High-end baby boutiques in the DC Metro area? Selling handmade?

July 20, 2009 11:09 AM

Where are the fancy stores that might help me sell my handmade baby clothes?

I've recently opened up an Etsy store of baby carriers and handmade baby clothes in poppy, modern prints. I think I'd like to take these same clothes and carriers around to local stores to see if they'd like to stock them - they're cute enough that I think they would sell.

Trouble is, I'm not the kind of person that shops at high-end children's boutiques, so I don't know of any around here. Can anyone point me to some expensive kids' stores in the DC Metro area, where people might shop specifically for handmade items (ie are not looking for the cheapest they can get)?

Also if anyone has experience taking stuff around to stores like this, I'd really appreciate any tips.

posted by GardenGal to clothing, beauty, & fashion (11 comments total)

I don't know DC, but, if you can find a magazine that's dedicated to the Junior-Leaguers and charity-ball types and whatnot (no value judgment intended), you'll probably find that these kinds of boutiques buy advertising in these kinds of publications.
posted by box at 11:57 AM on July 20

A friend of mine works at Kid's Closet in Dupont Circle, they may be interested.
posted by biggity at 12:01 PM on July 20

a friend bought some stuff at apple seed boutique - you may try there?
posted by darsh at 12:46 PM on July 20

i don't know about brick and mortar, but try poshtots.com -- they frequently take items from small vendors
posted by unlucky.lisp at 12:54 PM on July 20

Do it yourself! Setting up your own etsy shop (etsy.com) will allow you to control your pricing and stock and reach a wider audience. If you prefer physical retail space, venture out of clothing stores and into specialty toy stores with a wealthier customer base.
posted by jddizzle at 1:54 PM on July 20

Do it yourself! Setting up your own etsy shop (etsy.com)

The poster already has an Etsy shop, as she says in the first sentence of her post. She wants to work with retailers as well.

One thought might be to look at advertisers in places like Washington Parent and so on. You can usually get a good sense of how a store identifies its market niche from its display ads.
posted by Sidhedevil at 2:07 PM on July 20

My mother-in-law bought my daughter some handmade dresses from a woman who sells from a stall at Eastern Market. Heck, maybe she'd have some suggestions. Her things seem more traditional (cherries on smocked dresses, etc.), so she probably wouldn't see poppy, modern prints as competition.
posted by palliser at 4:02 PM on July 20

Shorties in Sydney, Australia sell gorgeous, hand-made kids clothes.
posted by lottie at 5:20 PM on July 20

Don't know DC, but a friend and I did this in Chicago with hand-painted cocktail dresses and accessories years ago. We went to the hot neighborhoods and just walked into the boutiques that matched our style and offered to do trunk shows. The boutiques did all the publicity and took 20% of sales; it was very nearly cost-free for us and risk-free for them because they didn't have to buy stock or manage consigned stock. A couple places then also took orders and stocked our stuff. Plus, it was really fun.
posted by nax at 5:46 PM on July 20

Someone above mentioned Eastern Market. Have you considered also being an exhibitor yourself at Eastern Market? Your stuff sounds like it could work there.
posted by gudrun at 6:25 PM on July 20

In Philadelphia, both Art Star and Mew sell handmade baby clothes.
posted by piratebowling at 8:25 AM on July 21