5 august 1968 & rosemary reed's toast and strawberries boutique

#OTD 5 August 1968 Rosemary Reed, founder and owner of Toast and Strawberries (2009 R St, NW) was open from 11am-8pm. As the above Washington Free Press ad states, Reed sold "hippy goodies" and was open for business every day.

Reed opened her store in Dupont Circle in October 1966 as a showroom for designers. In her first year, she was the city's exclusive carrier of Hazel Blackman's designs. She would occasionally open up the store for direct sales to customers. That aspect of the business became so popular that her business model changed from a showroom to a boutique.

Reed quickly became the go-to person to host fashion shows. On 13 April 1968, Reed co-presented a cocktail-fashion show at Pitts Motel to benefit SNCC. In May 1968, Reed presented a fashion show during the George Washington University Black Arts & Entertainment Festival. In June 1968, she presented a fashion dance at Neighbors Inc's Art & Book Festival. In her first year, she made $60,000.

In 1967, she started an annual wholesale gift show under the firm's wholesale name, Roses for Fashion at Willard Hotel.

Rosemary Reed Miller died a year ago on 2 August 2017.

Your comments are welcome below. Did you, a family member or neighbor know Rosemary Reed? Did you shop at Toast and Strawberries? Did you work at Toast and Strawberries? Were you a student designer who got your first break at Toast and Strawberries? Were you an organization that worked with Reed on a fashion show? Do you have photographs and other ephemera of the boutique? of Reed? Do you have early photographs of Reed? Do you have something that you bought from the boutique in your collection? You may comment privately here.

Photo source: Courtesy DCPL Special Collections, Washington Free Press 1 June 1969.
Dara Elasfar, Rosemary Reed Miller, "Washington boutique owner, dies at 78," Washington Post 20 August 2017.
Cynthia Luessenhop, "The Boutique as Theater," Staged By Rosemary Reed, Mars 14 Years in Business North of Dupont Circle NW, Washington Post 15 December 1980.
Mary Ann Seawell, "Toast and Strawberries Show: Young Fashion Has A Beat," 21 April 1967.
"Novel Store Name," Washington Post 15 December 1966. Gives address at 2009 R St NW.
"Fashion Show," Washington Post 7 April 1968.