Daphne’s Threads on Display

If you haven’t been down to Petersburg lately, Saturday might be the perfect time for a day trip. Gwen Cooper is planning a fashion show called "A Touch of Hollywood" featuring clothes from Daphne Maxwell Reid to celebrate the re-opening of her vintage and consignment store, Second Hand Rose. Cooper was renting a storefront on Old Street when she decided to downsize and buy her own building at 8 Bank St.
The new shop needed lots of renovations and Cooper did much of the work herself, dropping 30 pounds because of all the physical labor she put in. About five years ago, she and Reid put on a fashion show for the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. Reid is probably best known for her role as Vivian Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. When she saw the work that Cooper was putting into her new location, Reid donated loads of her old clothes to Cooper to sell at Second Hand Rose — so many items, in fact, that Cooper decided to have a fashion show with them.
Cooper says that along with great designer pieces, she has pieces Reid wore on Snoops and on Frank’s Place — two other shows that Reid appeared on with her husband Tim Reid — plus pieces made from the patterns Reid designed for the McCall Pattern Company and Vogue. Adolph’s — a longtime Colonial Heights menswear store — will provide men’s fashions at the show, and Reid will be making an appearance. The tickets to the event will feature a photo of Reid, and guests can get her autograph on them. Tickets cost $40 each and can be purchased from Cooper at Second Hand Rose. Call Cooper at 909-7280 for more information.