Shareen Dresses Up West 3rd Street

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As Shareen Mitchell tells it, from concept to execution her new boutique took only a matter of months. "In February I made the decision it was time to open the store. I began looking in March and I found the place in April and we opened in June," she says of her pretty 750-square-foot space on West 3rd Street. The shop is the very first outpost for Mitchell's own line, Shareen, and is filled with her glamorous evening wear.

Mitchell turned to her sister Oriana Cyprus, an interior designer and the founder of OJC Designs, for decor help. "I called her and said, 'Look, I'm hopeless. I don't have the time.' And she flew out and helped me. She said, 'Why don't we do the feeling of an old-world, high-end apartment in Paris?'" The result—feminine and elegant, yet relaxed—echoes the feel of Mitchell's gowns, which have become favorites of celebrities such as Miranda Kerr and fashion industry insiders like Janie Bryant, Mad Men's costume designer, who wore a Shareen original recently to the show's season-end wrap party.

There are about 20 dress styles available currently in the store, and the designer and vintage buyer is currently at work on a fall/holiday line. Prices for formal wear range from around $198 to $698. Mitchell tries to stay affordable, in the mid $200s and $300s, for women who "have couture tastes" but not necessarily a couture budget. And she's open to collaboration, currently working with a few brides and other women to develop special occasion styles. "I like to think of my clients as winning," she says. "You come to me and you're going to stand out and turn every head."
· Shareen [Official Site]
· Shareen of Shareen Vintage Is Opening A Shop on W 3rd [Racked]