L ifestyles /C ulture
Jews of Philly Fashion: Tina Dixon Spence
Easy one — masks.

approach to the comfortable
loungewear of this year. I like
What person’s style do you
when people dress up!
admire? Renee Hill, our local
Dream Shabbat dinner guest?
designer who was on “Project
Maya Angelou.

Runway,” has incredible style.

What’s something you can’t Her Harx 4 line is a great mix
of comfort, design and pieces
believe you used to wear?
Scrunchie socks — they that work in any occasion.

chopped off our legs in the ’80s.

Best take-out in Mt. Airy?
Evo Brick Oven Pizza and
What celebrity baby is the
The Frosted Fox Cake Shop for
most stylish?
There has been no child I’ve dessert.

seen to embrace the beauty and
joy of fashion more than my What talent would you most
own son Baron. But otherwise, like to have?
I wish I could heal people
Luna Stephens, Chrissy Teigen
and John Legend’s daughter, is who are suffering. It’s all of our
duty to do so. l
always on point.

FASHION JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
It’s the newest edition of Jews
of Philly Fashion, introducing
you to the Chosen few who
dress our city. They might mix
wool and linen, but they’ve got
some strong opinions on mixing
stripes with florals. In this space,
we’ll talk to designers, sellers,
buyers, influencers, models and
more. This week, we spoke to
Tina Dixon Spence.

IN A YEAR THAT forced
brick-and-mortar retailers the
world over to pivot with haste
to e-commerce, Tina Dixon
Spence, 48, took the opposite
approach. After six years of running
an online-only boutique for
babies and toddlers, Dixon
Spence, a congregant at Tiferet
Bet Israel, decided that 2020
was the year that she would
bring her line of swaddles, bibs
and everyday clothing to a
bright corner in Mt. Airy.

Her store, Buddha Babe,
opened on Small Business
Saturday in November. A sign
of the times: Parents perusing
peacock print blankies at
Dixon Spence’s store will also
find patterned face masks
for children and onesies that
read, “born into this mess.

COVID19BABY.” Her products
are still available online.

Dixon Spence’s journey to the
corner of Emlen Street and West
Mount Pleasant Avenue was a
winding one. The Chestnut Hill
native grew up with another
path planned for her, one that
is perhaps the precise opposite
of a baby boutique — she was
expected to take over the family
funeral home.

She entertained dreams of
pediatric surgery as an alterna-
tive, but when it came time to
make a decision, the thought of
medical school was too much
to handle. Dixon Spence went
to mortuary school instead
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM What item of clothing should jbernstein@jewishexponent.com;
more people be wearing?
215-832-0740 Tina Dixon Spence
and returned home, focusing
on the administrative side of
the family business. Still, she
yearned to break away.

The skills she picked up as
administrator served her well
in that respect, as she made
a long career outside of the
funeral home in several jobs as
an administrative and execu-
tive assistant. Dixon Spence
especially cherishes the time
she spent working with Maddy
Malis, the long-time president
and CEO of Federation Early
Learning Services.

With the birth of her second
son, Baron, Dixon Spence was
thrown back into the world of
infant-rearing, long after she’d
had her first son, Jeremy. And
in such a world, one is faced
with vexing questions. Like,
Photo by Heather McBride Photography
how do you keep an exception-
ally drooly baby both dry and
stylish? Maternity leave can give one
a lot of time to explore such
questions, and Dixon Spence
picked up sewing during that
period. Four months after
Baron was born, the online
edition of Buddha Babe was
launched, too. Baron — the
Buddha Babe himself — has
grown right alongside the
store, and remains integral to
Dixon Spence’s fit specifica-
tions. Dixon Spence kept her
day job until June, and now,
she’s ready for Buddha Babe to
settle right into its new home.

FOLLOW THE
JEWISH EXPONENT
AND NEVER
MISS A STORY.

#JEWISHINPHILLY facebook.com/jewishexponent
twitter.com/jewishexponent What clothing trend would you
like to see make a comeback?
I’d love to see a more formal
JEWISH EXPONENT
DECEMBER 31, 2020
13