Phoenix Photography | Rocket A Go-Go

Here is a little known fact about me:

I am a member of a non profit Pin Up group here in the state of Arizona. The Combat Dolls! We are a 501c3 organization who raises funds for different Veteran and military family organizations throughout the state! It is such a fun organization. We host monthly Classic car shows in Glendale Arizona. We also host other car shows throughout the valley and make appearances at other local events! To find out about the events we will be at in the next couple months click on the link above! Come out and meet us!

Dori D’Lite and Shoeless Noe

 

 

Being a pin-up means you can’t usually shop at regular stores for your outfits. We do a lot of our shopping online. But we are in luck! Tempe has an amazing store filled with unique, fun items that will continue to fill our closets! Rocket A Go-Go

Just look at all those cute dresses!

Located at 23 W. Southern Avenue in Tempe Arizona, Rocket A Go-Go offers a HUGE selection of rockabilly, pinup, psychobilly, and punk rock clothing and accessories. Both pre-loved and brand new!

Rocket was started 9 years ago at a yard sale by Stormy and her Mother-in-law Roseana. The two met when Stormy was still in High school.

Born and raised in South Phoenix. Stormy went to New School of the Arts and Acedemic and then graduated from McClintock High School.

Roseana is from New Mexico, but moved here when she was 5! So she’s an Arizona girl.

Stormy wanted to go to college to become A psycho-therapist.

“Totally different career path than what I ended up in. I was a teacher for almost 4 years. I taught preschool. My first year of the store being open I was still a teacher.

I was doing that year off thing before you go to college, and ended up with a great teaching job. Stayed with it, and this (the store) ended up taking off. I thought this would just be a hobby. I just never ended up going (to college). It was a very happy accident.  This was just supposed to be a hobby that ended up being so much more!”

 

Being a lover of alternative and unique fashions, Stormy has been up-cycling and creating her own unique outfits since she was young. She loved the punk rock style and would alter band t-shirts and create her own skirts.

” I never really liked what all my friends were wearing. I didn’t want to be a cookie cutter and be a third person wearing that outfit from a major clothing store. So a lot of my clothes as a teenager were me going to yard sales and Goodwill. Finding clothes that I could modify differently so that I could wear them a little bit more uniquely.”

 

It wasn’t until about 7 years ago that she finally started wearing dresses and switched over to the pinup/rockabilly fashion.

“My family laughs that I have a dress on all the time now. I love it now! I was so not girly as a kid! I was just really into trying to make my clothing Art work.”

“That’s how I got to know Rosanna. Her son and I went to school together. The first time him and I ever talked was about The Ramones. We were listening to the same cd. He brought me home and I started talking to his mom on the couch one day and her and I just had so much in common. Her and I kind of became friends and before I knew it, I would be over there and he wouldn’t even be there! He would come home and laugh about it. It’s amazing that she’s my Mother- in- law. So many people always talk about how they hate their mother in law or their not friendly with them. I Love her. It extended my family! I have great parents myself, but it was great to have another! You can never have too much family.”

Rosanna is a jeweler by trade, she has been for several years, most of her life. Her family has had their jewelry business for 47 years now!

“She taught me how to create jewelry. I would modify and up-cycle clothing.”

9 years ago the two started out vending at trade shows. “Our first time setting up was actually at a yard sale. It was at my business partner’s (my business partner is my mother in law) garage. Her and I did a yard sale in her garage.  It was our first time selling together and we just started adding more and more items and it just started spiraling and eventually turned into a brick and mortar.”

5 years ago they opened Rocket Resale in Tempe with a lot of support from their friends and family. “We found a location and when we started it was just 3 racks. It was stuff we had collected form yard sales ourselves. Our friends and family donated items to us.”

“We came here and started the buy, sell, trade. Before we knew it we started our own dress line, our own purse line, and we are launching our own jewelry line later this year! It is finally transforming more into what we want it to be which is eclectic, psychobilly, rockabilly, retro.”

“We changed our store name at the beginning of this year. We were Rocket resale for several years. We are still Rocket Resale, we’ve just changed our name to Rocket A Go-Go. Nothing’s really changed. We changed the name because we are starting an online store. It is not going to have resale on it. It’s too hard. The resale sells too quickly and there’s only one of each item. We want to sell our nicest, newest, freshest stuff on our online store. A lot of it will be jewelry and accessories to start off. We are going to get into alternative housewares! We are eventually starting a sterling silver and gold line. We are working on alternative wedding rings, and things like that! Stuff that’s going to last a lifetime.

We have a lot of sterling silver in the store already. We’re going to take those skulls and spiders and funky stuff and bring that online as well. We are always going to have a splash of resale in the store. We do have more brand new, but we will always have resale in here too. ”

They will be launching their online store SOON! They will be starting with jewelry and accessories and will eventually add their clothing as well.

