Etsy Shop of the Week: Action is the Fruit

Many of you may already know the fabulous Starr through her blog A Thought Is The Blossom, and her always amazing styling of vintage pieces. She has such a knack for picking fantastic vintage pieces an we are all lucky enough to be able to get our hands on her finds via her Etsy shop Action Is The Fruit.

Starr was also kind enough to answer a few questions and to share a bit about herself as well.

Do you have a process for choosing the best pieces for your shop?

Well, I'm sort of obsessive compulsive with things looking 'right' together (which drives me nuts), and I'm trying to update my store each week with a theme. The themes allow me to work towards a style that I really enjoy, and they also help to limit the racks and colors I thumb through at the thrift stores. A little example of that is next weeks theme which is blue. Blues, particularly soft blues and chambray's, are really hot right now, and by choosing just one color my thrift store raids are made a heck of a lot easier!

Why did you decide to start an Etsy shop?

I always found so many wonderful pieces at thrift stores and estate sales that were either too small or too big that I couldn't stand to leave behind. Before I knew it I had a whole dress rack full of clothes ready for a home, and Etsy seemed like the best way to get them out there. I love styling clothes so much, and I use the shop as an excuse to buy a lot of vintage pieces for photographs!

Could you tell us about the shop name, and the overall concept of the shop?

Oh, sure! The name actually came from a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote that goes:

"Thought is the blossom; Language the bud; Action the fruit behind it"

The original shop idea started back in October of 2008 but didn't really come together like I wanted until now. I sold under the name of 'Cazimi' which I really didn't have a reason for choosing and eventually began to hate. I figured while my blog was still small I'd start over with a new name. I choose the Emerson quote because it tied all of my concepts together so well. A Thought Is The Blossom is my blog which to me is somewhere that your thoughts originate. The language represents my connection with all my readers and online friends, and the action referred to the actual selling of the clothes with the clothing being the fruit, of course!

You also have an amazing blog, what led you to start blogging?

Thank you! The store idea actually came first, and the blog was a way for me to market the shop. Like I said, the store idea came in October of 2008 after tons of inspiration from Bleubird, Mousvox, Spanish Moss, and Bittersweet Styles on Myspace. Little did I know that tons of girls were pulling inspiration from the same place as I was and that the blogging and etsy worlds were about to blow up. Now it's a little bit of a saturated market, but in the very best way possible! I figure, the more vintage on Etsy and the more personalities on blogs, the better.

Who are your personal style icons?

It's weird, I never really think of someone as my icon, but I guess the people who really make me giddy are Leith Clark, Isabella Blow, Kirsten Dunst, Rhiannon (from Liebemarlene), Zooey D., Zelda Fitzgerald, victorian children, 50's housewives, 20's paperboys, sailors, and dandies!

What is your favorite decade to draw style inspiration from?

That's hard, but I'd probably choose the Edwardian era for all the light fabrics, lace, and soft, pretty colors mixed in with the silhouettes of the 50's. Something about those dresses that fit in the waist and billow out at the hips works really well on my figure.

What type of girl/customer do you have in mind when you are choosing items for the shop?

Dreamers, fairies, storytellers... I suppose I want my clothes to reach out to all different types of girls, but for the most part, I love girls that see a character when they get dressed and really identify with that person throughout the day. That's a little hard to explain, I guess, but I just like to relate to the different personalities throughout history that inspired that look.

For Fun:

If you could be any famous person in history (historical character) who would you be and why?

I suppose I could go a million different directions with this answer, but I'm going to keep it simple and say Julie Andrews. I'm so inspired by all her movies and characters, her voice, her era...just everything about that lady! Mary Poppins and Fraulein Maria were my heroes. Ohh, and Bert too!!

Do you believe that where you live can influence your style choices? Has it influenced yours in any way?

Definitely, where I live has everything to do with the way I dress! Of course weather is a factor that allows me to wear light, summery dresses pretty much year round (minus Dec-Feb), but also, being in the south gives me access to a lot of stuff you wouldn't find in the north.

Thank you Starr! I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for when new items come into the shop! And, as always, I'll be reading the blog to find out about your new adventures.