What makes for a good story? My best stories begin dancing the line between predictability and surprise, unfolding in a resolution that transcends my imagination. Nestled between a Pilates studio and a volunteer-based healthcare provider downtown is The Story, a photography studio and vintage fashion showroom owned by Texas-grown stylist Nina Q.
Nina has a cornucopia of stories, having lived in seven different countries and owning boutiques in two of them. She most effectively expresses her stories through fashion. Her maximalist style parallels her calendar; colorful and busy, yet intentional and overall makes sense. I’ve shared this calendar with Nina for a year and have watched the appointments evolve from styling and alteration sessions with seamstresses to meetings with creative agencies and scheduled “Content Creation” time with Instagram influencers. The Story (literally and figuratively) is constantly defining itself.
Styling has always been at the forefront of what we do. The Story’s doors are open to anyone interested, and we’ve run with ideas from the most unlikely of patrons, always creating something exciting. This welcoming, open-minded nature of Nina has manifested itself in many ways, from producing and styling an editorial at The Granada Theatre, as showcased on these pages, to hosting networking events for Santa Barbara’s creative and marketing industry. Our community is the common thread in all of the projects we’ve taken on.
Anything can happen in The Story’s next chapter. Unbound by “goals,” we hope to continue writing a narrative that embodies vibrancy, playfulness, and delightful optimism.