A Week in Valencia & Giveaway

Nestled on the top floor of a two-story building on the infamous Corydon Avenue is one of Winnipeg’s fashion boutique gems: Valencia Boutique. With its pink chic aesthetic and size inclusive fashion variety, Valencia Boutique is definitely a spot to check out.

I had met Valencia’s owner, Paige, back in the summertime when I first visited the store. Not only is the store incredibly inviting and just plain fun to be in, but Paige is so welcoming and sweet! Since then I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with Paige on a photoshoot and even model in a TV fashion segment that featured the boutique! And I just knew I had to feature the store on the blog, so to learn a little bit more about Valencia and Paige here’s our Q&A:

The Trendy Files: Tell us about yourself and how you got into the world of style.

Paige Butz: I can say confidently that over the course of my life the only thing I have truly loved is fashion, other hobbies seemed to come & go but I always loved trying new trends & coming up with new ways to wear my favourite pieces. As a young girl I remember getting a Barbie fashion design kit for Christmas and spent months designing binders full of dresses & occasion wear, and for those of you who follow Valencia, you know how much I love a good dress. Later in life I finished university with a BSC in Textiles & went on to work in the buying team at Warehouse One where I worked on quality approvals, design & fit. I learned soo much from the WH1 team about the back end of retail and fell in love with the planning & purchasing side of the fashion industry.

TTF: What made you decide to start Valencia Boutique and why?

PB: I was in a phase in my life where I wasn't loving working for someone else, and like a lot of people working in a corporate structure you aren't always thrilled with having to jump through hoops to get your visions approved. I was chatting with my dad one night about how I wasn't happy in my current situation and how I always wanted to open a dress shop, he said " why do you stop complaining about your job and just do it", in that moment I decided to open a dress shop. Shortly after I started planning Valencia, I was shopping with a friend for a bridal shower outfit & noticed how few options there were for young trendy women who were over a size 12. That sparked the idea for our CURVE section and creating a size-inclusive boutique.

TTF: You started with an online boutique and now you also have such a gorgeous store front. Was a storefront always a part of the vision?

PB: The storefront was actually the original idea & I knew that I would need to have a physical retail store because I love interacting with people so much. I felt like opening a physical & online store at the same time would be too difficult and that each would take their own time to work out the kinks & create the best shopping experience possible. So I opened the online store first on November 9, 2018 to start getting the word out & creating some customers. On March 29th we opened our doors at 10-725 Corydon Avenue & I love the space so much!

TTF: What’s your best style advice?

PB: My best style advice I can give is wear what makes you happy! I cannot tell you how many times someone has come out of the change room loving something & their family or friend tells them it "doesn't look like them" or its too this or too that. Your friends & family aren't the ones wearing the outfit YOU ARE, stay true to what you love because your confidence is the best accessory! Secondly, that size is just a number, there is nothing wrong with buying an item thats 2 sizes bigger than your normal size if its fits you and you love it, SIZE IS JUST A NUMBER, it doesn't define you in any way whatsoever! I could go on forever but this is the last one i swear; Please don't be afraid of colour, there are sooo many beautiful colours besides black.

TTF: What’s next for Valencia?

PB: My plan for the future is to bring in sizes extending past 3X, I'm looking at a line that offers 4X right now but I want to test the quality, because that's something that's really important to me. The 5 year plan is to start designing an in house label that offers exclusive dresses for our complete size range. Then if we want to get really far ahead i would like to open a sister store that would be the same inclusive concept but for menswear.

Since Valencia offers such a range in styles I put together a weeks worth of outfits everything from work attire to a glitzy girls night out!