Blog Post #3- All About looks

All About Looks

            Last week we went on a field trip to All About Looks, a unique fabric store that sells one of a kind fabrics and trims. The store is the only upscale fabric store in Lubbock. As I walked into the shop I loved every minute of it. All kinds of neat fabrics were all over the place. Some were on pieces of furniture for show for the clients entering the store. The owner and her two daughters were all there to talk to us about how they run things in their shop and little need to know knowledge about certain types of fabric and upholstery. The first thing we did was all gathered around a large square table and the owner talked about each type of fabric. She had samples that were passed around and she also had fabrics I had never seen before like recycling a tire and turning it into a fabric. She enlightened me and the class, about certain types of fabric need to be paid very special attention when purchasing as to what it is going to be used for. I loved her telling the class little stories and mishaps that the shop has gone through with a client and with certain fabrics that All About Looks learned from. Certain fabrics just don’t work well to be upholstered onto a chair.

            The company buys there product from many different mills around the world which enables them to be able to sell there fabrics for a discounted price to the clients. All About Looks offers to clients, designers, decorators, and contractors the following services: on site (at all about looks) upholstery, a research department that covers anything on their services list, drapery hardware options, designer collaboration, custom bedding and drapes, wall paper furniture, drapery and hardware installation, full workroom services, variety of window shades options, slip covers ( any style, creative and tailored), motorization certification from Somfy, area rug resources, and furniture resources ( custom or factory size available). As you can see, this fabric store can do it all for a designer.

            The second part of the field trip after we gathered around the table and talked about the store and different types of fabric, window treatments, and hardware, we were fortunately given a tour of the store. We got to go back in the work room where there was an employee that had a huge work table that she could sew and measure fabrics on and all sorts of other services listed below are taken care of at this table. In the very back of the building was the upholstery section. There was a man back there re covering a couch at the time and it was really interesting to hear him talk about some of the things he had pulled out of an old couch when reupholstering it. He said he has pulled out leaves and all kinds of crazy stuff. We all laughed about it but, one thing they did tell us that I found very important was that it is better to reupholster an old piece of furniture rather than buy a new one because unfortunately, these days the furniture is just not the same quality. Although it may cost more initially to reupholster a couch or chair rather then just buy one, it is important to check the quality of the chair your buying. The owner told us a story about a client who had recently called and bought a really nice New couch and she had it for one year and the piece is already falling apart. My class all made comments that, oh maybe she didn’t buy a quality couch that of course would be expensive but we were all quickly corrected by the owner when she said that this particular piece of furniture was 5,000 dollars. To be falling apart in a year of owning something of that price is discouraging to me because now I don’t want to buy new furniture. The field trip to All About Looks was a great experience. I can see myself just going in there to look at stuff and new fabrics and to keep up with the latest trips. It was an awesome experience that I will never forget.