Shopping in Five: Violette boutique

If you are looking for a new dress for a party, wedding or simply to twirl in, our favorite local store for September is hand’s down Boulder’s dress haven:

Violette, 1631 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-443-3976

This boutique opened last Mother’s Day, and it is bursting with gorgeous dresses — all at reasonable prices. The average price for a dress is $40 to $60. And there are styles for any woman, any age (even tutus for the little ones) and any occasion: formal, trendy, beachy, twirly, vintage-inspired, casual. We’re hyperventilating just thinking about it.

If walls and racks of ribbons and lace don’t delight you, get this: The store is run by three generations of local women: a grandmother, her daughter and her four grandchildren.

Violette isn’t limited to dresses (although we can’t imagine why anyone would want to wear anything else). The shop also carries blouses, pants, bags, hats, scarves and cases of unique jewelry, some locally made.
It was nearly impossible for us to pick just five dresses to feature, but we struggled and toiled and drooled all over the store until we settled on our fave five.

And as if the dresses weren’t beautiful enough, we solicited two local dancers who just opened a new aerial dance school this month to bring the gowns to new heights on the trapeze. Because softness — combined with strength — is what makes women like us so beautiful.

Models: Renu Kansal and Heather Booth
Stylist: Angel Garcia, pinuppretty@yahoo.com, www.pinupprettymua.com
Photographer: Jonathan Castner
Story by: Aimee Heckel
Location: Apex Movement, 2250 Lawrence St. in Denver, www.apexmovement.com

1. Timelessly feminine: Young Essence dress, $110
The rust-colored lace overlay and thick olive green waistband give this dress a vintage look. We paired this dress with a teal and orange bead neckless with a big rose charm, $52.
Young Essence (www.youngessence.com) is a family-owned company based in San Francisco, Calif. Young Essence believes “In every woman lies the essence of youth, just waiting to sneak out and be that kittenish girl within” — or maybe that inner fairy floating on an aerial hoop.

2. Maximized maxi: S-12 dress, $84
This dress is as colorful as it is comfortable, with a polyesther-Spandex mix. Front features rhinestone accents, and the T-back is knitted lace.

3. All frills: Sans Souci dress, $66
Two words: White and lace. It doesn’t get more feminine than that. Yet the thick straps give this dress some umph. Dress it up with pearls (such as the multistrand we found at Violette for only $20), or punk it out with beat up Docs and a cropped leather jacket. This dress makes us want to get married all over again, or at least sip (not red) cocktails on a cruise ship.

4. First in line: Lucy Paris dress, $68
Sharp and straight vertical ribbon accents balance out the flowy A-line cut and delicate camisole straps on this gown. We love the colors: robin’s egg boning over a pewter blue. Renu loved modeling this dress that she couldn’t part with it; she bought it on the spot.
Pair it with delicate blue rhinestone barretts, $5, and square blue stone earrings, $43.

5. Light as a feather: RYU dresses, $55 (on sale)
Butterfly print. Sheer multi-layered ruffles. Asymetrical hems. Black lace necklines. This dress, which comes in different colors, will give you wings. Ryu is a fashionable, yet affordable, Dallas women’s line.

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