Dahlia Holiday Bash & Vintage Jewelry Trunk Show

Visitors mingled, drank champagne, shopped the 20% off sale and browsed vintage couture at Dahlia on N.W. 43rd Street for the Dahlia Holiday Bash & Vintage Jewelry Trunk Show on Thursday evening (Dec. 10).

Christy Morgan, of Dahlia, says the initial idea for the event was to have a holiday party and to showcase Victoria Rohn’s vintage collection. The women decided to hold the event because people are looking for Christmas gifts for their daughters or girlfriends, and also because visitors are looking for dresses and other accessories to wear to holiday and New Year’s parties.

Thus, Rohn, who is new to town, brought some of her vintage pieces to Dahlia to showcase. She said she has a little of everything – from turn-of-the-century pieces to runway pieces to pieces that feature stones such as sapphires and diamonds.

“I have new couture, old couture, pieces from every single era and type,” she says. She said collecting and selling vintage pieces is her passion.

“I love this,” she says. “You can have a plain dress, but when you put on a piece of vintage, it changes everything.”
For the Dahlia event, she picked out pieces that she thought would compliment the clothing sold at the store. She brought purples and golds and pinks, among others, so visitors could match up her accessories with Dahlia’s clothing.

Victoria said she can acquire the rare vintage pieces that she has because she has good contacts, not because she buys them from stores or finds them on eBay. She travels once a month to find and collect authentic, unusual and hard-to-find pieces from those she is connected with, and then she brings them back to Gainesville to sell at a reduced price. For example, she said one of her necklaces might sell for $2,400 on the market, but she might be able to offer it for $300.

If you're looking for a one-of-a-kind piece (for yourself or a gift), contact Victoria at 352-225-3958. “Call me and tell me what you’re looking for, and if I have it, I will come to you and show you what I have,” she says. “And if I don’t have it, I can get it for you.”

—Sarah Hsu