Bestie & The Boss

S1, Ep 10: Off The Peg aka PEGGY - Bridal done differently

• Season 1 • Episode 10

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In the final episode of series one, we discuss breaking the bridal mould and doing things differently!

Off The Peg has always been my passion, and now I’m opening more stores and building my bridal outlet brand! Discover how this journey began and why the business model matters to me.

Hosts and Guests:

  • Shannon: Co-host and advocate of "Off the Peg" wedding dresses.
  • Emma: Co-host with insights and big personality.

PEGGY - Bridal done differently!

Find PEGGY Bridal here: Instagram: @peggybridaloutlet
Web: www.peggybridal.co.uk

Timecodes:

00:00 - 02:14: Introduction of the podcast and excitement for the new York store.
02:15 - 04:59: Finding the perfect York location and building energy.
05:00 - 07:34: Dotty Dingo Event: Charity event for Teenage Cancer Trust with Milo and Rose.
07:35 - 12:19: Off The Peg Concept: Experience, quality, and sustainable fashion.
12:20 - 16:44: Overcoming challenges: Logistics and delivery service.
16:45 - 18:59: York store location: 24 Coney Street, York.
19:00 - 21:49: Building connections: Friendship with Zoe from Society Studio.
21:50 - 24:29: Staff benefits: Sophie’s commute and team benefits.
24:30 - 27:09: Recruitment: New team member for the York store.
27:10 - 30:44: Misconceptions: Off The Peg vs. high-street stores.
30:45 - 34:59: Sustainability: Selling pre-loved and sample dresses.
35:00 - 38:09: Success stories: Brides finding perfect dresses.
38:10 - 40:59: Future expansion: Plans for more Off The Peg locations.
41:00 - 45:19: Sample dresses: Team members’ personal stories.
45:20 - 49:14: Boutique experience: High-quality shopping experience.
49:15 - 52:39: Store presentation: Standards of Off The Peg stores.
52:40 - 54:59: Final thoughts: Excitement for the York store and future events.

Mentions and Links:

  • Society Studio: Society Studio, mentioned as the location of the podcast recording.
  • Teenage Cancer Trust: Teenage Cancer Trust, beneficiary of the Dotty Dingo event proceeds.
  • Hits Radio: Hits Radio, where hosts Milo and Rose are from.
  • York Bridal Boutique: New Off the Peg store opening at 24 Coney Street, York.
  • Zara: Zara York, referenced as being located opposite the new shop.
  • The Ivy York: The Ivy York, a nearby restaurant mentioned.
  • Jenny Packham Dresses: Jenny Packham, a designer mentioned.
  • Anna's Pre-Loved Dress: Reference to Anna purchasing a pre-loved dress.



Website and Social Links:

Caveat: This transcript was manually typed by humans (yes, real ones), so if anything sounds off, we blame tired fingers... or Emma’s accent!

Transcript

I'm Shannon. I'm the bestie and I'm the boss. And this is the home of all things Bridal, Besties, Business and no Bullshit.

Tune in every week for a little peek into our Bridal world.

Sorry, we're on live.

We're live. That's Emma singing a bra size!

This bra is black.

Oh god. So this episode is all about us opening a brand new bridal shop in York. So yeah, it's been a long anticipated thing.

It's always been on the agenda. It's always just been like there, hasn't it? Just waiting to go.

Just waiting for the opportunity in the right place.

And not knowing whether to open another Dotty store or whether to open another Off the Peg store I think we've all nailed on that we want to expand Dotty, but that it's important to us to all be together forever. I know.

I don't know what I'd do.

And the thought of being split up over loads of different stores isn't really what we want, is it?

It just wouldn't be the right thing to do, I don't think. I just don't think it would be enjoyable for anybody.

No. So hopefully in the coming months we might be able to talk about a Dotty expansion, but for now we're going to talk about Off the Peg expansion. So yeah, I just really want to talk about, just give a bit of a summary about what this episode is going to be about.

And it's going to be about the Off the Peg concept, how strongly I feel about sample wedding dresses, and the fact that just because you've got a low budget doesn't mean that you should get a lesser service. I really don't agree with that.

