Helen Ainson — Local services in Darien

I recently had an amazing experience purchasing a "mother of the groom" ensemble at Helen Ainson. The team of salespeople were incredibly helpful (no pressure) and interested in learning about my event and the type of look I was seeking. The dress/gown selection was beautiful and ran from simple elegance to quite elaborate; prices seemed appropriate along a continuum as well. A portion of the gowns are made to order which allows the client to select from a rainbow of colors. Once I chose my dress, I was shown a variety of shoes, bags, shawls, and lingerie accessories (all very tasteful) that truly made for one stop shopping. In the age of internet shopping in which we spend hours selecting dresses and then valuable time repacking to send most items back, it was a refreshing 90 minutes after which I returned home with the entire "package" knowing that I looked my very best. In addition to formal / cocktail clothes, there is a wide selection of casual clothes and alterations are offered as well. This store has been in business for years ---with good reason. They really care about their customers and I am happy to be one of their...

I was a late Christmas shopper scrambling to find a specific brand, color, cut and size of jeans for my wife that she only wears because of the perfect fit she likes of the brand and this brand is not available in many other retail outlets and malls that I searched desperately to find. I finally called Helen Ainson and Holly was so very helpful and told me that she has the brand, color and size BUT different cut and she would hold them for me to stop by to see and pick up. I quickly postponed my haircut appointment and raced to the store to purchase them, the purchase was even nicely gift wrapped, I gave them to my wife on Christmas Day, she tried them on as I crossed my fingers and the fit was still so perfect so there was no need to return them for an exchange.

I’m sold and will be coming back to see Holly, who came to my rescue.

There is something to be said by the boutique experience that is so much more personal than malls.

I highly recommend Helen...

In January, my 95 year old mother’s health began to fail rapidly. I live in NYC and my mother lived in her house in Conn. Helping and managing her care became all consuming. She died on May 24. My daughter was getting married in September and I had not even started thinking about shopping for my dress. It was not until July that I was able to even contemplate shopping. I was sad and dreading something that should have been joyful. When I walked into Helen Ainson, Holly took charge of helping me find a dress. Her kind, firm and no nonsense approach made me feel that “I could do this”, and that is exactly what I did. We found a beautiful dress, that made my husband, bride-to-be daughter and even me, smile. Scheduling the sessions with the seamstress, and being able to purchase all of the “day of” accoutrements, truly made this one stop shopping. I am so thankful for the way Holly helped me and the way she...