Home Industries Business Services 4 decades later, Felag’s store stays in vogue

4 decades later, Felag’s store stays in vogue

By

Sarah Francis

-

05/22/2026

FLYING COLORS: Elaine Felag opened Feminine Fancies in 1982 and gave herself five years to work. Nearly 44 years later, the women’s boutique is still going strong.  PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

PBN Business Women Awards 2026 ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE: Elaine Felag, Feminine Fancies For more than four decades, Elaine Felag has owned and operated Feminine Fancies, an upscale women’s boutique on County Road in Barrington, where clients browse racks of colorful dresses, handbags, lingerie and sweaters. The seed was planted early. Growing up in Barrington, Felag worked

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PBN Business Women Awards 2026 ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE: Elaine Felag, Feminine Fancies

For more than four decades, Elaine Felag has owned and operated Feminine Fancies, an upscale women’s boutique on County Road in Barrington, where clients browse racks of colorful dresses, handbags, lingerie and sweaters. The seed was planted early. Growing up in Barrington, Felag worked at the Cherry & Webb women’s apparel chain, where she developed a taste for funky fashion – her grandmother’s castoff orthopedic shoes and 1940s dresses included – and had a realization: Barrington needed a lingerie store. The path to opening one was indirect. Felag studied political science at Providence College, shifted to social work, and spent years counseling women through the Arthritis Foundation and in hospitals and clinics. By 1982, she was ready for something new. “I gave myself five years and if it didn’t work, I’d go back to social work,” she said. Nearly 44 years later, Feminine Fancies is still going strong. Early on, Felag built her inventory by visiting New York City showrooms and meeting vendors at her mother’s house. She learned customer service from her father’s appliance business. Felag says her business has evolved with the times. The careful rack-browsing of the 1980s gave way to mall culture in the 1990s, then cheap fast fashion from overseas – a direction she refused to follow, instead pivoting toward online sales and Instagram. Today, her clients range from 12-year-olds to women in their 90s, and tastes have shifted toward casual, oversized, eco-friendly styles, a trend COVID-19 accelerated. Ordering remains one of the hardest parts of the job. “Don’t overbuy,” she said. “Since I love everything, especially color, I have to do spreadsheets to make sure I don’t buy too much.” She tracks trends by attending shows around the country, weighing what’s sustainable against what’s simply hot. Two new pressures loom: tariffs, which threaten higher costs, and customs delays on merchandise, and climate change. “In a cold, rainy spring, people don’t want to buy summer dresses,” she said. “Global warming affects people’s buying trends. It’s a buy-now, wear-now culture.”