Shall we begin? Once upon a time, in a far away place there was a girl....no, no, no....it was the dead of winter in Northern BC - let’s set that straight! It was another snowy day and I was curled up on the couch, Apple iPad in hand, shopping online for clothes. It was one of those lazy days where your looking to your iPad to become your inspiration. I was looking for a unique top to wear to work, or a cool dress for an upcoming wedding in the Spring. No matter how much I searched and researched, I couldn’t find anything that I loved. Not one thing. I was getting desperate, price almost didn’t matter, the sky was the limit, and still I found nothing.

 

Was I being too picky? I would like to think not. So I switched up what I was searching for. Googling terms like Canadian online boutique, modern clothes shop, best women’s clothing, unique womens styles, clothing stores; you get the idea. The products that I came across were so bland that the thought even rolled around in my mind that I should resort to taking some sewing lessons and start making clothes. Ha! That just wouldn’t happen. I don’t think I even know how to turn a sewing machine on. You get the idea. Days passed and I thought, why not open my own boutique? I can't be the only person not able to find cool women's clothing online?

 

The idea of opening an online clothing boutique just would not leave my mind. I started to research more about opening a Shopify store as it wasn't anything that I had experience in, unless you want to count selling on eBay? Shopify stocks are exploding, so the platform must be goo? Yes, that is how green my experience was. Being an Accountant in real life I should know what I’m doing at least from a business standpoint, so I decided to give it a try.  

The next logical step was to brainstorm what to call this store! It was like picking out the best pair of shoes you could ever dream of! Choices like Hello xo Clothing, Platinum Pearl, The Black Brick...but nothing seemed to resonate with the style and vibe I wanted to portray. One night, my husband pipes up and says to call it Pearl. Hmm, I like that. It just needed something a little bit more. Oddly enough, my husband was wanting to buy an old ‘56 Chevy Truck so he could restore the classic truck, and it was already nicknamed Pearl. Maybe he was trying to convince me that this would be a great idea, and it would be even better if I could incorporate this truck into the name of the store! Smart guy! Just one thing I couldn't get past though - the truck was black, and a name like Pearl meant white to me! Black Pearl? Seemed to resonate too closely to Pirates of the Caribbean, and I didn’t want my clothes to associate with pirates lol. So, along came all of the name combinations with Pearl, and it was decided to be Oak&Pearl Clothing Co. It was perfect.

This is my sister Jennifer and I, Leah. Both of us grew up in central Saskatchewan and always, always planned trips away to shop. Yes, to shop. Anybody else do that growing up? Mind you it was the one item at a time type shopping where you are stuck holding the 20 random bags that are cutting off the circulation in your arms. I'll admit we still love to that kind of shopping, but now its shopping for all of you too.

 

Together we are Oak&Pearl, and hope that our love for fashion relates to you. xo