Hubbub

Time To Shine

Set Sale: 12.2.08

French Dressing (49 River Street, Boston, 617.723.4YOU): through December 15, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off purchase. G-Spa (35 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.267.GSPA): through December 15, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off hair and skin products. Greenward (1776 Mass Ave, Cambridge, 617.395.1338): through December 15, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off purchase. Habit (703 East Broadway, South Boston, 617.269.1998): through December 15, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off purchase. Karmaloop (160 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.369.0100): through December 15, mention Stuff@night and receive 15 percent off purchase. Leokadia (667 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.247.SHOE): through December 15, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off purchase. Le Petit Bateau (171 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.425.0042): through December 15, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off purchase. Luna Boston (205 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.262.3900): through December 15, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off select merchandise. Parlor (1248 Washington Street, Boston, 617.521.9005): through December 31, mention Stuff@night and receive 30 to 50 percent off select merchandise. E-mail sale news to style@stuffatnight.com.

Closet Case

Back in our Clueless-loving days (i.e., 1995), there was nothing we wanted more than that high-tech closet Cher browsed through each morning. Combine that dream closet with the time-suck du jour, Facebook, and you’ve got Closet Couture (www.closetcouture.com), an online community for style seekers. It’s a cyber gathering place for people hoping to update their look, get wardrobe advice, and mix and match the pieces they already own with ones they’d like to try. Site founder Christine Elia wants Closet Couture members to “have access to really great tastemakers, no matter where you live. It’s hard to have that kind of trusted opinion where you feel comfortable that they’re going to send you out looking your best.” Closet Couture members can shop the site’s virtual closets, upload photos of their own items, hire stylists ($25 to choose a single outfit; $50 for an online shopping trip), and read up on trends.

Acquire It

Big Ben

Saddle up, Bostonians: the redcoats are coming. Well, sort of. British-based clothier Ben Sherman, which began as a men’s shirt company back in the 1960s and has been outfitting stylish men and women ever since, is slated to open its fifth US store on none other than Newbury Street (at number 154, to be exact) next March. Stay tuned for a shop full of the designer’s signature striped shirts, hipster-chic cardigans, and accessories covered in plaid and the Union Jack. This time around, it’s a very welcome British invasion.

Ivy League Of Their Own

Green Room

 

Voice your support for Mother Earth — without getting up on a soapbox — by wearing Under the Canopy’s “Vote Eco Logically” T-shirt ($28 for women; $34 for men). They’re made with 100-percent-organic cotton, soy-based inks, and earth-friendly dyes; they’re available in bellflower blue for women and white for men. Pick one up at  (various locations) or www.underthecanopy.com. UTC will donate two percent of all proceeds from the sale of the T-shirts to the Rainforest Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting rainforests’ natural resources and the indigenous people who need them. Using fashion as a vehicle for change should always be in style. And besides, global warming is so last season.

Style Spy: Christian Summers

Keeping an eye on: Christan Summers

Positive Spin

 

We’re suckers for a good spin-off: Laguna Beach begat The Hills and Beverly Hills: 90210 turned into, well, 90210. Now Boston has Patrice Vinci for Avanti Salon (91 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.267.1900). A light-filled, penthouse-level salon nestled between Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren, Vinci’s first solo space — a smaller, more refined version of the beloved Avanti Salon, where she cut and coiffed for more than five years— has some familiar faces holding the scissors. The 12 chairs will belong to former Trillium Salon owner Eddy Foley, fellow Trillium alum Larry Hamilton, and former Avanti stylists Tara Meola and Joao Sores, among others; also expect cameos from bicoastal bangs pro Dean Mellen, plus Rob Martelli, who’ll commute from the John Dellaria Salon in New York City. The full-service menu includes cuts starting at $60, color treatments, and nail services, and products from Kérastase and René Furterer. Stay tuned: we just might have a hit on our hands.

