your questions : our answers
Q : Do you have a shop?
A : enokiworld's offices are located in a restored filling station, built in the 1930s. Our site is our retail 'boutique' and all of our efforts are focused on our ever changing digital catalog. It used to be that you had to have a personal stylist in your humble
entourage or live in a big city to have access to the kinds of fabulous
clothing we carry, but not anymore. Our inventory is vast and we try to
always have a varied representation available for babes who are into glam
or ladies who have a thing for classic little cocktail dresses. We also realize that there are women who like to wear both and that's why we have such a varied selection. There are so many fabulous aspects to being online - you can shop at your desk with your hair all messy and we're open all day, every day. Probably the best thing about our clothing is that from the time we have it until the time it gets to you, it hasn't been tried on a million times, stretched, scented with a million different perfumes or damaged. It also means that we're not hoarding all the great stuff for rock stars and actresses in the back room. We'll help you find the perfect thing, sure - but everyone (from our famous customers all the way to cousin Jane in Missoula, Montana) gets the same special treatment. We truly believe in wearing your vintage and we understand that condition is almost equal to style so we do everything we can to preserve it. You can also rest assured that as women who love to wear vintage ourselves, we intuitively understand what it's like to wear dresses and bras and high heels but practicality and comfort are as important as style when choosing pieces to add to your wardrobe. If you have any questions at all about a fabric, just ask. If you want to know how lightweight a wool gab on a certain dress is, we'll tell you. If you're wondering how your Sophia Loren bod is going to look in a Courreges cut-out jumpsuit, it's something we're hip to.
Q : How often do you add new things?
A : Good question. Updated departments are listed on the front page so you don't have to wade through what you've seen before if you're an old enokiworld pro. There's usually lots more added to that category than the names on the front page so get in there and look! We don't separate the new from the old because we like to think that as your tastes change and necessity dictates, you'll look at something in a new light even if you glossed over it previously. Updated items are scattered throughout the category and aren't ever concentrated on any specific page. We also have an inventory that triples what you see on the site so if you're thinking about something in particular and don't see it - ask!
Q : Do you buy?
A : We sure do. If you've got something you think is really great, we'd
love to see pictures. We specialize in designer clothing from the 1940s through
the 1970s and condition is crucial to us. Everyone from the Duchess of
Windsor to Jackie Onassis consigned their clothing - how do you think they
kept rolling in the new stuff?
Q : How do you feel about altering vintage?
A : We believe in preservation as much as possible. While we encourage the adjustment of a hem or changing out shoulder pads, we try to stay away from rebuilding vintage clothing. Eventually, if enough women have a vintage garment altered, it will end up being nothing more than a vehicle for the label and will have little to do with the original designer's creation. If you're looking for something that looks like this season's latest Galliano for Dior but are trying to make that out of a vintage Halston dress - we'd be happy to help you find the John Galliano so the Halston can remain a Halston. There is a little piece of history in the clothing and we'd hate to see it die.
Q : Do you ship internationally?
A : All the time. enokiworld girls are all across the globe - from Copenhagen
to Tokyo. Shipping fees are determined by weight and value of item so if you'd like an overseas quote, let us know which item you're dying to have and we'll tell you how much it will cost to get it in your hands. Duty and other third party fees may apply. This is totally out of our control.
Q : Where can I find info on sizing and condition?
A : On each individual item description page, there is a little icon in the lower left corner that says "Click Me". This is not a bad idea. It will take you to a page that will walk you through all of our grading in detail.
Q : Why designer?
A : In the days prior to the early 80s, fashion was more of an art form.
From the combination cut and print of a Pucci silk dress to the way Elsa
Schiaparelli embroidered a lapel, the people who crafted the clothing you
see here were inspired in ways we don't see much in modern fashion. A designer label alone doesn't cut it, so you can count on our extensive knowledge of fashion history to provide us with the skills and know-how to select pieces that are quintessential representations of each designer we offer in our collection. Feel free to have a dictionary of fashion designers close by when you shop enokiworld because we try to carry something from all designers - well-known and obscure. While
we, of course, wear modern clothing as well, it is the vintage in our closets
that adds the twist to our basics and are the things most treasured for
their form and beauty. To us, good fashion design is an art form and the designers are the like sculptors and painters in that medium. We're blown away with creative genius in everything from Van Gogh's "Starry Night" to a really talented chef's ability to make perfect duck confit. If you've ever had the chance to wrap yourself in
a silk toga dress by Halston, you know what we mean.
Q : Where do you get your stuff?
