House of Cramel

Today I'm going to do something a little different. Sometimes the greatest finds are right at your fingertips! While looking through some of my favorite blogs I ran across a link to this site called Celebboutique.com. This site takes the looks of your favorite fashion foward celebrities and finds designers that create fashions that are inspired by them. I use the term inspired loosely as these clothes and accessories pretty much imitate them. But lets be clear, these are "inspirations" not "fabrications". CelebBoutique.com does not claim to sell the real thing for unbelievable prices. CelebBoutique aims to provide clothes, shoes, and accessories that align with the looks of your favorite stars like Beyonce', Kim Kardashian, Victoria Beckham, and others. What I really like about CelebBoutique is that you can shop their products by "celebrity".

Once you click on your celebrity of choice, the site puts together a collection of clothing, accessories, and shoes that are inspired by the looks that particular celebrity has worn. One of my personal favorites is the hooded glitter dress pictured above. That dress is inspired by a dress created by designer Brian Lichtenberg. I love him and WILL own a dress of his one day :-) Have I shopped with CelebBoutique yet? No. But I'm open to the idea of it and I do like the concept. So visit www.CelebBoutique.com, let me know what you think!

Okay, don't be alarmed! I know some of you are like "Where are you taking us??" But have no fear, there is fabulosity here! I do have preferences but I also have an open mind. If you want to find one of a kind pieces you have to visit one of a kind places! Junkman's Daughter is definitely one of a kind. Self proclaimed as "Atlanta's Alternative Superstore", Junkman's Daughter definitely stands up to its name. You'll find all kinds of things here, everything from costumes, gag gifts, and some rather interesting home decor items. Aside from all that, there are also clothes, shoes, and accessories. And believe it or not, styled the right way, a lot of it is very cute! Look at these items I spotted.

Not convinced? Well let me show you the real treasure at the Junkman's Daughter. Right after you pass this:

You go up the stairs and you will find yourself in somewhat of a shoe heaven (literally because its at the top of the store). If you want a unique, one of a kind shoe visit Junkman's Daughter. Be brave enough to walk in and you'll be glad you did because your probably walking out with something no one in your circle has. They also have a great selection of what I like to call "stripper" shoes, military boots, and other interesting footwear.

Junkman's Daughter was actually started by a real junkman's daughter. Her name is Pam Majors. Believe it or not she started this store back in 1982 with an accumulation of her own parents "junk". Majors store has attracted the likes of celebrities like Bono, Betsy Johnson, Usher, Lenny Kravitz, OutKast, Cee Lo Green and more! So dare yourself, in the name of FASHION, to visit the Junkman's Daughter! It located in Little Five Points of Atlanta. Exact address is 464 Moreland Ave Atlanta, GA 30307. There is also another store in Athen, GA affectionately named the Junkman's Daughter's Brother. You may also visit the website for more info at www.thejunkmansdaughter.com .

(I forgot to mention I discovered after I got upstairs that I wasn't suppose to take pictures for fear of negative press on the internet. So Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but I do this for my BOUTIQUE FREAKS!! Enjoy! XOXO!)

Alright BFs (Boutique Freaks) I've got to admit I was a little off my "picture taking" game ( it's not photography because I'm HARDLY a photographer!). But I'm going to post the pictures I did take anyway. I was actually very distracted by 1) the chandelier 2) the clothes and 3) the young lady that helped my friend and I. The picture of this beautiful chandelier is in Bill Hallman Flaunt at Little Five Points in Atlanta. Chandeliers and boutiques just go together, but I digress! Bill Hallman has three boutiques in Atlanta that sell Women's and Men's Apparel and Accessories. However this particular location only sold items for women. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience there. The sales associate greeted my friend and I when we walked in. The minute she heard us gawking over some of the dresses she offered us a fitting room to began trying on the clothes. So it was only natural that I tried on a couple things :-) I like Bill Hallman because the merchandise flows with today's trends, but at the same time they've chosen pieces that can still be worn from one year to the next. They seem to focus on not just what hot for today, but rather just on what's hot! Period! You can find some of the latest designer collections here as well as Bill Hallman's own collection. Here's a quick shot I took of some necklaces I liked. I really like the woven chains on the right!

As we were about to leave my friend was suddenly "shoe struck" by a pair of some of the hottest wedges we'd seen this summer! Needless to say she snatched them right off the mannequin! Aren't they cute?

Like I stated earlier, Bill Hallman has three locations. There's, of course, Bill Hallman Flaunt in Little Five Points, Bill Hallman Original in Virginia Highland,and Bill Hallman Studio in Buckhead. For specific addresses to these locations you can visit http://www.billhallman.com , you can also shop there! But I recommend you go in the store!  You can look forward to great clothes(in design and quality), pretty reasonable prices, and great service (you know I love great service!). So stop by Bill Hallman, tell them Boutique Freak sent you!

So as you guys know I just did the post of La Bella Vie. I was actually gutsy enough to share the post with the owner Jason Scott via twitter. Well when I went back into my page and clicked on my mentions I found this:

I actually teared up! (Yes I am very sensitive) Like I said in my earlier post, I really do value great guest service and this small gesture of a reply on twitter speaks volumes. Also, as I stated in the earlier post about La Bella Vie, I will be revisiting the store. I'm sure I'll have great news for all my Boutique Freaks and as well as a haute new fashion find, stay tuned :-)

I really wish this was a more positive post...but its not. A friend and I were shopping in the growing art district of the Castleberry Hills area of Atlanta. We decided to go into La Bella Vie Boutique. Upon entering this establishment, I saw the Sales Associate seated behind the checkout counter. I don't know what he was doing behind the counter but whatever it was must have been important because he didn't take a second to greet me or my friend when we came in. We were the only customers in the store. So my friend and I looked around on our own. The clothes were actually very very beautiful, and the visual merchandising was on point as well. I can alway appreciate great visual merchandising. But I was so underwhelmed by the "customer service " I was receiving that it put a damper on my entire experience. The sad part is the store is so nice, they had an awesome shoe display wall, there is even a table of custom made accessories by the owner, Jason Loren Scott.

I am very critical of customer service, or what I like to refer to as "guest service", especially in specialized establishments. In my opinion, in a boutique great guest service should be a given. Your level of service could be the difference in you making not just a sale, but in converting a guest or customer into YOUR CLIENT! Let me step off my soap box, as I continued to look through the racks I found a damaged piece I called the associate over to let him know. It wasn't until then that I knew he could talk! He happily took the merchandise of the floor, but sadly thats the only interaction we had. A couple minutes later a group of people came in. They must have been friends with the associate because he spoke to them and one of them sat comfortably in a seat near the accessories table. This actually made me uncomfortable because I was looking at the accessories and I felt the person in the chair looking at me.....I sincerely hope this isn't the case all the time at La Bella Vie, they've been open since 2010 so they have to be doing something right over there. La Bella Vie Boutique does have a website, you can visit them at www.labellavieboutique.net . They also have tumbler, facebook fan page, and twitter accounts. If you'd like to visit, you can find them at 309 Peters Street  SW Atlanta, GA 30313. Hopefully you'll have a better experience than I did. I do plan to visit again and hopefully get a better guest experience. And when I do, I will happily post again with better news. Until then, go down to La Bella Vie Boutique and see for yourselves! Let me know how your experience was. Jason Scott, I know you have to be fabulous because your store is beautiful, but talk to whoever is running your store when your not there!