Dovetail

WEST TOWN ART WALK 2022!!! 9/23, 5pm-10pm // 9/24, 12pm-8pm

Take 20% off all regularly priced vintage purchased in store.

We'll be showcasing our collection of vintage art all weekend long, much of which is in store and not online, but feel free to check out our online collection before swinging by.

When my pal Chris Hunt, owner of Seek Vintage, and I started the West Town Art Walk in 2011, I don't think either of us imagined the event would be going strong 11 years later. I don't even know if I thought I'd still have a shop 11 years later! I wasn't thinking that far ahead. But here it is, another year and another Art Walk. After partnering with the Chamber of Commerce in 2012, the event is bigger than ever, especially since so many new and wonderful galleries and businesses have joined us on Chicago Ave.

However, back in 2011, Chicago Avenue was a different story. I would be remiss not to share the little-known origin story of the West Town Art Walk. I was in Swim Cafe one morning ordering a coffee and pastry and chatting with Karen Gerod, the cafe's owner, who sadly passed away in 2014. Karen suggested that someone should organize an event on Chicago Ave to bring visibility to the businesses in the area. I thought it was a great idea! I promptly walked out of Swim and into Seek and asked Chris if he wanted to organize an art walk with me and thankfully he enthusiastically said YES! Chris and I designed the first Art Walk poster and went door-to-door asking our neighboring businesses if they'd join us. It was a real grassroots effot, which got the attention of the Chamber and started our partnership with them in 2012, who were able to grow it more than we could have imagined.

A big thank you to all of our neighborhood regulars as well as our out-of-town regulars who make it a point to swing by the store during this annual event---we love seeing you! Dogs are always welcome at Dovetail so feel free to bring your fur baby! See you this weekend!

This vintage designer tray table by Maitland-Smith features an overall metal foundation with wicker inlay, greenish/gray blown-glass handles, and loose ring lion motifs. You know I always love a lion motif!

Available online. Shipping and local pickup always available!

Swing by the shop today and tomorrow for our anniversary mystery balloon pop sale! Pop a ballon at checkout to reveal either a discount of 15-30% off all regularly priced vintage or freebie prizes. Not in Chicago? Everything in our online shop is 15% off through Sunday! New items added this week!

✨14 YEARS OF DOVETAIL✨

14 years of windows! I love designing the windows at the shop but there is no arguing that our guests window designers over the years outdo me every time with their imaginative installations! Here are a handful of the windows over the years by myself and others. I need to go through old hard drives to find more but maybe I’ll save them for the 15 year anniversary flashback. Thanks to everyone who ever designed a window for the shop! If you designed windows in the past and have the pics handy please send them to me!

✨14 YEARS!✨

Dovetail opened 14 years ago today on May 2, 2008. Looking through old photos this morning, it’s fun to see how both the shop and I have undergone many transformations. The one thing that’s remained constant is my gratitude for this space that’s allowed me to exercise my creativity while connecting with my community. I’m thankful for all the friends who’ve helped me schlep merchandise from early morning estate sales and 5am flea market rides; thankful for the partnerships with the countless artists who have livened up the windows with eye candy installations; thankful for makers who have sold their one-of-a-kind pieces at the shop; thankful for my landlords who have always been supportive; thankful to my mom who has the best eye for vintage and loves the hunt as much as I do; thankful for the people who’ve worked at the shop in the past; and last but not least thankful to all the many customers near and far who have kept this little shop afloat through good times and bad. This shop could not have survived a global recession and a global pandemic without all the people mentioned above. Thank you thank you!

Take 15% off all purchases online now through Sunday May 8 and swing by the physical shop May 7-8 for a celebratory weekend, details to come.

These 1975 lamps by the Japanese-born designer Kazuhide Takahama are made of white synthetic fabric stretched over a metal arched frame. Named after one of his children, the Kazuki was made in three sizes—1, 2, and 3—by the Italian lighting company Sirrah. Takahama moved to Italy after producing the Japanese Pavilion for the 1953 Milan Triennale. The Kazuki lamps are freestanding versions of Takahama’s Saori series, both of which use stretched fabric in reference to the paintings of Lucio Fontana.

