What do you think when you see the Web site name thisisauto.com?

Something about cars, probably.

Nay, thisisauto.com is the online version of the trendy design-driven retail hot spot Auto in New York City’s Meatpacking district. Owners Roman Luba and Renata Bokalo, husband and wife, describe Auto as a mini department store.

This place looks like the MOMA of department stores, full of modern and lovely design-driven items of all sorts: clothes, jewelry, baby gear, furniture, bedding, books, art and gifts. It’s the kind of store that makes you feel totally au courant when you set foot in it. (more…)

You have been in a boutique like Elizabeth Charles. You walk in, and you’re drawn to everything, all at once. There is pretty furniture, and music you love but don’t quite recognize, and a hint of latte in the air. Gretchen Mol and Heidi Klum are shopping in the back. You cannot decide which rack has the cutest clothes. And you’re both charmed and alarmed, because you understand that the world as you knew it has changed.

“I wanted it to feel welcoming and effortless - like your chic Parisian friend’s living room - somewhere where you can relax and chat while you enjoy this unique shopping experience,” says Elizabeth Charles.

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We dream of Paris shopping sprees. In our fantasies, we stroll the Champs-Elysees, ducking in and out of designer shops, stopping for a lemon crepe on the street. We grab taxis to Chanel and Dior, fill our arms with shopping bags, and finally head back to our hotel, satiated and incredibly well dressed.

That’s one kind of Paris shopping spree. Then there’s the Paris Hilton variety, which took place almost entirely in one London shop before she headed home to the States last week (she’s been in the UK shooting her British Best Friend reality show, People magazine tells us).  We’re pleased to introduce you to Coco Ribbon, a fabulous little boutique that apparently fascinates celebrities and certainly entertained Ms. Hilton’s platinum card.

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We totally agree with designer-to-the stars Mary Norton: “Some days only a fiercely beautiful pair of shoes and handbag will do.”  Chic celebs agree too: such as Teri Hatcher, Carrie Underwood, Katherine Heigl, Queen Latifah,  Jennifer Lopez and Miley Cyrus. They’ve all carried Mary Norton handbags and clutches and stepped into her thing-of-beauty shoes. Now we can too, through the new Mary Norton online boutique.

Some of you may know Mary from her wildly successful handbag company, Moo Roo (named for her daughters Micah and Reilly), which she started in 1998 after having a dream about making handbags out of flowers.

 From there, she went on to be named a rising star in 2004 by Fashion Group International, Inc. and the Accessories Council. In 2006 Mary re-launched her luxury accessory collection under her own name and opened two boutiques in her hometown of Charleston, S.C.,  and Melrose Place in Los Angeles.

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