8/6/2019 Madame Fancy Pants

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/madame-fancy-pants 1/318  Wellington Woman I Summer 2010

FEATURE

The‘madame’  who grewup to be a

magpieWords RHONDA SNELGAR Photos WILLIAM DAVENPORT

8/6/2019 Madame Fancy Pants

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/madame-fancy-pants 2/3   1Wellington Woman I Summer 2010

Claire Terry is a magpie. A gypsy treasure hunter

with a penchant for trinkets and delightfully over

the top sparkle. Behind the papered windows at her

first Plimmer Steps store, she revelled in hearing the

curious remarks of intrigued pedestrians passing

the ‘Madame Fancy Pants opening soon’ sign on the

door. Three and a half years ago, the store shifted

to a more shopper-friendly locale at the top end of

Cuba Street but the curiosities piqued by the store’s

name haven’t dwindled in the slightest.

It has to be said , that when you enter the store, there

isn’t one single pair of pants to be seen – not even on the

delightfully cheerful proprietor who favours 1950s frocks

– and while the store’s colourful name raises more than

a few eyebrows, the only madame inside bears the

moniker as a childhood nickname and not a job title.

Born out of a need for a store stocking crafty items,

Madame Fancy Pants is the store for everything sweet

and twee. Stocking cupcake and embroidery kits,novelty notebooks, tender infantwear, vintage style

calendars and an assortment of incredible jewellery,

so one-of-a kind and remarkably special that there are

barely words to commend it. The store also serves as a

studio for Claire to create custom jewellery items and

work on her new collections, just a glance away from

the shop floor.

The Madame Fancy Pants shopper has her own

sense of style and isn’t governed by mainstream

fashion. She’s an individual with a penchant for shiny

trinkets who likes what she likes, with cups of tea and

Emily Post. The focus at Madame Fancy Pants is on

the unique; finding items that aren’t already available

throughout Wellington. A ceramicist in the USA provides

Victorian-style mannequins donning animal heads and

Myrtle and Lace provide handbags to complement the

range of NZ designers Claire supports, with the likes of

Victoria Mason, Morgan Terry and Tessa Peach filling

the shelves alongside a line by Erskine – a 70 year

old, motorbike riding man who creates dainty rosebud

earrings for the line ‘Forget me not’.

  Among the designer range are the store’s Ú

8/6/2019 Madame Fancy Pants

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/madame-fancy-pants 3/320  Wellington Woman I Summer 2010

own jewellery brands ‘Madame Fancy Pants’ and ‘Lil

Lovelies’.

The latter is the cheaper line with a cute and

trinket-like aesthetic priced at $12-$30, while the

range bearing the store’s namesake is an assortment

of bespoke, limited edition pieces extending to special

custom pieces with a 1950s influence, a Mills and Boon

romantic absurdity and a gypsy-fair love of baubles

featuring a variety of chains, brass and crystals, ranging

between $49 and $300.

With similarities to the Karen Walker, Meadowlark 

and Deadly Ponies (another brand found in-store)

ranges, the Madame Fancy Pants line features designs

made from semi-precious stones, brass, sterling silver,

gold fill and plated materials which Claire terms ‘semi

precious costume jewellery with good components’.

Every item Claire creates is made with the idea that

this piece is for someone, she may not know who it is yet,

or when they’ll step into the store, but when they lay eyes

on it, it will be perfect for that person... kismet.

Claire’s main passion is the custom pieces she

makes for individual customers. She loves seeing

where her pieces go, the person behind each piece.

Some are on their way to becoming heirlooms having

been handed through the family on special occasions.

It’s these stories, these relationships that she buildswith her customers through her jewellery that she

really relishes – the thrill of boyfriends coming in to

have something custom made and stamped with sweet

nothings for their sweethearts or sitting down to design

a custom wedding headpiece and hearing tales of

lovers meeting.

I managed to sneak a peek at Claire’s next collection

which features chain acquired through a Royal New

Zealand Ballet costume department sale. Inspired by

the theatre-filled history of the chain, the designs follow

an Art Deco aesthetic. One piece that caught my eye as

I etched it onto my wishlist was a pair of earrings made

with the glitz and sparkle of Swarovski crystal and the

historical dangling chain which, as a ballet enthusiast,

carried great sentiment. The collection is also dotted

with jungle inspired elements leading Claire to term the

theme ‘Deco-jungle’.

Claire has been a jeweller from the time she received

an empty dollshouse around the age of eight and made

every chandelier and candelabra inside it to the tween

years of ‘fimo bling’ and red lipped, flutter lashed

crocodile brooches. It seemed a natural progression to

store owner and she found success following her heart

and intuition through the simplest of mantras – ‘Why

do something you don’t love? If you try and you fail y

can always go back.’

She’d love to collaborate with Trelise Cooper f

the OTT factor or with Juliette Hogan whose simplic

could pair beautifully with the sass of Claire’s design

however in the meantime she has created jewellery a

headpieces for singers Bella Kalolo, Lisa Tomlins, Sac

Vee and Miss New Zealand and her inhouse collectio

are expanding at an ever increasing pace.

Claire’s ultimate goal is having time to create mo

collections, to start wholesaling to other stores a

expand her range of materials. She also intends

return to stocking clothing in-store, but in keeping w

the store’s fifties, girly vibe, Claire states it’ll be ‘stric

frocks’.

Claire has also started up the ‘Claire Terry Trio’ –

musical ensemble with two amazing musicians, Dan a

Paul, who Claire can hardly believe dain to accompa

her. The folk/ alternative/ indie/ country sound can on

be referred to as an eclectic mix of happy and thoug

provoking songs with a few silly numbers thrown

for sass. The trio are playing at ‘Around the Wireles

in Hawke’s Bay and look set to play at the Botanic

Gardens Summer Series in January.

Head along to the store nominated for ‘Best Shoppi

Experience’ by the Wellingtonista Awards and meet wClaire to let her help bring that perfect design out

your stories and occasions. Whether for the Summ

races at Trentham, the wedding and festive season

or simply for the pleasure of having something ma

that is perfectly yours, there’s no better excuse for

special treat.

Madame Fancy Pants

187 Cuba St, Wellington

T. 04 385 0830

 www.madamefancypants.com