Leighelena SoCo

Tricie was absolutely amazing! We came in wanting to exchange a necklace we bought for a friend in May that had rusted. She was overly accommodating in letting us know we could exchange it! While shopping around I ran across the boot wall. I have never own a pair of cowboy boots and she went through every pair I wanted to try on, pulling them off the shelf & picking out recommendations. I came to my decision, she knocked the price down and gave me a shoe shine! Loved this place and her!

I hate to say it because I’m a local and all, but I usually only do the soco route when I’m showing my friends around who are visiting. Tricie sure has made my mind change on this one. She made me and my 2 friends feel right at home when we walked in. She was incredibly friendly and went out of her way to make sure we found and had answers to all of our questions. I even bought a little moose head to hang keys on and I cracked it (it didn’t like my tile floor). I called back and she immediately checked and put one on hold for me to go pick up. This store has so many cool things from gifts to clothing and jewelry. You must check it out. Thanks Tricie, this is my first but definitely won’t be my last visit.

I love this shop! So many neat things and lots of great gift ideas for my girlfriends. I have shopped online as well and had great experiences with both. My online order arrived so quickly it blew my mind and I didn’t even select expedited shipping for this order. Maybe because I live in Austin but either way I love getting me stuff delivered quickly. One item I ordered online was out of stock and I received an email immediately regarding this fact and received a refund within a few hours to my Paypal account. Great customer service! I have a few other there items– magnetic rings and 3 bracelets. One is the vegan plastic and I love it! Wish they had more colors of this style and these available online. I love supporting local Austin based businesses and especially Woman owned businesses. And even more so when they are as cool as Leighelena!

Pretty nice vintage/​shabby chic shop. Had several unique & random items. Unfortunately they are WAY overpriced. Too bad because it was a pretty nice place for boots.

For the rest of my life, I will never, ever forget how rude Leigh Elena Navarro was to me at the 2013 ACL Festival at their vendor tent. No piece of jewelry is pretty enough to put up with that.
I was so excited to find the perfect bracelet, my best friend is going through a hard time so out of all the vendors this was the gift I wanted to send her across the country to represent Austin. I ask the sales woman walking around if they have gifting options…“Yes! A nice little jewelry bag and a card. Just go up to the cashier stand and she’ll take care of you.” …oh man oh man.
This is a brief overview in fear that others won’t read if it’s too long. The woman standing there was cheerfully helping another customer. Then the STRANGEST thing happened. It was like Macaulay Culkin in the Good Son. Did she mistake me for someone she hates? I will never understand but she brushed me off as the least important person she’s ever met. After zero words or eye contact with me as I handed her my money, she physically turned away and started helping the next customer…“Hello! How’s it going?!“
I gave a mortified look to my friend next to me, I was physically uncomfortable. «Excuse me, can I have a bag for this?» She rolls her eyes and throws a plastic baggy on my bracelet. Whoa! «Can I have a nicer one, it’s a gift…» She rolls her eyes so aggressively, it was straight out of Mean Girls the movie! She throws a tiny bag that the bracelet wouldn’t even fit in on my bracelet. And I said «Can I please have a nice one?» and pointed to the pile of velour mini jewelry bags sitting inches away from both of our hands. She rolls her eyes in disgust (did I just kick her dog, wtf?) and says no! So then I got real sassy: «Excuse me, I’m a customer and I’m asking you a question.»
A nice man (maybe her husband, partner?) immediately observed the situation and offered me the bag. It was too late. I wanted my money back. How could I possibly give that «meaningful» gift to my friend? Nope. He handed me cash and I left. My friend and I were basically speechless. It was the weirdest treatment of a customer I’ve ever personally experienced.
It’s 3 days later and I still can’t stop thinking about how unpleasant the woman was to me. After investigating how to reach customer service on their site, it turns out, that woman was Leigh Elena herself. I’m devastated. She just lost a life-​long customer — this is the stuff you never forget!

