How does the Carousel Boutique make money?

[EWAN 31]

I have been wondering for a long time (and i'm sure others have thought about this), how does Rarity keep the boutique in business. I know this is getting technical, but think about it. The Carousel Boutique makes clothing. . .The ponies dont were clothes so how do they stay in business.

Enypony have any ideas or theories?

[Bohtty 1,775]

she mentioned that she makes clothing for the Gala which is a prestigious event which means that the clients are wealthy. Plus everyone in canterlot wears clothing.

Edited May 31, 2012 by Bohtty

[Blackcat 205]

Her special talent is also finding gemstones. I'm fairly certain she could cash a few of those in for a quick buck to stave off bills for a while.

[Fire_Fly 499]

I'm assuming a lot of Rarity's clientele is based in Canterlot. She mentions having clients a lot in different episodes, but they're never really seen. On the other hoof, there's always Ponyville celebrities like Sapphire Shores who could be keeping the boutique in business.

[Strife 455]

While clothing may not be needed, it has been mentioned A LOT in the series that ponies wear certain apparel for certain functions / events.

 

Remember, she makes clothing of all sorts - dresses, scarves, hats, boots/shoes, saddles, etc.

 

In addition to that, it seems she gets a lot of wealthy clientele.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,309]

In "Stare Master" Rarity made those gold silk lined capes for some secret society. I've been curious about that!

[The Awesome One 1,315]

While clothing may not be needed, it has been mentioned A LOT in the series that ponies wear certain apparel for certain functions / events.

 

Remember, she makes clothing of all sorts - dresses, scarves, hats, boots/shoes, saddles, etc.

 

In addition to that, it seems she gets a lot of wealthy clientele.

 

This.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,527]

Just because clothing is optional in pony society doesn't mean it isn't a viable enterprise. There are special events happening left and right in Equestria all the time, much like in our own human world, and ponies tend to dress up for the occasion just like we do.

[Glaceon 793]

In Canterlot everypony wares clothes i bet some of them buy from here.

And as stated before she could sell those gems for money.

[Lostwanderer 367]

I theorised that rarity also does neric sewing, for stuff like curtins or bedding, not only clothing, despite it being the only cannon thing she's made.

[SmileForever^.^ 128]

i guess most of her clients are rich and famous, thus, making the clothing fairly expensive, plus adding gems and silk will obviously make the cloths extremely valuable: )

[Dreadmallon 353]

It honestly seems like everyone just borrows clothes from the Carousel Boutique, not buy them. Edited May 31, 2012 by Prince Dusk

[hironakamura 126]

I have been wondering for a long time (and i'm sure others have thought about this), how does Rarity keep the boutique in business. I know this is getting technical, but think about it. The Carousel Boutique makes clothing. . .The ponies dont were clothes so how do they stay in business.

Enypony have any ideas or theories?

 

I think most of Rarity's customers are not from Ponyville. She must export her goods elsewhere so she has clients like Hoity Toity, Sapphire Shores and Fancypants to help her distribute her goods in Canterlot at least.

[Krall 263]

I'd like to dispute the idea that she can sell some of her gems for money - in real life gems aren't found already perfectly cut in large caches very close to the surface; they're much rarer and hard to find than that. Plus, we haven't seen anyone apart from Rarity actually use gems for anything, so there doesn't seem to be anyone she could sell them to.

 

On the topic of how Rarity actually makes money, well, she makes bespoke clothing for very wealthy people. Real life high-end, bespoke clothing companies - like Savile Row tailors - sell suits for several thousand pounds each. Assuming similar prices, Rarity could easily make a living by selling only 5 to 10 dresses/suits a year.

Edited May 31, 2012 by Krall

[Nas 2,873]

It's probably the clothing capital of all Equestria, believe it or not. I mean, is there any other fabric/clothing store introduced yet? I mean, there is one in Canterlot (Rarity went there right before she met Fancypants), but since they seem to sell more expensive stuff fit for the casuals of Canterlot, it might rule out the number of customers than Carousel Boutique.

 

But still, with Rarity being the only one who works there (as far as we know, I'm pretty sure she's the only one), she must be pretty busy when it comes to serving her (possibly) numerous customers. But being the main clothing store in, well, at least Ponyville, it's purpose is just most likely to sell clothing, and other stuff.

[murkyx 904]

With everything that she's been through, I think she at least now has enough publicity to make a very good income. Especially if she's designing for Celebrities and Special events, you'd have to assume her prices would be high enough to match it, at least several thousand bits per order. The rarity (no pun intended) of the materials make it seem that these clients are very wealthy, and she has been known to be good at wrestling out a good price.

 

So I think she makes more than enough to support herself and keep the boutique open. She probably delivers to all of Equestria.

[Haven Celestii 9,385]

Basically what most have said, since she owns the only clothing store we know of, she gets mass amount of business. And cause most canterlot folk wear clothing more than those in Ponyville, she would have rich clients.

 

I don't see her being able to sell the gems that she finds that well. Another pony could have the same ability as her and the gems are found too easily to be rare.

