Style Maven Lauren Rutkovitz Expands her Pikesville Boutique

Lauren Rutkovitz, owner of A Style Studio, stands in the clothing shop for women in Pikesville, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017. (Photo by Steve Ruark)

Lauren Rutkovitz delights in making women feel good about themselves. The owner of the newly expanded boutique A Style Studio in Pikesville’s Hooks Village, Rutkovitz spends her days doing just that.

“Someone could be having a rough day, and then you show them a new lipstick and blush and they feel pretty,” she says. “I just love making people feel better.”

When Rutkovitz founded A Style Studio in 2009, it was primarily a makeup studio that offered a small selection of clothing items. Today, A Style Studio maintains a small cosmetics section featuring Rutkovitz’s private label, Alexandra Cosmetics, but she has shifted the boutique’s focus from makeup to apparel.

In August, she doubled the size of her store. “We’ve became well-known for our denim, and needed a bigger space to merchandise clothing,” says Rutkovitz. “Also, the entrepreneurial part of me felt like it was time for a change.”

The boutique now offers “head-to-toe” makeovers and image consultations.

“We can dress and accessorize you for most occasions and help you find the best cosmetics to complete your look, whether [one is] going out to a party in the evening or just needs a natural daytime look,” she says.

In addition to clothing and cosmetics, A Style Studio also carries shoes, handbags and jewelry. Prices range from $50 to $500, and sizes run from extra-small to extra-large.

“Our tag line is ‘real clothes for real women,’” says Rutkovitz, who sells jeans in sizes 25 to 34. “I’m a size 14, but that hasn’t stopped people from coming to me for fashion advice.”

Rutkovitz says that before owning her store, finding stylish clothing in her size was challenging. She says it gratifies her to know that A Style Studio brings fashionable apparel to women of all shapes and sizes.

A Baltimore native, Rutkovitz, who lives with her husband, Steve, in Owings Mills, is no stranger to entrepreneurship. She graduated from Randallstown High School in 1979, went to Von Lee International School of Aesthetics, and started her first business, a nail and skin care salon, in 1986 when she was just 25.

Six years later, she sold the salon to focus on raising her three children. But she soon found herself doing freelance makeup jobs on weekends.

“I have that entrepreneurial spirit,” says Rutkovitz. “I’ve always liked working for myself and have done so for most of my adult life.”

Says Jodi Keehn, a buyer for the boutique: “We need stores like [A Style Studio] in Pikesville because there are very limited places around here to shop. We feel that A Style Studio more than meets that need.”

Keehn says those who work at A Style Studio are part of what makes the store special.

“We are unique because we are a woman-owned and women-run business,” she says. “There are 10 women who work here, and we all have a great time working together as a group. Additionally, customer service is one of the biggest things we focus on here.  We spend a lot of time working one-on-one with all of our customers so all of their shopping needs are met.”

Jamie Miller has been shopping at A Style Studio since it opened eight years ago and agrees that customer service is key.

“I feel like I’m among my friends when I go shopping [at A Style Studio],” says Miller. “The styles are suitable for the young through middle age to us over 60-year-olds. They make you feel young and confident about your appearance.”

For Rutkovitz, that’s what it’s all about.

Top photo: Lauren Rutkovitz of A Style Studio. (Photo by Steve Ruark)

Aliza Friedlander is a Baltimore-based freelance writer.

 

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