Walk into Rosana Boutique on any random day, and you’re likely to see a scene that looks more like it’s out of “Project Runway,” than Main Street, Pennington, even though that’s where the clothing store is located. The women’s clothing and accessories shop moved there from its Palmer Square, Princeton location last month.
On a recent November afternoon, store owner Rosana Clawson hovered around a tall blonde model, barking commands to a pen-and-paper-wielding pattern maker, who sported a black turtleneck and a long white ponytail.
“I want it to billow!” she said of the muslin mock gown draping the model. “I don’t want it to drag on the floor. I want it to hit the floor!”
When Clawson’s new design is to her satisfaction, it will be made into a dress, by local independent dressmaker, and put into her shop alongside clothing from French Connection and Jessica Simpson’s clothing line.
If a fashionista like Clawson seems out of place at 20 South Main Street in Pennington, that’s OK. Clawson said she’s fine bringing high fashion to Main Street.
“I can bring the cool factor to Pennington, yet not scare people away,” she said. “There are a lot of really hip women in Pennington, they just haven’t had a place to go.”
Rosana did the same thing in Princeton for several years before moving to her new Pennington location, which offered more space.
“I saw that we needed a cool clothing store in Princeton,” she said. “We needed clothing that was fabulous, different, unique and affordable.”
If anyone has a life history that suits her to that mission, it’s Clawson. Clawson was born in Lawrenceville, but made her career in Los Angeles as a stylist. In her Hollywood career, Clawson dressed performers in movies, music videos, advertisements and commercials. Some of the stars she dressed included Tyra Banks and Fergie. Her husband is Tim Clawson, a producer for the Weinstein Brothers production company in New York City.
Clawson’s ambitions go beyond the walls of her Pennington store, where high-fashion clothes go for as little as $38. She plans to one day have a major clothing line, complete with a flagship store. “I have always been into design, as well as fashion,” she said. “I’m just a nut about fabric.”
Not reflected in the low pricetag is the expert advice of Clawson herself, who doesn’t hesitate to use her stylist skills on customers. She said she prides herself on never letting anyone leave her store looking anything less than their best.
“I am the Rachel Zoe of the East Coast,” she said.
The store is popular among girls looking for prom dresses, Clawson said, but she has many items aimed at an older crowd, too. Clawson said her store caters to women 18 to 55. “I know what looks good on people,” she said. “They walk in, and I can pick the dress for them.”
Clawson’s store is part shop, part design studio and part living room where style aficionados are welcome to just hang out even if they are not buying anything. And Clawson plans to bring high fashion without high prices.
“At a department store, you pick up something and it’s seventy, eighty dollars for a top. Eighty bucks for one shirt? Not in this economy.”
Rosana is located at 20 South Main St. in Pennington. Phone: (609) 737-0002. On the Web: Search for Rosana Boutique on Facebook.
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