DETAILS: Long-sleeve cotton jersey “Regina” tee by NSF, $160. Plaid ruffled skirt by Derek Lam 10 Crosby, $350. Superga sneakers in gray, $65. Melvin beaded bracelets, $30-40.We’ve long loved Ruth Shaw’s super-fly glamour. But can we confess a crush on her new little sister store fittingly named The Girl Next Door? Where Ruth is uptown chic, GNS is downtown real—side by side in the heart of Cross Keys. Girl is trend-driven, gamine, everyday elegant (and a little less expensive). Get your youthful fix—whatever the real number, darling— with a Jet jean jacket, Sundry slouchy tee or Iro cropped trousers for a casual-chic spring.
MODEL CITIZEN: Tobi Thompson may not look like the girl next door (we wish we were all so lucky), but she did come up with the shop’s super-friendly name. No surprise the Baltimore native—who has worked at Ruth Shaw for seven years, and is now a buyer-in-training—once dabbled in modeling (she walked the runway for Christian Siriano’s School for the Arts show). Thompson’s fiancé, Charlie Chiampou of cW Design/Build, came up with the idea of using a big steel “G” for the store’s cash wrap and designed custom tables for the space. “He created a downtown feel that is very open—it’s urban and industrial without being contrived, which mirrors the clothes,” says Thompson.
