{q & a: judy kou of sunday brunch}

I love Sunday morning brunch. I love dresses. So, it’s only natural that I would fall head over heels for the Sunday Brunch dress shop, which recently opened in March. Every dress in the shop is figure flattering and comes with an honest description of the fit. What’s not to love?

I first discovered this wonderful shop through Coco & Kelley. I explored, conquered the entire blog, fell in love with a dress, left comment about dress, and I … got an e-mail from Judy herself. Yes, she takes the time to contact each of her commenters. She was gracious enough to answer a few questions for our curious minds, despite the fact that she’s a bit shy about interviews. {Spoiler: She just got engaged in Paris & there’s a discount involved.}


{Q:} So you decided you wanted a career change. How did you arrive at the conclusion that you should have a shop that focuses specifically on dresses?

{A:} Yes, a career change was good. It was necessary. I woke up each morning totally dreading the day. That’s a clear sign. The decision to open a dress shop was an easy one. My now fiance asked me: “OK. Well, if you don’t want to be a doctor, then what do you want to do if you could do anything?…..”Anything at all?” I asked….”Yes, anything.” So a year later I opened the shop. Dresses because I love them. I used to watch I Love Lucy every day, the back to back episodes. I’ve seen every episode at least twice. I remember thinking, wow, they wear dresses doing laundry.


{Q:} Ok, so you know you want a dress shop. Brainstorming for names or it just came to you? Walk us through how you got the name Sunday Brunch.

{A:} It was both very easy and very difficult. I just needed some inspiration. And again it involves my now fiance. So yes, once I decided I was going to be a shop owner….the name was the first thing on my To Do List. I became completely obsessed with the name. Seriously obsessed. I was coming up with the weirdest most non-relevant names and I hated them all. After a month of losing sleep (for some reason my brain becomes more active right before bed time…self sabotage I suppose)I just about lost it. So he says to me, “Why don’t you just think of something you have a good association with?” And I had that light bulb moment…Sunday Brunch…why didn’t I think of that earlier?


{Q:} Speaking of brunch, what is your favorite thing to have during Sunday Brunch?

{A:} A giant omlette with cheese and avocado and lots of ketchup OR pancakes with strawberries, preferable the squishy sweet jammy ones and not fresh ones and lots of syrup. Depends if I’m savory or sweet that day.

{Q:} And, your favorite places {anywhere in the world} for brunch?

{A:} Any outdoor cafe in Paris with a good people watching view or my favorite diner, Moonstruck Cafe in New York. The later is a typical Greek owned diner but there’s never a wait and they can always accomdodate a large group of friends last minute. Good times.

{Unique books via tumblr}

{Q:} You compare dresses to great stories and unique books. What are your favorite books?

{A:} Dorian Gray, Atlas Shrugged, Fountainhead, Lolita, Franny and Zooey, Anna Karenina, Frankenstein, Virgin Suicides….I can go on and on.

{Rodarte via Sunday Brunch blog}

{Q:} Where do you find inspiration?

{A:} Everywhere. That was lame. But seriously. I see creativity in design every where from wine bottles to the runway.


{Q:} Favorite quote?

{A:} I am not a quote person. But if I were, it would probably be something my mom said to me and I didn’t bother to listen.

{Munch}

{Q:} Quick, 5 things that make your life beautiful are…

{A:} 1) Family and Friends and Munch 2)French Fries drowning in ketchup 3) Nail polish 4) My Rainbows 5) The moment before I fall asleep next to my lovely fiance.


{Q:} What is your most favorite dress you ever owned (from childhood to present day)?

{A:} OK, so I never actually owned this dress but I like to think that I could have it if I asked for it. It’s the dress my mom wore to her engagement party made by her mother. I’ve only seen this baby on a hanger in the back of her closet. It’s divine. I remember sneaking into the closet when she wasn’t home or busy in the kitchen to touch it. I’d dream about being big/old/adult enough to wear it one day and how I’d look as beautiful as she did in the photos I’ve seen. Flash forward present day: I do not fit in it because my mother was teeny tiny. And turns out I look more like my father than my mother. HA. Bummer. But in my mind it is still the most beautiful dress.

{Atonement}

{Q:} What is your dream dress?

{A:} My dream dress exists only in my mind. Perhaps one of these days I’ll have it made. But the closest example I’ve seen is the green dress Kiera Knightly wore in Atonement.

{Judy also got engaged. Yay!}

{Q:} You mentioned just returning from Paris with a new ring on a certain finger. Congratulations! You also mention possibly having picked up some names … any hints?

{A:} A girl never tells until it’s a sure thing. There are many steps between deciding you like a certain designer to actually carrying their dresses. So we’re working on it. But I will tell you that the dress in question is a strapless short A-lined and kind of shiny with a cinched waist and a bright kimono styled belt.

{Q:} {This one is for Munch}: If ever in the area, would you be interested in a playdate with Lola?

{A:} Munch is a stoic fellow. But if Lola’s frisky and persistent enough, I’m pretty sure they’d have a good time!


{Q:} One last question. So, I was wondering, ummm… can I have this dress in a size 4?

{Silence. Crickets. Wait, why are there crickets in the middle of the day?}

{Q:} Ok, can I … I mean, we get a discount?

{A:} That’s doable. 20% discount using the code SBBITS for the next two weeks.

{Ms. Jenn exclaims: Sweet!}

All images, unless otherwise noted sourced from Sunday Brunch. Click on dresses to see in shop.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized by Jenn. Bookmark the permalink.

3 thoughts on “{q & a: judy kou of sunday brunch}

  1. Oh my…gorgeous dresses and gorgeous books plus a vintage Parisian cafe…right up my alley! Thanks for this beautiful collection to make me smile on a Friday evening! I'll be dreaming of Sunday morning…

  2. That *is* an awesome interview; Judy comes across as charming and vivacious as she really is. Plus, a big thank you for having "conquered" the entire Sunday Brunch blog. I won't even ask whether you liked my occasional two cents. It suffices that nothing I wrote about Vikings made you avert your eyes in disdain.

Comments are closed.