© Stop Staring! Designs Inc. All Rights Reserved.age Vixen

Vintage Vixen

            Alicia Estrada of Stop Staring! is often asked about the origin of her vintage designs. While most of her pieces, which include dresses, capris, and even swimsuits are distinctly categorized as 30’s-, 40’s-, or 50’s- inspired, she finds that “ultimately, its how you style them that’s important. Sometimes we even mix the eras.” Nonetheless, with a line that boasts a large celebrity clientele and no shortage of loyalists in the retro-fueled swing/rockabilly scene, Estrada simply focuses on creating designs that are pure vintage glamour-and she succeeds brilliantly.
            However, she prefers to share some of the credit with the women who want their personal style to mirror these eras. “This is a classic look. Anyone can wear it-business executives, teachers. That was what was behind Stop Staring!-the idea of timeless dresses you could wear from day to dinner. With time being such a factor today, that’s important.” Naming everyone from teenage prom-goers to bridal parties to her own mother and aunt as some of the line’s biggest fans, Estrada finds that women love her designs because no matter where they are, wearing them almost guarantees “getting the right kind of attention.”
            She first observed this phenomenon in the aspiring phase of her career, when she was her own first client. “I was wearing my own outfits everywhere, and they were getting so much attention. That’s why I decided to call it Stop Staring!-people love that other people can’t stop staring at them, because they look sexy and classy at the same time.” This is true for plus-sized women as well. “I find that most fashion companies don’t address that,” Estrada says. “Women of today are built differently that in the 40s, when they were smaller-framed and –boned. So why not address it?”
            The fine line between true vintage and simply outdated fashion is a hotly contested issue in some circles. For Alicia Estrada, it all comes down to one question: How comfortable is the person wearing it? “With our dresses, you can be sixty and feel comfortable in them, or eighteen and feel classy and beautiful as well.” There’s also the ever-present danger of falling into the “costume” look that has been known to sneak its way into the vintage market. Part of the appeal of Stop Staring! is the natural, effortless way Estrada’s original (not reproduced) patterns marry classic details like mid-calf hemlines and fitted bodices with sweetheart necklines and keyholes. “That’s the whole point,” she says. “To take something that’s classic and modernize it.”

The Stop Staring! showroom, located at 850 S. Broadway Suite 804 in Los Angeles, is open to the public. Orders can be placed online at www.stopstaringclothing.com, or at online retailers such as www.daddyos.com and www.babygirlboutique.com. Call (213) 627-1480 for more information.