One of my favorite things to do this summer has been walking up and down Mississippi – grabbing some 50 Licks ice cream or Divine frozen yogurt or a Ruby Jewel ice cream sandwich on my way – and window shopping the clothing boutiques and antique furniture stores. I rarely go into the shops, however, assuming the clothing would be too small and too expensive for me.
Yesterday, Mamacita visited and dragged me into Zahara, a shop I’d admired a few times but never been inside. I had been in Gypsy Chic, it’s sister store, and didn’t fit into anything they had, so I wasn’t hopeful about Zahara either.
It turns out Zahara is the younger, curvier, sister of the two, just like I am.
The super-friendly saleslady grabbed 12 different outfits for me to try on, some of which were even too big for me – something my size 18 body rarely sees in a boutique store – but most of which fit fabulously. Being on a tight budget, I was happy to see everything was 10-40% off for a Labor Day weekend sale and I got this adorable dress for only $42, which is a steal for a well-made, one-of-a-kind local designer dress like this:
I've been looking for a brown dress to match my boots for awhile.
Here are some other outfits of Zahara and Gypsy Chic that I loved as well (photos from their tumblr and Facebook pages):
Love the one shoulder look and the color.
Both stores sell accessories as well.
I tried this on but didn't look this good in it.
These two gals in the front were the super friendly store clerks when I was there.
According to their store,
“besides carrying the standard small, medium. and large we also carry Curvy Couture sizes, 1,2, & 3.
size 1 = Approx. 8-12
size 2 = Approx. 12-14
size 3 = Approx 14 & up”
If you’re in Portland, make your way to Gypsy or Zahara, all of their stuff is adorable. If you’re not in Portland, fear not! They’re opening an online store in Fall and I’ll let you know when it goes online.
