The Girls In Their Summer Dresses

Is Karen Stone the Northwest Corner's very own Coco Chanel? Karen, who used to live on Railroad Street and now lives in Lakeville, is famous around Falls Village for being the mother of Elijah and for her haunting, intensely colored landscape paintings, especially her ethereal barns. Before she moved to Connecticut, Karen was a fashion and costume designer in New York City, and now she is returning to her dressmaking roots. On Friday, I learned about Karen's new business--what she calls "Country Couture"--from her good friend Kimberly Rock Haggard who lives on Main Street. Kim had just picked up the dress that Karen had made for her out of vintage floral fabric. She plans to wear it to a wedding on Cape Cod next week, and she modeled it [photo right] at the garden/shopping party that Peter and Stephanie Katz [photo below] gave for Karen at their house near Lakeville Lake on Saturday. (Peter, who works for Ronald Lauder's Neue Galerie in New York, is on the building committee for the Falls Village Community and Cultural Center.) Karen set up a garment rack of sample dresses in the Katzes' dining room and brought bolts of colorful fabrics that customers could choose from for custom orders. Kim was there as sales support, but she did not have to work too hard because Karen's clothes sell themselves. They're exquisitely constructed, winsome and well-priced. Every woman seemed to be ordering a dress for herself or for her daughter, because Karen makes the most romantic girls dresses. Every woman in Falls Village should order at least one dress for herself right away before Karen gets too busy, famous or expensive. She can be reached at 860.435.9789 or klstone222@comcast.net.
I'm a little bit envious that I can't order a dress myself.