Strolling in a Winter Wonderland

It's the most wonderful time of the year: the few weeks before the Holiday stroll when we decorate, create our Christmas song playlists, dress the mannequin up like an eskimo and get ready to shovel the steps. We're planning our champagne cocktail, putting the finishing touches on the small bites menu and preparing the invitations. Crush Boutique has transformed into Santa's workshop, and we four little elves have been very busy.

Join us on December 10th from 5pm-9pm to celebrate the holidays with cocktails, carriage rides and carollers. The lighting of the tree at the corner of Mt. Vernon and Charles Streets will take place at 7pm. The Hill House will be offering pictures with Santa Clause from 3:30pm-6:45pm.

Hope to see you there!

How to: Stuff a Stocking with Stylish Supplies

There's nothing I love more than wrapping presents. Some of my favorite days at Crush are when the UPS guy brings a box of tissue paper. It may not sound like much, but opening a box and finding leaf print tissue, or bold red with sparkles, or a Hawaiian floral print, is a blast. Each and every time we wrap something up, it's like giving a present. It really is just so much fun. New wrapping supplies spice up our bags and add to the festive fun of the holiday season. We love picking out the wrapping paper, choosing the bows, and digging out the faux holly berries that will add a special touch. You can imagine then the elation that actually wrapping Christmas presents brings us.

So here we are at the end of November, making our lists, checking them twice and wrapping up treats for those who've been, perhaps a bit naughty, but mostly nice. My personal favorite way to package up parcels is to stuff them Mary-Poppins-bottomless-carpet-bag-style into stockings. An old, but super fun, tradition, stockings possess all of the Christmas traits I adore. There's the soft, velvety red fabric that's reminiscent of Santa's suit. There's the fuzzy white trim that looks like snow. And then: there are the names. In multi-colored glitter glue from the mall (or perhaps a Christmas specialty store) it's a symbol of home. Home is where you hang your hat, it's where you lay your head, it's where you nail your personalized stocking to the mantle.

So how do we stuff a stocking at Crush? Well, we incorporate a lot of little things. Since we're subterranean, we really know how to maximize space...

Some suggestions:
1 Miss Oops Sponge
1 Cosmoholic Lip Gloss (in Rock Red, for a holiday party)
1 Pistachio cocktail ring by Marisa Perry
1 pair of Hollywood Fashion Tape Cover-ups (to conceal how cold it'll be en route to that New Year's Eve party)
1 Avoca scarf (the Perido print ones fold up quite small, it's really quite convenient)... throw in the matching gloves for good measure
1 leather and gold beaded Ettika bracelet and/or 1 Marc Bernstein wrap bracelet
1 Crush candle
1 Sage Fragrances roll on perfume

And if there's room (there are some really big stockings out there), pop in some of these:
An oh so soft Daftbird tee shirt
An Urban Expressions clasped wallet
A feathered headband by Headdress NY
A pair of Fornash stud earrings
A large briolette necklace by local designer Laura Mandell

If you're running low on space because the stand at Downtown Crossing ran out of XL stockings because it's the day before Christmas, these space-savers might help:
A Crush gift certificate
A coupon for a closet cleanse or Private Party at Crush (see website for details)
A convertible bra clip (for all of those racer-back dresses)
A Fornash Jewelry tray to keep all of those precious little pieces organized

Mix and match Crush stocking stuffers for all of those special someones on your list, we'd be happy to help you wrap them up... we haven't gotten to use the faux holly berry trinkets on any gift wrapping job yet this season. Oh, and last but not least, while I have your attention: if anyone, i.e. Laura or Rebecca, happens to ask you: Kara really wants a staple gun for hanging decorations at the store and I wouldn't hate seeing a new keyboard for the store computer under the tree at Crush.

Christmas Comes Early to Crush!

We'll admit, that we say this a lot. In fact, our favorite Facebook status is some variation of "Christmas came early at Crush! New Shoshanna, Ali Ro, Alice + Olivia, etc." We say it in Spring, we say it in Summer, we say it in Autumn, just about any time we get a ton of new stuff (the equivalent of more than five new designers/pieces/boxes) in one day. Hmmm, give me a minute, I'm day dreaming of what Mike may bring tomorrow. For the few of you who don't know, Mike is our handy UPS man. We wait for him with bated breath every day. He usually arrives around noon, so if you stop in frequently, you might keep that in mind.

This isn't about Mike though, nor is it about new stuff. It's about a new look, a new spirit, a new sense of hot pink pride bursting out of our ears that stems from two things: a new website that went live about ten minutes ago, and some recent buildout at the store. We've got a new online look that's bright, bold, and very, very fierce and an in-store nook for shoes, as well as a floor to ceiling denim unit that's now organized by style. It's never been easier to find your second skin at Crush. We're so happy we won't ask Santa for anything now... well, maybe.

Shopcrushboutique.com has been revamped for easy web browsing. It's now more fun than ever to keep up on recent Crush press, our picks of the week and the shopping services we offer.

In store, we're curling up on the couch with shoes from Miz Mooz and Madden Girl that we've pulled off our new lily pad shelving. Also adorning our “soleful” corner, another mannequin ready to rock holiday party dresses for our favorite season. Pop over to the other side of the couch to cozy up in our new denim corner... we'll be there soaking it all up like sun on a summer day.

We'd like to take the opportunity to thank Tom Foisset, our contractor, and Ani Avanian, our web designer, for their diligent work and their talent in understanding Crush, what it means to us, and what we think it means to you. They were able to creatively express Crush perfectly, and for that we're very grateful.

