Brands vs Boutiques

     I don’t know about you, but I hate dressing or having the same clothing as someone else. We dress to be unique and have our own sense of style. It reflects who we are and shows off our personality. An outfit can change your mood from having a good day to a great day. I also stand by the motto of “rather to look good than feel good.”  When I am having a bad day I dress in colors, this is actually called dopamine dressing. This stems from the association between brightly coloured clothing and happiness. Finding things that are unique or different from mainstream fashion is getting harder and harder. Everything looks the same or has the same silhouette. Many people are just shopping for fast fashion companies or getting it on Amazon. In my previous article, I give a list of shops that are sustainable and are a great place to shop. Shopping boutiques rather than brands have multipurpose benefits. 

    By shopping boutiques, you are helping out small business and minority-owned businesses. Many of these boutiques have a story also that goes into starting their business, which I find interesting. Boutiques can be found in your town or maybe a town or two over. All you have to do is search on maps or online boutiques near me. My favorite way I find boutiques is when I travel. I think this is a great way to have a souvenir from the place you visited. Then when you wear the garments you bought it is a reminder of your trip. Now sometimes the prices are higher, however you are investing in the clothes and in the business. Another big factor when shopping boutiques is finding cute unique pieces that when you wear them people ask “where did you get that?” since it is different from mainstream fashion. Below I’m sharing with you my favorite boutiques I have shopped from. I encourage you to look around where you’re from to find boutiques to shop at by you. 

Boutiques to Shop
Here is a list of my favorite boutiques all over the US; from New Jersey to Cincinnati.

• Stile by PER LEI https://stilebyperlei.com/
• Dress UP – https://shopdressup.com/
• Kelly and Kate – https://shopkellyandkate.com/
• The Boutique Bar – https://shoptheboutiquebar.com/
• Midnight Lunch https://shopmidnightlunch.com/ 
• Hemline College Station – https://shophemlinecollegestation.com/
• Island Gypsy – https://www.islandgypsies.com/
• Maxwell James https://maxwelljamesjeans.com/ 
• BAKED https://bakedtanning.com/collections/all
• Jagged Edge Boutique https://www.jaggededgeboutique.com/ 

Grant Blvd https://www.grantblvd.com/

• east coast shops
• shop botiques
• support small businesses
• sustainable fashion