{"id":10583,"date":"2015-04-23T21:12:01","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T01:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=10583"},"modified":"2015-04-23T21:12:01","modified_gmt":"2015-04-24T01:12:01","slug":"nouvelle-old-port","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/nouvelle-old-port\/","title":{"rendered":"Nouvelle Old Port"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 2015 | view this story as .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Style and smiles go hand-in-hand as a new season unfolds.<\/h3>\n

By Claire Z. Cramer<\/p>\n

\"Nouvelle-Old-Port-May15\"<\/a>Nothing wakens the summer spirit like a stroll downtown to discover\u2013reconno\u00eetre<\/em>\u2013the sweet new places to shop, vintage 2015. Especially when the very newest among these welcome us with high hopes, adorable inventory, and a snappy salut tout le monde<\/em>.<\/p>\n

SociologIe<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first thing that strikes you when you step through the Middle Street entrance to Anthropologie<\/b> is how big it is. Yikes. High ceilings, huge abstract murals, racks and stacks of colorful clothing, a bed, furniture, accessories, fancy candles, hand creams, tchotchkes, table linens, pottery tableware\u2013no aspect of your lifestyle is too trivial to curate. This is a rustic-chic empire. A row of bins fashioned from distressed wood contain cabinet and drawer pulls made of pottery, glass, and metal whispering that the knobs on your dressers at home are boring. A coffee table book, Remodelista<\/em>, sits on top of the bin for guidance about rectifying this.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you finding everything OK?\u201d asks one of the smiling assistants.<\/p>\n

What you find here are $88 metallic-thread tank tops to wear with $78 itty-bitty short-shorts, great-looking leather totes for $268, skinny blue jeans for $188, many garments made of Asian fabrics. A $178 spaghetti-strapped floral chiffon jumpsuit entices you to imagine a life where such things are worn. In an area devoted to France, there are books\u2013Paris Street Style<\/em> and The Gospel According to Coco Chanel<\/em>\u2013among the black biker jackets, knit tops, and coffee mugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease help yourself to complimentary strawberry-cucumber-lime water,\u201d says a saleswoman. We chat about the store, which opened in March, and the company. How big is it? \u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure, but you can check the store locator on our website. We keep growing.\u201d She declines to give her name, because she says, \u201cHome office asks that we not be quoted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, a check of anthropologie.com reveals the home office is in Philly. Portland\u2019s store is the only branch in the three Northern New England states; most of the other 47 states have one or more. There are two in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Taste Oasis<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI opened just in time for Christmas,\u201d says Details<\/b> owner and proprietor Barbara Schrade. \u201cI\u2019m from Saratoga Springs. I was a buyer there, and I\u2019ve worked in California and Florida, but I\u2019ve been coming to Maine my whole life. I knew when I opened my own store it would be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schrade has created a serene boutique at 10 Exchange Street\u2013brighter and airier than when the Leather Exchange occupied it for years\u2013stocked with tasteful gifts, most under $100. There are hypoallergenic lotions and soaps; oil lamps in glass jars contain arrangements of seashells, flowers, and other found objects. \u201cThis is the \u2018anywhere fireplace\u2019\u2013no smoke,\u201d she says, pointing to the compact arrangements of smooth stones within small glass boxes above which flames dance. \u201cYou fill the [concealed] fuel container, and it burns for about four hours.\u201d You\u2019ll want to curl up in front of one, wrapped in a dreamily soft, woven wool blanket from Bronte by Moon.<\/p>\n

Wee and Twee<\/strong><\/p>\n

A tiptoe up Exchange at No. 42, Little<\/b> opened in mid-March. It may be the center of the universe for indulgent grandmothers with money to burn.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do get a lot of grandparents,\u201d says Ashley Jordan, a former Urban Outfitters merchandiser who now manages Little\u2019s inventory of tiny kids\u2019 clothing and toys. Racks of Bolshoi-ready sparkly tutus ($94) stand at the ready for your three-year-old Margot Fonteyn to treasure forever. In one corner, a Maine Bunk Bed surprises with the top bunk at right angles to the bottom\u2013just for the L of it. The beds are colorfully topped by inquisitive plush animals. Don\u2019t you wish you were five again?<\/p>\n

Gem Therapy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attos By Design Estate Jewelers<\/b> is an elegant showroom at 50 Exchange, down to the upholstered antique chairs and oil paintings. It\u2019s the new incarnation of the former Stonehome Estate Jewelers, which spun off to Kennebunkport. Proprietor and designer Attos Santana can help you create a new piece with Granny\u2019s old jewels, but in the event you don\u2019t have any, he\u2019s also got a store full of estate pieces with their own charms. He points to a pretty fruit brooch two inches high. \u201cIt\u2019s Austrian, 1950s. The cherry is carved coral, the leaves are jade. Those are diamonds at the top\u2013real craftsmanship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santana points to a flashy but delicate gold bracelet. \u201cTiffany, around 1960. Four thousand dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he removes a spectacular gold cuff from a glass case. The two-inch-wide shackle is perfect\u2013a simple oval with serious heft.<\/p>\n

