Fashion

Christie Griffiths left behind her New York City life — working with fashion lines like Diane von Furstenberg, Nanette Lepore and Rag & Bone — and opted to cater to more cost-conscious consumers in Baltimore. She opened Brightside Boutique and Art Studio, a clothing boutique specializing in pieces that cost less than $100. The Federal Hill store, which also contains a tattoo shop, opened in January. Shoppers regularly comb through the boutique, choosing from trendy lines such as Mink Pink and Kensie.

If you're looking for a great new alter ego, try joining Charm City Roller Girls. That's what Silver Spring native Lily Bradford did after frequently attending their events. "I had been living in Baltimore for a few years, and felt disengaged from the city," she said. "I decided to put myself outside my comfort zone and challenge myself to learning a new skill set late in life. " The Bolton Hill resident rolls on two local teams - during the home-team season, she's with the Mobtown Mods fighting for the Donaghy Cup, and right now she's hitting the road with Female Trouble.

It was 1965 when Octavia Dugan, a local beauty with an eye for fashion, opened her elegant store in the start-up Village of Cross Keys. The shop, simply called Octavia, was an instant hit among Baltimore's fashionable moneyed set - women like Dugan, then nearing her 50s, who wanted a local place to buy classic suits and tailored ensembles for daytime wear and sophisticated dresses for the evenings. Forty years later, Baltimore's moneyed set wears designer jeans and jeweled flip-flops during the day and has stepped up the sexy quotient for nighttime affairs.

A decade-long vision to have Baltimore become the next hub of fashion and design will begin to take shape as construction begins at the old Lebow Clothing Factory, which beginning in fall 2013, will be the home of the Baltimore Design School. City and education leaders gathered Monday to celebrate the official groundbreaking for the 120,000-square-foot building, which will begin undergoing a $25 million renovation to accommodate aspiring fashion artists in grades six through 12. The school, co-founded by Baltimore state Sen. Catherine Pugh and Fred Lazarus, president of the Maryland Institute College of Art, is designed after the Baltimore School for the Arts and will focus on nonperformance arts like fashion, graphic design and architecture.

Like Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana before her, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy had the looks and the look.Anyone searching for a modern style hero found dazzling salvation in Bessette Kennedy, 33, believed dead along with her husband John F. Kennedy Jr., and sister Lauren Bessette, after a plane crash last weekend."

Julie Cheng made a glove from red yarn that mimics the intricate system of veins in the human arm. The blood-colored thread begins at the middle finger and is connected to the thumb by the web of tissue across the palm, and then runs down the biceps to the elbow. It looks as though her model's skin had been turned inside out, an effect that is both disquieting and oddly mesmerizing. Cheng, who will show four fashions in her "Accupressurist" collection Saturday night as part of the Maryland Institute College of Art's experimental fashion show, is fascinated by the human body's internal systems.

With a new mayor at the city's helm, everyone is supposed to be paying attention to her speeches, not her suits, and looking at her actions, not her accessories. But it's safe to say that Baltimore is interested in everything about Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake, from her policy down to her platform pumps. It's just the way it is. The city was all a-twitter about Mayor Martin O'Malley's muscle shirts. People are still talking about William Donald Schaefer's aquarium swim in old-time bathing trunks.

The dirty gray snowdrifts have all but melted. Crocuses are starting to sprout anywhere they can. And across Baltimore, clothing shops and boutiques are trading in their winter blacks and grays and filling their displays with colors, patterns and metallics. Spring, and its fashion, is on its way. "Everyone is looking for a bright spot," says Melissa Kirby, co-owner of Shine Collective in Woodberry. And that's why she and many other area retailers are stocking at least some of their shelves with fashions inspired by the spring runway shows.

This fall, fashion is taking a walk on the wild side. From ponyskin handbags to sweaters the shade of a ripe pumpkin, clothes and accessories are luxurious, unpredictable -- and most of all -- fun. Style these days is all about possibilities. Try utility chic. Play glamour girl. Go bohemian. A look at the trends that matter most. Pub Date: 08/29/99

Fashion and furniture were the words du jour at the recent International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, N.C.At a time when the furniture industry in general has been in a slump, the home collections of fashion designers like Alexander Julian and Ralph Lauren have been hugely successful. They offer the comfort of name recognition, while most furniture companies are largely unknown to consumers.This market Bill Blass introduced his first line of furniture and accessories for Pennsylvania House.

