Bradenton Business Spotlight

The Sewing Room Teaches Tricks of the Stitch

Donna Whitacre, owner and instructor of Bradenton-based sewing school, The Sewing Room, provides private hands-on lessons in the art of sewing and alteration.

Donna Whitacre, lifelong seamstress and owner of Bradenton-based sewing school, The Sewing Room, believes that sewing is not only a lost art, but a practical craft that began to fall by the wayside in recent generations. Over the past few years, however, the struggling economy, the popularity of fashion-based television shows like Project Runway and shifting societal views toward domestic arts like cooking and the textile arts, have prompted a resurgence in the craft. “People are going back to doing things the way they remember their mothers and grandmothers doing them," Whitacre said. "There are more young moms wanting to learn how to sew clothes for their families again and people taking classes so that they can save money by learning …

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Bradenton Business Spotlight

The Chameleon Boutique is an Eclectic Treasure Trove

The boutique carries a unique variety of jewelry and accessories, clothing and shoes, natural body care products and home goods.

For more than two decades, the Chameleon Boutique has been one of Bradenton’s best-kept secrets — and amazingly, it’s hidden right in plain view. The boutique is remarkable for its eclectic style and commitment to quality. Artsy, chic and all natural items from jewelry and beads to home décor, clothing and body care products, fill the homey bungalow-style cottage in which the business resides. The Chameleon’s humble beginnings date back to 1990 when store owner, Elizabeth Western, moved from her home in Michigan to Anna Maria Island and opened a jewelry booth at the Red Barn Flea Market. “I started getting regular customers who were telling me, ‘Please stay in Bradenton. There’s no other place like this in town,’” Western recalled. “I …

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Carolyn and Cricket

3:30 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Toni, how come you never take me to cool places like this?!   more ›

Purabell House of Fashion Brings Haute Couture to Bradenton

Purabell House of Fashion, a private fashion line and manufacturing company, makes a home in Bradenton.

Most women embark on a quest for the perfect dress at least once in their lives, be it for a prom or a wedding, a quinceañera or a sweet 16 celebration. For Maria Aguilar, owner of Bradenton’s Purabell House of Fashion, that quest takes place daily. Aguilar has been in the business of designing and making “the perfect dress” for countless women for decades — and she’s only just getting started. By combining an eye for fashion, a lifetime’s worth of experience as seamstress and a mind for business and ambition to succeed, Aguilar has grown her business from a humble dressmaking shop to a sophisticated haute couture fashion production and consulting company based out of Bradenton. Originally from Mexico, Aguilar moved to Florida in 1987 and …

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