Clothing and Accessories
VIP
170 Boston Post Road
Orange, CT
(203) 799-7040
VIP has a huge lingerie selection, one that includes plus sizes. "We sell toys and movies, but we have a lingerie section that's bigger than the average Victoria's Secret," says store manager Megan Gigola. "It's constantly expanding and we're continually bringing in new products." Because the selection is so big and the products so popular, the store will be expanding the number of women's dressing rooms from two to six.
See also Best Adult Video.
2nd: Penthouse
9 Banner Dr.
Milford, CT
(203) 783-9555
3rd: The Land of Oz
462 Washington Ave.
North Haven, CT
(203) 239-7414
Dava
2100 Dixwell Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 230-0039
www.shopdava.com
Back: Tina Durgan, Coleen Campbell; Front: Karin Gould, Marcia Brown
A bathtub full of "Ugly Dolls" for kids. A wall display of fashionable reading glasses for the middle-aged. An annual commemoration of Shakespeare's birthday for the Elizabethan. Benefit events for local AIDS, MS and environmental causes.
"It's always been part of my vision to be community-oriented," says Dava founder Coleen Campbell. That community includes her sister Marcia Brown, who's been Dava's bookkeeper for 19 years; manager Karin Gould, who helps choose the amazing array of items for sale, and has served Dava for 15 years; and eight-year veteran Tina Durgan, "the consignment queen," who's in charge of a whole other community--the more than 40 artists whose unique creations Dava arranges to sell. But the mass-produced stuff isn't what you'd find anywhere else either--from comic activist "George W. Bush WTF" stickers to comely, comfortable fashions from Nepal, India and Guatemala. Currently, Campbell's excited about the Pacifica line of body care items and cotton-wicked candles, created by an herbalist. "All the years I've been in the business, there hasn't been a company like that," Campbell says admiringly. And there still wouldn't be, if there weren't stores like Dava.
2nd: Bella Fuchsia
1008 S. Main St.
Cheshire, CT
(203) 272-8353
3rd: Sogno
83 B Audubon St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 777-3226
www.sognoboutique.com
Consignment Originals
154 Main St.
Cheshire, CT
(203) 271-0475
www.consignit.com
320 Boston Post Road
Orange,
(203) 799-8075
Back: Barbara Steneck, Jennicel Bolaņos, Jackie Purvis; Front: Sandra Wiltsie, Laurie Muller
Many of the retailers in this issue gain the recognition and appreciation of the public by supplying goods that can't be found among the mass-produced inventories of large chain stores--the "in-between" items that often have the most character. Consignment Originals, which falls somewhere between a thrift store and a pawn shop, is the kind of place that was born into such a group. A family-owned business, Consignment Originals provides a rare variety of clothing, jewelry and housewares with friendly service, encouraging customers to save money with their second-hand prices or make money by selling belongings. And as they gravitate toward more current fashions rather than non-collectible vintage clothing, it really is a direct alternative to department stores.
With 30,000 consigners in each location and new inventory every day, shopping can be a sort of treasure hunt that goes beyond just finding your size and color.
Consignment Originals will be hosting its 25th anniversary next month, which will entail fashion shows and food drives among other celebrations.
2nd: My Secret Consignment
501 Boston Post Rd.
Orange, CT
(203) 799-8111
3rd: Cinderella's Attic
1058 Boston Post Road
Guilford, CT
(203) 458-2211
Wave Gallery
1046 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 624-3032
www.wavenewhaven.com
Phylis Satin
Looking around our shelves at home, we marvel at the diversity of things we've found at Wave over the years: an Alessi teapot (such a great design it's displayed at New York's Museum of Modern Art), a slate drawing pencil in the shape of a bird's head, fragrant bath soap with the colorful image of a cat encased within, jumping wooden figurines in the likeness of the Marx Brothers, pop-up books and unforgettable jewelry.
Phyllis Satin has been in business for 21 years--13 of them at her familiar storefront near the world-famous Yale art museums on Chapel Street--and Phyllis is still being celebrated for being "one of a kind."
"We're always trying to be on top of our game," says Satin. "New Haven's becoming hotter, with more people coming in. You never reach a point when you can just coast. This is a real validation."
Wave is closer to an art gallery than it is to a gift shop, though that's how many people use it. A number of its items are uniquely handcrafted, and even the more ready-made stuff that you can find elsewhere can't be found elsewhere in this area. Satin says, "We're the only people downtown that carry Pandora jewelry," a make-your-own-bracelet phenomenon that offers beads in gold or sterling silver.
