The Something Else Story

The story of Something Else starts with our founder and Baltimore celebrity, Elsie Fergusson.

Elsie Fergusson lived her her life, her way, on her terms. She valued aesthetics and surrounded herself with art and beauty. She designed her own wardrobe and was known to sew outfits for specific social outings and events. She refused to take typing classes because she didn't want secretarial work to even be option. Instead, she studied interior design and ended up a buyer for the Hecht Company while cultivating a true talent for collecting and shopping. Elsie married a merchant marine who helped feed her passion for unusual and exotic items. Later she became pregnant and the managers at the Hecht Company asked her to leave. It was different then but she was ahead of her time. Elsie decided to step out on her own. She put out a sign board and opened up her own shop, Something Else.

The shop Elsie began in 1968 as a vintage and antique store soon became much more. The shift to Alley Cat (Betsy Johnson) and designer samples evolved to ethnic clothing and jewelry. Later she added hippie tie dyes, Mexican fashion, folk art, and linen clothing. The odd thing was that sometimes all these diverse aesthetics would co-exist at the same time.

In the late 2000's, the store's interior was updated to make it more spacious and improve the shopping experience.The communal dressing room has been replaced with a true dressing room with three stalls. If you want an opinion or support there's still a communal area with additional mirrors and a comfy bench.

For almost 2 decades, Elsie shared her knowledge and passion for the store with Annastasia Baca (Store Manager). 

 In 2018, at the age of 88, Elsie passed away. Since then, Annastasia has been keeping her spirit alive and has been bringing Elsie's style to a new generation.