UP Spatique
619 State St., 256-7777, www.upspatique.com,
11 am-7 pm Mon.-Sat. Closed Sun.
It's a new year. You begin by denying yourself life's simple pleasures: bad carbs, good beer, the iTunes account. You make your health and your bank statement the utmost priorities. And then you sulk: This sucks.
So stop giving up, and go to the west end of State Street, where there is a shiny beacon of sleekness, a boutique that rivals any Rodeo Drive pit stop but without the attitude ' UP Spatique.
Owners Tim and Kelli Lovejoy-Dailey are corporate-world dropouts who met while working for Lands' End. With experience in design, merchandising and buying for major retailers, the couple decided to launch their own store. 'The corporate thing just wasn't fun anymore,' says Tim.
Fun is exactly what the two invested in with UP Spatique, a singular retail space that mixes women's fashion with spa services. Need an outfit for a hot date and a quickie manicure? Done. All in one spot. How novel.
Check out the squeaky-clean vibe, watch French films on a gigantic plasma screen TV, chat with the sales associates about everything but the weather and dig up these finds: an acid wash velvet blazer in slate gray by Fillmore ($140); super-skinny dark-rinse jeans from LTB ($79); sweet, semiprecious stone Y-shape necklace in 14-karat gold, from Chelsea ($205); and a quirky throwback 'L'Eggo my Eggo' tee from Wish ($32).
Exercise your design skills, too, with the custom design lab. Embellish tees with rhinestones (starting at $10) or add finish details to your jeans ' Tim will show you how ' he used to design for denim line Union Bay (starting at $25).
