THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, Jonuory
A TTOUR OF SMALL SHOPS
On the economic boom and the rise of boutiq
By NOELE NISHIMOTO occur here at a slower pace. Chris
The dominant life-styles of, the Darwall, buyer for Wild Flower,
last decade were set by youths and says, "People accept the way you;
adult admirers w h o rebelled dress. It's a good place for fash-
against an oversystematized so- ion because there can be so many
ciety. Resisting the rationalism different looks."
that destroys spontaneity and in- Miss Darwall sees fashion be-
dividuality, they urged the unin- ing released from the restriction
hibited release of emotion - a of seasonal labels, with bright,
catharsis in search of identity. "summer" colors and fabrics be-
The fashion world was not imr-ing worn throughout the year.
mune to their ideas. After years "Our colors come from Cali-
of building larger and larger fornia," says Cynthia Liddell, co-
stores to accommodate a growing owner of Plaster of Paris. "They're
market, retailers began to reverse not seasonable. This is the age of
their course and ri o v e toward central heating, so acetates and'
boutiques. Their reasoning be- rayon sell. just as well in winter
came "the bigger the market, the as in summer."
smaller .the shops." Lisa Smith, manager of Mary;
mlruthe shops. uy Am -Dibble, foresees the quick accept-
Ruth Reich, abuyer for A an- ance of nylon and polyesterI
da Feswick, attributes the growtht dresses,
of bautiques to the money that's Although clothing is the com-
was available in the late '60's and modity usually associated with a
to the sacial movements of that boutique, the small shops in Ann
time. She says, "Banks were lend- 'Arbor offer a variety of merchan-
ing more money, so people. were ,dice. E a ch boutique creates its
a b 1 e to go into businesses for s . a e nnheru thru a nhvuina
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the sudden brightness as she parts
the curtains into the yellow room,
Miss Darwall comments, "We
wanted people to feel happy and
warm. You walk down a dark hall-
way into light. Even our name is
significant. W i 1 d Flower - do
things wildly, differently."
The Medina Shop specializes .in
Afro-products, including clothing,
acessories, statues and fabrics.
Their art objects, hand-crafted in
Africa, Haiti and Mexico, are fre-
quently used by members of the
University faculty in their courses,
The patient browser is sure to find
something desirable among the
Moroccan and Polish spreads,
sheepskins, fur rugs, Indian cot-
ton prints, wool challis from Ecua-
dor and African musical instru-
ments. This boutique also has pro-
ducts which were locally made,
such as macrame earrings, paper
flowers and pottery tea sets. "The.
Median Shop's emphasis on exotic
imports answered a need in the
her designs remains the same each r
year, the colors change.
Dating from 1959, each style she
created has a story behind it. For
example, the first dress Miss Piha
designed is .called "village road."
It consists of a tiny pattern in
narrow stripes that meet a broad
brown border at the dress's hem,
She interprets this as the houses
of a community converging at the
main road. The colors are dull,
reflecting a peasant-like mood.
Unlike other boutiques, Ortho-
gonality does not plan on having
any clearance sales. Although they
did have a promotional asale be-
fore Christmas-a 10 per cent dis-
count on dresses-Humphrey calls
it a "gesture" of the season's
spirit. He says, "We are not suc-
cessful in terms of money, but we
are in what we are trying to do.
We are interested in the best de-
signs being represented."
Quality in merchandise is evi-
dent not only at Orthogonality but
at the other boutiques, to .
Amanda Fenwick stocks imported
shoes, particularly the Italian
brands because the leather is good
and the shoes are sturdily made.
Matching the quality are their
moderate prices (20-21}. "Para-
phenalia tries for the best possible
clothes at prices students can af-
ford," says{ Miss Moorhead. "For
example, our crocheted vests are
$28 but they're made with yarn
whose quality is excellent."
"Wild Flower attempts to find
manufacturers who make clothes
of Paraphenalia's quality but at
a very low cost,"'explains Miss
Larwall. "Sometimes we succeed."
What of the future of the bouti-
que? Miss Moorhead is firm in
I her belief that "as long as people
l strive to be as human as possibly,
the boutique will have its place.'
-Daily-
Some clothes look good on people .
AITER-1NV E NTORY
NYLON PANTY HOSE $
3 colors--petite only 5
WOOL HATS and SCARVES.- up to %1
NY LON TRICOT NIGHT GOWNS ....
$3.99 and $
DRESSES and SH IFTS u.. .
NY LON KN IT TOPS ..... . .... $
Assorted colors-sizes S, M1 and L
PR INTED COTTON SLACKS .... .. $3
NYLON PANTI ES.... .....2 for $1
BIK INI PANT I ES. . . .
