ReadyMade: Instructions for everyday life

Boutiques We Love

In the latest issue of ReadyMade, we brought you the story of Wendy Yao and her eclectic clothing-and-music store, Ooga Booga in Los Angeles ("Shop Girl," August/September '09). Here's an expanded look at boutiques we adore.

TenOverSix
7427 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles; 323/330-9355, tenover6.com

Owner: Kristen Lee

This brand-new addition to Beverly Boulevard is exclusively devoted to elusive accessory labels. Owner Kristen Lee produces a highly coveted shoe line sold in the shop, along with 70 other excellent lines, including slouchy totes from Life with Bird, L.D. Tuttle’s forward-thinking flats and boots and the delicate underpinnings of Lake & Shores. The sprawling space also hosts an in-store Future Perfect boutique—the only West Coast outpost for the famed Williamsburg home design shop.

Local Flavor: In the last five years, L.A.’s fashion community has grown considerably and is now turning out some of the U.S.’s best collections. TenOverSix offers a particularly deep selection of the accessory arms of many of the strongest ones, including Yarborough, Society for Rational Dress, and Scout.

Little-Known Fact: TenOverSix has an in-house film projector that’s always playing something, whether it’s old surfing footage or cult movies.

Thistle & Clover
221 DeKalb Ave., Brooklyn; 718/855-5577, thistleclover.com

Owners: Rand Niederhoffer & Camilla Gale

Modus Operandi: Situated in the quietly low-key Fort Greene—one of Brooklyn’s most compelling neighborhoods—this slightly subterranean space from two twentysomethings is devoted to discovering the next big thing. In an effort to stock lines that you can’t find elsewhere (no small feat in New York), Niederhoffer and Gale even go so far as to host a quarterly “open call” for new designers. This is how they managed to scoop up sweetly feminine labels like Wren and Edelweiss long before they made it to Barneys. This fall, they’re also launching their own magazine of sorts that will detail the story behind 12 of the collections in the store.

Local Flavor: Unsurprisingly, the work of New York-based fashion abounds on the pristine white racks—and the back garden plays host to loads of jewelry trunk shows, too.

Little-Known Fact: The name of the store stems from Crimson & Clover, which is the song the owners listened to while conceptualizing the store. Thistle is the national flower of Scotland, inspired by the fact that they met at the University of St. Andrew’s.

Una
2802 SE. Ankeny, Portland, Oregon; 503/235-2326, una-myheartisfull.com

Owner: Giovanna Parolari

Modus Operandi: Fittingly, Parolari’s closet-size space used to house a love seat store. Appropriate because not only is it too small for full-scale couches (it’s only 350 square feet!), it’s also dedicated to deeply feminine pieces, like an interestingly cut Crea top or a hyper-supple Il Bisonte leather tote. Parolari chooses pieces that she loves and are made by designers that she really likes, and then she champions said lines until they’ve outgrown her boutique. Vena Cava and Sunshine & Shadow were both early buys for Parolari, and look at them now.

Local Flavor: Loads of area jewelry lines are represented here, from Karn Piana’s hammered-copper cuffs to Sara Barner’s black oxidized beaded necklaces.

Little-Known Fact: Despite the shop’s unerringly ladylike undertones, Parolari was actually a tomboy: She grew up riding dirt bikes, hanging out in hay barns in a small California town, and playing college volleyball.  As a side business, she is a color consultant and helps people pick paint for their homes.

Worthwhile
268 King St., Charleston, South Carolina; 877/454-0876, shopworthwhile.com

Owner: Robben McAdam Richards

Modus Operandi: Launched in 1993 out of a townhouse-esque space, Worthwhile offers products in the same range as a department store. Always ahead of the curve, its original mission was Earth-friendly, and almost all of the baby gifts, home goods and apothecary items still hew to eco lines. Worthwhile also offers an exceptionally well-currated collection of clothing. Even though Charleston is essentially a conservative town, Richards manages to cull a tasteful, yet envelope-pushing, array of options that include gorgeously draped, tea-dyed Gary Graham dresses and Raquel Allegra’s filmy tunics.

Local Flavor:  Area artists are represented in the jewelry cases that include blackened silver earrings—cast in the shape of sea sponges—by Bec Metalworks.

Little-Known Fact: Richards is a self-professed “die-hard soccer mom” at heart: She has two sons, ages 11 and 12.

Young Blood Gallery
636 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta; 404/254-4127, youngbloodgallery.com

Owners: Maggie White & Kelly Teasley

Modus Operandi: Best friends since high school, White and Teasley always wanted to launch some sort of art gallery cum retail venture, specifically one that focused on breaking new talent. “When we started in 1997, Atlanta’s art scene desperately needed some fresh blood,” explains White. The duo started out small, and spent the first 10 years in business together working assorted odd jobs to support the endeavor. “While we waited for Young Blood to bring us to our current thousandeaire status, I cleaned houses, waited tables, was a paralegal, a landscaper, a receptionist for a construction company, and a nanny,” White adds. Operating like a co-op, White and Teasley sift through all sorts of applications to decide who gets shelf space.  A recent relocation to more spacious digs means there are more than 300 designers to choose from; right now they’re most excited about Patina’s lace and tulle slip dresses and Erica Weiner’s necklaces strung with crystals.

Local Flavor: Talk about homegrown, Teasley and White actually launched Young Blood in their own living room, putting up shows for area painters. Two years later, they finally moved into a permanent space.

Little-Known Fact: The shop is also home to a three-legged cat, Jolene, named for the Dolly Parton song.