Additionally though, I want to congratulate on these new successes two incredibly talented women who deserve endless accolades for all that they do. Together Laura and Rebecca set out to start their own business at only 24-years-old and have done a phenomenal job of cultivating a boutique and a brand that we’ve all come to know and love. Updates to the store and site display their vast array of talents and dedication. They should be very proud of themselves.

Head to www.shopcrushboutique.com to ring in our new site!

There's been a dress for every fairy tale ending...

Once upon a time, a beautiful maiden had a [insert your last minute event here] to attend. While she had a closet full of beautiful dresses, she didn’t quite want to wear any of them. The beautiful maiden scurried about the city searching for the perfect piece. Finally, she stumbled upon a hidden palace… sunk below the ground in an old brick building, painted cream and pink and black inside. In awe, but still stressing, she hunted about, until one sweet sales girl found her the perfect dress in which to go out…

The rest, as they say, is history… but history tends to repeat itself. The reality is: we’ve all been there. We’ve gotten desperate, we’ve worried we won’t find anything. We’ve struggled for the perfect fit, color or cut. Fortunately, over the past couple of years the hangers at Crush have come to our rescue. While our current personal favorites include a pink Tracy Reese, a sequined Alice + Olivia and a lace under-layer Madison Marcus, we tend to say: “What is cuter than this?” each time that a new piece arrives.

No doubt then, you’ve established your own Crush favorites over time, which is why we’d like to invite you to share those with us. It’s a little project I’ve been brainstorming since May that we shall henceforth call, “The Crush Hall of Fame.” Our Hall of Fame will appear on the blog, and also in-store in the form of a scrapbook. We have a lot of books, it’s likely your husbands and boyfriends who hang out on the couch have read them all, but none that share our history, and you… and the dresses you’ve worn, are that history.

Sure, I could pull the pictures from the online store or scan the past two-and-a-half years of purchase orders, but what would be the fun in that? We cherish the memories we’ve made in the store, dressing you, dressing ourselves, and swapping stories about our lives. We’d like you to be able to do the same…

Please e-mail your Hall of Fame pictures, why you loved the dress, and what you wore it to, to Laura@shopcrushboutique.com or Rebecca@shopcrushboutique.com so that we may compile them to go down in history as the most beloved Crush pieces of all time!

Thanks girls!

Brianne

Halloween puts the biggest smiles on the smallest of faces <3

Every year, Halloween is a pretty big deal at Crush. The candy, the cider, the costumes, and the festive spirit that encompasses all of Charles Street… we love it all. Hands down though, the best part is the trick-or-treaters. While many of you shared plans for costumes that we’d never have come up with, there’s one very small crushette whose costume really stole our hearts.

Emma is our youngest customer, by far. She’s also our shortest, our silliest, and the one who spends the most time remerchandising. At five-years-old, Emma totes her nanny (our good friend and former Crush employee, Laura) and her backpack into Crush on a daily basis. On the rare occasion that Laura isn’t by her side, Emma visits Crush with either her mom or grandma.

Clad in her navy blue school uniform jumper, pink striped tights and a baseball cap, Emma brings a smile into the store each time she drops in, and always, always, always models the new accessories for us.

She came to our Trick-or-Treat event, she helped unwrap the new fall tissue paper, and just the other day, Emma dropped in to show off her Little Mermaid costume for a Halloween party. Laura gussied her up with the Rockstar Red Cosmoholic lipgloss, and Kara and I pulled together a little Crush Trick-or-Treat bag, complete with ribbons and sparkly seaweed.

See our littlest Crushette steal the spotlight each afternoon at Crush.
<3

A Crush Cure-all

When you have a cold home remedies do wonders, if only because they make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Crush’s Novemberrrrrr Cure for the Cold and Common Cold will make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the outside…
Combine parts:
30% Cashmere
70% Wool
One gold chain
2 patch pockets

Stir until you’ve reached desired consistency.
Walk home.
Remove from Crush bag.
Wrap sweater around you.

In a separate cup:
Add one tea bag to hot [not boiling] water
Add three drops of honey, and enjoy! [optional]

Denim: Destructed, Destroyed... It's Delightful, Delicious, Delovely

If you were around in June, then you probably remember when the Paige Premium Denim Jimmy Faith boyfriend jeans came in. You likely recall that they were scary at first... but that the way they lit up Laura's face was like a kid in a candy store and that you tried them on because she insisted. They looked good. Destroyed denim may not have looked so good since you alternated between Kurt-Cobain-esque jeans and Amy Byer dresses... but there you were, standing in he mirror with a fitted white tee, blazer and super sexy heels. Destructed denim was downright sexy again, and soon, a pair of Red Engines in a light wash sliced denim soared into our hearts.

Fast forward to this afternoon: the JBrand destroyed skinnies, the dark cadet blue wash JBrands and the Paige destroyed pencil legs are in... they ALL arrived today in fact. By the time I sauntered in between classes at 4:30pm, Kara already had them on and Laura was bustling about merchandising them like it was her job...

The JBrand dark vintage wash with a 12inch leg opening is always flattering, but with a bit of destruction, they're edgier than ever. Pair with a black boyfriend blazer and white tee shirt, then polish off with long necklaces and knee-high boots.

The JBrand midrise straight leg in the tyro wash feature a 16inch leg opening that falls perfectly over sky high pumps, and go from work to play with a silk blouse or fitted sweater.

The Paige destroyed skinnies offer their signature Peg leg cut in the Rebel wash. Ballet flats and a bomber jacket, anyone? Or maybe a black cashmere sweater and bold Avoca scarf.

Fierce meets feminine this season and the leather and lace trend has worked it's way into denim too. We love the super tight fit in really dark washes, there's nothing more flattering... but add some pizazz with some slicing and dicing here and there and you're the bees [exposed by ripped jeans] knees in no time.

Love it? We sure do.