With the ever-growing industry of food truck vendors, there is one mobile business that stands out amongst the rest. Christilee, self proclaimed ‘fashion hustler’, along with her fiancé Chris, consider themselves urban hipsters. Rocking a new, carefree yet chic style…one that Hotmess Boutique is becoming known for. Mixing boho chic, faux leather and a dash of “jersey shore’-shaken not stirred-is how they describe hotmess boutique’s style.
“My fiancé Chris and I, dreamt up a concept back in 2012, about bringing bikinis to Las Vegas pool parties. Just 2 short weeks later we were purchasing an old 1975 Bluebird L.A.P.D. SWAT bus, which confirmed to all of our friends that we were actually crazy. (Side note: that old bluebird broke down the minute we drove her home.)
We bootstrapped the whole deal, Chris, working as a bartender and me at a local business. Little by little, we purchased the wallpaper and next week the flooring, etc. doing all of the interior work ourselves. It went that way for about a year, but suddenly the Hot Mess bus began to take life. We owe our mechanic our soul, by the way.
After the refurbishing, we knew we wanted to be a part of the local festivals, so we used our resources and found a place called Artistic Armory, owned by some local artists featuring art and music alike. They were so gracious and welcoming, and we are forever grateful. Following that we got into Vegas StrEATS and our favorite – First Friday, along with San Gennaro and Foodie Fest multiple times, etc.
Our style can’t really be defined, I’m all over the place when it comes to the fashions that I choose. I guess that’s why we appeal to all demographics. I’m from New Jersey and I’m Italian, so I tend to be a bit gaudy—not to be mistaken for tacky lol!
We sell mostly only ladies clothing, but we have some rad hats, beard oil and balms and we are adding some Hot Mess Boutique logo gear soon.
On 9/2/16 we will be doing First Friday, it draws a huge crowd of awesome creative people. Some are our return customers, that just had to show their friends the bus, or an older couple who had to come in because they have an RV too! There’s a seat up front where the guys can hang out, so they don’t get into the ladies way while they shop, and Chris likes to tell the story of our bus and how ‘she’ came to be. Our long time friends pop in and out, and we’ve made so many new friends and it feels amazing.
I love the look on people’s faces when they come in for the first time, it makes me smile, whether they buy something or not, I’m happy and grateful to have every person come into our boutique.
Some exciting news recently is that we will be expanding into our first brick and mortar store in the Arts District, looking to launch this November. We will keep everyone updated on that through Facebook, Instagram, and our website www.hotmesslasvegas.com .
Our Mobile Shopping Experience, as we call it, will still be gracing festivals and charity events around the valley, as we grow our BUSiness :)”
Christilee is such an inspiration to female entrepreneurs by combining a love for fashion and a great business model. Be sure to keep your eye out for their awesome bus cruising around the Vegas streets. Support this talented babe!