I think it's becoming increasingly more popular. I think in the last couple of years, we're so busy at Off The Peg. Some weeks, especially weekdays, more than Dotty, they have got so many more appointments than sometimes, it's crazy.

Yeah, and also about the fact that, just as well, there's a lot of people getting married really quickly. For me, I'm like, I mean, my dad says it to me all the time, because we were going on about politics yesterday. Not politics, but about voting.

It really annoys me that, why have I got to go to a church with my ID to put a tick in a box about who I want to vote for? Like, why is there not an app for this?

I don't vote.

Emma! We're not going to it. Tomorrow, but this episode will go out a bit later.

So, I'll talk to her offline about matching a minute and force her to vote for who I want to vote for. I'm joking, I'm joking, because I don't even know what to vote for. Text Joanne yesterday, I'm like, Joanne, who should I vote for?

So, yeah, I just get really frustrated by the fact that you have to wait so long for a wedding dress. I'm like, I'm a bridal shopper now that sells hundreds of dresses a year. But I am in the thought process of, if we are going on a night out, we can buy an outfit and it'll be there the next day.

I don't expect that a wedding dress should be there that quickly. They have to be made. They're not sat there in a warehouse, like bulk made, like that's not what happens with bridal.

But I do feel like it could be slightly quicker than it is. And especially some designers, it's just tedious, I want to take, isn't it? And it's frustrating for us, so it's frustrating for you guys.

So for me, the off-the-peg concept makes complete and utter sense. But there's definitely room for both concepts in all of this. And also, we've got to remember that Off The Peg is where I started in Bridal.

So it's got a very...

It's bread and butter?

Yeah, it is. And it's got a very big place in my heart.

As has pre-loved, so I'm gonna come on to talk about that as well. So yeah, so this episode is all about that and explaining a little bit more about the concept and why it can work for most Brides.

Yeah.

So we'll start off with, why York?

Okay, why York?

I love York.

I do, like, I think if I was to go anywhere for like, I went to York for my... Did we go for one of your birthdays?

No, we went with Neven, everyone. Cause I feel like I remember Neven back at taxi.

I didn't go for my 21st, I went for one of my birthdays. I just find it's one of them places where you can either go really party hard if you want to do. You can go for shopping and drinks.

You can go for bottomless brunch. I think it's a real girly, great day out city is York. It's quite picturesque.

It's really quaint. Yeah, it's just lovely, isn't it?

I absolutely love it. And it's funny cause like I've always dreamed of having a shop in York. And I've always said like, oh, one day, like one day we'll have a shop in York.

And I think because I used to work for White Stuff and they had a store in York, how you get all those different places, leads. And I just always loved their ethos of like, they'd never open a shopping center or like, yeah, York's a major city, but they'd only ever open in like a market town sort of place. And I'm of that thought process as well.

Because it's more of a day out. And that's exactly why this is perfect for Off The Peg.

It's quaint, it's regal. I think to say like, oh, I found my wedding dress in York. Like, it's very kind of like you just go off for the day with like your mom and your pals and just like, yeah.

It's cute, isn't it? Cute. So we found, this is where this is also really weird.

So I found the shop in York ages ago, like before Christmas, we went to visit it.

I've not been.

You've not been yet, have you?

Nope.

I don't really let out of the shop. Yeah, so we found it before Christmas and there were a few issues with the top floor because the top floor's got an ornate ceiling. So they were concerned about preserving the ornate ceiling and all of this jazz.

So I had to kind of leave it with them to sort all of that out. And that's taken months and months and months. The building's now owned by the National Trust, which also is a huge thing for me because they care about that building so much.

Like it's so precious over it. And kind of not really had that with previous landlords. It's a bit of a like, well, well, you sort it.

And they don't really care about their building, but with the trust, they really care about it. And the ornate ceiling, it's like, do-do-do, but it's okay. That one, yeah.

Emma spent two little jingles on me. They have this ornate ceiling in this top floor, and it's the same ceiling as my house. And it's freaky.

So my house, I'll share some pictures, is 400 years old. It's like 400 now, isn't it? And it's got this really fancy ornate ceiling.

It's almost like, I always think of like a beehive.