“This is something I’ve always loved and something I’m able to put back into the store. We don’t have too much of my clothes in here, outside of our store’s line. Just Because of time. It’s been great. We have been so busy we don’t have time to put our own art work in anymore. It’s the best problem in the whole world!”

 

“In a way we have our store’s line, which is Rosanna’s and mine. That’s the one inspired by 50’s fashion. Retro, pin-up, polka dots, cherries. Later this year we’re launching a new line under our clothing line. It’s going to have the skulls,guns, roses, and dice, and all of that fun edgier stuff. So we’re going to go into more embroidery and screen printing. We have a hard time finding fabric we love, outside the cherries, polka dots, and solids. We are starting to design our own fabrics and design our own embellishments for those fabrics.”

They are really excited about it.

“On the flip side of that, with the other clothes we create, I kind of let the garment speak for itself if it’s something I’m up-cycling. I am mostly inspired by 50’s but a little edgy. I love psychobilly. I love that classic retro look, but you put a skull on it. You add some spikes.  You add glitter. You add studs.”

 

Stormy does a lot of hand stitch work and they also work with 5 local seamstresses that make their clothing.

They are one of the official retailers for Hell Bunny. “We love having them in the store.”

Pet products are also something that is in the works for next year! Dog collars, bandannas, etc. She was inspired by a customer who has bandannas made for her dog, in the same pattern as all her pinup dresses.

 

“We don’t have kids yet. We have fur babies! We have 2 rescue dogs! A Carolina that looks like a little dingo, she’s our Karma. And then we have our Ridgeback mix, Harlequin. And we have 2 God daughters as well. They get to come into the store all the time. You see the 13 year old coming in here pretty often. It’s hard to tell her, no you can’t come work in the clothing store! I have to pry her out of here!”

Besides being passionate about pet rescue, Stormy and Roseana do a lot of charity work with the store.

“We love doing charity work. Before the store, I worked for the National Alliance On Mental Illness. I was a committee member since I was 16. At 18 I became their youngest board member. I loved it. I was a youth representative for the Southwest Valley for about 2 years. I did all these big events and ran Youthfest every year down at Tempe Marketplace.That was super fun!”

“When people bring in buy sell trade, things that don’t sell, we give them to charity. When people bring in items that we don’t take in to buy, but they leave it here, it goes to charity. To homeless shelters, teen moms, youth shelters, veterans thrift stores, and a lot of animal based charities. We recently had a basket to collect bedding to donate to local animal shelters.”

“We have some fun stuff coming up later this year with the OneLove Pitbull Foundation. We will be donating clothing for their pin-up calendar this year and we have helped out with their Rockabully Ball and will continue doing that. They are discussing doing some dog inspired dresses and having the profit from those dresses go to their shelter.”

You can find us on Instagram and Facebook. We are doing more and more events this year. We are going to be involved in a lot of different pin-up events, contests, and Classic Car Shows.

“We also have a great day at the events as well.” They dress up in their own designs and sell their clothing and accessories at their booth.

Stormy says half the time they are there dancing and eating all the amazing food!

This year One of their big events was the Rockabilly Bash. Where contests are held and a huge Classic Car Show is hosted. Located at  Five and Diner in Phoenix.

They are also invited to the monthly Sock Hop at the Five and Diner every month.

“People don’t realize There is a Huge rockabilly community in the Valley. It’s huge!”

Stormy wanted to share a little bit of advice for all of you gorgeous ladies out there!

“One thing I’m always telling people, especially if you’re trying to go for a certain look, and they bring in their pictures from Pinterest, or Instagram and they say, I wanna look like this girl.

Take that as inspiration. You don’t have to look like her. You’re beautiful on your own! You need to figure out how that style works for you. Incorporate it into how you feel comfortable. I feel so sad. I always get girls in here who are trying to look like a photo that is either Photoshoped or glamorized and is made for a calendar or an advertisement.

You’re not going to look like an advertisememnt 24/7!

 

We are not zombies like that!

 

Bring that look into your own. Make it so that you feel comfortable.

We also get a lot of girls who come in here and say they’re too big to do Rockabilly.

No your not! You’re never too big!

Our store line goes up to 4x in mens and women’s, in pre loved and new.

Dress funky and different. Don’t just dress the every day ordinary.

Be yourself! Be unique!

Our store slogan here is  Unique fashion for Unique Humans! Our customers are a little too different to be the cookie cutter.”

 

Even if you aren’t into the Rockabilly/ pin up fashion, you will always find something fun and unique at Rocket a Go-Go. So go check them out!