Carole’s Couture

Oh wow. Where to begin on this gem! My sisters and Mom and I came here because my Mom was looking for a wedding dress. My Mom and I were dressed a bit more casual than my two sisters but nonetheless, we weren’t slops. The lady — Carole (I presume) should not be in retail with her attitude. We didn’t really find anything we had in mind for my Mom — but before we walked in she had a beautiful Nicole Miller wedding dress in the window that stopped me in my tracks (for me, some day). One of my sister’s came over and looked at it with me and we un-​busseled the back and were admiring it’s beauty… she was trying to tell me to try it on and I was telling her she was being ridiculous. I pulled out my camera and took a few pictures (w/​o the flash mind you — and it was sitting in the window) and Carole came over and «politely» told me she preferred no pictures be taken. Then she ended up mentioning we should go next door to the other boutique. After we walked next door I came back out to admire the dress again, looked inside, didn’t see her, and took a quick picture with my phone.
I disappeared into the other store to meet up with my family, and after an hour or so when I needed a break I wandered back outside. Carole had removed the other dress from the window and thrown up some ugly wedding dress in it’s place. CLASSIC.
We all felt like it was the infamous scene in Pretty Woman… and when I came back to read the other review where she said the same thing it only confirmed my suspicions. We all agreed we’d never step foot into her store again. Her loss, our gain. We ended up finding the perfect dress for my Mom next door, inducted the owner into our family, and ALL ended up spending tons of money there (not to mention 3 hours).

Carole’s Couture is located in the Frank Lloyd Wright Promenade Shopping Center; literally across the parking lot from Allure Nails where I happen to go every few weeks to get my nails done. So, every now and then, I’ll «pop my head» into Carole’s. These visits to CC can be dangerous financially for me, so I try not to make a habit of going.
But that being said, I’ve gotten lucky on several occasions during these visits. I found an adorable Roberto Rodriguez shirt that I wore to my wedding rehearsal dinner on a recent visit, and last year, I purchased a little black Susana Monaco dress to wear to a special event…
I was just reminded of CC upon receiving an email announcing their holiday sale which I will post on Unilocal Events asap. Carole’s has been open for four years now and is known for carrying unique, trendy, and elegant apparel and accessories.
From the CC website, I learned that the top designers carried include: «Zooey T-​Shirts, James Jeans, Hudson, Susana Monaco, 12^th Street by Cynthia Vincent, YaYa, Robert Rodriguez„ Nicole Miller and the legendary Vera Wang.»
I will admit that when I’ve gone in on days that I’m not necessarily dressed fashionably, I don’t get the same welcome from the employees at CC as when I’m dressed up; kind of that Pretty Woman thing going on… but even so, CC is worth a visit (and a splurge) if you’re looking to treat yourself to a little retail therapy or something special!