I don’t usually review stores but this one I like. It has a bunch of cool random stuff like Urban Outfitters and a Thrift shop mixed together but the clothes are a lot more cheaper here. They also had local artist paintings that you can buy. The staff assistant was cool and before I bought jewelry for my girlfriend he let me know the price because there was not a price tag. Also he gave me a tip to try their 512 local beer which I have not yet but will do soon! It’s a cool store and they give you a 15% discount if you check in on facebook and like it. Very cool place to buy things!

I was running late for a date after taking way too long shopping at Monkey See Monkey Do — because that’s what happens there. The world swallows you whole. I climbed out of the vortex in a manic panic and I was running to my car and I was like:
Awe geez Dej, why you always be late? That is so disrespectful of other people’s time. Do you think you’re more important than other people? Because that’s the message you’re sending when you do this. There is no excuse, there is no justification, there is… a sale?
Wait. Is that door sign right — 50% off jackets? That can’t be right. 50% off sounds rather exorbitant. That could put a place out of business. Let me go in to make sure they haven’t made a mistake. I’m not going to find anything, probably. I really just better investigate.
employee: All jackets are 50% off! The leather ones and any of the other ones.
me: Pero, what?
employee: Es verdad.
I better see if these are marked up to like $ 150 to get them down to their normal ridiculous vintage leather jacket prices becau — WHA? $ 60? $ 75? 55 mother-​freaking DOLLARS? Half of that… how many fingers do I have… carry the two, minus pie. This can’t be right.
employee: Oooooo girl, that one looks good on you. I wish I could rock it; it wont fit.
me: This jacket is magic.
employee: *emphatic nod*
$ 33 for vintage leather. This must be some kind of highway robbery I’m pulling, but not on an actual highway because that would be stupid, and I’m not a criminal. But wow, is this jacket cute or what? I love this color. It’s going to be so good with half my wardrobe. I’m going to waltz into places and people will be like «who IS that, and how big was the sale on that jacket she’s wearing?» I’ll show up for a date like…
A date.
Dios mio, Dej. You always do this. It’s going to take you 15 minutes now; you’re already late. Tell him you are running late because of this could-​not-​pass-​up sale and he’ll understand. Show him the jacket! Allow him to understand that it was worth it! Text him right now — text him the truth!
me: 2 minutes away. Crazy accident on the road. Crazy.

Lots of little goodies at decent prices… one of my fav stores on SoCo.

Total knick knack heaven. I’m not even sure how to describe it. There’s vintage men and women’s clothing, but also a whole passel of random stuff like a scratch-​off world map, Grateful Dead playing cards, baskets of used leather belts, etc. What even. Although everything in here was super cool, the space was super tiny, and I kept running into people who would not move out of my way. I was afraid I would knock every display over. Very inconvenient. Also, you can’t distinguish the staff from the clientele. That was really confusing. But then again, you can’t either at any store on Soco. Damn hipsters.

Absolutely LOVE the jigsaw cuffs and double-​wrap bracelets. I have them in lizard and croc.
Lucky enough for me, I happened to be in Austin when I was suddenly overcome w/​an obsession w/​stingray. I took myself over to Leighelena and scored a fabulous piece. I even got a few extra — figured they’d make perfect gifts!
I wear my cuffs and bracelets religiously, and they seem to get a lot of attention.

Love iiiiiiiiiiiiit! I was like a kid in a candy store! I wanted and still want to buy every piece of jewelry in that store! They’ve got handcrafted jewelry of all types of materials: leather, metal, wood, recyclable, renewable, etc.
They have every possible random thing to satisfy your Adult ADHD! I found a sqeaky longhorns football toy and almost bought it for my puppy, Diablo. Speaking of puppies, they have a little weiner dog named Arnie that likes to go into the display cases! He’s so cute!
I found these awesome knee high rainbow socks and as I was checking out I signed up for their email list. Then the guy asked me if I was going to throw it.
Qué?
Yeah if you ring this bracelet into the coke bottle you win a free bracelet. Hellz yeah I was gonna throw it!
Oh yeah! So guess who won herself a new $ 45 bracelet?! The one I chose was too large so he sized it right there.
I shall return and I will buy a new bracelet and that squeaky toy next time.

