Nicola Adams is a busy mum of two (Finley and Dolly) with a background in fashion and retail. She bought her first Lejaby matching lingerie set aged 15 and since then she’s baffled most of her friends by spending more on her underwear than on her clothes.
Whilst working in Donna Karan on Bond Street Nicola was shocked when customers who spent three grand on a frock would get undressed to reveal dreadful underwear. She made it her duty to send them directly to Fenwicks to get measured and fitted for a new matching set.
Nicola left Donna Karan to become manager and assistant buyer at Clusaz on Cross Street, at the time her favourite boutique in Islington. In those days there was a music store opposite Clusaz and seems there is some truth in the saying “ music be the food of love” because Bennet the co-owner of said store is now her husband. As romance blossomed between Bennet and Nicola, a baby was soon on the way and she stopped working at Clusaz. After 19 successful years Clusaz’s store owner Keira retired and shut up shop and so did Bennet but for different reasons. ITunes took over the music industry forcing Bennet’s record shop to close it’s doors but as fate would have it when the premises became available, with major cajoling Nicola convinced her husband to stay at home with their newborn so she could start her very own lingerie empire. Nicola had to persuade Bennet because he didn’t think anyone else spent as much money on lingerie as Nicola did but ever the supportive husband he agreed and Nicola opened her boutique when her son was was just 8 months old.
If she had a girl she planned to name her Tallulah but she got a bouncy baby boy who is called Finley and since she considered the shop her second baby she named it Tallulah.
Most shops want to be on fashionable Upper Street for the footfall but Nicola loves being on Cross Street simply because lingerie is so intimate she feels she’d have to frost out the windows or have curtains which she thinks makes it seedy.
It was hard in the beginning as things were slow and she had to work long hours seven days a week while Bennett looked after Finley. The great thing is that from all those years working in retail Nicola already had a loyal customer following, so with word of mouth they soon found Tallulah and the boutique has been a prominent fixture on Cross Street for 10 successful years.
By her own confession when it comes to fit, style, fabric and colour, Nicola's approach is quite bossy but "lovely bossy", she has your best assets at heart. In her absence you are still in great hands, her assistants will take just as much care in guiding you through the many options : plain, smooth, frilly, lacy or fancy. The main intention is to make you feel special and if you appreciate the benefits of the perfect fit and feel then Tallulah is the place for you. If you haven’t yet experienced it, Nicola guarantees first time Tallulah visitors love being fitted, leave feeing amazing and always return.
The boutique is a great place for mums to take their teenage daughters to be fitted for the first time. Nicola never advertises Tallulah in the press, in favour of hosting in store shopping events and collaborations with independent designers and other shops. She even makes it easy for chaps to feel comfortable popping in to treat their lady (and ultimately themselves) to something special by keeping customer Wish Lists, so no more "I wouldn't know what to get" excuses.
Nicola grew up in Islington and moved to her husbands neck of the woods in Ilford when they got married. She doesn't get much time to explore Islington any more but fortunately her favourite shop Emmy London is situated on the top floor of her building.
Tallulah is part of a thriving retail community on Cross Street where the shop owners look out for each other. Derek from Tribe opposite Tallulah pops in to borrow the hoover (translation - for a sneaky cuppa and a biscuit ) and Nicola in turn pops across the road to borrow his ladder.
She’d really love to have a street party where all the businesses get together with their customers and neighbors. I dare say we'd would love it too, all in favour send an email to hello@thatshopthing.com with subject line "cross street party", lets see if we can make it happen.