The Story of O

The Story of O is an erotic novel written in 1954 by French author Anne Desclos under the pseudonym Pauline Réage. The story is about sexual dominance and submission, very similar to Anne Rice's trilogy on Sleeping Beauty (which is in no way anything like Disney!). Now you may get excited about that, but alas I actually have not read the book yet. I want to, but I just don't have the time at the moment. Maybe over Christmas? Sounds like a great way to spend the holiday doesn't it?..reading about S&M and every fetish under the sun! 

Here in Leeds, the Story of O is actually a very decadent vintage store. Well, hair salon really, but we all know here that it's known more for its basement vintage shop instead of the coiffeur on the first floor. From the outside it's a shop that's really easy to miss. I have been around Hyde Park crossing millions of times and I never realised that it was just THERE. Plain and obvious. But also maybe because I never knew that the shop was in the basement that I didn't bother looking in. It would seem odd to just go into a salon to have a peek wouldn't it?

I found out about the store from my editor for the Leeds Student Paper. Remember that article I wrote about vintage clothes becoming a trend? Well, the store was one of the few that my editor recommended for me to go to for interviews and such. At first I didn't know where it was and then when I found out that it's been there all along, along my route from home to the Uni, I decided to just go one afternoon to have a look. Unfortunately, everytime I went around the shop was closed so ultimately it didn't make it on my article, though looking back now, it would have added colour to my piece because of its nature. The Story of O is what you would imagine a vintage store to look like. It was magical. 

If you ever thought of how speakeasies worked, that was the case on the Story of O for me and probably the rest of the city. For one, the shop itself is hidden within the bowels of the building (sounds very dungeon-y and epic doesn't it? LOL!), so you have to go in and say a password to get to the actual clothes store. Just kidding! No passwords or secret phrases necessary, although it was a bit daunting asking to have a look in a basement for the first time. It was like intruding into someone else's house. 

Tasha and I were originally on the hunt for a quintessential English present for my friend Saki who is due to return to Japan in January so what better place to look for than an antique store? On the way to Retro Boutique I noticed that the Story of O was open so I thought, "Why not go in and see what the fuss is about?". Boy was I in for a surprise! The salon itself was so unthreatening that I was wondering what was so special about the place. T and I walked in and asked to see the basement room to have a look around, to which the owner (...forgot his name!) and the assistant (...forgot her name too!) more than kindly obliged to lead the way. The moment I walked down those stairs I knew I was in for a treat because at the bottom was a little tableau that was very Moulin Rouge.

What a sight! 

Vintage stores around Leeds often look like a secondhand apparel junk yards, but the Story of O was anything but. Clothes on the racks were arranged by colour and era, there were mini tables full of timeless suit jackets laid out nicely, accessory stands left and right, and a section dedicated to wartime goodies! It was unbelievable! Possibly the first ever vintage store I have ever been that deserves all the credit people give it. They had vintage Chanel and Mary Quant, lovely Italian leather purses...I could go on and on! Just when I thought I'd seen it all, there was something on the wall that just took my breath away. A genuine, Edwardian silk and chiffon blouse! The real McCoy! It looked so delicate and impeccable...I didn't even had the nerve to touch it. 

Miss Minchin, is dat chu?!

Tash and I had a fantastic time looking around the place. There were lovely cocktail dresses from the 40's, 50's and 60's, one of which was an emerald cocktail dress that looked as though it was made for Nicole Kidman's Satine. I wanted to buy it for my mom as her Christmas present but it looked a bit deceiving size wise so I did the next best thing and asked Tash to try it on for me. Fortunately, she did and we saw that it just fit perfectly on her, and since my mom was a fraction of a size bigger, it probably would have been small. It sucked for me, but T fell in love with the dress that we both planned on going back to get it for her as soon as we get out bank accounts replenished by Student Finance in the next semester. 

Tasha playing dress-up!

Another fascinating part of the store was a little shelf that housed a couple of ornate powder compacts from the 50's. Scalloped gold compacts still complete with powderpuffs in its original cases, then there were a couple with a flippy tube case that still had a very coquettish shade of red lipstick, unused and still good enough to be used. There were other things like Mary Quant mascara cakes (because back in the 60's mascara was very much like cake eyeliner, no tubes), silk nylons from WWII ration packs, and antique boxes of children's toys and games. It was all very surreal. Imagine touching items that have been around for about fifty or sixty years and are still in their prime condition. It was very, very strange but in a good way for sure. Some things they just don't do now like they used to, so it's very nice to still have that connection to the past with little trinkets and items. 

One other thing about the store that impressed me a lot was it's layout. Each side of the room offered a touch of a certain era but in a very subtle way. The furniture were ornate and timeless, even the dressing room is worthy of applause. It was so reminiscent of the Moulin Rouge with a big throney chair and Burlesque-licious lingerie and stockings. The whole basement could have been a backstage movie set like in the musical Nine, with Judi Dench fitting right in making costumes for Vaudeville. 

I sound so impressed don't I? I am. I guess you can't really know about the experience until you see it for  yourself, because ultimately that's what it is. The Story of O is an experience. It's what you envision a vintage shop to be, or at least it was for me. It actually reminded me somehow of a time capsule closet, or like a Hollywood costume office. Costume would probably be the key word, but some of the things are just as fashionably relevant today as it was back then. A vintage Chanel skirt that they had could easily be on Lagerfeld's runway in any season because of its timeless nature. It's hard to find that nowadays with trends changing left and right and with people taking style for granted. 

Enjoy some of the photos I took. I know I did, and I'm so lucky it's near my house! Fabulous! I think Pat Field would actually enjoy shopping in the store!

Come to think of it, the store actually looks like it could be a very secretly decadent, undergound sex dungeon! With lavish decorations and a very enigmatic nature, the store does justice to the erotic novel. Think of Faye Sommers and Bradford Meade's sex room getaway in Ugly Betty! Doesn't that sound tempting?

xoxo