House of Cramel

On the eve of Easter I was so graciously accepted by my hair stylist for a much needed hair appointment at Keka's Hair Boutique ( follow her on twitter @KekaHairMUA I love her!!) During a conversation about my desire to open my own boutique, she told me her sister had a boutique right upstairs. So you know I had to check it out for all my boutique freaks!! Sherane's Vintage Closet sells, you guessed it, vintage fashions for males and females but mostly females. Sherane Heron is the owner, she was onsite the day of my visit. She was very sweet and hospitable. She offered me a snack and beverage as I shopped (food always warms my heart!).

Sherane's reminds me of a big lofty closet, well that is pretty much what it is. But its pretty great, there are about five racks of one of kind vintage clothing, a corner of hot vintage hats and purses, and this wonderful vanity that I was drawn too full of beautifully handmade hair accessories.

Top Three things that differentiates Sherane's Vintage Closet from not just other vintage boutiques but other boutiques period: 1) She has an in house seamstress that does custom alterations on site! 2) Sherane's only sells one of each item 3) A portion of all proceeds from Sherane's Vintage Closet goes to the To Be Free Campaign, an anti-human trafficking campaign

Sherane's Vintage Closet is located at 1016 Howell Mill Road Suite 3207 (10th street entrance) Atlanta, GA 30318, while your there make sure you book an appointment with Keka at Keka's Hair Boutique! You can also visit Sherane's online at www.sheranesvintagecloset.com 
for online shopping and updates on the boutique. Oh yea, they feed you on Saturdays!!! So if your looking for that one of kind piece, check out Sherane's Vintage Closet. Tell them Boutique Freak sent you!

Note: This is not for you freak foot fetish folks. I'm not judging, but this is strictly or fashion purposes only!!! LOL!!

So I'm doing my rounds on the internet to some of my favorite sites and blogs I ran across something really interesting on the HighSnobette blog site and I ran across an article about Heel Condoms. Of course I was like "What is a Heel Condom?? What is the world coming too?" and I read further and I saw a picture much like the one above and smiled at this GENIUS!!

As described on the Heel Condoms website, Heel Condoms are  "condom-like covers that let you play dress up with your shoes. These fit any stiletto type heels ranging from 2-5 inches". Heel Condoms are the brain child of 23 year old Sandrysabel Ortiz. The idea was born from a moment when she couldn't fit all the shoes she wanted to travel with in her suitcase.

Heel Condoms come in all sorts of designs: Ruffles, Studs, Feathers, and all kinds of other design patterns. Heel Condoms range between $20 and $40. They can be purchased on the website or at the limited amount of stores listed on the site. The only US physical location I saw was in Califonia at a store called Agana World. I recommend that you order straight from the website, they ship international as well. Heel Condoms get 5 pumps from me. Heel Condoms caught my attention and seems to be a really great product. I do plan to purchase and when I do I will definately show them off to my Boutique Freakers!! Heel Condoms gives you the power not only to pack light, protect the heels of your shoes, reinvent your shoes, and appear "Avant-Garde" without breaking the bank!! Check out The Heel Condom's facebook and twitter pages for updates on the latest details and designs!

The definition of Bou-tique: (boo-teek) any small business offering customized service. So you see, it doesn't always have to be clothes, shoes, and such. As long as the business specializes in something and does it FABULOUSLY, its a boutique to Boutique Freak. So now I bring you Camicakes, a little piece of heaven or a small corner of paradise you might say. I found this place tucked in a shopping center in Buckhead. Camicakes is a boutique bakery that specializes in gourmet cupcakes. CamiCakes is the brainchild of Andra Hall and named her business after her daughter Camille. There are a variety of cupcakes but pictured below are you main players.

I had the pleasure of having the Classic Cami, the Lemon Drop, and the Sweet Potato Cupcakes! And all I can say is YUM! LOL!

When I walked in the place was so cute and the cupcake presentation was great. The line was full of women, women with one thought on there mind. And then it happened, one woman started talking about the cupcakes she came to get after thinking it was out of stock and conversation started. To hear all these women talking about the flavors they loved and the excuses they used to come and buy these little guilty pleasures just made me excited. I'm so glad I wasn't let down.

Camicakes has three exclusive location: Tinseltown, FL - Orange Park, FL - and Buckhead, GA. Camicakes gets 5 pumps up from me :-) I love the shop, I love the cakes, and I actually really enjoyed the experience of buying my cupcakes. They were definately worth $2.50 each. Visit www.camicakes.com for more info or find their facebook and twitter pages.Now I have been told by one of my Facebook friends there is some "CupCake Competition" out there so look foward for more on cupcakes!

I was in the West Village area in Smryna and while I noticed Plush Boutique was now closed I also noticed a new comer to the area. The "Plus Size" sign in the window is what got my attention. So I took a little visit for my Boutique Freaks! This boutique is called Heavy Chevy & Lucy Lou's (reminds you a the title of a Big Boi album right?) As I walked in the first thing that I noticed were all the colors everywhere. There was a variety of everything from what I can remember. What caught me off guard was the lack of interest by the salesperson that someone had just walked in. I looked around at clothes and the very attractive boutique and tried to figure out how everything was organized...but I couldn't. I didn't know if these clothes came from previous owners, whether it was a special vintage shop, so I just asked. I asked the young stylish fellow if this was a vintage boutique and he said no, but the owner does sell vintage. He didn't volunteer any other information, but I did ask him if the owner was here and he informed me she was not.

I took this really nice flyer with me with the hopes of being able to find out more information on this new boutique, but after a couple of attempts at trying to visit, I kept being led to some other site that had nothing to do with the store. They do have a facebook page, but at this time it isn't that informative. I'm not going to rate this boutique because everything seems to still be in infancy. I do plan to go back and I will give you guys an updated posts. What I will tell you is that there is a wide variety of clothing there for men and women, and they also have plus size clothing avaiblable (for my thicker than a snicker chicks lol, love you guys muah!) In the mean time you an visit Heavy Chevy & Lucy Lou's for yourselves at 4500 West Village Place, suite 4015, Smyrna, GA 30080, same area as Kandi's TAGS boutique. Tell me what you think!

Okay well, while iKandie Clothing boutique is hardly the last store standing in the East Atlanta Village, it is one of the last boutiques, its neighbor House of Bling recently emptied its racks and closed its doors. One would think there was a curse on trendy boutiques that settle into the eccentric community of East Atlanta Village. While restautants like the Graveyard Tavern, the East Atlanta Restaurant and Lounge (affectionately refered to as The EARL), and Grant Central Pizza have had great success in the East Atlanta Village, most boutiques such as the trendy children's boutique Blah Blah Boutique and House of Bling haven't had the same luck. Perhaps the secret lies in the real estate. iKandie boutique has been arround for atleast 2 to 3 years, could be more, but before iKandie made its debut, that very same space was that of Pieces of Adrene. Pieces of Adrene was the most successful boutique I'd seen in East Atlanta and probably stayed around the longest. Adrene moved her boutique over the Castleberry Hills area in Atlanta in a larger space and in an area she felt was her market. Then along came iKandie! iKandie does live up to its name. No particular labels sold in the store but the clothes are fabolous just the same. The prices are really affordable, most of the pieces are unique and under $100 and the accessories are under $25. Watch the window for sales as well, iKandie just recently had a sale for 50% off all the clothing store! Can't beat that! I give iKandie boutique an over 4 pumps up! Great prices, great mix of cloting and accessories, and pretty good customer service. Love that combo! Visit iKandie Boutique at 493-A Flat Shoals Ave Atlanta, GA 30316