A : Each one of us at enokiworld has one major thing in common - we all have obsessive personalities. Each one of us is constantly looking, smelling, listening and hunting down stuff unless we're bathing or sleeping. We just can't help it. We get our stuff from an enormous variety of sources but our best one of all is you. We're really into knowing that our clothing hasn't passed through countless careless hands so our biggest source is the women who originally owned the stuff.
Q : Which celebrities and designers shop at enokiworld?
A : We read In Style every month too but we find it really demeaning to put emphasis on famous customers only - it makes it seem like the girl who temps for a real estate agency in Idaho isn't important or that if you aren't in the movies that you just don't have a clue what style is. We adopted a strict privacy policy early on and don't believe in turning our website into a gossip column or using well-known customers' names as free advertising - it strikes us as really sleazy. Each and every customer is important to us and we believe that your choices should be based upon your feelings about the clothing and not the big-name clientele we have - and we have 'em, believe us. We don't need to brag, our stuff is good enough and your secrets are always safe with us.
Q : Do you rent vintage clothing?
A : We rent to professional production and movie studios. Please contact us for more information.
Q : Do you have a mailing list?
A : enokiworld does not have a mailing list because it has been proven that people check what's new around here constantly without us having to goad them into coming to the site. We don't send out mailers - we don't spam and we will never share your e-mail address or personal info with anyone else - ever. Period. Conversely, if you ask for something and we don't have it right away - we will send you a quickie letter letting you know your dream dress has landed on our doorstep. Don't you wish your mother gave you this much space?
Q : Do you have a lot of repeat customers?
A : Tons! Some of our best enokiworld girls have been with us from the very beginning. You'll find that after you've bought a few things from us, we have a better understanding of what you like and what sizes worked for you. This enables us to say, down the road, "That dress would be huge on you! Try this instead." and if you ask one of our regulars, she'll tell you we're usually right. If you want to know if your size 8 body is going to squeeze into a Pucci 6, we won't lie. We want you to trust us and misguiding you won't do a darn thing to help earn it. We're not looking for one shot orders, we want to build a relationship with you.
Q : Do you put things "on hold" for people?
A : Nope, if you think you want it, make the commitment because we don't "hold" things while people think about it. enokiworld pulls orders several times a day and marks things 'sold' as soon as we know they've been ordered. We continually make efforts to ensure that we never have to write anyone a letter saying, "Uh oh - someone else just ordered that Gernreich dress that looked like it was for sale!". Once in a blue moon it happens but we work really hard to prevent this. We don't have unlimited quantities of stuff so as much as we bust butt to avoid it, it happens. Items are usually left marked "sold" while the order ships and we know it has arrived safely. International payments sometimes take longer and if you see something sitting there that way for over a week, it's a safe bet that it's going to Japan or Copenhagen. If a payment never quite makes it here, the item comes off of being "sold" and will be miraculously available again. You'll know when that happens when you see a price in place of that sold tag. If you're nuts about something but somebody has already beaten you to it, write us anyway and let us know. If that order is not fulfilled, you'll get a letter telling you of its newfound availability and if you haven't changed your mind and bought eight pairs of Prada boots in the interim, it's yours!
Q : How do I really know your order form is secure?
A : We have worked very hard to plan and execute a professional, solid ordering system that is also totally straightforward and user friendly. Some small sites use third party services as a go-between to get your information to them and you can always tell by the address on the top of the order form (the https:// part) if you're on a secure page within that website or if you've left that site altogether. Our state-of-the-art Thawte technology encrypts your information and stores it on a remote computer in a password protected directory. We don't have it e-mailed to us after you click the button to submit your order, which is NEVER a secure method of transferring credit card information and all of our processing and technical stuff was written by and is processed by enokiworld employees through an airtight connection to our enokiworld server. The certificate that guarantees you are shopping with enokiworld is available to see if you click on the little icon of a closed padlock in the corner of your browser window. If you ever see an order form that asks you to enter your credit card number, on ours or any other site, that doesn't belong to an address that begins with "https://" (the s is for secure), then do not put your info there - it is not safe, no matter what that site tells you! If you ever need info or want to tell if you're surfing the web in a safe and private way, write us and ask - we're happy to share that info! We figure it's the next best thing to being a woman who knows how to work on her own car engine. You know what they say, knowledge is power.
Q : What is an enoki?
A : Enoki (eh-NOH-kee) is a Japanese mushroom and it's a really long story.
Q : Do animals go to heaven?
A : If they don't stop along the way to chase cars and birds, yup.
