We get many questions, but by far, our most common is who our local Sioux Falls boutique is named after? Who is Marlow? There is both a simple and complex answer to that famous question, so buckle up as we tell you the inspiration surrounding our Plus Size boutique name along with the passion we have for the meaning.
The short story is that Marlow is not a specific person but the embodiment of a journey of transformation, possibilities, and a process. Do we have your interest yet? To understand how this all connects to our plus size clothing boutique, let us dive back into the beginnings of Love Marlow.
If you're new around here, we're Stacey (left) and Leslie (right) Malmgren, the owners of Love Marlow Boutique in Sioux Falls, SD. No, you're not seeing double, we're twin sisters!
Our journey in retail began in the bridal industry. We loved working with brides to help them find a perfect dress for their special day! There is some serious magic in that moment. Getting to try on a wedding dress is the culmination of so many dreams we had when we were young girls. Many girls play dress-up, pretending scraps of fabric, blankets, or an old prom dress from your mother’s closet are "the dress," and throwing imaginary weddings.
While we were in bridal, we got to watch women live out that fantasy. The part that ended up being the most rewarding for us was helping women feel truly beautiful and confident in the dress of their dreams. It sparked a desire to make that magical moment last more than one day. We wanted to help women find clothing for the average day that embodied those same dreams and feelings of empowerment. We knew it was time to leave the bridal industry and embark on a journey of finding a way to inspire women to confidence through their everyday look.
We love helping our customers find the perfect outfit that makes them feel beautiful and confident. For our boutique, we wanted to create a space where women feel comfortable and accepted; you'll never walk away a stranger from our store!
Once the vision of a clothing boutique was realized, we set out to find a name that subtly described all those dreams and feelings while signaling this massive transformation in our life. While pondering, Stacey mentioned that the word “Marlow'' is another name for driftwood. There is such a special connection between driftwood and the journey of transformation we go on throughout our lives.
There is so much more to driftwood than seen on the surface. You see, driftwood's transformation starts as a seed, turns into a young sapling rooted near water, and is eventually a mighty tree. As time wears on, the tree eventually decays or weathers storms, and limbs fall off into the water. The lake or ocean water laps and rolls the wood around, tossing it and refining it until it washes ashore, a shell of its former self.
It’s so easy to look at driftwood and miss the fantastic journey that piece of wood had to go on through its life. Often it is discarded or left to decay, but there is still beauty in the driftwood, even if it isn’t the mighty tree it might have once been. There is always a purpose and further transformation for it! Eventually, that driftwood will return to the earth and provide nutrients for future trees!
We all are like driftwood. We don’t stay the same, and we are constantly changing and becoming new. But there is still beauty in the transformation, and we must acknowledge and embrace it. We go through a lot of change as we get older, and sometimes it can be hard to find our inner and outward beauty. It’s something we find ourselves struggling with constantly!
At Love Marlow, our hope and desire is that you find your true beauty and can express that in your style. A great outfit can help inspire you to confidence or realize your true beauty, but it can also be a comfort in hard times. We’ve laughed, cried, rejoiced, and comforted our Love Marlow customers through many different points in their lives, and it gives us new life each day to be even a small part of that journey.
Peep all the driftwood in our Plus Size Boutique located at Lake Lorraine in Sioux Falls, SD! We brought in several driftwood elements to represent our mission of transformation and inspiring women to confidence.
So that’s it, the meaning behind the name. In a sense, we are all ‘Marlow.’ It’s us, you, your sister, your friend, your mother, or even a random stranger. We are all on a transformation and journey in our lives. If Love Marlow boutique can be even a small part in shepherding you on that transformation and be a comfort or inspiration, then we’ve served our purpose.
