By Laura Finaldi, News Staff
The Boston Bazaar’s “Dollhouse” showcase will give vintage art and clothing lovers of Allston a home when it comes to an unannounced location May 17.
The company is kicking off the summer with the launch of “Treated,” a new event series featuring artwork, urban-style garments and vintage accessories. The first event series of “Treated” is called “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” named after the 1995 movie starring Heather Matarazzo and Christina Brucato, which Asha Isabella, a 2010 graduate of Emmanuel College and president of The Boston Bazaar, said she and her co-founder Michael Lewis were inspired by.
Isabella said she feels a strong personal connection with the film “Welcome to the Dollhouse” because it is about struggling to be accepted by the world, something she has felt as an advocate of fashion.
“I just know [“Welcome to the Dollhouse”] was about a completely awkward girl that’s struggling with her parents, classmates, siblings, et cetera, and I think a lot of people can relate to that, even if it’s not as dramatic as her situation,” she said. “Being in fashion or standing out in fashion you definitely feel rejection from the masses as a child or teenager.”
Isabella said “Welcome to the Dollhouse” will run twice a week for about two months, followed by several other showcases named after other movies the founders grew up with.
From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., guests of the event can mingle with the artists during the showcase’s weekly art exhibit featuring the work of different local artists of all kinds, from paintings to video.
Artists’ names have not been announced yet, but Isabella did say the first featured artist will be a master of all mediums. Each art showing will be followed by a party, featuring music spun by Boston DJs, including Marco Gomez, who will spin the May 17 Dollhouse, and plenty of food and cocktails for all.
“Welcome to the Dollhouse” will also feature displays from different Boston area stores, including Lola’s Urban Vintage, a custom-made jewelry and clothing store at 187 Harvard Ave. in Allston that, according to its website, features pieces inspired by “vintage glamour and urban edge.” Isabella said she wants to bring in consignment shops to the showcase.
“We’re trying to do mostly vintage shops or different consignment shops,” Isabella said. “We’re going for a really cool, hip kind of vibe.”
Jenna Haines, a sophomore biology major, said she likes the idea of vintage clothing that can be re-worked into something new.
“It’s a cool idea-the whole re-making of things that would otherwise be thrown away,” she said. “I would definitely be more into vintage clothing if it wasn’t so expensive sometimes.”
Isabella said her alternative approach to personal style often made her stand out as an undergraduate, and she is hoping to attract people to her events who like urban fashion as much as she does.
“Whenever you are willing to really stand out from the crowd you face that sort of negative energy, but now a few years down that line everyone wants to be like us,” she said. “We’re groups of artists, designers, musicians, et cetera and at some point in our lives, we’ve all faced negative criticism simply because people did not understand nor were they daring enough to really push the envelope.”
Isabella said she hopes the unique style of “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and all the subsequent events that “Treated” brings to the area will cause enough hype to continue throughout the whole year.
“We want to incorporate something with fashion where guests feel like they’re involved with what they’re seeing,” she said. “The Dollhouse is definitely catering to those people that are setting trends, those that may not be your typical ‘fashionable’ individual.”
Updates on the location, vendors and other specifics of “Welcome to the Dollhouse” can be tracked online at the event’s website (allstondollhouse.com) and via The Boston Bazaar’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
Isabella said about 20 percent of the proceeds will go to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, an organization that Isabella has personally worked with before.
Anyone 21 or older can make a stop by the Dollhouse when it comes to Allston. Tickets will be on sale sometime in mid-April for $10 at Allstondollhouse.com and at the door of the events.
