Isle of You

The Blog Has Moved

As part of the Isle's website revamp, we are temporarily moving the blog to this URL: http://isleofyoutoo.com. Please update your RSS feed and your bookmarks!

The upgrade will go slowly for the next couple of weeks, as Alison (that's me!) will be away on family business. We're all excited about improving the website, and can't wait to unveil the changes we're making!

Thanks for reading.

Welcome Back, Whitney and Fanny!

If you've been to the Isle recently, you may have noticed that Whitney and her sweet little dog Fanny have been absent. Whitney had some health problems and was off work for a month. And since Fanny can't drive, she couldn't come to visit us either!

As of today, Whitney's back in action, and we are so happy to see her again!

WRFL - Help Boost The Power

We here at the Isle are longtime listeners and fans of WRFL, Radio Free Lexington. WRFL got the go-ahead from the FCC to upgrade their broadcast signal from 250 watts to 7900 watts, an improvement that will allow the station to bring their eclectic, commercial-free programming to a much wider slice of the Bluegrass. What does that mean? You'll be able to listen to WRFL in your car during that trip to Frankfort, for example.

To help WRFL boost the power, Isle of You is selling an assortment of WRFL t-shirts, with all proceeds going to the tower fund.

Tune into WRFL at 88.1 FM. Don't have a radio near your computer? Listen on the web at WRFL.fm.

Special Jewelry Show At The Isle

Last night Isle of You was open late for a special showing of local artist Stephanie Reinhardt's jewelry. Stephanie uses semi-precious and precious stones for her lovely creations.

In addition to Stephanie's jewelry, we celebrated the Custo Barcelona Trunk Show going on now. See here for a luscious description of the Custo goods. 

And as a perfect backdrop for the events, we sampled cheese and seasonal fruit from Wine + Market, as well as wines from Toast of Kentucky, also available at Wine + Market.

Like the Custo Trunk show, Stephanie's pieces will be available at the Isle until October 10th. See more photos of her work here and photos of last night's event here.

The Custo Barcelona Trunk Show

   Wall Street woes and rough-and-tumble politics aside, the Custo Barcelona coat collection at Isle of You provides a fearless feast of tough-built looks.  Slick vinyl, felted wool, and roughed-up velvet impose a certain bravura when tailored into trenches, jackets, and bat-winged dresses.  As usual, the Custo design team melds their geometric and tribal themes with their iconic caricatures and then superimposes textural interest with lurex shots, ropey crochet, and fur pile.  Parti-colored and Mondrian-block silk linings counterpoint the subterranean palette of Custo Country.  Women's coats as well as men's shirts are available for ordering through October 10th at Isle of You.

Dreaming Plastic with Melissa Shoes at Isle of You!

When I say plastic shoes, you probably think "oversize clogs or discount priced, sweat producing jellies". No, Brazilian made Melissa Shoes are funky and fashionable, teaming up with world class designers like Vivienne Westwood and Zaha Hadid. Even better, the socially responsible company employs sustainable practices and pays employees above-average wages and benefits. Melissa Shoes are made from MELFLEX plastic, a patented, hypo-allergenic, recyclable, and extremely flexible PVC. The shoes are totally cruelty free and devoid of animal products.

Now available at Isle of You!

Alison takes home the prize....and then another!

Last month we made solemn vows to regularly  update this blog. We were going to do it. Really, we were. We had the best of intentions. Then "real" life hit us squarely between the eyes and Alison and I have been crazy with parts of our lives that have little to do with the Isle. Alison escorted her friend Agnes to her new home in Southern California. I was just doing my usual Mom/Business Owner juggling act.

Hap are I have been helping create Local First Lexington, a grassroots, non-profit group whose mission is to help spread the word about the value of patronizing locally-owned, independent businesses of all sizes. We should be scheduling our first public meeting soon. If you're interested in joining us just drop me a note in the comments section.

