Fort Greene has scored some new eye candy, and it has nothing to do with men or brownstones.
It has to do with clothing.
The retail market is bursting at the seams with ritzy boutiques — from Stuart and Wright, on Lafayette and South Portland avenues, to Fitted by the Best, at Lafayette and South Elliot Place.
Add those two clothiers to stores like Addy and Ferro and Hot Toddie, and the neighborhood rivals Smith Street in alluring, impractical and utterly unaffordable apparel.
A quick peek inside Hot Toddie this week revealed a toddler’s vest selling for $86. Sure, it was cute. But, was it cute enough to spit up on? Then again, who am I — whose last column was a bitter polemic against babies — to judge?
Besides, isn’t that what eye candy is all about — pleasing to the eyes, yet beyond the everywoman’s grasp? At the very least, we can marvel at the beauty — before we dutifully trudge off to Daffy’s.
That’s what Kate Lowe was doing on Tuesday, as she drifted through Stuart and Wright.
“I can’t afford anything in here,” said Lowe. “But there are lots of pretty things to look at.”
Agreed. And this reporter coveted every one of them: the cherry red baby-doll dress for $188, the blue and beige sweater for $149 (and those were the sale prices!).
Of course, I promptly berated myself for succumbing to the frivolous, materialistic, overly feminine desire to self-decorate. But Lowe wasn’t bitter that she couldn’t afford that bounty of sensuous, inordinately lovely couture, although she imagined her clients at the foster agency on the other side of Flatbush Avenue might be.
“I’m part of the changing of the neighborhood,” acknowledged Lowe. “It has its drawbacks for local people. But it’s the way things work.”
Alec Stuart, one of the store’s co-owners, is well aware that his store is not exactly affordable, but he’s trying to at least fit into the neighborhood. “We really try not to be pretentious,” he said. “That’s not what Fort Greene is about.”
Toni Johnson, the owner of the “upscale urban” shop called Fitted by the Best, is also trying to avoid pretension, although she’s taking a slightly different approach: lower prices.
In other words, you don’t have to be a hedge fund queen to shop there. (For the sake of full disclosure, this reporter coughed up $10 for a pair of sinuous brass earrings, but passed on the $350 periwinkle sweater at Addy and Ferro.)
All this high-end fashion in otherwise middle-end Fort Greene had me wondering: who is shelling out $350 for a sweater?
“A lot of people are moving here from the city because it feels more like a neighborhood,” said Lauren Rosati, who works at Addy and Ferro.
A neighborhood it may be, but if you’re going to shop at her store, make sure you ring the doorbell — so she can check you out, and, if you’re acceptable, buzz you in. Some neighborhood.
The Kitchen Sink
Believe it or not, the wonks at the Department of Transportation do sometimes agree with the community on new stop lights. Case in point: In response to community concerns, DOT has installed a long-requested stop light at Adelphi Street and Greene Avenue. Now, if only drivers could learn to stop on red! …
If you’re hot, or think you’re hot, fashion designers want you to audition next weekend to be a model at this spring’s Brooklyn Fashion Weekend. Would-be male mannequins should be 6-foot to 6-foot-2, while their female counterparts should be taller than 5-foot-9. And if you have the sort of face that only a mother would love, don’t despair. Co-founder Cybele Sandy said there would also be opportunities for hostesses and interns. The auditions are at 964 Dean St. (between Franklin and Classon avenues) on Jan. 20 and 27. Call (718) 684-4164. …
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries is no longer the covert legislator. In the month after his landslide victory for a Fort Greene seat last fall, Jeffries was virtually impossible to track down. But now, Jeffries has set up a very accessible shop in predecessor Roger Green’s old digs at 55 Hanson Pl. And he has a working phone number, too — (718) 596-0100. Tell him The Stoop sent you. …
Thanks to Bob Dole, The Stoop now feels comfortable announcing the following: Erectile dysfunction sufferers, languish in limpness no longer! The South Elliot/Portland Comprehensive Medical Center is hosting an ED screening, complete with free Viagra. For an appointment, call (718) 858-5088.
