Best Fashions to Wear on the Art Bus 2005 | Girl's Gotta Have It | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Fashions to Wear on the Art Bus

Girl's Gotta Have It

When Lynne Bruning walks into a room, you can't miss the former-architect-turned-fashion-designer. Her outrageous, over-the-top fashions just scream out for people to come and investigate. Start with her key skirt: Unadorned, it would just be a simple, denim mini. But with more than 500 keys sewn onto it -- not all, she swears, are to the homes of ex-boyfriends -- the skirt becomes a walking piece of art and music. The duster takes on new meaning in her hands: She weaves them with surveyor's marking line -- yes, the green and pink string you buy at Home Depot -- and El wire. Talk about a neon extravaganza. But Bruning is at her best when she turns to her simple, elegant, bias-cut dresses. The flowing gowns won her top prizes during last year's Fashion Group International of Denver competition and resulted in an internship with New York designer David Rodriguez. Way to sew!

Best Fashions to Wear Bowling

Crown Mercantile

Fashion's obsession with all things rockabilly is long over, but Crown Mercantile still carries a wide selection of retro-inspired bowling shirts, from the understated to the full-on psycho-billy. Don't forget the witty T-shirts to go under them, or the excellent accessories to finish off the look. And for the ladies waiting for their stray (straight-gay) to stop preening, there's a host of smart skirts, blouses and housewares to peruse. Good style never goes out of fashion.

Best Fashions to Wear on the Head

Minerva's Hat and Fashion Boutique

Minerva's Hat and Fashion Boutique is the ultimate window-shopping experience. You may not always go in, but it's always worth stopping and gawking at owner Minerva Smith's glorious selection of hats, including everything from show-stopping Sunday bests to African kufis. If you don't stop in and admire the exquisite handiwork, however, you're most certainly missing out. But be warned: Minerva's is known to induce fantasies of being as chic and turned-out as Greta Garbo or Dorothy Dandridge.

Best Clothing for Sistas and Brothas

House of Mesha

The House of Mesha opened last June in the former Hue-Man Experience Book Store, ready to serve the Five Points neighborhood with fresh looks. Owner Holly Kai Hurd says the boutique's signature items are "deconstructed" denim skirts that are revitalized with inserts of neckties or Kente cloth, but there are also crocheted tops, waist beads, dashiki dresses and feminista T-shirts emblazoned with every known English synonym for "vagina." Less risqué shoppers can try Hurd's Afro-centric tees that announce "I love black people," "I'm big in Europe" or "I am a man," inspired by civil-rights-movement picket signs.

Best Independent Clothing Boutique

Mona Lucero Design

Fashion Institute of Technology graduate Mona Lucero opened her shop about two years ago and recently expanded into a sparse, wood-floored space that puts the clothing front and center. Lucero stocks some vintage-inspired styles by other designers, but they take a back seat to her work. Stop in for a simple A-line skirt in pink bouclé or a luxurious Japanese print; a sleek, multiple-seamed denim tulip skirt that opens at the bottom into pleats; form-fitting T-shirts screen-printed with uncomplicated emblems; or a tiny handbag in a variety of fabrics.

Best Teamwork by Independent Retailers

Side Street Shopping List

As the owner of Sparrow, Kirsten Coplans knows how hard it is for an independent, small -- no, minuscule -- business owner to build up clientele when there's little money for advertising. She and pal Melissa Santiago figured the myriad of boutiques around town were experiencing the same struggle. So they created Side Street Shopping List, a modest guide to fifteen local shops that help to keep Denver vibrant. Right now, the guide is distributed in stores -- with a coupon good at any of the participating locations included -- but Coplans hopes to someday expand to a website and instigate organized group events. Until then, she's a word-of-mouth expert.

Best Place to Learn to Strip

FlashDance Studios

Gospel Hour Cardio. Stripper Workout. Ballet Boot Camp. FlashDance Studios has it all for aspiring divas -- even a Paris Hilton Day to work on your heiress-model-stripper strut. But despite the facade of glitz and over-the-top class names, at its core, FlashDance is a great dance studio for adults. There's no pretension or awkwardness, just a safe place to come and enjoy movement, whether it's classical ballet or the art of the striptease. Now, that's hot.

Best Place to Get a Tattoo and a Flu Shot

Enchanted Ink Body Art Studio

Tattoo shops are as plentiful as 7-Elevens, but a place to get tattooed by nurses? That's something. Wolf Wolfstar and Tara Gray-Wolfstar (aka Spider) got tired of the hospital grind and its politics, so they quit and opened Enchanted Ink Body Art Studio. They're happy living their dream, but they also keep their nursing licenses current -- just in case one of those oh-so-precise genital piercings goes awry. And they're always happy to offer cookies and juice to clients who get a little woozy -- without a prescription.

Best Business Name

Guttersnipe

A self-professed professional "ladder monkey" who specializes in gutter cleaning, Lee Eldridge keeps his mind out of the gutter -- way out of the gutter. His business's name, Guttersnipe, is as charmingly highfalutin as his accent -- both reflecting Eldridge's English origins.

Best Business Name to Pronounce Carefully

Darque Tan

Lighten up, people! The first word in the name of tanning emporium Darque Tan is pronounced "dark."

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