taking notes: lizzie wheeler
of studio dorothy and shit.u.should.buy
Welcome to our second installment of “taking notes” where I pester internet and IRL friends about what makes them tick, their creative process, and how the hell they got so cool. In this edition: Lizzie Wheeler.
Lizzie and I first met about a decade ago when we were both working in wholesale. I think it’s fair to say that it was not a dream job for either of us, but I’m grateful that we’ve remained in touch throughout the years; especially as I’ve watched her go from an assistant to running absolute circles around me professionally. There’s nothing I love more than watching women succeed, and it’s been a true joy seeing her climb up the ranks at various companies.
Even more of a joy? Watching her embark out on her own - first, starting a killer Instagram dedicated to sourcing second hand designer finds called shit.u.should.buy (you may have seen it featured on The Cut recently!!!!), and then launching a vintage bridal studio called Studio Dorothy, which I wish was around when I got married just a few years ago (I literally want to do a vow renewal/delayed reception simply in order to wear something she’s found).
Anyways, I asked Lizzie a few questions about how she sources her amazing finds, how she got into vintage to begin with, and the favorite pieces she’s sourced.
Enjoy!
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Okay! First, let’s start with the basics:
What’s your name? Lizzie Wheeler
Where did you grow up, and where do you live now? I’m from North Reading, MA and I’ve lived in Brooklyn for almost 12 years.
What does your family look like? Partner? Pets? I live with my husband, Danny, and our two dogs, Penelope and Wanda. They’re perfect.
What do you do?
I run a vintage and rare designer bridal studio called Studio Dorothy and I also do brand consulting, after having worked in wholesale for about a decade. For the last three years, I’ve also had a fun little side hustle word vomit IG called shit.u.should.buy that now has an accompanying Substack. It was just featured on The Cut!
Walk me through a typical morning at your house.
I have POTS, so my mornings are slow. POTS is an autonomic condition where your heart and circulatory system don’t react well to change, in particular the change from being asleep and horizontal to awake and vertical. My angel of a husband usually brings me coffee in bed and electrolyte water, and then I do email stuff and online sourcing for Studio Dorothy or post on Shit.u.should.buy until my meds kick in and I feel safe being up and about.
What does your day to day look like?
All over the place. I’m trying to consolidate my tasks to be big blocks of one given thing, but it’s hard. I’m currently trying to do Studio Dorothy appointments on weekends when clients are most likely to be available, then have one day per month dedicated to an e-comm shoot, and the rest of the time is admin, repairs, shipping, sourcing, and setup/breakdown of my studio. I share a studio space with my family, so every time I have appointments I have to set up and break down. Also any time I do an e-comm upload that takes a day or two. But also my parents have this gorgeous summer house upstate and I do try to get up there as much as possible.
Where can we find you on the weekends?
In Studio Dorothy appointments, or in a hammock upstate.
What’s your favorite thing about living in NYC? Least favorite?
I’ve been really good about going to concerts recently. In April/May I’ll have seen Butcher Brown, Ca7riel y Paco Amoroso, Charli XCX (twice!!), Mereba and Beyonce. Least favorite thing is a tie between the summer humidity/stench and living in a fourth floor walk-up with no laundry in the building. The combo in the summer is lethal.
Moving on!
Tell me about your vintage bridal studio - Studio Dorothy. What inspired you to start it?
A confluence of things— I had been trying to move into secondary market jobs for a while, either resale or off-price. I had sales data from shit.u.should.buy and knew I was moving pretty big volumes of product. I also knew the bridal industry was growing quickly, particularly vintage, but felt there was still a hole for something with a secondhand angle that’s discounted but not peer to peer final sale. I initially did a bunch of market research and put together a pitch deck for me to launch bridal with some of the bigger reseller platforms, but last fall they all said that bridal wasn’t a priority. So I just kind of took the leap because I knew that in 6 months vintage bridal would be exploding. Which it has been - and so fast that I’m already worried about anticipating the next big thing. I hope I have some time to sit in the pocket.
What was your first piece of vintage bridal sourced, and what has been your favorite?
First piece was the McQueen Spring 2007 Sarabande Lace Gown, which I ended up with as an employee incentive from the sample closet when I worked there. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I just grabbed it. My favorite is a 1950s-1960s organza gown embroidered with all these little ribbons. My friend found it and I said no at first because it would need restoration I wasn’t sure how to do and the seller didn’t provide measurements. But in the end we figured it out and it was BEYOND. It just sold.
What is your approach to sourcing - where do you find your pieces and what do you look for when selecting them?
I’m perpetually online. It’s every platform. If I have a feeling it’s a super special piece, I’ll spend a little more. And then sometimes if there’s a random auction online with low prices but little info I’ll take a risk and see if it’s a good surprise. I also work directly with people who have collections they’re offloading. Some are little old ladies with vintage collections, some are recent brides who bought a million things final sale and only one to two of them worked. I try to focus on construction and fabric over brand, because the #1 thing that separates vintage from current day bridal is the comfort on the body. A lot of brides have come to me saying how physically uncomfortable they felt putting on the stiff, synthetic new product out there, and they’re so pleased to put something lighter on their body. I also have to be able to envision who the customer is that would want that piece, and for what occasion. For brands, I swear by vintage Armani, Escada, and Valentino. Their resale prices right now don’t seem to be crazy high but the quality and fit are just so good. I always go a little left of center vs trying to find exactly what the customer knows she wants. I’d be shocked if I end up with any Galliano Dior to sell because there’s so much competition in that market and the customer also knows to search for it herself.
You’ve worked in fashion for a while - that’s how we know each other - but what got you interested in bridal, specifically?