Now that New Haven has started a series of "First Thursday" events to draw people downtown, Wave is beginning a special series of exhibitions spotlighting some of the artists it works with. This month it's Connecticut sculptor Allison Palmer with her "animal creatures;" June honors jewelry made out of unusual materials, like rubber with diamonds.
3rd: Laila Rowe
39 Broadway
New Haven, CT
(203) 773-8886
lailarowe.com
Peter Indorf Jewelers
1022 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 776-4833
www.peterindorf.com
703 Boston Post Road
Madison, CT
(203) 245-5700
Peter Indorf started his jewelry shop in New Haven in 1972. He'd been out in California, making and selling jewelry from the back of his truck. He sold it, he says, as fast as he made it. (He still keeps a small box of his early pieces--including chunky turquoise rings, bracelets and belt buckles, in the era's fashion--at his desk.) Over his years in New Haven, Indorf has built an "extended family" of clients, regular and loyal customers who return through the years. People come from across the country to work with him on custom projects--like the setting for a $65,000 black opal.
Indorf doesn't know how many "Best Ofs" he's won over the years. "I've got a box full of them," he says. Self-taught, Indorf says that he's always approached jewelry as an art. He's proud of his designs, but he seems equally proud of his shop, and the community-centered philosophy and "really nice people" behind it. He loves the collaborative process of designing a custom piece. "It is perfect for me," says Indorf.
2nd: Derek Simpson
1094 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 787-2498
3rd: Diamond Design
500 Boston Post Rd.
Orange, CT
(203) 799-7999
www.dia-designs.com
Lulu's
75 Whitfield St.
Guilford, CT
(203) 453-6887
Kimberly Mangs
Kimberly Mangs has three sons, a male dog and a husband. "A friend asked me, 'How do you stay so feminine with all these males around?" The answer is the store. It smells good, she says, it's beautiful and stocked with beautiful things. Lulu's began as a furniture store selling West Indian things and is now a lingerie store. As Mangs' kids got older she found it harder and harder to get away to Haiti for shopping trips and the store slowly began its evolution to what it is today--a lingerie and lounge-wear store. In the last year, Mangs has also begun to sell locally made jewelry. "We've tripled the amount of (jewelry) pieces sold in one year," she says.
2nd: Lady Olga
3490 Whitney Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 288-1133
3rd: Saxon-Kent
185 Boston Post Rd. #1
Orange, CT
(203) 795-3682
www.saxonkent.com
Raggs
1020 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 865-3824
www.raggsnewhaven.com
Tom Maloney and Lucy Quagliato
Contrary to popular perception, being a man who adheres to high fashion does not necessitate living someplace like New York City. There may not be a Saks Fifth Avenue store in New Haven, but that doesn't mean that Saks and similar brands are unavailable in these parts. For over 20 years, Raggs has acted as liaison between New Haven's urbane male populus and the fashion hubs of the world, with their clothing, atmosphere and service earning them multiple Best Of awards over the years. Be it formalwear, sportswear or a reliable black suit that's needed, Raggs has it covered enough to consider itself a mini-department store; except it's a department store whose denim and shoes come from top designers. Furthermore, most items come in a variety of cuts and fits, and there's always the option of tailoring your specific fit--evidently, whatever it takes. The Raggs folks strive to make their store's name as ironic as possible by accommodating whatever look you may be going for. Inventories change seasonally, and the Raggs people are expecting to start selling a lot of khaki, linen and cotton pants soon, as well as begin to stock the popular John Barbados line.
2nd: Mario & Joseph Men's Clothing
1060 W. Main St.
Branford, CT
(203) 488-6391
3rd: Urban Outfitters
43 Broadway
New Haven, CT
(203) 776-7444
www.urbanoutfitters.com
Bottega Giuliana
906 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 562-8027
www.bottegagiuliana.net
Giuliana Maravalle
For most of the past two decades, Bottega Giuliana has been recognized as a great place to buy shoes in New Haven. For the past few months, the shop has been vacant (read on for the good news), yet still provided fresh reasons for 2007 voters to honor this sanctum of stylish footwear.
When owner Giuliana Maravalle decided not to renew her lease at 954 Chapel St., she held a massive sale on everything in the place. "We're such a trendy store that for us to hold on to that merchandise wouldn't have made sense. I have such faithful, wonderful customers, I thought, 'Why don't we give back?'"
