Best of Style Tour shopping!

Hands down, the best part of the Dress for Success Style Tour was meeting new people. From Ms. Garr at Savannah G rocking purple streaks in her hair, to Nancy at Talk of the Town proclaiming herself “the happiest broke person you’ll ever meet”, not one person was in it for money. Everyone I encountered just decided to take a risk and do what they love.

The second best part? Finding new places to shop! Oh sure, I’d been to many of the places before the tour started, but I also discovered some new-to-me shops I’ll be stopping by again…And again, and again. Now, this is all based on my personal taste, but there are a few places I’ll be revisiting regularly:

Soho

I’d actually been to Soho before, years ago when it was filled with frilly Betsey Johnson dresses perfect for the Homecoming dance. No mas! Under the new owner, the vibe and the merchandise are much more sophisticated and to me, infinitely more stylish. If you’re wondering what to get me for Christmas, just go here.

The Mustard Seed

I tend to be wary of consignment shops since they often require digging through a lot of undesirables before finding something good, but Mustard Seed‘s small space has one of the best-edited, most organized, cheerfully chic selections I’ve seen. I definitely spotted Marc Jacobs and DVF, and the organized-by-color clothing racks make it easy for us OCD types to get our shop on.

NVISION

If you’ve read more than two posts, it’s pretty obvious that I love vintage. NVISION has a great selection of just about everything, but you’ll want to head to the basement for a truly life-altering experience–there’s an amazing collection of dresses and coats from the ’20s to the ’80s, many from wealthy estates.  I literally gasped out loud several times while reverently pawing through the racks.

Chicken Lays an Egg

I’ve been following co-owner Jessy’s blog for a while, but didn’t manage to make it to Chicken Lays an Egg until I did the Style Tour. Lord only knows why I waited, but it was worth it: the whole shop is filled with the one-of-a-kind items you have to spend hours digging through flea markets and estate sales to find. All of the reward, none of the work!

Arte Nouvelle

Arte used to be on Michigan Ave. across from dearly departed, dearly mourned Suki (excuse me while I pour out a drink for the fashion homies). The merchandise has a bit of a Dorothy Zbornak vibe–which I actually appreciate–and it’s one of the only places in the city to carry Vivienne Westwood.  They also have an incredible selection of scarves, and still I can’t stop thinking about a gorgeously whoosh-y floor-length skirt I wish I could afford.

Order the guide!

You can see the entire Style Tour here, or order a print copy of the shopping guide for handy reference (they’re 25% off thru Dec. 31st!). All profits from the print guide will be donated to Dress for Success Cincinnati.

In addition, I’ll be at the 4th Street Boutique from noon-2 tomorrow dishing out style advice, picking out some of my favorite items, and generally wreaking havoc, so stop by and say hello if you have a chance!