Yeah, I suppose.

It's like hexagons, it's like. Yeah.

And it's got like mermaids on it, man. It's weird. But anyway, I hated it when I first moved in, and I love it because I'm like, it's unique.

Oh, it's such a lovely feature.

Yeah. So this room has this ceiling. And I was like, oh my God, this is the same ceiling as mine.

And as soon as I walked in, I was like, oh, I need this shot.

You really had a good feeling about it.

So it took ages for them to sort out what they were doing with it, and they eventually had sorted it, and they came back to me probably two months ago. And we were at the point then where I was like, we can't do this now, because it was potentially gonna be another Dotty. And I was like, we can't do it.

It's not the right time. It's too much going on. So, but I couldn't reply to the guy's email.

I was like, what is stopping me from replying to this guy's email? So I was chatting to my growth expert from the course, and she just went, well, why don't you open an OTP there? There must be some reason why you don't wanna let go of this building.

And I was like, yeah, because I just feel like it's right. And I never get that feeling from buildings, but I did this building.

It's like a house, isn't it? When you buy a house, right? If you walk into one, you get a really good feeling about it.

They say just go for it, don't they? Because it's almost like that welcoming kind of...

So, the tickets are selling fast for our Dotty Dingo event.

Dingo dollars, mate.

That's my favourite bit. So, our Dotty Dingo event is on the 20th September, and the tickets are on sale now. They're £30 a ticket, and all proceeds from the event go to Teenage Cancer Trust.

And that is in aid of our beautiful bride, Pippa. We have the best hosts of the evening, and that's Milo and Rose from Hits Radio.

Woohoo!

And we have got some of the mintiest prizes that I think I don't want to work with, then. I actually want to be a part of it. You're trying to get out of it, and you're not.

So, yeah, grab your tickets now. There's limited numbers, and they are absolutely flying off the shelves, so to speak. And we'll see you then.

I'm feeling that it's yours.

Yeah, and I really did get that feeling. So, I just was like, oh yeah, why do we have an Off The Peg there? And then I was a bit like, well, I don't know if York's the right place for an Off The Peg.

I think it'd be better for a Dotty. And then the more I thought about it, I thought, you know what? Off The Peg is not an outlet.

Like, it's not, yes, we call it an outlet because it's kind of like that's the done thing and the way to explain it in the simple terms. But we do not treat Off The Peg like an outlet, do we? So I was like, so York is the right place.

And there has been a couple of things where I thought, oh, well, you know, will people, because obviously you buy your dress and take it away, will they want to carry the dress around York and all of that. But I've overcome all them hurdles. We're going to do a delivery service if people want us to post their dress to the house.

I reckon 90% of people, unless they're staying overnight, they might take it back to the hotel room or something. But if you think like. They don't want to be like walking around it like is there, and you probably get a lot of work walk ins there as well.

Yeah, it's on a whim. They might have a glass of champagne somewhere. Oh, my gosh, look at this.

Let's go have a look in. They might find the dream dress there and then exactly.

And so where the shop is as well, so this is also a spooky thing. So the shop is number 24, Coney Street, so it's the main street in York. Coney.

It's the street where Zara is, so Zara is on the opposite end. And then the Ivy is at the other end. So literally, the Ivy is like, what, five, six doors down.

So that's perfect for going for lunch and besties, just being there all the time. But the weird thing about it is that Zoe, who owns society, so where we are now recording this, has a boutique apartment building, literally, that is called Emma 30th, Arcony Street. She's five doors down the road.

And Zoe and I have been friends since high school, so for, God, over 20 years, haven't we? And it's just weird. That's weird, that partnership.

So we're going to do lots of exciting stuff together. Yeah, it just feels really right. I've always been real homebred, and I've always been worried about opening somewhere that's not home.

Yeah, because it's like you're losing that control, because you're not just like a stone's throw away or 10 minutes in the car or something.

Exactly.

It's not a million miles away.

We went yesterday, it's like an hour and 15. Yeah. And our lovely surfer is obviously going there.

So Surf, who some of you might have met, I've had Surf as a bridal consultant, lives in York, so she can literally walk to work. And it's like that as well. I just feel like everything I do, I want to do for the team to make their lives better as well.

