by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
For about 20 years, two of Jacksonville’s personal wardrobe consultants were in business virtually within sight of each other.
Tim Rose opened “Onege,” his men’s furnishings boutique at the Landing, then a couple of years later moved the business to Laura Street and put his name on the showroom’s window. James Preston’s “His Expressions Wardrobe Design” was on the other side of the St. Johns in the Riverplace Tower. Both men provide custom wardrobe design and tailoring for an exclusive clientele and recently combined the two endeavors at The Rose Agency on Laura Street.
“It’s like Tim plays the infield and I play the outfield,” said Preston, who spends most of his time visiting clients in their offices or homes while Rose is at the store meeting clients and merchandising the showroom.
“James has more wardrobing experience while my expertise is more in retail,” explained Rose. That retail experience came out when Rose pointed out one of the advantages of consolidation.
“James brought his base of more than 800 clients which allowed us to increase our buying power and that allows us to offer a lower price point to our clients. It just made more sense to join forces than compete with each other,” he said.
Preston said his concept is a multifaceted analysis of the client’s personal image that goes beyond clothes.
“I think there are four layers to anyone’s image. There’s what you wear, what you drive, what you do for a living and where you live. We’re passionate about clothing because it’s the only one of the four you’re in all the time.”
Rose said he shares that philosophy and added, “We tailor the look to the lifestyle like we tailor the clothing to the person. It doesn’t matter if you’re an NFL player who wants to spend $3,000 on a suit or if you want to spend $300, the process is the same.”
Preston encourages his clients to look at their wardrobe as part of what he called their “life budget” comparable to a car payment or mortgage and he feels the return is better than either of those investments.
“If you can budget about $100 a month for your wardrobe, we can help you look like a million bucks.” he said.
“Image is 85 percent or more of a person’s chances of success. Our goal is to help people be perceived in a positive light and put them in the position to achieve the things they want,” said Rose.
The Rose Agency
205 N. Laura St.
By appointment only
Mon. - Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
358-6288 or 463-2345