CINTRA WILSON GOES SHOPPING: SoHo Extravagance Edition

In this week's Thursday Styles, Critical Shopper Cintra Wilson finds herself at the improbably opulent new SoHo boutique, Realm. Wilson's shopping companion is an opera singer willing to break into an aria at the slightest provocation, so an extravagant boutique would seem to be the perfect shopping destination. Never mind that conventional wisdom would suggest that this is not the moment to open a shop brimming with sumptuous, staggeringly expensive clothes. Sometimes it is the counterintuitive business idea that flourishes, and the typically perspicacious Wilson is charmed by Realm, in no small part because owner Randi Jacobson is there to personally tempt her into the dressing room with a sleek leather dress.

Realm is essentially Randi Jacobson’s own closet writ large, with the doors thrown open. The black leather Jitrois dress I was trying on was directly related to her own wedding gown. I realized it would be ungenerous and arrogant of me not to share my enjoyment of it. So, I zipped myself in, got over my gothically self-conscious bad self, and submitted to being a blushing Cinderella.
“Oh!” Ms. Jacobson enthused.
“I’ve never looked this good in my life,” I said, stupefied at my reflection. “I look like Jane Birkin.”

Did she actually buy the $3,825 dress? No, but from this report, we're guessing that if Jacobson stays on the scene to work her charms, someone else will will snap it up along with a lot more.

Critical Shopper | Realm: The Meaningful Luxury of Paying Attention By Cintra Wilson (NYTimes)
Realm 98 Greene Street between Prince and Spring Streets, SoHo