And York makes Sophie's life better because she doesn't have to travel an hour and hour, have to come to work every day. And yeah, it's just so in-fitting and it works really, really well. So yeah.

And like you said in the day, people, if staff want to go over there, like if I said, could I go over next Saturday?

Yeah, we want that.

When I don't have Willow on the weekend, I can open myself up, I'll set off in the morning with my coffee. It'll be so nice just to go for the day. A lot of a little party when we open as well.

Yeah, we'll have a big party when we open, and yeah, definitely it's gonna be amazing. And we're just recruiting at the minute, and whoever that team member is that takes that supervisor role will be massively integrated into the Dotty and be part of Off The Peg team and be part of all of this. So yeah, so the big question that people always ask us, and like Amy Dee was talking to me this morning about it, about Off The Peg in comparison to Dotty, is this, they seem to think that Off The Peg is like a high street shop where you just go in, try something on and buy it and take it away.

Yeah. I think a lot of people think it's like a diluted version of Dotty as well when it really isn't. It's different from your outlet stores, even though typically that's what it is.

It is an outlet because you're buying off-the-peg and you're taking it away that day. But it's the experience that comes with it. You get your own personal consultant, you get your own private room, you'll have a nice drink sale at...

You can't put the teeth in last.

You can have a drink. You can bring your friends with you. You're not going in, you're not a conveyor belt.

You're not trying dresses on and like, oh, we've got one of this, we've got this dress, “but we've got it in four sizes. It's very much very personal.

Yeah, and it's not like, so I'll not say the name, but there's obviously a very big outlet chain out there. And that is not what we are. We are not there to just chain numbers of brides and to not focus on their experience.

And it's so impersonal. We hear so many horror stories of how people have been treated. And it is that typical conveyor belt, kind of like, you get in, you try dresses on, do you want it?

Well, no, you're made to feel a bit kind of like outed. And then the experience is lacking massively.

So we will operate still on an appointment basis where you can book in. Obviously, we will take walk-ins on certain days. And we will operate on an appointment basis so that you do get that time where your bridal consultant actually can find you the dress.

But the other major thing for us is that it's not an outlet in a sense of, right, okay, it gets all Dotty's old dresses that are battered and done with.

Trust me.

It's not that. Like, we buy in stocks specifically for our outlets. It's not just that it's filled with, like, Dotty's old battered dresses that no one wants anymore.

It's very much the opposite of that. Most of the dresses are brand new. And we will only have, like, one or potentially maybe two sizes of that one dress.

Yeah, people at the sale at the weekend, like, we'd had some of the dresses in, like, a couple of weeks. Like, they might have been tried on two or three times. They are completely brand new, some of them.

And the bargains that people get is just, it's stupid.

It's insane. And like, yeah, we've just seen that this weekend that we've had 45 brides buying our sale, which is just insane. And Emma worked both of those days.

She looks like a withered prune now.

I went to bed at 10 to nine on Saturday night. I know, I just literally flopped into bed.

Yeah.

And it's such a buzz, but it was just like one after the other, like, it was great. It was really good fun.

So yeah, we'll do those, obviously, those big sale events at the new shop as well. But yeah, I think-

They'll be huge there, because you think of all the surrounding places that we'll be able to get to York.

Yeah. So I think for me, the whole reason why I want to do this, and I kind of feel like this is, I don't think it has been done. Like, there's lots of bridal shops that open outlets because they need to get rid of their old stock, and it's an afterthought.

For me, OTPis at the forefront of my mind.

OTP,  is that your shop?

OTP has been at the forefront of my mind always because it's where I began. And it's not an afterthought. It's its own entity, and it does extremely well, and people love it.

So for me, opening more of those stores makes complete and utter sense because we need to be able to reach more people, and the way to reach more people is to open more stores. So then the biggest thing is, as well for us, is that you are being styled when you come into them appointments. It's not a case of, obviously at the sale appointments, it's an hour.

You're still being styled in that hour, but the normal process is just like a normal bridal shop. The only difference is, you're not ordering a dress brand new. That's the only difference.