I had the BEST shopping experience at LeighElena last week! The sales person was Penelope and she was lively and fun! I went in there to buy some sunglasses and came out with an amazing pair of boots! Now I have been looking for some new boots for my wedding and started to give up until I walked in there! She helped me try on several pairs and then we found the PERFECT ones! I live off South Congress and try to do most of shopping on SOCO and with service like this I will continue! Go see Penelope she’s AWESOME!

Local jewelry designer + Awesome gifts + Devastatingly handsome tailor = Great Shop! Leighelena SOCO truly has something for everyone. Local jewelry… Check, Fun Gifts… Check, Fabulous selection of vintage clothing for both guys and gals… Check, not to mention the vintage cowboy boot wall… Yes, I said WALL! The employees are friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful, they serve free beer on First Thursdays… Yup FREE BEER! What more could you want in a cool neighborhood boutique?

Pretty sure I’m the first male to review this place.
They have some pretty cool stuff, friendly staff, nice selection. I bought a fedora and my friend bought some weird hair stuff they had on the counter.
The variety is the most interesting thing. They have some jewelery that they make themselves, but also a wide variety of other very random things. For example, Yiddish refrigerator word magnets.
Go check it out!

This store may be small, but it’s jam packed, from vintage to unique, they are selling it; your little heart’s desires will be met here and your wallet won’t take too much of a hit. Tap your inner dinosaur with the T-​Rex shaped salt and pepper shakers or succumb to the laughter that coincides with reading the Someecards postcard filled booklet. Maybe you need a coupon book (that’s taylored to your desires) for your significant other, they sell it too! Need I not forget the vintage selection – from boots to dresses you’ll find all your fashion needs are met here. Ah – maybe you fancy jewelry, well don’t sweat, they have a sweet selection ranging from necklaces to guitar string rings – you can kiss Claire’s goodbye and say hello ‘uniqueness.’ Plus the staff was personable and helpful. They were even offering a free bracelet if you could ring a soda bottle; how many stores make shopping this fun? We’ll definitely be back and bringing friends too!

Finally FINALLY got to cruise down SoCo, and I was not disappointed. This was the first of many shops that we stopped in to browse, and it was not at all what I expected (in a good way of course). These guys have a wide variety of things, from handmade jewelry to cute ‘outside of the box’ gifts. They even have cowboy boots! I’m a tad on the clumsy side, and knocked down a flask. Mildly embarassing, but one of the cashiers assured me that it was positioned on the shelf in such a way so that it happened rather often. I wish I could believe this, but I thought it was nice of her to excuse the very loud moment I had haha! All of the employees seemed equally friendly. I’d really like to come back with some extra dinero and buy some of the cool/​funny gift items they have. Support your local businesses and stop by!

Super fun mix of gifts, woman’s clothing & jewelry.

I was cruising South Congress on a random Tuesday afternoon, looking for something to do before my flight home. I had done some research online and found a handful or vintage shops (since I LOVE vintage clothing) so that is why I chose SoCo. For some reason this shop wasn’t on the list of stores I found online. Maybe because it is not 100% vintage? I walked in on a whim, and was very surprised. I loved everything I found! New things, old things, fun and kitschy things, beautiful things. So much fun to cruise around and see what they had to offer! I bought some awesome guitar earrings and a cool 70s-​does-​40s blouse. It is a good thing my friend called me when I was in the store to tell me it was time to hit the airport, else I may have spent all of my savings on the nifty items I found in Leighelena! I’ll be back next time I visit Austin for sure!

Rad place if you dig random finds and vintage. Tons of jewelry here as well that is unique and not the boring run of the mill average mass produced stuff. I noticed that they had lots of handmade pieces in here which makes me happy to see a shop supporting the handmade community. Anyhoo, I scored on some scarfs and gifts for friends here. Great place and the home section is great. The candles here are AWESOME.

What a fantastic store with cool and diverse merchandise! I love their handmade jewelry, especially the bracelets and enamels (pendants, belt buckles, etc). It’s my go-​to shop for cool gifts. Their vintage clothing is well organized and I love that there is an in-​house seamstress for alterations. Definitely one of my favorite stores in Austin!