Dolce Honolulu

"Fun, colorful and comfortable", Christie, the owner of the store, described her first boutique in these three words. With her Ralph Lauren trained fashion sense, Christie created the cozy cute store that shines in the Ward Center with its vibrant colors, quality fabrics and trendy styles.

Dolce, the sweetie

Dolce Honolulu (a blog-style website by Christie to share her fashion tips and observations) is a new-born baby, opened to the world on November, 2008. Meaning "sweet" in Italian, the name innocently alludes to the sexy and sometimes dramatic high fashion brand from Italy, Dolce and Gabbana. By dramatic, I mean outwordly elaborated, aloof from everyday life.

Christie decorates the store in a bright and fun way. Looks at the yellow pencils and colorful rubber bands, a creative way to make the store look modern, relaxed, detailed and loved.

Trendy in blood

DH, on the other hand, has nothing dramatic (well, maybe a little bit in its small jazzy ways), but it does share the trendy pulse that palpates from fashion capticals all the way to mid Pacific. The majority of DH merchandise are cherry-picked from New York and Los Angeles. One can have a well coordinated outfit from DH that looks stylish and comfortable at the same time, as if these two elements can easily rhyme.

The store has a wonderful collection of graphic tees. The ones that caught my eyes are the exquisite animal drawings printed big and bold by Lauren Moshi. Unlike the ubiquitous logo tees (ew, I am so sick of them), these highly individualized artsy tees can gracefuly bump the taste bar to the next level for a wearer.Look at the owl tee with a cozy.

Christie's pick

1. burnout tee: breezy, textured with ruched sleeve details
2. j brand jeans: light-weight denim in navy or black, slim fit (feels really thin. salute to technology.)
3. toy watch: fun to accessorize a casual street look

Product origin: made in USA

Many are made in the USA, even with basics like T-shirt. Well, they are more fashion tees with light-weave cotton, artistic graphics, special styling like a zipper pocket. The price tag for a USA-made tee goes from $70 to $90+. There are also silk dresses or tunics made in India and Sri Lanka. DH is not just about cosmopolitan. It is global as well.

Fabrication: cotton & silk

Mostly cotton, good quality cotton. I touched them, jeans or tees. Feels crisp and cool.

Chiffon silk scarves and satin silk dresses add more luxurious touch to it. Christie emphasized that even its silk dresses can machine wash and hanger dry. Very consumer friendly.

I love boutiques like Dolce Honolulu, where you can meet and talk with the boutique owner, who selects, presents and sells the merchandise in person. There is a "personal" and "individual" halo around such independent-standing fashion stores, where everything keeps its essence in the best form, unlike the national/international chain with everything so diluted.