?” over piece after piece of luscious garments of clothing. We did encounter some items that got the “meh” and “pass!” vote, most of the time unanimous, although sometimes there was some convincing to be done. But there was definitely no shortage of great fashion at the shows. The hardest part was narrowing down from the “like it” category into the “can’t live without it!”

After visiting most of our vendors we found that each brand brings something different to the table that they do really well, which we decided to focus on for cultivating our lines. We picked up an amazing new brand that does wonderful silks, as well as an eco-friendly line for affordable and sustainable basic tees. We also met with our friends from True Collaborative Fashion, who are our reps for Prairie Underground and Pendleton The Portland Collection. We weren’t allowed to take any photos of the Pendleton goodies, as the Fall 2012 line is still very top secret. But we can assure you that every single piece from the collection is to die for and will be flying off the racks as soon as they hit stores.

Nicole, the brains behind the whole operation, was very conscious of her customers during the buying process and even had specific people in mind when making decisions. As difficult as it was to resist saying yes to everything we loved for ourselves, Nicole remained focused and bought accordingly to her customers needs and requests. We did however, settle on some wildcard items that are new to Shop Adorn, but we had a good feeling that our shoppers will not be disappointed.

By the end of it, we were all exhausted and ready to never look at clothing again. That is, until we got back to Portland the next day and started organizing photos to put the orders together. But all three of us felt confident and more importantly, excited about the items that made the final cut.

We did manage to squeeze in some fun after all of the hard work, despite our exhaustion. One night we joined the Original Penguin crew for one of their infamous Penguin parties, another night we had THE best thai food with our True Collaborative Fashion friends, and we might have had one night of giving each other piggy back rides in the hotel hallways at three in the morning. But those photos are saved in the Shop Adorn archives

In the end, it was a successful trip that left us even more eager to get the store open. The new and improved Shop Adorn is going to blow you away and we’ll be giving you some sneak peeks at new lines we’ve added in the next few weeks. So stay tuned and keep an eye on the blog and the online store for updates!

XO