Diva Chicks ARTful Boutique

With that vision, when the leases at their businesses were up, they took a chance and opened their own boutique.

While the boutique celebrated its one year anniversary in July, 13 new clothing lines were added to its stock. Diva Chicks specializes in artfully designed clothing and jewelry that cannot be found in department stores. Briggs and Rivera buy a few articles of each piece of clothing so styles stay fresh and customers do not all wear the same things.

"It's not like you can walk into Target and say, 'I can find that shirt [at Diva Chicks],'" Briggs said. "We don't order en masse, and then when it's gone, it's gone."

Each piece of clothing is also specially picked for comfort and wearability. Diva Chicks carries women's sizes 2–24 to accommodate various figures and makes sure each article can be washed in household washers and dryers.

In addition to clothing women, Diva Chicks strives to support them, too. All of their products are made by women or women-owned businesses.

One line of jewelry the boutique carries is crafted by women in Guatemala. A local missionary brings bracelets, necklaces and earrings to sell to Diva Chicks, and the money helps the women in Guatemala make a living. The boutique's customers can then buy the handmade crocheted or beaded pieces.

"We know how difficult it is for women," Rivera said. "For women to be self-sufficient is very important to us, especially women in Third World countries."

The boutique also raises money for the Georgetown Animal Shelter through ARTcause for PAWS. The boutique sells artwork by local artists and donates all the money to the shelter. Diva Chicks does not take in any profit through the program and plans to hold an additional fundraiser for the shelter after the first of the year.

In the future, Briggs and Rivera hope to carry mostly American-made lines in the store. It is a goal they are already close to reaching—only a few of their products are manufactured outside the U.S. Briggs said buying nationally is important to keep money local and in American hands.

"When people shop here they know they're shopping local, which is what we want to do. We want to shop local," Briggs said. "We want to keep our money here."

Diva Chicks ARTful Boutique, 109 E. Seventh St., 869-1199, www.divachicksboutique.com

Hours: Mon–Sat. 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.