Estelle Amore owner Estelle Straate at the entrance to her business’s future brick & mortar location. (Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

One of Hueytown’s oldest structures is getting a new lease on life, thanks to local entrepreneur Estelle Straate. Over the next few months, Estelle and her team will transform the historic home into a charming, timeless storefront for her vintage wedding dress boutique, Estelle Amore.

About Estelle Amore

Estelle modeling one of her vintage wedding dresses. (Blake Calhoun / Estelle Amore)

Estelle Straate has been drawn to all things vintage for as long as she can remember.

A Birmingham native, Estelle began to thrift, repair and wear repurposed vintage clothing in high school. Her distinct style caught the eye of her classmates, who asked if Estelle would sell vintage clothes to them.

“I started traveling all over the southeast to sell clothes at vintage markets, but it wasn’t profitable enough for me to make a career out of it. I knew I wanted to work with vintage clothing, but I had to figure out a way to make it work for me.”
Estelle Straate, owner and founder, Estelle Amore

Estelle got her big break when she stumbled upon a handful of vintage wedding gowns. After posting a couple of viral videos on social media about how she cleaned and repaired the delicate vintage lace, Estelle’s dresses sold quickly—and she realized there was a market for high-quality vintage wedding dresses.

“From that moment, vintage wedding gowns became my obsession. I just started collecting and cleaning and sewing and altering these dresses, and I discovered that I had a passion inside of me that I didn’t know I had. Now that I’m in it, I know this is what I’m meant to do.”
Estelle Straate, owner and founder, Estelle Amore

Seven years after she first started selling curated vintage clothing, Estelle has built her brand, Estelle Amore, into a one-stop shop for brides-to-be looking for an extraordinary vintage wedding dress.

If you peruse Estelle Amore’s product page, you’ll find elegant, one-of-a-kind dresses from the 1980s all the way back to the 1940s. Although most of her vintage finds will eventually end up on the sales floor, Estelle does keep a handful of her favorite acquisitions for herself—including a dress worn by the 1955 Miss Alabama, Patricia Huddleston, during the Miss America Pageant in 1956.

“The dress was made by the Helene Pons Studio in New York and it is absolutely exquisite. The dress itself is a flattering teal column dress with huge, hand-sequined petal sleeves in the shape of a lemon flower. To make it even better, it has a detachable, hand-painted watercolor fabric skirt train. It is absolutely my pride and joy.”
Estelle Straate, owner and founder, Estelle Amore

Opening a new brick & mortar in Hueytown

Since the beginning, one of Estelle’s goals has been to open her own bridal studio. Since the majority of the dresses are handmade and customized for the original wearer, they often require alterations.

Earlier this year, Estelle had the opportunity to purchase a historic home in Hueytown that had previously been used as a salon and pageant dress showroom. Born and raised in Hueytown, Estelle grew up visiting the house while pageant shopping and has always dreamed of doing something with the space.

“When I saw the for sale sign in the yard, I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I couldn’t pass up!”
Estelle Straate, owner and founder, Estelle Amore

Although she has extravagant long-term plans for Estelle Amore’s new storefront, Estelle’s short-term goal is to restore the building to her standards while retaining the historic structure’s defining character.

“The original wood flooring will need to be refinished and the walls will need a new coat of paint, but the biggest project has been rewiring the entire house. The house still has its original knob-and-tube wiring from 1888—the original owners were very wealthy—but that is a hazard now and had to be updated.”
Estelle Straate, owner and founder, Estelle Amore

Despite having her hands full with several massive life events—including graduating from Samford and planning a wedding of her own with her fiancé—Estelle plans to open Estelle Amore’s new location in May.

“I am truly so grateful and thankful to God that I have found something I love to do with my entire heart—it brings me so much happiness, and I know I could not have done this without His help. This is more than just a job, it’s my passion. It’s very hard to have a bad day when you realize how blessed you are to have your dreams come true.”
Estelle Straate, owner and founder, Estelle Amore

Excited to visit Estelle Amore’s new brick & mortar location when it opens this summer? Tag us @bhamnow to let us know!