North End's Heart & Sole Carries Unique Fashions

The North End's unique businesses bring people from all over the world to this neighborhood. So North End Patch will be featuring one each week -- whether a restaurant, florist, smoke shop or salon. Let us know if there's a particular one you'd like to read about in this weekly series.

Elaine DiGangi loves fashion and the North End.

So what better way to blend her passions than to start her own boutique?

On July 4, 2011, Elaine did just that and opened the doors of Heart & Sole located at 354 Hanover Street.

Previously, she was an interior decorator but was always working for someone else and wanted to do something on her own.

Why here in the North End?

“I was born on Thacher Street and brought up on Prince Street,” Elaine said. “I know a lot of people in the North End and I think it’s good for ‘local girls’ to have their own businesses in the neighborhood.”

When she first started the woman’s boutique, Elaine carried jewelry, shoes, accessories and handbags. Thus, the name of Heart & Soul to let people know it was a place to buy shoes and items to compliment their wardrobes.

In the fall of 2011, however, Elaine started to introduce clothes. Now, customers can shop at Heart & Sole to outfit themselves entirely – from head to toe.

Inside the sunny and well laid-out shop here are lovely hat stands, scarves, tops, as well as the accessories that defined the boutique in its early days.

What makes this business stand out from the rest?

Everything in Heart & Sole sells for under $100. So it’s a high-end shop without the top prices one usually sees at specialty shops as well as a local boutique for those who don’t want to leave the neighborhood to find stylish items.

“I carry unique pieces of jewelry that are sterling silver and follow all the new trends,” Elaine said. “I watch what the women are wearing on The Today Show as well as the female newscasters on Channel Five and the actresses on soap operas.”

That’s how she “eyeballs” fashion trends and then brings the fresh ideas back to her shop.

In addition, Elaine never buys anything for the boutique online but, rather, attends a large number of industry shows and visits vendors so she can handpick every single item that comes into Heart & Sole.

Any changes to help businesses in the area?

“I like that we’re getting back to a community feeling here in the neighborhood where people support one another,” Elaine said in reference to other businesses and the residents who shop in the North End and respect its merchants.

“I want to see that sense of kinship continue,” she said.

Most interesting experience

Just a few days ago, Elaine recalled how a customer $500 on just earrings.

That was exciting for the owner of this Hanover Street boutique.

Elaine has also heard from people who’ve visited the North End from other parts of the country who then report they can’t find a certain accessory she carries anywhere else.

“People have called me to say they wish they had bought the unique piece they saw when they were here and ask me if I can send it to them,” Elaine said. “I don’t ordinarily ship merchandise from the store but, on those rare occasions, I do send a much-wanted item to customers who have visited but left the area.”