They’ve Got The Look
The fashion magazines are as fat as phone books, stuffed with the gotta-have-it-right-now styles for spring. Stores are abloom with color, and brimming with options. And shoppers are — well — confounded. With so much out there, what to choose? We talked with local tastemakers about the looks to look out for this season. They shared not only their picks, but also their philosophy. Style, it seems, isn’t about size or price. It has more to do with knowing yourself — not to mention your body. In the end, the most stylish women may buck the trend rather than follow it. They are comfortable in their own skin. So if the shoes fit, a hundred pairs would be nice, but the perfect one or two will do.

Jessica Agatucci — Tucci Boutique
She’s the new kid on the block, but Jessica Agatucci is already making fashion waves with her hip boutique in the Cedros Design District (right next door to the Zinc Café). Tucci — "you" in Italian — carries hot lines you can’t find anywhere else in San Diego, like the vintage-inspired Mayle out of New York. Also popular: Vanessa Bruno, Tory Burch, Jenni Kayne, and Tracy Feith. Ironically, Agatucci was forced to source new lines because of competitive issues when she set up shop a year-and-a-half ago, but now believes that worked to her benefit. Her customer is "someone who appreciates fashion, who appreciates the unique lines that I carry in my store."

The chic black-and-white boutique has a distinctly L.A. vibe. Although raised in North County, Agatucci worked in retail in Los Angeles, and attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She always wanted to open her own store, but it took serendipity to make it happen. On a visit to San Diego, she was having her nails done when someone overheard her say, "I would love to open up a store on Cedros if I could just find the perfect location." That "someone" was the daughter of a woman who owned a building on Cedros. A space was opening up in three months. Was she interested? Within weeks, Agatucci had moved back to San Diego. "So it happened all of a sudden," she says. "It was just fate how it turned out."

The Tucci customer is in her late 20s to mid-50s, says Agatucci, and gets fashion. "She definitely likes to spend money because I definitely have more high-end price points than most stores," she says. Agatucci says she likes to stock classic, timeless pieces, rather than trendy designs, traveling to Paris and New York several times a year to write her lines. While the store carries dressier clothes, Tucci also caters to the casual North County coastal customer.

Agatucci will stock short shorts from satin to terry cloth for spring, as well as a "hippie romantic look" — floral prints and long, romantic dresses. Trench coats are a major trend. White is hot, along with metallics. Platform shoes reach new heights, but ballet flats keep fashion grounded. And topping it all off: headbands, hair accessories, and plenty of hats. (858/259-8589, www.tucciboutique.com)

Patricia Straight — Peaches En Regalia
She’s been in the fashion business since the ’70s when, as a hip young mom, she opened the first Peaches en Regalia in Aspen. At a friend’s suggestion, Patricia Straight named the store after a popular track on the Frank Zappa album "Hot Rats." "I thought, ’Man, that covers the gamut for me.’ It’s a cute name. It’s kicky. It’s amazing how many people, particularly men, who love Frank Zappa, come in the store and say, ’is this the song from that album?’"

Her son Ryan Gonzales now runs the two Peaches en Regalia stores in Del Mar and Carlsbad. Straight continues as the president and ladies’ buyer, catering to a clientele from the late 20s on up. "We start where other stores leave off," says Straight. "I mean there are a lot of wonderful, classy stores out there, but maybe they specialize a little bit stronger in the younger set, a little lower cut pants and a little hipper, trendier clothing. I want my customers to make an investment in good quality clothing that they can wear season after season, but without being old, boring, and behind the times."

Straight goes "to market" in Los Angeles six to ten times a year, combing showrooms filled with the latest fashions, and to the huge Magic Marketplace show held twice a year in Las Vegas, where thousands of vendors show off their wares. But more often than not, the lines come right to her home, via the Internet or personal visits from clothing reps. A former model, Straight sifts through the trends with a practiced eye, figuring out what will work for her customer, and perhaps most important, what won’t. A case in point, the baby doll tops — tight through the bust and full below — popular with younger women. "You know that look, we wore them when we were 19," says Straight. "However, if you’ve had children, you might not want that look when you are past your mid-20s or late 20s."

But isn’t it said that everything old is new again? "Right, but it doesn’t mean we’re all going to wear it," Straight says. "My customers probably won’t. My customers like feminine. They want to look good. They want to look attractive. They want to feel good about themselves. They’re not trying to impress everyone around that they’re the hippest, newest thing."

That customer, like Straight, doesn’t replace her wardrobe each season. "Absolutely not. I don’t. I never have. I add, and I discard. I add, and I discard. If I haven’t worn it in two years for sure, it’s got to go, give it away to charity. And then I add a couple of new fresh pieces...This is going to add some newness to my wardrobe, whether it be a new belt, a new bag...a couple of tops, or a complete new outfit."

New this spring, she says, is the novelty jacket. "They’re doing a fun little detail, like a ruffled collar or a trim on the sleeves. It’s classy and you look at it and say, ’This is really fun and it has a newer, trendier look, but I can see wearing it for years.’ That’s what we’re about."

While neutrals are timeless, color is popping up as an accent. "People love to add color to their wardrobes, like apple green, pretty corals, tons of yellow. Blues are very strong right now, and navy...you’ve got the nautical look coming in with the fun stripes. Reds, but not so much of a blue red, a coral red." Black, along with black and white, are always big, she says. Chocolate is still going forward, along with grey. (858/792-7400, www.peachesenregalia.com)

Sheree Vihon And Rochelle Johnson — The Rare Earth And TRE
Fashion is a family affair for Sheree Vihon and her sister, Rochelle Johnson, partners in The Rare Earth, the boutique founded by their mother, Bobbi Martini, more than 25 years ago. More recently, these style sisters opened TRE in The Forum at Carlsbad. "Our mainstay is 30 to 60," says Vihon. "And the beautiful thing is both mother and daughter can shop here. And a lot of our customers have grown up shopping here."

Vihon says their stores dress women for all the times of their lives — whether it’s a soccer game or a charity event. "We kind of go to all spectrums," says Vihon. "We go from the jeans-and-T-shirt look to the gown and the cocktail dress. And I guess I would say it’s sassy because I think of our customer as kind of that desperate housewife — it’s the 40 [-year-old] that looks good, that wants to look good, that Desperate Housewives character."

When Vihon is on buying trips to L.A., Las Vegas, and New York, she tries try to envision who’s going to wear the clothes — and where. "Our customer does not go out clubbing," says Vihon. "We try to learn about what our customer’s lifestyle is and buy clothes that match those events." And that means the stores may pass on some up-to-the-minute trends. "Fashion always emulates Hollywood and movie stars a lot of the times, what you see in magazines," says Vihon, "but the movie stars have gotten so young that business fashion people need to adapt the trends to match customers’ lifestyles. And that is one of the things that sets us apart. We don’t go after the trend. Even though short shorts are hot, they’re not hot for our customer. It just isn’t their look."

The look this spring, Vihon says, includes lots of white, along with neutrals such as tan and brown, with a touch of red. Bold print dresses are also big, along with wider pants — not as tight or as low — although skinny is still in. Clothing is less embellished this season, which means accessories have added importance — jewelry, belts and bags. (858/755-7227, 760/942-0227)
— Andrea Naversen, photography by Vincent Knakal