In the late summer, Bottega Giuliana is reopening, just a block away, and next door to its sister establishment, Caffe Bottega, on the corner of Chapel and Temple streets. The cafe and the boutique will be connected through an inside door, and the store's new design will allow room for clothing models to display new styles, a live DJ to spin tunes, hairstylist consultants to help clothes-buyers imagine a top-to-bottom new look, and even a balcony so you can appreciate all this hustle-bustle from different angles.
Maravalle, who works closely with her daughter Carla on both Bottega Giuliana and Caffe Bottega, has moved the store before, and embraces change and variety even when it doesn't involve shifting locations. In the old space, she liked to switch the displays and furniture around to keep things looking fresh, so much that she says one customer asked, "Does the owner of this place have OCD?" It's not that. "The things we sell change with the seasons because people change with the seasons," Maravalle says. We can hardly wait for fall.
2nd: Thom Brown
37 Broadway
New Haven, CT
(203) 776-7463
www.thombrown.com
3rd: Shoe and She
2458 Whitney Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 248-3131
Urban Outfitters
43 Broadway
New Haven, CT
(203) 776-7444
www.urbanoutfitters.com
Jud Beardsley
Yes, Urban Outfitters store manager Jud Beardsley knows about the complaints lodged against Urban by some members of its own target demographic. "It's hard, because we are a big corporate store," he says, "but we're trying to keep a local feel. The people we're trying to sell to are hipsters, and they have a certain feel." Inhumanly chipper sales associates? No. "Our customers tend not to want that," Beardsley says. "We try to keep it cool." By Beardsley's description, Urban's staff are more like guides than salespeople, and they know when to get out of the way. And as for the store's offerings--Urban's items present a certain retro, thrift-store-inspired chic that doesn't require combing through a lot of the not-so-chic one finds at a real thrift store. It's edgy, but convenient, too. "What we sell, you can't find at the mall," Beardsley says. That, and the store is located in a downtown shopping district, not a mall. "I love that," says Beardsley. "I've worked in retail where it's sterile. I like being part of the city."
Recently, the New Haven Urban Outfitters switched from being part of the chain's Boston district to part of its New York district, a change that Beardsley feels is more philosophically in line with New Haven's fertile arts scene. "They're more interested in DJ nights and bands, maybe some artists" in the store, he says--the York Square store has already hosted some DJs. "They're open to local events."
2nd: Archetype
265 College St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 562-6772
www.archetypeclothing.com
Tova's Vintage Shop
1330 Boston Post Road
Old Saybrook, CT
(860) 395-1955
www.tovasvintage.com
Tove Siniscalco
"I always knew I'd own a vintage clothing store," says Tove Siniscalco, who studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. As a fashion fan, Siniscalco had a hard time not buying up most of her merchandise during the first year of business, but says she doesn't feel that pang of regret anymore when she sells a piece she really likes. This season, she says, big print mini-dresses from the '60s are hot. "There's always a trend in high fashion that's vintage inspired," and that's why people frequent her store. And Siniscalco points out that owning a quality original piece no one else has is irresistible.
2nd: Fashionistas Tag Sale
fashionista@snet.net
3rd: Salvation Army
274 Crown St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 776-2448
www.salvationarmyusa.org
Kennedy & Perkins Opticians
80 Whitney Ave.
New Haven, CT
(203) 624-3145
www.kennedy-perkins.com
Rick Kennedy, J. Dart Messick
J. Dart Messick and Rick Kennedy have a clear vision for their business. After all, it's been around since 1946 and has a reputation as a hands-on, personal-attention kind of place. The 28 employees at five Kennedy & Perkins locations see eye-to-eye with their customers: They conduct in-store eye exams, create lenses in their own lab and sell "distinctive, exclusive eyewear," from exotic Chanel styles to classic Blues Brothers Ray-Bans. All the work they do on the glasses in done in the New Haven store, not shipped elsewhere. Kennedy & Perkins also holds lectures and seminars.
You read a lot about contacts and laser surgery, but Messick and Kennedy know there will always be a place for eyewear. "A lot of people just like glasses. Some people buy glasses with no prescriptions, just because wearing them makes them look more mature." Never overlook the fashion aspect, the prospect of being seen while seeing better. "How many pairs of shoes do you own?" the men ask while touring their many varieties of "distinctive, exclusive eyewear"--and yet "you may have only one pair of glasses."
2nd: Spector Eyecare
1044 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 787-7111
3rd: Carofano of New Haven
1215 Chapel St. A
New Haven, CT
(203) 865-4742
