By Katie Kriz, News Correspondent

Many businesses have been forced into bankruptcy in recent years, but 29-year-old Oksana Levin saw the ailing economy differently than most:  Instead of closing doors, she saw it as an opportunity to open them.

“With the current economy, we don’t have the market we are used to, so I thought Chicgiraffe.com would allow the average woman to look stylish without breaking the bank,” said Levin, who launched the online consignment shop out of Hull in January.

The online fashion boutique boasts three sections:  the consignment shop, the boutique and the personal stylist branch.

Levin said the consignment store targets consumers from teens to adults, featuring pre-owned designer brand clothing, accessories and shoes. Many items, with tags still intact, are priced less than $100.

“The consignment store provides an opportunity for other people to get better use out of items that the previous owners never or hardly ever wore,” Levin said. “It also provides an opportunity for people to clean up and organize their closets by giving us these items.”

The boutique branch of ChicGiraffe offers high-end brands of accessories and jewelry made specifically for them by the store’s affiliate designers

“The boutique allows women to buy pre-selected merchandise at ridiculously inexpensive prices,” Levin said.

“We want to make sure that the majority of our purses are Italian leather and could be viewed as a timeless investment as well as a signature style piece.”

Elizabeth Nargi, a sophomore political science major who is currently on co-op, said she wished she had this opportunity back in the fall when she was applying for jobs.

“I love designer clothes,” said Nargi. “And if you can get them so cheap, who wouldn’t give it a shot?”
With a $50 service fee, the personal styling branch at ChicGiraffe educates professional women on the clothes and personal style that will give them an edge in job interviews, pairing customers with a personal shopper or stylist to find clothes that fit both body type and personality.

Levin said paying $50 for a consultation is more of an investment than a one-time expense, giving the shopper insight into what kinds of clothes are good for them, and what outfits are best for interviews.

“We all have an inner fashionista,” she said. “But some people just need to discover this in themselves, so they can use ChicGiraffe to do that. It helps people who have this chic style but need a little help unveiling it.”

Erin McIver, a middler communication studies major, said she will gladly look into the opportunity.

“It looks great,” McIver said. “Sometimes $50 can be a little scary, but I think it would be worth it. Sometimes when I go shopping I really don’t know what to get so it would be really useful to have someone’s professional opinion on it rather than my friends just saying, ‘Oh, it looks great!’ even if it really doesn’t.”

Nargi agreed: “I would definitely do this. It sounds like a great opportunity, because usually you wind up paying $50 just for a co-op shirt,” she said.

Levin said ChicGiraffe is currently offering a special promotion specifically for college students through April 30, where students can participate in a free Q&A session on the site. Participants can e-mail [email protected] with questions about attire for interviews or presentations, and a trained professional will answer all questions in a timely manner.

The second leg of the promotion is called the “Into the Real World” consultation. Much like the personal stylist branch of the site, for $50, students can attend customized session to help them understand what professionals are looking for in the workplace today. A well thought-out outfit is very important in both interviews and the workplace, Levin said.

“This would be a great opportunity for a Northeastern student because it will make a difference in the interviewing process and the student’s overall presentation,” Levin said. “This session will help students understand the perspective of employers when they come to recruit on campus.”

Sophomore biology major Kaitlyn Sanders said this offering would be a useful opportunity.

“I think the co-op Q&A idea is great – it’s good for someone who is dressing for the workplace and may be a little nervous about what to wear,” she said.

Right now, ChicGiraffe exists solely as an online boutique, but Levin said the shop could easily move beyond the web.

“Although the store is fairly new, we are still a rapidly growing company,” she said. “Currently we only have online locations, but we are definitely looking into expanding.”

Curious about the name? Levin said she simply loves giraffes.