You're taking the one that you're trying, which actually for most people is good because they want the item straight away.

And I think sometimes a lot of brides don't know what shop they want to go to anyway. The amount of brides we have on a Saturday we do in both shops because they want to have both options for it. Yeah, a lot of brides have a strict budget, but sometimes people do want to, they're not sure of the budget.

They're not sure of bridal altogether. So it doesn't really matter. Yeah.

Whether it's a sample dress or whether it's a brand new dress.

No.

Still altered to you, it's still your dress.

Exactly. And that's why I bought a sample. I went to a normal bridal shop, tried my dress on, it just fitted me perfect.

And they were discontinuing it. So I did buy the sample. Anna bought a sample.

Anna, no, she didn't. Anna bought a pre-loved. No, did she?

Yes, she did. I'm sure she did. I wanted a sample.

It was either or.

Was it an Eliza Jane Howell?

No, Jenny Packham.

Why do I always think it's that?

Because it's beaded. So as well, the big thing for me is the whole sustainability thing. So we know in our industry that bridalism is not sustainable at all.

You buy a wedding dress, you wear it once, you put it in a box under your bed, or if you're lucky enough to be able to find somebody to make it into something else, then you do that.

Did you see that real estate of the day, though? Someone framed it on the wall. Oh yeah.

People were putting, this is creepy, this is creepy, but it was basically, it was like a picture frame, and she had it sewn into the picture frame. It was like a full-length mirror length. I thought it looked incredible.

It looked like they were gonna, I don't know if anyone's ever seen Return to Oz, but there's like women's heads in like cases. It looked like it would crawl out this dress. But I just thought, what a cool thing to do.

But people were saying how creepy it was, but yeah, if it's sustainable, like what do you do with it?

Exactly. So for us, having off the peg enables us to be sustainable because yes, it does take a lot of our samples, well, all of our samples eventually from Dotty and sells them on. So we fix them up if they're damaged or anything, and then we sell them on.

And now that is obviously allowing us to be really, really sustainable. And again, that's another reason why I want to open more off the pegs because there are so many dresses, even from the designers, they'll go to landfill. Like what else can they do with them?

If stores don't buy them, what can they do with them?

This is kind of going off piece, but I find with sometimes we have certain dresses in Dotty that what we sell, you put them in OTP and they might sell that week and you're like, how is that dress not sold in the four years we've had it at Dotty? You put it in there and it's literally the perfect dress for somebody.

So Amy always says that, doesn't she? Amy always says that the dress binds the person. She says that all the time.

And it literally comes 200 yards down the road, somebody walks in and goes, that's my dress.

With that look, with that look. Oh yes, that blue a lot could char with the blue, the periwinkle like flowers on it.

Oh, we've had it at Dotty for ages.

Never repeated on it. As soon as it went off the peg that weekend, it was all straight away.

She came in, she found her home.

Yeah, so that periwinkle blue dress found its owner. And that's the thing. And I think that's what I love about off the peg is, it is like a hidden gem.

And it's like, it's not like rifling through like in TK Maxx when you're trying to find a Balenciaga bag, you know? It's not like that. It's me and it's beautiful.

It's not the Friends episode where they've got the whistles and they're all searching through them. Like the first thing people say, I think when they come in OTP is, oh my gosh, we did not expect this. I think people think it's gonna be like a jumble sale and you're gonna be like rifling through racks with like massive big sale tags on there.

It's pristine.

I'll tell you now, everyone knows what I'm gonna say, but she's the culprit. Off the peg is tidier than Dotty. I'll tell you that now.

Because they're literally, them two are in. I'm sure they're being army. Little, I'm not allowed to say the word, I'm not allowed to call them up, but you can kind of give.

She is Sergeant Major. I actually messaged her and said, Kennedy, once we get the new shop up, and I'd love you to come in and talk standards. And like, what you expect?

She went bloody hell, they'll all hate me before they even know I messaged.

She was redoing my standards, but I thought I'd done them really neat. But we're all kind of, we have our own way of standards. Some people, Kate, Kennedy, Anna, are your big dogs at standards, right?

They just get them to look like somebody's ironed the dresses on the rails.

Emma, dogs do not.

