downtown boutique owners talk about Fashion’s Night Out and local style

Layering is an art.

“Here in New England, we all want to look really glamorous, but we want to be warm, too,” said Assiah Russell, owner of Puttin’ on the Glitz, a boutique in downtown Portsmouth. “You need to have the art of layering down.”

On Thursday, Sept. 8, Fashion’s Night Out will be celebrated internationally, and this year, Portsmouth is an official participant. Local retailers will show off the Seacoast style by hosting special in-store events from 5 to 9 p.m., such as trunk sales, raffles, new product line launches, free demonstrations and modeling.

The event began in New York City in 2009 as an after-hours shopping and entertainment event, and Russell is one of the people who brought it here. She said she often visits New York for inspiration and translates the looks into ones that work here.

“While certainly not New York City, people in Portsmouth are pretty stylish,” Russell said. “I think they know fashion and get fashion. They want to look good.”

Puttin’ on the Glitz has a wide selection of jewelry, including the bracelets that women have been piling on lately, but also woolen hats and dressy scarves. 

“New England is the land of scarves,” Russell said. She said you can liven up your look with a colorful scarf in the dead of winter when everyone is pale from lack of sunlight.  

Russell said accessories are what really make your style. “It’s all about accessorizing with color,” she said, adding that this fall’s colors include jewel tones like peacock blue, emerald green and deep red.

She said leg warmers, faux fur, long tunics and leggings are all popular on the Seacoast, and many women are willing to spring for expensive, tall boots. “It’s all about looking good and being really cozy,” she said.

She is planning a “red-carpet feel” for Fashion’s Night Out, featuring locally designed, hand-felted handbags, totes and mittens from Frank and Mary, a trunk sale of headwear by Toucan Hats, and Hobo International handbags. She’s recently been restocking her boutique at 40 Market St. with boxes full of the latest trends.

Gail Licciardello, owner of Paradiza, said she’s noticed that more people are wearing scarves now than 10 years ago and there is more variety among the types of scarves they wear. “Scarves are an easy way to update a wardrobe,” she said.

Her boutique at 63 Penhallow St. will have scarf tying demonstrations by Mariann Gault during Fashion’s Night Out. There are plenty of new fall scarves to practice with, as well as pashmina shawls.

Paradiza also has cases full of jewelry of all types, but Licciardello said big and bold is in. She said sparkly pieces aren’t just for dressing up and can offset casual clothes, too. “People are into blingy jewelry,” she said.

Another trend in jewelry is customizable charm bracelets, such as Trollbeads. “People are so into beads,” she said. “It’s a huge craze right now.”

But, she said, one thing that never goes out of style is being prepared for the weather.

“Rain boots and winter boots make so much sense if you live here,” Licciardello said. “In order to live here, you need a variety of shoes, a variety of coats and a variety of scarves.”

Another participating shop, Fa La Lo, is focused on fair labor and local support and therefore has a “distinctly different” take on fashion. “Fashion can be sustainable and socially conscious,” said co-owner Liz Wright.

Wright said buying clothes with a conscience can be a bit more expensive than shopping at big box stores, but the clothes often last longer, so it’s an investment in your wardrobe and the rest of the world.

The trendiness of high fashion doesn’t always fit in with the notion of sustainability, so Wright tends to wear and stock classic looks.

“There are some high-fashion people in Portsmouth, but there are a whole lot of people like me working hard and just want to look halfway decent,” she said.

The shop also promotes items that are made with post-consumer materials that look haute couture, like Escama, which is known for up-cycling aluminum pop tops into handbags and other accessories. “They’re just fun and funky,” Wright said. 

Escama is providing prototypes, including a guitar strap, to Fa La Lo to show for the evening, modeled by entertainer Sarah Morrow of the Diva Day Foundation of Boston. The designer will also be featured at the celebration in New York City, as part of Luis Valenzuela’s “Art to Wear” collection and Charles Nolan’s collection.

Located at Commercial Alley, Fa La Lo will also launch a new line of clothing by Global Girlfriend, a fair trade company created to help women worldwide gain economic security while providing unique products, such as stylish skirts and T-shirts.

“It’s about being as beautiful on the inside as outside,” Wright said.

Celtic Crossing is offering a taste of traditional and current Celtic styles, including Tara Diary’s beads, a hot trend in the Irish charm bracelet market. The shop at 112 Congress St. will offer tours of its kilt room, featuring traditional Celtic styles.

J.L. Coombs, the oldest shoe company in the nation, will have a reflexologist on hand doing demonstrations at 46 Market St.

The Moffatt-Ladd House & Gardens will feature a “fashion show” tableau, a stationary fashion show on mannequins, featuring historic dresses and accessories from their collection. Guests will enter the historic Georgian mansion through the Great Hall and can visit the gardens and stop by the shop at 154 Market St. for books on the history of fashion.

At The Flower Kiosk at 61 Market St., Marcia Hanson will demonstrate how to integrate beadwork with flowers, and owner Betsy Scott will teach shoppers how to dress up their homes with floral arrangements (for bold fashion inspiration, check out the dress made out of moss in the display window).

Gus & Ruby Letterpress will feature the latest designs for all things paper. Shoppers can enter to win a drawing for either 100 two-color letterpress printed flat note cards, or 500 one-color letterpress printed calling cards, at 29 Congress St. 

Rick Dumont Images specializes in images with an old-fashioned allure that characterize New Hampshire. The photographer will be available at the Ceres Street studio to talk about how they might fit into a design scheme.

The event continues after hours with the movie “Bill Cunningham New York” at The Music Hall Loft at 9 p.m. The film, about The New York Times’ famous fashion photographer, was shown during the summer to sold-out crowds. It’s showing again on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 7 and 9 p.m.

Also, participating shops will have sign-ups for a raffle with prizes that include $50 gift certificates, a two-hour, in-home wardrobe consultation, and merchandise. The winner will be announced on Friday, Sept. 9.

Russell, of Puttin’ on the Glitz, said she expects Fashion’s Night Out to become an annual event in Portsmouth, which should help draw more shoppers to the area.

“Let the world know this is a great area to shop,” she said.

The event is organized by the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce. For details, see www.FashionsNightOutPortsmouth.com