I’d worked on a couple bridal projects as a consultant or in-house, and I knew that if you bring something fresh to the market, people freak. For such a big business, there’s a lot of room left to for newness. It’s also such a quickly growing industry and one that continues even in poor economic times, so there was of course an element of strategy. But also I was that girl who spent her whole childhood imagining her dream dress. I love dress up. And bridal is the closest thing to adult dress up there is. In no other event does almost any woman get to take a rather large budget and put it towards creating her fantasy. I love that shit. I also love working directly with clients, which I had done of less in wholesale.
I know you also have another project - shit.u.should.buy. Tell me more about that.
I started it because my friends were tired of me sending them links and telling them to buy things. And also because a rather accomplished fashion journalist kept reaching out to me as a source but also asked me to help her shop for an event. I was like… maybe people on the internet want to see these links and hear me yell at them about why they should buy this Prada skirt that Miuccia just put back on the runway but that TRR shot as a tube top so now it’s 70% off. I started it as just a lazy thing to do in bed or on the train, but it’s grown quite a lot.
You’re clearly very interested in vintage and second hand shopping. Why? What do you look for personally when you shop second hand? Any tips for second hand shopping for those that are curious but don’t know how to begin?
I was brought up secondhand shopping. I was never really allowed to go to the mall and buy the new cool thing off the rack, but I always wanted to look current. I always wanted to be the best dressed. So I just developed the skills for hunting as a necessity to get the look I wanted. And then it’s a thrill! So that’s the back story, but having worked in an industry that hinged on full price sales of seasonal product, you see how quickly trends change and things start to give you the ick. Buying full price because something is the hot thing you need right now is just a recipe for disappointment in a few months. Thrifting is a better way to spend your money if you’re willing to put in the work. As for tips for dipping your toes in… here’s a tried and true formula. Go to a thrift store and go straight to men’s. Get the biggest linen or cotton button down you can find. Get some worn out men’s jeans. Get a blazer. Lots of women’s brands revolve around presenting women with traditional menswear clothing styled on cute girls, so if you start shopping men’s directly you’ll skip their whole styling markup. AND THEN you go to a site like Vestiaire or TRR or eBay and source your accessories, knits, shoes. Get a TSE cashmere cardigan, wear it with your big men’s jeans, and then get some cheap pointy Manolos you can probably find for under $200 and a Chloe bag that’s not exactly the style people want right now so it’s still under like $350. Now you’re the best dressed person in most rooms.
How would you describe your personal style, and how does it play into both Studio Dorothy and shit.u.should.buy?
I think of myself as high femme and maximalist, but I also wear a lot of really baggy shit and tailoring. I usually wear big jeans or a long skirt, a tight little top, tabis or other ballet flats, or big ass boots from Acne or R13. And then a really dramatic coat or jacket. I wear a lot of antique gold jewelry. I definitely dress less like Carrie Bradshaw than what I project on SUSB. I’m kind of Carrie Bradshaw meets Kelly Cutrone. I think the maximalism comes across in both SUSB and Studio Dorothy, and my one criticism I sometimes get from clients is that I can go in a more editorial direction than they’re ready for. The Kelly Cutrone chic minimalism stuff frankly is harder to sell online because I think it’s just less fun to look at. People click on things that make them smile even if they’re not the most practical. So people can find the practical basics themselves and I’ll only post if it’s really special.
What’s next for both?
Mostly just more of same. If it ain’t broke etc etc. But I’d like some bigger names for closet sales, and I’m talking to some people about taking Studio Dorothy on the road for out of town pop-ups. I just did one in NYC at Tarin Thomas, which was the best. I will probably do another NYC event this year, but otherwise I’m focused on other markets. I did one in Philly in February when no one knew about me, but it still killed. It was hosted by Betsu, a super cool antique furniture warehouse. I think there’s a lot of potential outside of NYC, and I like partnering with other small businesses.
Rapid fire round:
Favorite restaurant in NYC: Zest sushi’s cheap happy hour. It’s honestly so solid and the price is still so good in 2025. Cheap good food at a sit down spot that’s not fancy is so hard to find.
Most worn item in your closet: Oversized olive green Burberry trench
Can’t live without product: This French prune face oil from Amalthea that I stupidly didn’t restock before tariffs hit. It’s like ¼ the price of Le Prunier.
Dream vacation spot: Mediterranean island with seafood. Beyond that I’m not picky— could be Mallorca, could be Sardinia.
Favorite place for creative inspiration: I keep going to interior design shows and showrooms and they get me so jazzed.
Currently reading: Rouge by Mona Awad
Currently watching: The Studio on Apple TV. I need a million seasons.
Can’t miss podcast: music?
Song/album/artist you have on repeat? My friends are teasing me for my rabid crush on Mk.gee which is stupidly still going strong like 8 months later. I do think I’d put a lot of his stuff into a movie soundtrack if I were making one, and I’d cast him as my high school boyfriend if I were making a coming-of-age film about my own life.
Anything else you want readers to know? Where can they find you?
I’m realizing more and more that my motto is that the perfect is the enemy of the good. Every Substack I write has grammatical errors, but if I were worried to make a mistake, nothing would happen. I’m aiming for net positive and beyond that I think it’s good to let things go.
Everyone can find me at Studio Dorothy, or just say hi online!
(Ed note: here are all the links to find Lizzie… Studio Dorothy website, Studio Dorothy Instagram, shit.u.should.buy Instagram and of course, is also here on Substack!)
see you Friday!!
xx
jen
I am glad she is willing to share about POTS! I had my first student with POTS last year and I was completely unfamiliar with it. It's so good that she is still able to live such a full and happy life even with the illness!!!! <3
Nice to meet Lizzie! I love her work and vision, and I love getting to know all the interesting creative women in the city, great idea for a series, Jen!