[Batbrony 16,055]

Everypony's said this already, but I also think that (1) special events requiring clothing, and (2) Rarity's wealthy Canterlot clientele both easily keep her business afloat.

[Starstream 182]

Everyone's Canterlot theories seem to be the most appropriate assumptions but there's one thing that bothers me.

There's a very small amount of mentioned clothing vendors in the series, and Rarity always seems to have commissions, so how is her name not famous? And if it is famous, what exactly is she aspiring towards?

[Nah 3,182]

Because to Canterlot, Ponyville is the industrial equivalent to China, because there is tons of cheap labor and expensive things.

[Comet Tail 808]

Dresses can sell for enormous amounts, now consider she's selling designer items for big name clients, and you can see she not only gets by, but makes enough to pay for that exuberant boutique. I mean, I think it was in "A Dog and Pony Show", that some big-name customer came in and ordered, was it 20 dresses?

 

Now, take this into account:

...she makes bespoke clothing for very wealthy people. Real life high-end, bespoke clothing companies - like Savile Row tailors - sell suits for several thousand pounds each. Assuming similar prices, Rarity could easily make a living by selling only 5 to 10 dresses/suits a year.

 

And you understand why, despite being her major client base, she's still shocked/thrilled every time she sees a big name. Not only is it a big fashion name she admires, but it's also her income for an entire year or two.

 

Does she just sell them? - somepone asked. No reason to assume that, she could rent them out, too. Show doesn't go into much detail, though we do know she sells, but it doesn't preclude her renting out dresses, too.

 

And, in "Green Isn't Your Color", a big mob follows Fluttershy into her boutique, and she tries to get them to browse her boutique, so we can safely assume she sells to normal ponies, too.

 

i guess most of her clients are rich and famous, thus, making the clothing fairly expensive, plus adding gems and silk will obviously make the cloths extremely valuable: )

 

With everything that she's been through, I think she at least now has enough publicity to make a very good income. Especially if she's designing for Celebrities and Special events, you'd have to assume her prices would be high enough to match it, at least several thousand bits per order. The rarity (no pun intended) of the materials make it seem that these clients are very wealthy, and she has been known to be good at wrestling out a good price.

 

So I think she makes more than enough to support herself and keep the boutique open. She probably delivers to all of Equestria.

 

About the gems and rare materials, I read Thomas Moore's "Utopia" awhile back - the source of the name "Utopia" as meaning a wonderful or perfect society - and in Utopia, the land is extremely rich in gold and other precious materials, but they don't value them at all. In fact, they consider such thing as child's things and use gold and other precious metals for waste pots (the medieval indoor toilet), or for exporting to make capital from other nearby countries that do value those materials. The people in Utopia think of them as useless child's toys, shiny, pretty, but useless.

 

It's actually strikingly similar to Equestria, and I wonder if it's more than coincidence - in S1E23 we see Rarity covered clothes in jewels for a school play, or something of the sort. They're apparently not very valuable.

 

Though, even though they're not very valuable, they probably do have some fair amount of worth, so she probably could make money for selling them - just to hold off the bills, as Blackcat mentioned, but probably needs to sell dresses, too, to stay in business.

[MVC NVMXD JVRXD 2,406]

Drug trafficking.

[murkyx 904]

About the gems and rare materials, I read Thomas Moore's "Utopia" awhile back - the source of the name "Utopia" as meaning a wonderful or perfect society - and in Utopia, the land is extremely rich in gold and other precious materials, but they don't value them at all. In fact, they consider such thing as child's things and use gold and other precious metals for waste pots (the medieval indoor toilet), or for exporting to make capital from other nearby countries that do value those materials. The people in Utopia think of them as useless child's toys, shiny, pretty, but useless.

 

It's actually strikingly similar to Equestria, and I wonder if it's more than coincidence - in S1E23 we see Rarity covered clothes in jewels for a school play, or something of the sort. They're apparently not very valuable.

Though gemstones are not expensive, Rarity does still seem to deal in rare materials imported to her shop to use and sell at a higher price. Didn't she say that the gold silk (the one that the CMC used to make their capes) was imported and very pricey? If so, then that alone shows she has a good business with an income, and the dresses she sells are expensive, probably not for the jewels themselves, (Unless there is a huge abundance of them like for Sapphire Shores) but for the other high quality and expensive fabrics she imports.

[I used to be a stranger 7,994]

Let's look at her clientele:

Corporation of Ponyville (Winter Wrap-Up vests)

Whatever client wanted gold-lining

Twilight Sparkle

Applejack

Rainbow Dash

Fluttershy

Pinkie Pie

Hoity Toity

Somepony that made it essential for the CMC to spend the night at Fluttershy's cottage

Sapphire Shores

Photo Finish

"An extremely important client" (Sisterhooves Social)

Numerous Canterlotians at formal settings

Cheerilee

Princess Cadence

Royal Bridesmaids

 

Not all that many ponies from Ponyville.