My inspiration for coming here to write today is to announce to you the well-deserved awards bestowed upon Alison today by Ace Weekly. The latest print issue came out today and our very own Alison was voted Best Micro Blogger and she and her husband Allan were voted Best Power Couple! I'm not surprised. She and Allan have been quite busy these last couple of years making their new life together here in our fair city. They've been building a beautiful network of friends using the web as their starting point.They've made scores of new friends through social networking sites like Flickr, Facebook and Twitter but then they've taken that most important step out into the real world and come face to face with their "online friends". Let me tell you, it's powerful stuff. I've gone from calling  Allan & Alison my online friends, to just calling them my friends and I feel blessed to have found them..

My hat's off to you, A-Squared!

The Signature Sale - as seen by Alison

This afternoon was the Signature Sale, held at the Signature Ballroom at Landsdowne Club. Isle of You joined other chic Lexington boutiques for a 5-hour extravaganza.

OK, maybe extravaganza is too strong a word. But there was a sale! With prices slashed! And lots of people!

About two hours before the sale started, I helped pack and move the clothing from Isle of You to Landsdowne. So far, so good. Half an hour before showtime, I went out for snacks and change. (Two important things when you're selling things to people: sustenance and small bills.) I rolled back into the Landsdowne parking lot two minutes before sale time.

Except.

Except there were already a number of women fingering the fabrics. It was barely noon, but the sale was on! And the women, they kept coming.

I got busy writing the final markdown on the price tags. Lolli was busy ringing people up — or should I say writing people up, as we were using receipt pads and calculators — and the time went by so fast that when Lucille arrived at one, I was surprised to see her.

Lucy took over the markdowns and Lori and I took turns waiting on customers and bringing more clothes in.

By the time things slowed down, it was after two, but there was still a steady stream. I "clocked out" and went shopping myself. On the Isle of You racks I found two great dresses: one a Custo Barcelona dolman  sleeve dress, and the other a Curtsey V-neck dress. Both will look great with my Anarchic Kitty Shoes. The best thing? They were 75% off!

It was a good day for the Isle at the Signature Sale, but the sale is not over. There are plenty of items still marked down. Just head for the corner of Short and Jefferson. You know, on the sunny side of the street.

Clearing Out The Cobwebs

Well, howdy! It's been a while, hasn't it? There's lots happening down here at the Isle, so much so that blogging has taken a back seat to the day-to-day business of, well, running a business.

This is not your intrepid Boss Lady, writing this, mind you. Let me introduce myself: My name is Alison (but you can call me Ali) and I'm going to be helping out at Isle of You, both at the shop itself and on the interwebs. I guess I'm the official Isle of You blogger now.

I have my own personal blog, and I long dreamed of getting paid to write blog entries. And here I am! So how did I manage to get this gig? The power of the Internet is amazing, let me tell you.

A little more than a year ago, someone named Lolli wrote me a Flickrmail after looking at some of my photos.

Hi Ali! Found you when I did a google search for 3rd Street Coffee. Wanted to let you know that I love your photos. You should have lots more in explore!!!!
Peace out!

Lolli

And so began a correspondence. Since I have a lot of self-portraits on my Flickr stream, the next time I walked into Isle of You, Lolli recognized me and said hello. And from there, our friendship developed. At first it was mostly online, but in the past few months, Loll and I have been getting together at community events and personal lunches. (Huh? Personal lunches? You know what I mean -- we'd get together for lunch, either with other people or alone.)

When she asked me if I'd be interested in collaborating with her on some things, I didn't hesitate. And here I am.

That's the short version of the story. And it's all due to a Google search.

I'll be changing some things around here on the blog, so check back. Why not sign up for the RSS feed? And you can follow the Isle on Twitter, or join the Facebook group. Like I said, there's lots of stuff happening at the Isle. Stay tuned!

Guess what we got!!!

Hey we just added Attus Apparel to our ever growing selection for men.

"Attus Apparel spans the United States from Lexington Kentucky to Steamboat Colorado to Seattle Washington. It was founded by a couple good buddies with a mission to bring the world unique, stylish, and expressive designer apparel. Our inspiration comes from activities we have enjoyed throughout our lives such as art, snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing, music, pranks, mischief, drinking beer, chasing ladies, and finding fun where fun can’t be found."

Come in to Isle of You or call toll free 1-866-999-4753 for these 100% Cotton polos featuring:

The Hesher          The Hangover      The Jerk