Ashley Cid was just 21 and a veteran buyer for several Lower Westheimer thrift stores when, in 2013, she followed her entrepreneurial dreams and started her own online shop, Milk & Honey Vintage, specializing in clothing for fellow petites. Ever since, the project has been her “supreme side hustle,” her one constant while she’s worked as everything from a Continental Club bartender to an architectural photographer. Along the way, she’s experimented with brick and mortar (co-founding the short-lived Catacomb in the East End) and moved her business from the Bayou City to Berlin and back again.

On her ever-evolving style

"As far as clothing goes, it’s one of the things I’m most passionate about. I like to think of myself as a person that wears many different styles, and that’s what makes me a good candidate to help other people, because I can see the possibilities."

On the vintage eras that inspire her

"Definitely ’50s and ’60s, and it’s weird because the things that I like from the ’50s are so different from the things I like from the ’60s. I like the tea dresses, the Teddy Girl era where it's so androgynous, and then you had ’60s and mod. The British definitely knew what they were doing."

 

Sweet 60's baby pink button down blouse with tie back bow. It fits like a dream! Fits a modern small | 34-36" bust | $16 shipped

A post shared by milk + honey vintage (@milkhoneyvintage) on May 1, 2017 at 9:30am PDT

On the sacrifices you make when you move to Berlin on a whim for six months (in 2014)

"I decided that maybe I could start up my shop there and make it work, so I sublet my place and sold all of my belongings. I got rid of many shoes, which I will regret for a very long time. I had this pair of red suede vintage Gucci pumps with little brass buckles, and they were absolutely stunning. And I got rid of them just because I was like, 'Why would I be wearing these walking the streets of Berlin?'"

On selling a piece of clothing that she loves

"Sometimes I’ll wear something a few times and decide to sell it. A lot of my pieces are really outlandish, and I’ll wear something once and know, okay, I’ve had my one good wear in this, it’s time for someone else to have her good wear in it. My logic is, I would rather see it on someone else than myself."

 

Lots of new beauties and so many more not strung cautiously from my lights. All ye local babes feel free to reach out first via "appt" before I start posting online!

A post shared by milk + honey vintage (@milkhoneyvintage) on Mar 9, 2017 at 3:04pm PST

On the perks of being petite

"When I moved to Berlin, I decided that I was going to try and not ever wear a bra again. There was a very wild night with a group of my girlfriends where I took off my bra and pinned it on the wall—they were all artists and muralists, so one wrote ‘the bra stops here.’… It’s important to feel comfortable and confident in my own skin."

On her favorite tattoo

"'Buy the ticket, take the ride,' is from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It’s one of my most meaningful tattoos because it reminds me to keep moving forward, to keep holding on to the fear of the unknown and chasing it, and chasing my dreams, and to not get stuck in life. So yeah, buy the ticket, take the ride, and see where it takes you."