Today we’d like to introduce you to Karalyne Grammer
Hi Karalyne, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi, my name is Karalyne and I’m a DFW-based fashion enthusiast, collector, reseller, and content creator, with a penchant for vintage. Fashion has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents both started their careers as buyers for a major department store. This meant that from the time I was born, I was spending time in my dad’s stores, even attending my first fashion show at six months of age. Growing up I always knew that I wanted to work in fashion, with the end goal of operating my own clothing boutique. One design seminar at SCAD and many fights with the sewing machine later, I decided to forgo design and pursue the direction of merchandising and styling. Summer jobs throughout high school had already given me many experiences as a “Professional Sales Associate”. After graduating college, I moved to Dallas to accept a job that would jumpstart my career in fashion. Since then, I have worked in fashion retail across many sectors and business models including private boutiques, department stores, fast fashion power houses, specialty retailers, contemporary designer boutiques, and luxury brands.
As a true Capricorn, I have always had a strong internal drive to succeed and have always found a great deal of fulfillment in my work. At a former job I even held the status of #1 Volume Producer throughout my tenure. I was fully engulfed in my work and would find myself anxious about what sales or clients I may be missing on a day off or during a vacation. I had very few boundaries and would text clients back at all hours even from the bed, bathtub, or on my honeymoon. With this kind of dedication you can imagine how devastating it was to be laid off in March of 2020 at the onset of COVID-19.
As someone who needs a reason to put on makeup and get out of the house every day, I had to figure out how to keep my mind engaged and to remain creatively stimulated during the stay-at-home orders. With not much else to fill the time, I started experimenting with my wardrobe– building extreme, loud, heavily layered outfits in my closet room and documenting them with daily outfit posts on Instagram, with the help of my photographer husband.
In this way, the time of quarantine and unemployment brought so much beauty into my life. Never before had I managed to harness an outlet to expel my creativity as I could through building looks and sharing my “Outfit of the Day” online. I stumbled upon an international community of other positive, creative, personal style enthusiasts who I have since built meaningful relationships with. With more time on my hands I was able to finally start attending early morning weekday estate sales. The ability to access so much incredible fashion (regardless of its size) is what opened me up to being able to start selling vintage, by first sharing it with my online community via Instagram stories.
In January of 2022 I filed my LLC and launched my website bestdressedwallflower.com to sell my collection. By the fall of 2022 I began selling my vintage acquisitions via in-person events around the metroplex, the part of the business that gets the majority of my time and attention to this day. A couple times a month, I participate in local pop-up markets where shoppers can experience my curated collection firsthand. These in-person shopping experiences are so energizing for me. I love connecting with people face-to-face, guiding them towards pieces that resonate with their unique style and introducing them to unexpected finds they might not have considered on their own. Nothing makes my day like being tagged in a photo of one of my customers rocking an item they purchased from me. To see my customers feel confident and exuberant in my pieces is incredibly rewarding. At this point, I’ve been able to build a rapport with repeat customers to the extent that I know their style and bring pieces to my markets specifically with them in mind. Turning repeat customers into friends makes the whole experience that much richer!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for the giant pivot imposed by Covid. Eventually I would return to a day job. Having finally tapped into a new venue of creative personal expression, I had the new challenge of figuring out how to weave the life I built during 4 months of unemployment back into a schedule of full time work. Perhaps this has been the biggest challenge of them all– having just two days off a week for creating, vending at pop-up markets, sourcing, and everything else that goes into selling vintage and running a business. As if that wasn’t enough, we welcomed our first child in May of 2024, so I’ve added the title of “Working Mom” to my roster.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At BestDressed Wallflower you will find a highly curated product assortment of vintage and one of a kind “show pieces,” enabling you to exude confidence and strength through fearless fashion and a “more is more” aesthetic. BestDressed Wallflower challenges customers to express their personalities through “dressing loudly”– being bold, daring, and unapologetic through “not for the faint of heart” fashion choices that combine pattern, color, and texture to evoke intrigue & deliver a highly interesting and emotive visual experience. BestDressed Wallflower celebrates personal style and wants to help you embrace your most unique and authentic self by encouraging you to wear whatever makes the color go off in your brain.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
In a city as large as Dallas we have every shop, restaurant, and amenity you could hope to find. As a vintage enthusiast, I love that we have so many fantastic vintage shops and small businesses across the metroplex. I’m always excited to give other visiting vintage fashionistas my “list.” Of course, with so many subsets of DFW, it means that these selections are scattered far and wide (and we know it can take over an hour to travel across the metroplex).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bestdressedwallflower.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bestdressedwallflower
