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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Bradenton Business Spotlight

Uniquely You Boutique: A One-Stop Spot for Breast Cancer Fashion

The retailer offers the latest in fashion for women who have undergone mastectomies and lumpectomies, as well as wigs, accessories and skin care products.

Uniquely You Boutique, co-owned by sisters-in-law and Lakewood Ranch High School alumna Whitney Kitchens and Samantha Medred, was born out of a desire to help women. “We both wanted to have a job helping people,” said Kitchens, who told Patch the boutique was inspired by her aunt’s mastectomy boutique in Pittsburgh. “When we came back from Pittsburgh and realized there was nothing like this around here, we thought ‘This is it.’” Uniquely You, 707 60th Ct St E., specializes in providing full breast forms, mastectomy bras and swimsuits for women who have undergone mastectomies and lumpectomies. Uniquely You also carries partial breast forms, and recently began working with Trulife, one of only two companies in the country that makes custom …

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Heartbeat of Bradenton

Couture In The Courtyard Draws Fashion Mavens Of All Ages

Today's stylish, sold-out fundraiser benefits South Florida Museum.

 What could be more fun than shopping at the fashionista fave store Saks Fifth Avenue? How about shopping at Saks with wine and hors d’ouvres at your disposal? Shopping with benefits was the delightful experience bestowed recently on the sponsors and committee members who have made Couture in the Courtyard, a fund and friend raiser for the South Florida Museum, one of the biggest hits on Bradenton’s charity event circuit. “St. Petersburg has been doing this event for years at the Vinoy, so when I heard it was happening here, I knew it would be a success,” said Audrey Wedding, committee member and hostess of the very first table booked last year. “It is the best fashion show this side of New York. I am coordinating the tables, and it is not…

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