It looks inviting enough from the sidewalk, but step inside Pretty Snake and you enter a new reality of vivid color and eccentric imagery. It’s like an art installation where things are for sale. Artist and textile designer Joe Segal opened his “Closet of Curiosities” on Brook Street last July and filled it with all manner of apparel, beaded curtains, totes, hats, throws and pillows. There are two dressing rooms which are also not boring at all.
If Joe looks familiar perhaps you remember him from the 11th season of Project Runway which ran in 2013. (He went as Joseph Aaron Segal at that time.) While the judges were not quite ready for his vision (he went four weeks) the people in the store today were definitely getting it. Joe creates all the prints, knits, and textiles exclusively for Pretty Snake, the store and the label, and in his spare time he teaches textile design at Rhode Island School of Design.
Go to the Pretty Snake website for his latest inventory of knitwear, tops, dresses and more. Check out the chenille bedspread in his Snake Den collection. Also follow on Instagram.
Hours: Friday & Saturday, 11am to 6pm. Sunday, 11am to 4pm.
Pretty Snake, 142 Brook Street, (directions)
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Every square inch is filled with color, pattern, and texture.
Joe designed the wallpaper; a woodworker friend fabricated the bent columns.
The bones of the shop, like the cupboards and shelving, are distressed architectural salvage Joe has picked up along the way.