*Photos by Miki Vargas Photography
We noted back in November that Saint Harridan, one of the leading brands designing masculine suits for women and trans* identified customers, was launching a 15 city pop-up shop tour. Since their tour started, we’ve been stalking them on Facebook, wishing we could follow them all over the country to be a part of the amazing dapper style and community building that the brand is advancing. But, since we’ll have to wait for them to come to New York again, we’ve decided to be Saint Harridan e-groupies and experience their pop-up shop awesomeness vicariously through the Internet. Here’s what we coveted during their February/March Atlanta tour, held at the Artmore in Midtown:
Mary Going, Saint Harridan Founder and Managing Partner (left), and Dom Brassey, Going’s business partner (right) prepare to take flight to ATL.
Going checking in – ATL, the dapper has arrived!
Saint Harridan invites folks to “try one on,” with their pop-ups focusing on off-the-rack formal attire.
Wine and snacks never hurt nobody.
…and what’s wine and snacks without a bow-tie competition?
Photographer Miki Vargas said of the tour:
“When I first started working on my personal project, For The Love of Bois, back in 2012 I knew I wanted to travel and photograph masculine of center folks nationally. When I heard that Saint Harridan was going on tour with their pop-ups I was so excited and thought it would be brilliant to have the opportunity to document their tours. I immediately got on the phone with Mary and next thing I knew we we’re off to Atlanta.
I love what Saint Harridan is doing, it goes hand-in-hand with the For The Love of Bois Project. I love that my models take my shoots as an opportunity to dress up, look sharp and feel amazing while being creative with their dapper looks and Saint Harridan pretty much provided the perfect setting for this to happen naturally.
I was truly moved to see their clients come in and experience excellent unprejudiced customer service. Mary and Dom are not just knowledgeable but they make it a point to make you feel at home when you first walk in. The smiles and relief on their client’s faces to be in an environment in which they feel safe and like they belong is priceless. I felt like a kid at a candy store standing behind racks and hiding in corners documenting these moments.
One epic moment on this trip for me was being able to witness one of their clients, after being measured, try on a jacket and pants walk over to the mirror, look up, hold their face in their hands with eyes filled with tears and say: “I cannot believe there is a suit for me.” That was the moment I knew Saint Harridan nailed it with their product and service and also the moment I knew I really needed to continue to document this tour.
Since my trip to Atlanta with Saint Harridan I have received so many great comments and emails about my photographs and inquiries about my project started to come in with regards to traveling to different cities. Saint Harridan has since been kind enough to offer to share some of their space at their pop-up location in Seattle to have our first official For The Love of Bois Project tour shoot.
I’m really looking forward to being in Seattle as the responses have been overwhelming and I cannot be any more grateful for all the support. I cannot wait to take this nationally. I would like to encourage everyone to stop by. You can find more information about the project here.”
Dom had the following to add:
“Atlanta was exhausting and exhilarating and fun. We had customers drive from Columbia (SC), Jacksonville (FL), and Birmingham (AL) to visit the store. It’s such a special experience to meet our Kickstarter supporters, Facebook fans, and customers. We try to create a special retail experience for our customers, but we’re visiting their cities, and they actually create a special retail experience for us. We throw a Shindig on opening night and hang out with everybody and learn about their city, and we teach people how to tie bow ties. Yes, the SMS was from an ATL customer. Masculine people with curvy bodies say our pants fit better than any others they’ve ever tried. That kind of feedback makes us feel like superstars.
Now that we have these racks full of Lyon suits, this 2014 Pop-Up Tour is all about getting these real suits onto real Saints, and seeing how well they fit. We like selling off-the-rack sizes because we think that’s the way our people prefer to shop. Grab a jacket in your size. Grab some pants in your size. Voila, you have a suit.”
Customers agree that the process of finding a great suit is that easy with Saint Harridan’s impeccable fit:
Check out Miki Vargas’ full set of images of the event on Facebook here. Saint Harridan arrives in Seattle today, March 28th and will be there until March 30th! For more on this and future pop-ups, click here.