Open Mon. Nite 500 E
tt 9:QQ Phone
$1
Ricliard Lee themselves. The hippie movement 'l ' community fr SuchlproaUCts,"
was a strong force for individu- Earrangements "and through itssays Rose Hochman, mnanager.
was stongfore fr idivdu-merchandise. "Mary Dibble," say s !"Some people think of us as a
ality, for doing your own thing. Miss Smith, gears itself for the museum," she adds with a wry
Kids had money of their own." young at heart. The Ann Arborm
-! . Increasingly, people w e r e re- woman should never be afraid to smile.
acting against the bigness of their try things. Our clothes project the Although it also offers imported
society; boutiques answered their casual total look." The boutique's merchandise, Orthogonality is very
desires for personality, individu-|demure setting creates a softly much. in contrast to the Medina
ality in fashion tastes. tailored mood in combination with Shop. Dale Cope, salesgirl at Or-
"I hated big stores," declares the forward-looking clothes of the thogonality, explains their ap-
4 Ann Moorhead, manager of Para- fashion-conscious woman. proach. "There are a lot of design-
phenalia. "Boutiques a r e small, .;oriented people in Ann Qrbor. Our
.99 with a friendly atmosphere. They Paraphenai a, on t h e other shop is tailored to the average
don't give you computer-type ser- han aim f e ldiversi person desiring a Sraft-oriented
of Ice o'entjs ie n flowing look. The w'alls of huge '
vice; you re not just given a num- black-and-white checks the plex- accessory. Orthogonality is the,
ber and thrust in t o a dress iglass-covered counter and table, state or condition of being at
sh -op; o ehlpdi ml photographer's lights, the stereo r ieht angles. We interpret this to
i daos there's an exchange of mi a hep o placethe s ean acorrect approach to
1.99 Boutiques also offer the advan- tomer into a sense of movement, design."I
of "fun and action," in the words The boutique's imports consists
tage of easier shopping. Items are of one, of Paraphenalia's sales- of marimekko hand silkscreened
O displayed in 'one or two dorm- txtlsfo FianGbnei
sized rooms where a customer can girls.
browse at her leisure. Plaster of Paris gears itself to ceramics from Italy and the ere-
The quantity of merchandise is the pursuit of the unique in ations of Annika Piha olari
limited because of space, but more elothes. The shop's setting -- two digital clocks, chrome steel vases,
.99 significant than this is the at- huge circular racks extended from luxo lamps and plastic picture
3.94 sinifcantthanthi is he a- 'frames are also in stock. The cus-
tempt- by retailers to avoid the the ceiling and an oblong case famererevs inest ely.thes
I .00 feeling of mass production. Wild containing flickering beams _ tomer perceives Immediately the
Flower purchases at least three adds to the tone created by the mrnplicity in setting and color of
I .99 units of a style but not more than clothes. Miss Liddell categorizes the boutique. There is no harsh
five while Paraphenalla usually their products as "wild, b u t conglomeration of lines and no
orders one piece of each s i z e. they're not high fashion like Har- mixture of hues; rather, pure
Small quantities are al'o due to per's Bazaar. That's too far- out colors (black, white yellow and
Smallqusnttiesred) and unobtrusive lines com-
the rapid turnover in sto k. Buy- for us."' pethe ,physias ns om-
ers visit New York and Chicago Amanda Fenwick specializes in pose the physical aspects of the
Sseveral times a year and ianu- leather goods, from casual, im- shoe. Owner Gene Humphrey ex-
facturers' representatives come to ported shoes made in Italy, Swe- plains it this way: "Orthogonality
Ann Arbor throughout the year to den, and France to hand-crafted is a design shop: it is not a bouti-
show their products, pocketbooks by local artists. They que in the conventional way. Like
y Perhaps, because of its univer- also carry heavy metallic jewelry other 'stores we are product-orient-
sity community, Ann Arbor does as well as an assortment of boots ed in terms of dresses and ap-
S 2 not restrict itself to the fads and and a few pieces of clothing. The nuances, but there is a certain
fashions popular in eastern cities boutique blends wood, leather and kind "of design characteristic of
-at any one time; rather, changes .plastic in its decor, creating a all our products. They are expen-
r_.___--- - - naturalistic feeling of raw ele- sive if you look at them from the
ments and finished products. At point of fashion. For example, our
the doorway there are two huge cotton dresses are simple in style,
tree branches adorned with shoes so their prices would be consider-
and handbags. Large c u b e s of ed high. Yet, technically and
plastic contain shoes, while other graphically they are practical
leather goods are placed on works of art."
wooden cubes. The creations of Anika Piha,
The unwary customer walking acknowledged as one of the ten
through Wild Flower's black hall- best desianers in the world, are not
way, very conscious of the flour- fashion dresses, according to Hum-
\ escent wall painting of gigantic nhrey. Rather, she aims for form
- creeping wild flowers, is struck by and color, and though the cut of
,,. - *
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On some dangers of being
a too earnest psychiatrist.
. Libertp
761-62
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