Tattered Lace offers leather, lingerie, tattoos

SPIRIT LAKE – Tucked among saloons and eateries in Spirit Lake, the Tattered Lace vintage clothing store is one-stop shopping for leather jackets, gently used lingerie and tattoos.

“This isn’t a good-girls’ shop,” said Debra Winslow, who co-owns the store with her 18-year-old daughter, Monique Beras.

Winslow opened the store in February 2006 to fill a need she saw in the community.

“The women up here, they’re in flannels and T-shirts all the time,” she said. “I’m trying to bring feminine things to women.”

For people concerned about the delicate nature of used lingerie, Winslow said that most lingerie never gets worn anyway.

“Every woman I know has a drawer full of lingerie that they don’t wear,” she said. “I don’t do panties or underwear unless it’s brand new.”

Beyond the lingerie and leather, Tattered Lace offers an eclectic mix of tantalizing products.

One display case is filled with turquoise necklaces and other jewelry. Below that is a shelf dominated by a two-handed claymore and stacks of knives. On the other side of the store, Native American dolls share space with dried rose bouquets and household curios.

Soon, an area will be dedicated to women’s toiletry items and styling products.

Winslow’s latest addition is a tattoo parlor in the back of the shop called HooDoo Tattoo. It features work by local artist Randal Dickerson.

Winslow said her son, Michael Therrion, will join the tattoo staff in August. Therrion’s artwork adorns the front door of the shop.

Winslow and Beras share responsibilities for running the Tattered Lace. Beras, who is finishing her senior year at Priest River, splits her afternoons and weekends between the Tattered Lace and working at a day care.

She said she enjoys hanging out and helping people put together outfits.

“It’s fun. I really enjoy it,” Beras said. “I bring my friends in, and they think it’s cool.”

Mother and daughter have any easygoing relationship. Winslow says Beras is always looking out for her and that “she mothers me.” Beras describers her mother as “unique” and someone with a “very big heart.” Each has an identical butterfly tattoo on her shoulder.

The winter months were slow, but Winslow said her vision of the shop and its potential has kept her running through the ups and downs.

“There’s no blueprint and no plan. I’m just figuring it out along the way,” she said. “That’s how I’ve lived my whole life: no blueprint.”

A native of upstate New York, Winslow moved to North Idaho 15 years ago.

“Basically, I needed a change in my life,” she said. “I said a little prayer to God, got in my RV and came out here.”

The area was a perfect fit. She bought a house in the Hoodoo Valley and focused on raising and home-schooling her children.

She says she is attracted to the legends, stories and mysticism of the area and plans to write a book on the history of the town.

According to Winslow, Spirit Lake is notorious for its wild West feel, from shootouts to biker gangs, from suicides to native tribes calling the place “bad medicine.”

She said she enjoys both the good and the bad.

“It’s very simple, laid back, quiet,” she said. “Everybody’s got skeletons in their closets.”

In addition to running the store, Winslow works on her house, which she describes as a castle, writes and attends Sunday jam sessions at the Linger Longer, a bar at the end of the street.

With her hobbies and her store, Winslow says, she has fulfilled all her desires.