Alley Cats

They say opposites attract and so it seems in this skinny alley off Stonington Borough’s busy Water Street, where you’ll find a shop filled with charts and flags and ships lanterns a century or so old, next door to what has to be this peninsula’s newest addition – a peaceful, white-and-blue space housing the sweet place called Blu Boutique.

Hanging from bamboo rods, you’ll find casual, well-made, easy-to-wear clothing, including classic shirtdresses and smart blouses. Timeless, classy clothing contributes to what Blu Boutique owner Deanna Dominguez calls “effortless chic.” She is of the school in which one great black dress anchors a changing look, depending on accent choices of jewelry, scarves or belts.

“My philosophy is to basically have less and make it more through accessories,” said Dominguez, who opened her shop at 145 Water St. on July 1.

She’s graced her modern and welcoming space with sculpture by Sean Hartnett of Block Island and with periwinkle blue, pleasing-to-the-mind-and-eye paintings by Australian artist Donna Von Holdt, now living in Ridgefield.

Dominguez also features an eclectic line of repurposed belt buckles transformed by Brooklyn-based jeweler A. Jason Ross into bracelets – some chunky-funky cuffs, others strappy leather wraparounds, characterized as “very California.” You’ll also find delicate, modern gold-and-pearl earrings from Rhode Island School of Design artist Ryan Kundratt and American-made Italian leather purses with simple, but cool, looks.

From modern Blu Boutique, walk next door to Boat House Antiques, open since 1994 and filled with a mix of 19th and 20th century nautical artifacts. Owner Bill Clark, who has dabbled in antiques for most of his life, has restored Colonial homes and historic places, including North Stonington’s Randall’s Ordinary that featured open-hearth cooking, and, most recently, Coast Guard buildings at Quoddy Head Station in Lubec, Maine, the country’s easternmost point.

Along the way, he’s collected old maps, including those of the borough, Pawcatuck and Westerly, cloth children’s books and many sepia photographs. This is where to buy that scrimshaw whale tooth bearing a carved likeness of the Charles W. Morgan, the country’s last wooden whaling ship currently under restoration at Mystic Seaport.

You’ll also find a range of sizes and styles of ships lanterns that are great for décor and easily electrified for function.     

“I like kitsch and I like funky and I like variety,” Clark said from Maine, while his wife, Kathleen Cole, runs the store.

And I like his philosophy on buying for the shop: “If you like it, buy it. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.” 

Works for me.