When he clicks it into place on your wrist, your inner Holly Golightly sends you straight to the gilt-framed mirror to wave at your fabulous self.<\/p>\n

Fancy Dress-up<\/strong><\/p>\n

OK, glamour-puss, head next door to Tavecchia<\/b> where, for 32 years, owner Judy Parker set a high standard for well-made women\u2019s clothing and accessories. On March 2, the baton passed to a new owner.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m carrying a lot of the same lines,\u201d Rachel Justice says. \u201cThey\u2019re excellent quality. We\u2019re going to paint, and we\u2019ll add more shoes and handbags, make a few other gradual changes.\u201d Parker\u2019s retired, but her spirit remains.<\/p>\n

At the register is a familiar smiling face. \u201cWe\u2019re all still here,\u201d says Lynn Harrison, one of Tavecchia\u2019s long-time saleswomen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could I ever replace their knowledge and experience?\u201d asks Justice.<\/p>\n

She heads over to the special-occasion frocks and bridal gowns. \u201cWe have a lot of demand for \u2018mother-of\u2019 dresses that aren\u2019t quite so boxy and conservative. This is a whole new generation of \u2018mothers-of,\u2019 and they want to look great.\u201d<\/p>\n

No pastel Queen Elizabeth A-line-shift-and-jacket sets here; today\u2019s mothers like fitted gowns, bare shoulders, bolder colors, and a little glitter for their kids\u2019 weddings. Since it\u2019s also prom season, there are racks of super-glam short and full-length prom gowns shimmering with sequins and beads. A show-stopper on its own dress form\u2013purple and swingy with black trim\u2013grabs your eye as you walk in the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have about 100 prom dresses here, for the most part just one of each. We keep track of schools and proms to minimize the chance of duplicates at the same dance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upper East Bayside<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shopped out? Maybe it\u2019s time to pick up a bottle of bubbly on the way home at Maine & Loire Wine Shop<\/b>, open since the first of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this space became available, we made our move,\u201d says Peter Hale, who owns the bright, airy new store at 63 Washington Avenue with his wife Orenda. \u201cWe were in New York, but my mother\u2019s familiy is from Maine, the Turner and Leeds area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maine & Loire is in the brick retail strip that formerly housed the multi-ethnic Mittapheap market and Masterpiece Reprographics, both of which have found homes elsewhere. Silly\u2019s Restaurant and Coffee By Design are the anchors on this block. A rumored Latin\/barbecue hybrid restaurant, Terlingua, may soon join them.<\/p>\n

The Hales have maximized the industrial-chic quality\u2013white walls soar to a very high ceiling with giant exposed duct work all painted in a deep shade of gray. Wine bottles are arranged mostly by country of origin on free-standing metal racks. You can roam the original wide-planked hardwood floor from an Italy rack to France, Spain, and so on. A long harvest table runs down the center of\u00a0 the room, also covered with bottles, including a \u201cBubbles\u201d section. The table is weathered, salvaged wood; so is the check-out counter, which has pounded tin ceiling panels as siding.<\/p>\n

Both the table and counter were created two doors down at Repurposed<\/b>, a huge antiques and architectural salvage emporium filled with old signs, pottery, kitchenware, collectibles, furniture, and another zillion treasures. Proprietor Bill Simpson and his partner Steve Trask like to create \u201cfun and weird stuff\u201d\u2013not to mention some beautiful furniture\u2013from bits of salvage. Repurposed\u2019s neighbors are Maine Mead Works and Oxbow Brewing\u2019s tasting room. You\u2019re just east of the Old Port, but it feels as if there are still things to discover over here.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back at the wine shop, Peter Hale explains that \u201call our wines are organic or biodynamic, and most are sulfite-free.\u201d\u00a0 Biodynamic farming is like organic farming in that it doesn\u2019t involve chemicals, but the use of the term biodynamic is not regulated by the U.S. government. What these classifications do indicate, though, is that \u201cwe don\u2019t carry any mass-produced garbage wines here.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is, however, a heavenly \u201cunder $14\u201d table. Value shoppers know there can be real finds in such sections, and chatting with wine shop owners is the way to find them. Peter describes a snappy 2013 Cotes du Roussillon Clot del Pila Les Cargolines as \u201csimilar to a Rh\u00d4ne but more prune than fresh berry.\u201d<\/p>\n

His description proves apt. The velvety red table wine is a hit later at dinner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 2015
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