Date with a Fashionista - Bree Rose Bower

On a http://www.http://www.projectmboutique.com/projectmboutique.com/On a brisk Saturday afternoon in March I ventured into a little boutique in Riverwest called Project M. Project M Boutique is located at 801 Center Street and carries Midwest designers only. As I browsed the small boutique and its unique array of women’s clothes I began chatting with the shop girl, and as it turned out, owner of the small store. Once I was donning a blue vintage dress from her own line, Rosefly, I felt it was safe to fess up about my fashion blog aspirations. As a clearly more successful and ambitious entrepreneur, Bree spent an hour pointing me in different directions to explore, explaining her own vision, and chatting about the local fashion scene. I couldn’t have asked for a more welcoming and helpful conversation as I have sadly found this is not the norm.

After coming to Milwaukee for art school, Bree found her way into fashion first by interning with Erika of Bay View’s renowned Fashion Ninja (now relocated to LA) and then by organizing the Milwaukee Indie Fashion Market to highlight local designers. Bree is a true grassroots designer and shop owner. She appears to have surrounded herself with local artists, professionals and designers she knows and loves. Her own line, Rosefly, is made from all recycled material and jewelry. Project M Boutique is designed specifically with sustainability and affordability in mind and appeals to more than the avante-garde nature of the typical Riverwest dweller. She keeps the inventory fresh, mixing in twenty to thirty different designers and running it by consignment. In addition to clothing, I found purses, jewelry, vintage scarves and material (Bolted) throughout the store. But the highlight for me was Bree’s inspiringly cluttered sewing table. Taking up a quarter of the available space, its sat without pretense reminding me of the blood, sweat, and tears that go into the store and her own line.

Bree was refreshingly honest about the challenges of running her own store. The combined responsibilities don’t leave much time to work on her own line and she is dependent on foot traffic for business. Unfortunately, during the winter months foot traffic tended to slide across the icy sidewalk bundled in fleece instead of stopping in to browse. Taking a page from her mentor, Erika’s, playbook, Bree has begun offering small group classes in sewing and construction. She is enjoying the new direction, feeling it has given her new purpose and an additional income stream.

I was appropriately impressed with Bree’s positive attitude, entrepreneurial spirit, and seemingly endless creative energy. What I really envied, however, was her bravery. An independent market, a fashion line, a boutique, a sewing school...her ideas become reality. It was an inspirational lesson that I heard at just the right moment. As I strive to be fearless and create my own new reality, I encourage you to also follow Bree’s example and do the same in your own life.

Project M is celebrating its one year anniversary this Saturday night at the Red Room. Stop by their ‘Labor of Love’ party, visit Project M Boutique (or the website which is fabulous), buy something, and find your own inspiration.