Hysteria

I was very disappointed in my experience to this little boutique. I have lived i the area for a long time and have wanted to stop in but never remember its there when I am in old town. So, first whoever selected the clothing for this boutique had their grandmother in mind. The clothes are heavy materials, boxy dresses and jeans. I think they had one style of shorts and three total swim suits, very few selections for summer. To top it off there was a sales girl that actually stared me down. For the prices on these clothes ($ 245 for a shirt) I think they should go out of their way to be nice. I won’t be back.

Expensive! Lovely stuff, though. I usually feel intimidated in stores like this because I’m not a big fashionista person, I just like to browse. The staff is low-​pressure, tho, and I love that.

I cannot go into this boutique and come out empty handed. I think that says it all.
Very cool sales staff! Helpful without being pushy, you never ever feel unwelcome. Love this boutique and will continue to shop there.
Keep up the fashionable work ladies!!!

KG is bad at shopping. Loves goods but is bad at shopping. Every blue moon, she feels the urge to shop. Thank God it was at Hysteria! Everything was so beautiful! The staff was so knowedgeable and nice. I didn’t feel like I was being followed around the store. I felt like I had the freedom to think about my current slate of goods and how their items might fit/​complement them. I’ll definitely be back to shop here again and again. Loved this experience.

When I walked into Hysteria after lunch at Restaurant Eve recently I felt so welcome. Allison greeted me cheerfully, didn’t mind me leaving my voluminous scarf on the counter and helped me identify tons of pieces to try on — even taking me upstairs to look at more! She made the experience feel very fun (shopping, for me, usually isn’t.)
For awhile now, I’ve had an unwavering stance on personal purchases: I buy only what I love. Not really-​like-​a-​lot but LOVE. This helps me avoid unnecessary purchases and having items that hang unworn in my closet with their tags still on. It also ensures that when I look at my wardrobe, I see only stuff I’m really into and that fits me well.
I took more than an armload into the dressing room at Hysteria. I truly hoped that I’d love the way I looked in everything I tried on (especially that Tracy Reese frock «Alix» in electric orange.) Alas, this was not to be but I ended up walking out with a Plastic Island skirt and a dress from Skunkfunk.
If you’re into brands like Vince, Leifsdottir or Theory, you’re bound to covet something at Hysteria.

I want to like this place– I really do. I’m huge on supporting small business, and I love the atmosphere and selection of most smaller boutique-​style clothing establishments in the DC area. I’m just consistently underwhelmed by Hysteria. I’ve been there several times, and have yet to have a good experience. Here are my observations so far:
1. If I’m going to spend $ 400 on a jacket, it would be nice if the saleswoman acknowledged my existence upon entering the store and didn’t make it seem like I was inconveniencing her when asking for a fitting room. When someone’s carrying around an armful of clothes, yes, saleswoman– it is your job to ask if they’d like a fitting room, not sign and roll your eyes when I have to ask for one. The store is only 2 small rooms– you can most definitely see the customers pretty much anywhere they are. And the saleswoman was on Facebook while customers were in the store. Enough said.
2. If you say you’re open until 5PM on Sunday, be open until 5PM, not 4:40PM. I went back to literally pick up a dress I’d tried on earlier (I have a practice of trying things on, thinking about them for a few hours, and then going back to get them– it keeps me from impulse buying), and they were already closed, without notice of why they’d closed early. I know it’s only 20 minutes, but due to their short hours, I wouldn’t have been able to make it back to get the dress until the next weekend. Keep in mind that this trip was the one in which comment #1 also occurred…
3. Why only allow customers to see sale merchandise on Weds and Thurs? The last time I checked, they have this Attic concept, where unless they’re running a special sale, customers can only see the sales merchandise two days per week. During the week, I work way later than they store is open– so how am I ever going to see the sales merchandise? I just don’t get it.
4. Their dressing «rooms» are just white curtains that section off two small corners of the back room. I dislike curtain dressing rooms– they’re very small and the whole thing billows whenever anyone walks past. I wish the dressing rooms had one more wall, at least– for privacy’s sake.
Ok, enough griping. There are positive aspects to this store, as well.
1. It’s local.
2. It has a fantastic website, and it seems like you CAN buy the «Attic» merchandise online anytime. So for those of you who don’t mind buying something «as is» that’s final sale without trying it on, I suppose this is great for you.
3. The store itself is well laid out and the décor is very well done– the fireplace is just beautiful.
4. The selection of clothing is good– there’s a wide variety of designers represented here. However, you can find the clothing at other DC stores– so for me, the intangibles like customer service are really what makes or breaks this store. So far, it’s been broken– but I’m not giving up on you, Hysteria!

a calypso wrap dress is a must for all vacations — easy to wear, easy to pack. hysteria has a great selection — plus, cutie pie calypso dresses for little girls! so so so cute.
all the other great labels — milly, nanette lepore, etc. — you can find elsewhere. but i think this may be the only DC source for calypso dresses.
couple that with the delico cupcakes one street over, and you’ve got a great reason to venture all the way out to alexandria!

I really like this store but cannot afford it on a regular basis. They carry Habitual jeans which can be pretty difficult to find. Lots of Diane von Furstenberg, Nanette Lepore, Lela Rose and some other interesting designers. Their mid-​winter sale was pretty rocking and I scored some really cute pieces including a great L.A.M.B. skirt. The service is really good – the saleswomen are nice without being pushy and give pretty good opinions about whether pieces are flattering or not.

I first stopped into Hysteria a few years ago, when they just sold handbags, belts, jewelry and cute sandals. I was in Old Town working on that self-​makeover I was talking about and saw that Hysteria had some clothes in the window (and funky, unique stuff at that) so I stopped in.
The size of the store has gotten larger to accommodate the Theory and Tory pants (among other designers) as well as the LAMB and DVF tops. The jean selection at Hysteria is great– they actually had some high waisted styles. I was having trouble only finding low ride at boutiques.
The staff was great– even though I hadn’t heard of some of the jeans that were here, they were ready to give frank, honest advice about which ones to even try on.