How a tiny boutique became the heart of a fast-growing Liverpool fashion community

It’s a tiny boutique, without a shop front and not on a main road, but Wardrobe Liverpool has become the heart of a fast-growing Liverpool fashion community.

Since she opened it in Wavertree in June last year, Emma Watson has seen her passion project business turn into a hugely popular little gem.

Customers from across the city, and visiting from around the world, love stepping through the bright red and orange door on Moss Pits Lane to discover rails packed with carefully chosen styles.

They compare it to cool tucked away boutiques in New York or Ibiza, and for 50-year-old Emma, creating somewhere for women to not just shop but meet, chat and feel confident to try out new looks is exactly what she hoped to do.

She said:

“So many people come back and back again, some come in every week and buy a few items, some only come two or three times a year, but I love getting to know everybody. We’re attracting more of a 30-plus crowd of ladies, and I’m seeing a community build up which is so lovely.

“When I opened the shop I wanted to have something for everybody – quirky bright stuff but also linens and natural fabrics and one of my main aims was to be size inclusive.

“I tend to only get one or two of each item, most are beautiful pieces made in Italy and I’ve sourced Indian art silk dresses, recycled sari gypsy skirts, more bohemian looks.

“A lot of the made in Italy lines fit up to a size 22-24 and I stock lots of free-sized clothing. I’m a size 18 and I’ve always struggled when I’ve gone to shops over the years. I’d settle for that item at the very back of the rail because it was in my size, not because I liked it. You don’t have to do that in my shop.”

Mum-of-four Emma, who moved to Liverpool from Sheffield as a student, made the decision to launch her first fashion venture 18 months ago, with her landmark 50^th birthday approaching.

Having run a successful cleaning business, she decided it was now or never to try something new.

“I’ve always loved clothes and back in the day I always used to make my own, before it was trendy to recycle and upcycle.

“I’d had the cleaning business for 10 years but coming up to 50 I felt like I needed to do something else because that was never my passion. Now I’ve found what is and I absolutely love every minute of it.

“I started out doing pop-ups at artisan markets and then just over a year ago I came to look at this place with the idea of using it for storage.

“As soon as I saw it I thought, I could turn this into a shop. I got a wooden sign made and spent hours painting it myself, then I got a couple of tins of paint and made it as bright as I could because I just wanted the outside to reflect the quirkiness of the inside.

“Being on a side street, you’ve got to get noticed so I tell people, ‘just look for the orange and pink door’ and they always find it.

“I have quite a few customers who say, ‘this is like one of those little shops you find on holiday’. One is from Brooklyn New York and she told me she used to go in a little shop a couple of times a week on her way home from work and this reminds her of it.

“The business has really evolved over the last few months, so many people are spreading the love for it and I get to meet people from all over the world which is really a ‘pinch me’ moment.

“With customers who come in regularly, I get to know their style so I’ll stock things they might like or I’ll guide them to new stock. I’m not Gok Wan but if they ask for advice I’ll give them it so it’s a personal experience without being pushy.

“For me it’s more than just a clothes shop, it’s lovely to see customers chatting with each other and connecting. That’s the way it always used to be with local shops and that’s what I’m trying to bring back.”