Time to say goodbye
One of Invercargill’s fashion stalwarts has handed over the keys to one of the city’s first designer womenswear boutiques.
Liz Thomas first opened her shop of the same name in Kelvin St in 1992, and this week she closed the doors as the owner for the last time.
Thomas has sold the business to Mary-Jane Johnstone, who will continue to trade the fashion store under the Liz Thomas Designer Clothing name.
‘‘When I walked out . . . I felt really proud I’d created something like that. I felt happy and light, I’ve got no regrets,’’ Thomas said.
She first entered the world of fashion as a 15-year-old girl in her homeland of Wales, when she told her mother she’d like to work in a little shop in their town.
‘‘I’d been training to be a nurse and my father was so very proud.’’
Her mother got her the job, and her father scorned her.
‘‘Oh, he didn’t even speak to me for such a long time, he was so disappointed,’’ Thomas said, with just a hint of a smile.
But her real passion for fashion perhaps began at the next place she worked, aged about 17.
‘‘It was this little boutique in the next town over, and, oh, the clothes . . . they were just so beautiful.’’
This was the 1950s, and the owner imported his wares from France, Thomas said.
‘‘In those days, the customer would come in and pick the stuff, but they wouldn’t carry it home, so I was delivering these pretty little boxes to these amazing houses.’’
Fast forward 40-odd years, and Thomas was working at Invercargill menswear shop A J Boult.
The only other shop that offered designer womenswear at the time was H & J Smith, and Thomas was encouraged to go out on her own. ‘‘So that’s what I did.’’ It’s never been about fashion snobbery for Thomas, it’s been about excellence – excellent service and excellent clothes.
‘‘I look at what we call the House of G [Glassons] and I think it’s fantastic for the young people, they can have a new piece every week if they want to because it’s so affordable.’’
As for excellent service, Thomas was never afraid to send people to other shops if she did not have what they needed.
‘‘I’ve had my customers for a long time . . . I haven’t really suffered because young people [who buy online] aren’t really my customers When you’re selling designer clothing, people want to touch, to feel, to try on the next size just in case,’’ she said.
‘‘When I go on buying trips, I often put a woman’s [one of her customers] name on a garment because I know she’ll love it.’’
Her customers travel from all over New Zealand to visit her store, and she is the longestremaining buyer for some New Zealand designers, she said.
While she will miss
her customers and her designers, Thomas is looking forward to spending more time with family.
She would look to shift to Christchurch in about a year, and plans to travel back to the UK to visit her brothers and sisters soon, she said.
She has been training the new owner of her shop for the past six months, and knows she has left it in good hands.
‘‘I would be disappointed if I went back and it hadn’t changed. I know she will change it, but that will be good too,’’ Thomas said.
Johnstone said she had always loved the city store. ‘‘It’s an iconic store.’’