RETAIL THERAPY
Popular myth aside, New Jersey's designer boutiques offer the same degree of couture salve found on Madison Avenue--but without all that hassle, expense and horn-honking.
By Cordelia Lear.
Shopping as therapy is not a joke. Its link to the core of ancient female instinct-a woman's need to gather-makes it an involuntary act of comfort in times of emotional need. When a girl's gotta have it, she's gonna get it.
Ever since days when cave girls' noses guided them the fertile hunting grounds, women have honed their ability to find trees hanging rich with fruit, Tough the world has changed considerably since the lassies went out hunting clad in deerskin, women, fundamentally, have not. The joy of find bounty, especially in unlikely places, remains life aaffirming. Whether for food or Giuseppe Zanotti's sandals, women hunt and gather because it feels good on a primal level. It's therapeutic.
| For too long, the women of New Jersey have
traveled to Manhattan for serious retail therapy. While thinking it's okay
to buy a pair of running shoes out here, most women believe they must
visit New York's avenues of Fifth, Madison and Park (with jaunts to
Lafayette or Nolita) for a major fix. This is not true.
The idea that New Jersey has no cool clothes is a myth perpetuated by retail therapy junkies who refuse to share the solace of New Jersey's chicest boutiques with fellow women in need. Eager to protect the pleasant crowd-free atmosphere of couture shopping in New Jersey, selfish fashionistas describe our state as a wardrobe wasteland. Let me be the first to tell you otherwise. New Jersey offers the kind of emotional rescue provided by the likes of Calvin Klein. And I'm not talking about the picked-over remains of his 1984 collection, as one might unearth in a discount mall in Flemington or Paramus. I'm talking about his brand-spanking-new, toe-to-tip-of-head kickin' white pantsuit, crisp as a new envelope, a la Bianca Jagger, circa Studio 54, as seen on the catwalks this year. But you have to know where to go. |
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True, there are no broad boulevards of glass fronted, glittering shops in New Jersey. However, the state does have rich oases of fashion. It just means a little driving. But, what's 45 minutes in the car when the journey leads you to Chloe's spring line? Any inconvenience is compensated for by the advantages of shopping here, such as: rockstar (even valet) parking; lovely spacious boutiques and dressing rooms; clothes in your size; and hands-on help from a staff who tells you, genuinely, how something looks, without sneering. (Everybody gets their own nice sales person.) Most importantly, the staff takes careful note of who buys what dress for which function, thus avoiding the embarrassing scenario of having you encounter your doppelganger face-to-face over the hors d'oeuvres tray. And, there's the issue of no sale tax on clothing in New Jersey. Which is a big deal, when you're buying a $4,000 dress.
Many of these boutiques offer total fashion solutions, from couture to accessories, baubles to shoes. Coco Pari, for example, shares the floor with Wisteria (a cosmetics and fragrance boutique stocked with Laura Mercier, Kiehl's, Nars, Bliss, Fresh, Bloom and Creed). The
couture heaven known as Gito's has an understanding with local shoe shops-they'll rush over the perfect ice-pick heels for your new Ungaro gown. And their in-store make-up artist perfectly renders your face to match your outfit.
For those who still doubt that shopping in New Jersey is therapeutic, consider this: Many of these boutiques continue to ship entire wardrobes to their loyal clientele, even after those clients have relocated to places like Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and, even, Manhattan. See page 30 for haute New Jersey boutiques.
Re-printed with permission from New Jersey Life Volume 4 No. 2, April 2002.