"She" is so cute!

This afternoon, I visited LouisBoston (the Hub home of couture fashions, jewelry, home decor, frou frou beauty goodies), and I fell in love. Of course, I love the store's ambiance (uber chic and tres chere), but I this time I was captivated by Nathan Jenden's spring ready-to-wear line.

At it's runway debut, he called the collection "She," and appropriately so. The pieces have typical girly-preppy details like pleats, poufs and bows, but shocks of bright color, jailhouse stripes and over-the-top flourishes make them just a little left of center. He invokes Victorian, Flemenco, and Mayan without anything seeming out of place, or worse, to wacky to wear.

Here are some picks I took in the store, along with runway shots. (Yes, I felt a little weird taking photos, but with chipped polish, a pleather handbag and a grad student budget, I was already an easily-identifiable outsider).

The turquoise-collared dress got belted in on the store's mannequin, and the pleats and seaming of the gray and white striped dress were even better in person. Unfortunately, the dress I really wanted to photograph was nabbed by somebody before I got a shot. A simple, short babydoll shift, it was covered in rosettes and ruffles of sheer ivory. I might have to go visit it again next week...