Christie Griffiths left behind her New York City life — working with fashion lines like Diane von Furstenberg, Nanette Lepore and Rag & Bone — and opted to cater to more cost-conscious consumers in Baltimore. She opened Brightside Boutique and Art Studio, a clothing boutique specializing in pieces that cost less than $100. The Federal Hill store, which also contains a tattoo shop, opened in January. Shoppers regularly comb through the boutique, choosing from trendy lines such as Mink Pink and Kensie.

At Tiny Toes, a children's boutique on Main Street in Bel Air, owner Karen Jacobs specializes in giving moms the Hollywood treatment. Jacobs and her employees, who are all moms, help customers select everything from clothing for their own kids to baby shower gifts for friends. “We try to provide a personal touch and create a special shopping experience,” says Jacobs, 36. “As a mom with two young kids, I understand you're busy, and I understand what it's like for other moms.” Jacobs, who has a 6-year-old son, Benjamin, and 4-year-old daughter, Charlotte, opened the boutique with her mom, Tina Lewis, in July 2006.

Downtown's Howard Street was jammed on the Saturday before Easter, and Diana Kane was busy with her new modeling agency. That was five decades ago. Back then, as a black woman, she was a pioneer: She founded a business on what was then Baltimore's principal shopping street at a time when few African-Americans could shop in the fashion houses there. Within a few years, Kane saw results. The glossy department store catalogs started showing African-American models. It was the 1960s, and their appearance was something of a first for Baltimore.

Here's a round-up of some retail events: Giant Food is opening a 48,500 square foot store at 1010 W. 41 st Street in Baltimore on Friday, March 30 th .  The Green Spring Tower Square Giant is holding a ribbon cutting the night before at 6 p.m. The store, which has been expanded, used to be a Fresh & Green store.  Among the features, a self-serve coffee station, full-service floral department, international section as well as hand-held scanners that customers can use to scan and bag their groceries as they shop.

Joan Rivers is having a manicure and a pedicure in her hotel room while juggling a phone. "I'm in Indianapolis," she says. "I just learned how to spell it, and now I'm leaving. What a waste. " This week, between gigs in Florida and Ohio, she'll stop by the Hippodrome to dispense her trademark observations on her own world and anyone, anything that catches her attention. "When I go onstage, I just talk about what's happening," Rivers says. "My life is an open book.

Hampden's Alchemy may have one of the tiniest upstairs bars in Baltimore. But there are some serious, high-end cocktails being crafted in this small space. Dubbed "Potions" (see what they did there?), the cocktail menu features an extensive selection of hand-crafted and tweaked blends of traditional drinks that demonstrate a lot of care, craftsmanship and, best of all, lots of flavor. "It's fun, I love doing it. We find what's trending and give it our own twist," said bartender Matthew Ballinger.

If ever there was a season to revel in, it's autumn. In September and October, when the days grow shorter and the temperature dips, people start reaching for wool and corduroy and velvet — all the deeply tactile ways to celebrate the season. They mothball the shorts, sundresses and sandals, and wrap themselves in sweaters, scarves and jackets. But why should they stop there? These days, it's more than possible to bring the house in on the change of seasons, too. The home fashion world is warming to the idea that people want to update their furnishings — at least a little bit — to reflect what's going on with the calendar, particularly when it comes to fall.

It's the little things that count this spring. The unusual buttons on an otherwise classic jacket. The high-heeled shoes with updated platform sole that transform last year's little suit with new height. The use of gingham, plaid or unexpected color to add an element of fun to basic shapes.In these cautious times, great seasonal changes don't make sense. It's a rare company that can afford to take a chance on clever new styles consumers might not be ready to try this spring. And, of course, there are even fewer customers who're willing, or able, to part with any of their limited funds for experimental fashions.

100 Years Ago Gowns and frowns In the "In Vogue" column of the Times : "Skirts, especially on lingerie dresses are showing more fullness. Double veilings are being used to give lovely iridescent effects. Velour hats are proving strong favorites. The vogue for black and white alliances shows but little abatement. The jumper design has been furiously revived for dressy shirtwaists. Collarettes of black or white tulle are used to wear with afternoon gowns.

The sewing lounge Sassy SEWer in Parkville has eight sewing machines for customers, but when Tamara Woods goes, she takes her own. It's not just about the machines, she said. "It's about the dedicated time with other sewers. We all like to do this. We chat. It's fun," she said. At home, she sews for other people. At Sassy, she works on raising her skill level and she sews things for herself, combining craftsmanship with fashion sense. "I love the technical part. But it's the creative part that takes over.