Violet Boutique, Shopping Local & My Precious

Me making my "I am a cyborg. Look at my ninja cyborg shirt" face.


Julie Egermayer, owner of Violet Boutique


 Ashley Clausnitzer, dancer/model/PR maven







After having only just met Julie, owner of Violet Boutique in Adams Morgan, I love her. How can you not love an owner who stands on the sales counter to tearfully welcome and thank her customers?

My friend Ashley brought me to this shindig last week, and I am so glad she did! We had so much fun sipping very strong (but delicious) punch, trying on (and buying) the on-trend sequined, silky and sparkly dresses that Julie puts together for her store.

In fact, this local girl also stocks local designers. I especially loved the impeccably hand-stitched make-up bags above, and I know that Julie also stocks super stylin' clutches by Love, Cortnie. They're the perfect gift to give a friend or use as a Secret Santa present, especially if you fill them with fun surprises like nail polish or jewelry.

If you haven't yet checked out Violet Boutique or Love, Cortnie handbags, now is the time, people! You can support a local business while you're doing your holiday shopping.

If you're not from the DC area, see if you can focus on your favorite local stores and skip the big chains in your town for a few people on your gift list. You might be surprised at what you find!

And finally, one last shot of my precious...aka, the clutch given to me by my new friend from Libya that I met on a cruise down the Nile in Egypt. You know, as one does.

I'm sure you'll be seeing plenty more of the Precious in future posts, don't you worry.

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Vine.com Launches, But Fashion-lovers Shouldn't Get Too Excited (Yet)

Vine.com is a new eco-commerce site owned by Amazon and catering to us fair-minded folk. In fact, their qualifications for product inclusion are similar to those here at Fair Vanity.  Like Amazon, they carry much more than just apparel, offering everything from beauty products to pet food to sports equipment.

You can read the full details of what types of products they carry and why on Vine.com, but essentially, products must be:

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Tuesday Trend: Localism

When you travel to another city, it's easy to gravitate towards what's familiar-- a Cheesecake Factory dinner here, a coffee from Starbucks there. But the truly memorable experiences often come when we step out of our comfort zones and into the magic of local fare.

I used to travel frequently for work, and in each city, I would try to find at least one local restuarant, vintage shop or coffee bar to check out while I was there. In all my travels, I have to say there is nowhere easier to do this than in Portland, ME. As I mentioned earlier this week, the downtown area of Portland has only one chain retail store and very few chain restaurants, so this is possibly the easiest local city guide/review I have ever assembled. Come with me over the jump to learn of this lovely land of ports.

Back to School Shoes {Fair Tots}