Me, B&M, Home Bargains.

B&M's quite tidy sometimes. Home Bargains is tidier, isn't it?

I'm trying to think of a dress shop, what's untidy?

Primark. Primark, all the panty bags are BS at the end of a Saturday. That's your standards.

I'd like to work in the panty bag.

You would not. You won't get a panty bag if you don't do it, would you? So, yeah, so it isn't, it's pristine, isn't it?

And like, it basically is, I want our new Off The Peg and our current Off The Peg to be known that it's a normal bridal shop, but you're going to go in, you are limited to what dresses we've got, basically.

Yeah, size-wise and stock-wise.

But that you would go in, have an amazing experience, and it really is going to be in a beautiful store. Find your dress of your dreams, save money, take it away with you, no hassle.

No stress, tick-toff, boom.

And I love the no stress, like I'm very matter of fact, in like, I like bang, bang, bang, like, no stress, let's just do it.

I would.

Yeah, so it's right for so many people.

And some people like, I'm not a shopper. I know I wouldn't want to go around hundreds of shops. Some people do, but I think OTP would be a kind of place where I'd feel so comfortable at.

Less fuss, I know what I want, try them on. That's it. And do you know, when you find your dress, it doesn't matter where you get it from.

No, exactly. And the team are as trained as the team are at Dotty, so there's no difference there. And just to be known that like, our OTP team do work in Dotty as well.

Like, there's literally no difference.

We all sing from the same table sheet.

Yeah, exactly. So as well, a lot of people will ask about sizing then. So size-wise, we go from, got some as small as a four, aren't we?

We can get different sizes in as well, but for opening, that's what sizing we will have. And then obviously, you would shop whatever size you take. However, you can shop up a size and down a size as well.

You can probably shop up two sizes and down a size. So you still have four sizes to look at there. And we then also have a list of seamstresses, and this goes for York as well, that we've researched and ensured that these seamstresses are really, really good.

We have been told we need to do an episode on seamstresses, haven't we? Because we've been hearing some real horror stories recently of brides taking dresses to seamstresses that are not bridal seamstresses. They're just normal alterations, seamstresses, and a lot of issues, haven't we?

So, we will be talking, we'll do a full episode on that, if we can drag Adele in to do any of this. And, yeah, so you will get recommended seamstress details. Obviously, feast tables have your dress altered as well, and lots of those are in York, so that's perfect.

There's no change between the two shops at all, really.

No, because that's the other thing. People say, well, if you buy a sample, I've got to pay for alterations. Well, if you buy a new dress, you've got to pay for alterations.

Yeah.

Yes, you might have slightly more to do, maybe. Yeah, you might not, though. You might find a dress that fits you really well.

Exactly. And it might be just the hem that you need to do in or a change of a bus cup.

Yeah, so it really is the same concept. It is.

So I'm not sure when this episode's gonna go out within the next few weeks, but we might be very close to opening by that point. It's gonna be mid-August, all being well. And yeah, and then this, Emma, is the last episode of Series 1 of Bestie & The Boss.

You know, it's been a blast.

It's been emotional.

I've got a couple of hours off work. They've let me out.

That's all she comes here for. She gets a boobs measure. She gets all sorts done.

Free coffee.

She made Man of Her Dreams in Michael.

Oh, Michael.

And yeah, it has been good, hasn't it? So yes, this was Series 1. We're going to do Season 2.

We're going to have a little mid-season break because we think that we are the Housewives of Cheshire, obviously. We're not having a wrap party. But obviously, we've got children, so we've got a six-week holidays coming up.

And we'll probably be looking 10 years older by the time we come back to next episode.

And a fair few more grey hairs. Yeah.

So we will reconvene the first week in September for the next episode.

Have a wonderful summer.

Have a lovely summer. And if you've not got your tickets already, get your tickets for Bongo Bingo. Bongo Bingo.

Not Bongo Bingo.

I wouldn't mind if I named it Dotty Dingo. Dotty Dingo. Well, we will hopefully by the time that that comes around, remember the name of it.

So yeah, tickets £30.

Yes.

And they're on sale now.

Amazing prizes.

Join us, I'm on the 20th of September.