UI alum and White Rabbit owner Cortnie Widen says her style is a hodge-podge of sorts.
“It really is constantly changing, and it filters through phases,” she said as she paused to help a customer sort through a rack of vintage skirts.
Widen, a UI alum and native of Cedar Falls, has run White Rabbit, 109 S. Linn St., since it opened in 2006. Since then, she has changed store locations three times because of her desire for more space.
“I’d like to a move into a larger space, maybe three times bigger, while still staying [in] downtown Iowa City,” she said. “I also want to offer more vintage stuff and sell separate artists from out of town.”
White Rabbit offers a unique potpourri of handmade clothing, reconstructed vintage apparel, and local artistry — an offbeat treasure trove. On the walls hang unique artwork, on the floor stands rows of one-of-a-kind used cowboy boots. The racks are stuffed with individually picked clothing: a pink old school band T-shirt, a retro track jacket, a floral button-up circa 1970.
If running a local business alone isn’t enough, Widen is now diving into the realm of online retail. Her newly designed website (www.whiterabbitgallery.com) is up and running, and she is also selling on Etsy.com, a website that connects worldwide buyers and sellers of everything handmade.
“I’m loading everything on the page myself, so it’s taking a long time,” she said. “I really should delegate more work.”
Web designer Anders Haig helped Widen create the site, which features a simple design and a gallery of vibrant merchandise photos.
“Cortnie has a great, unique store with quality products,” Haig said. “All it will take is getting targeted people to her online store, and the rest should be done itself.”
Although Widen’s website is still at its beginning stages, her products have been widely received on Etsy.com — her screen-printed bloody shark pillows seem exceptionally popular.
When Widen isn’t working on her new online business, she’s hand-sewing pillows and altering vintage clothing. She is screen-printing shirts for such local businesses as Oasis, Tobacco Bowl, and Bluebird Diner. She’s crafting and selling her very own artwork in between trips to Chicago and elsewhere to scout for new store items.
Among the few White Rabbit employees is Emily Parker, another young artist who also sells her restyled vintage jewelry and collage artwork in the boutique.
“Cortnie is the most positive, open-minded person to work for because she creates more than half of the artwork in the store,” Parker said. “It’s so great to have a boss who is so creative. It’s an inspiring environment.”
Widen said she would like to eventually create a wholesale line to sell to other boutiques. She hopes to get the website fully running with the help of her creative-minded network.
Everything that is Widen is hodge-podge, in the best way possible. Her store is an imaginative jumble of geometric prints and clever vintage finds. Her iPod plays bands that — quite like herself — are quirky pioneers of their craft.