Is D.C. — Gasp! — Cool Again?

Well, we’re cool enough to warrant a fancy-dancy piece (chalk full of porcelain models posing in front of brick monuments) in the New York Times’ Sunday “T Magazine,” written by Helene Cooper.

“The city has exploded,” says Mary Elizabeth Albaugh, the founder and owner of Betsy Fisher, a well-established boutique on Connecticut Avenue. Albaugh opened her store because, she said, “Washington was a ghost town when it came to shopping. There was Ann Taylor and there was Alcott & Andrews,” a rather staid office-wear chain that was home to floppy bow ties and boxy jackets. Not anymore. At 5 o’clock one recent evening, Albaugh carted in a cocktail bar so that politicos and media types could enjoy raspberry martinis while they tried on Tom K. Nguyen pantsuits and Marika Charles tops. Instead of dress sizes and price tags, the conversation was about whether President Bush might shut down Guantanamo Bay.

OMG. OMG. OMG. Somebody get Rick Steves over here ASAP.

(Photo Credit)

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