Be Yourself. Be Different. Shop Shoptiques.

Calling all fashionistas! Ever dream of shopping the boutiques of fashion centers of the world like Paris, LA, New York and Miami? Well, Valley has some great news for you- it’s now possible without leaving the comfort of your dorm room.

With Shoptiques.com, now it’s possible to shop the boutiques of the world like a local. With the motto, “Be Yourself. Be Different,” the site was founded with the goal to provide one-of-a-kind boutique clothing online. It’s the perfect site for fashion enthusiasts who want to express themselves through unique items. With a huge online presence, Shoptiques is helping to carve out how the consumers of tomorrow choose to shop.

Not only is Chelsea Burka our very own Fall 2012 covergirl, but she’s also a campus ambassador for Shoptiques. Valley checked in with her to get the inside scoop on the site. As a campus ambassador, Chelsea writes trend articles, scouts local boutiques for the site, organizes a spring event, and even finds well-dressed Penn Staters for street style photos to be featured on the Facebook page. Mark your calendars for the Shoptiques trunk show coming to Penn State on April 15^th.

The idea for Shoptiques was born when the founder, Olga Vidisheva, was shopping through the streets of Paris. According to Olga, boutiques are “the little gems that preserve the craftsmanship of dress making and ensure every woman can be unique and different.” After purchasing a pair of shoes from a boutique in Paris, all of her friends wanted them but had no way of purchasing them. In order to find the shoes, they would have to go to that exact boutique in Paris. Most of the boutiques did not have an online presence, and did not know how to ship internationally either. Burka says, “It’s the classic entrepreneur story; she identified a problem, and found a solution. The solution was Shoptiques.”

So what makes Shoptiques different?

Burka says, “Shoptiques allows you to browse the best looks from top boutiques around the world in one convenient site online. You can jet set from the shops of Paris to the boutiques of Beverly Hills, without the pricey plane ticket.”

Shoptiques also has a feature called “The Edit”, an online magazine exclusively available at the website. Another feature unique to Shoptiques is shoppers can “follow” boutiques to stay connected and get updates from their favorite stores, regardless of where they are in the world.

Let’s be honest- when it comes to shopping, State College isn’t quite New York or Paris. We have some great stores here but with every girl shopping in the same place, you’re bound to see the same items over and over again.

As Burka puts it, “Shoptiques showcases truly one of a kind items so girls can reflect their own personal style, and stand out!”

Check out Shoptiques.com and their Facebook page for some awesome clothes and accessories. Happy shopping!

Photo by Audrey Cillo