Speakers Of The House

Bring whimsy to your sound system with giant ear buds

So you downsized your iTunes library, whittling your collection to the songs you’re actually going to listen to. (Or wouldn’t be embarrassed to have pop up when you hit the “shuffle” option. Sorry, all you boy bands — you’re gone but not forgotten.) But what about those teensy ear buds that barely fit inside your ears? Those might just need an upgrade. The giant ear bud speakers ($40) connect to your iPod, computer, or home audio system (evidently, people still have those) through the regular headphone jack, and they can be powered by batteries, USB, or just plugged into an outlet. “Giant” is a relative term — these speakers are only about three inches in diameter. But next to your original ear buds, they’re larger than life. The only drawback? Since you can’t stick these in your ears and rock out on the sly, your friends might start to hold that whole Mötley Crüe obsession against you. Pick up a set at Urban Outfitters (361 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.236.0088). 

Set Sale: October 7, 2008

 The Boston Baked Bean (291 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.266.0050): ongoing, fall sale on all T-shirts and collectible items. Boutique Fabulous (1309 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, 617.864.0656): mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off purchase. Envi (164 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.267.ENVI ): through October 22, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off regularly priced merchandise. French Dressing (49 River Street, Boston, 617.723.4YOU): through October 22, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off purchase. G-Spa (35 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.267.GSP A): October 18 through 22, National Massage Therapy Awareness Promotional event: 30-minute massages are marked down from $75 to $50. Greenward (1776 Mass Ave, Cambridge, 617.395.1338): through October 22, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off purchase. Karmaloop (160 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.369.0100): ongoing, college students receive 10 percent off select clothing, or mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off sale items. Leokadia (667 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.247.SHOE): through October 21, present your college ID for a 10 percent student discount; mention Stuff@night and receive an additional 10 percent off purchase. Luna Boston (205 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.262.3900): through October 22, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off select merchandise. Motley (623 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.247.6969): ongoing, all remaining summer clothing on sale for $10. Nomad (1741 Mass Ave, Cambridge, 617.497.6677): October 11 through 13, select Lucky Fish merchandise on sale; October 19, 10 percent off shrine related materials at DÌa de los Muertos shrinemaking workshop. Parlor (1248 Washington Street, Boston, 617.521.9005): through October 22, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off Parlor’s new selection of menswear. Twilight (12 Fleet Street, Boston, 617.523.8008): through October 22, mention Stuff@night and receive 10 percent off non-sale items. E-mail sale news to style@stuffatnight.com.

Heavy Metal

Erickson Beamon’s Must-have Neck Candy

Good enough to eat

But just wash with them, silly

Skip the trite housewarming gifts of wine or flowers and opt for fun, food-inspired soaps that strike the ideal balance between playful and practical. Want to reward yourself for no particular reason at all? These soaps are affordable treats that allow you to indulge without feeling guilty. Maybe this is what your mother had in mind when she warned you that she’d wash your mouth out with soap.

A) Cotton-candy popsicle soap, $6.50 at Oak (31 Gloucester Street, Boston, 857.362.7311).
B) Oreo cookie soap, $8/set of three at Oak.
C) Ice-cream scoop and cone soap, $10 at Oak

Blown Away

Stylist Phillipo Caporrella’s salon, Phillipo Style Hair Studio (1369 Boylston Street, Boston, 857.362.7410), may be the new kid on the block, but the owner sure isn’t: Caporrella has been living in the Fenway neighborhood for nearly 15 years and has seen the area transform. So he took his experience (most recently at Newbury Street’s Salon Boccaccio), rounded up four stylists, an assistant, and some very high-tech gadgets, and opened Phillipo Style. The salon offers cut and color services; an In-and-Out Style Bar featuring a menu of ready-to-order blow-outs (like the “Straight Up,” which promises glossy, pin-straight tresses, and the “Extra Dirty,” an ’80s glam-rocker look); a five-chair stylist area; and a Champagne-filled beverage bar. Blow-outs cost between $30 and $50, with additional charges for post-blow-dry flat-ironing. The whole salon has a futuristic feel: think touch screens built into each station’s mirror for scrolling through your stylist’s portfolio, I-Tech magnetic brushes, and appointment confirmations sent via text message.

Hair apparent