The lamp takes on the simple profile of its frame. Two arches—one taller and wider, another shorter and thinner—are set off perpendicular to one another, creating a base at the four points they touch the ground. The blank fabric that covers them is pulled taut. The frame’s edges appear hard until the lamp is lit, when its delicate curves are visible. In this way, the Kazuki combines a sculptural solidity with a ghostly lightness, bringing a contemporary Japanese sense of abstraction to the lively, pop-infused Italian design of this period.

Available online. Shipping and local pickup always available.

If you’re a consummate host with endless parties on the horizon but limited cabinet space, then let me introduce you to this 6-piece set of multifunctional glassware. These multicolor coupes are large enough to moonlight as dessert cups, perfect for parfaits, champagne floats, tiramisu, moose, and of course any beautiful cocktail (with floral garnishes, of course) your heart desires.

✨Available in store and online. Shipping and local pickup always available✨

One of the many things I love most about vintage is the story that accompanies these pieces. For me, great vintage stories come in two forms: the item has a fun/fascinating provenance *or* the means by which an item entered my life makes a good story. As I look around my apartment, I notice a lot of my favorite pieces came through unconventional channels, manifestation, or through GREAT (perhaps obsessive) effort. I really value the story aspect of vintage shopping. You don't get a great story shopping at a chain store. Which is why I'm excited to start sharing my favorite stories about how my collection came to be. Of course, not every piece has a crazy story— I’ll share those pieces too just because they're special! I’d love you to share your stories too ( ) so we can all enjoy them. Nothing beats good design with a good story. Stay tuned.

BEHIND THE SCENES. In the before times, Dovetail was open 5 days per week. The store had a website but it was mostly informational and not an e-commerce site. I didn’t need one. Then the world changed and Dovetail had to pivot. In those first two weeks, I HUSTLED HARD to build the shop’s first-ever e-commerce platform. Holed up in my apartment, I learned how to make a site on Shopify; I learned how to take decent product shots; I slowly started adding inventory. And to my surprise, the website has been good me over the last 2 years.

While running an e-commerce site is FAR from what I ever wanted for myself, I can honestly say that I’m thankful (in a silver lining kind of way) for the unfortunate circumstances that pushed to make one because it’s enabled me to broaden sales globally and increase my audience.

So when you walk past the shop on a Wednesday and see a “closed” sign, it’s because I’m at home doing this: turning my apartment upside down to nurture my little internet baby. The shop is too small to set up a sweep and until I figure out how to cut myself in half and regenerate another me, I can only do one thing at a time. I do hope to expand in-store hours again but until I do, thanks for stopping by to see the store on weekends and snooping online the rest of the week. 💗

Roses are red, kittens have faces, you got cute flowers, you need cute vases.

Dovetail’s got you covered with our selection of one-of-a-kind vintage vases in all shapes and sizes. Swing by this weekend to check them out in store or head to the link in bio to see them online. Open 12-5 Sat/Sun. Local pickup and shipping always available.

This fantastic 44-piece (service for 6) vintage flatware set is RSVPing an enthusiastic YES! for your next next dinner party. Stainless pieces with gold-plated accents, this set has just the right amount of glam.

DETAILS

44-piece set yields service for 6 and includes: 12 tablespoons, 12 teaspoons, 6 salad forks, 6 dinner forks, 12 knives, 1 spreader knife, 1 serving spoon, 1 slotted serving spoon, 1 small serving spoon, and a felt-lined wood storage box.

$225 for the set! Shipping and local pickup available. Get via link in bio!

Now that dry January is over, it’s time to reacquaint yourself with your home bar. New glassware added online! Check it out via link in bio or at dovetailchi ago.com. Shipping and local pickup always available.