With credit to Gertrude Stein – a rose being the thing that is what it is – The Rose in downtown Mystic nearly overflows with many things eclectic, vintage and antique.
Along the brick lane locally known as Peacock Alley, stretching from West Main Street to the lot behind Steamboat Wharf, you’ll find The Rose, filled with treasures ranging from modern, shiny black handbags and big, bold necklaces to delicate, lacey tablecloths and sparkly Victorian ornaments.
Patti Rose Mainville opened at 1 High St. 13 years ago and then moved to 4 Steamboat Wharf in a space long occupied by the old barbershop. After working in the catering business, she did a stint at long-gone Casual Corner, where she filled in for the window-display designer and wowed her boss with the results.
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She exhibits her flair for the creative throughout her tiny shop in tasteful arrangements showcasing flowy scarves, 30s-era purse/hand muffs and new intricately beaded and ribboned evening bags.
Mainville stays true to her mantra of enjoying one-of-a-kind accessories, buying big-city closeouts and returning with lots of “one of something.”
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Scarves in myriad styles and fabrics sell from about $23 to $42. Purses and handbags sell anywhere from $20 to $50, while prices vary among the selection of vintage hand muffs that includes a white fur hand muff with pom-poms, a snazzy one in orange fur, and others made of Persian wool or soft dark fur.
Shoppers do find their way here through the street-scape construction, browsing among the displays of blouses and jackets and the shelves of bracelets and earrings. A bus filled with women working out of Hartford for FEMA, post Tropical Storm Irene, took time out one recent Saturday for a shopping trip and quickly filled The Rose.
You’ll also find antique table lamps dressed with ornate shades, showy candelabras, vintage doilies, as well as curtains, glass, china, mirrors and more.
Whether you’re looking to add a new decorative spin to a room or in need of a funky, chunky necklace or a special-occasion purse, you’re sure to enjoy perusing The Rose for that special some-thing.
