A new boutique recently opened in New Concord. Clarity Cotton Dresses, located at 24 E. Main Street, sells organically handmade dresses made from 100% cotton using natural dyes. The New Concord Area Board of Trade welcomed the new business by hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony on July 10.
“Anytime we can get new businesses to come in, especially to someone that brings this much excitement, and it’s a unique type of business – the dresses are beautiful, they’ve done a wonderful job renovating the place and fixing it up. They’re going to be a welcome new business to New Concord,” said the mayor of New Concord, Robert Dickson, who attended the ribbon cutting.
The ribbon cutting was held just a couple of weeks after Clarity Cotton Dresses owner Jaye Lenchis took possession of the building that houses her business. She and her husband, Michael, worked to repair and improve the shop space to prepare for the big day.
“It feels like a dream come true, you know? And I’ve always loved New Concord. My whole family’s from here, and I just love how everything turned out. So super excited,” said Lenchis.
After selling through a local farmers market and receiving a great response, Lenchis made the decision to open her first retail location.
“I was originally selling my dresses at the From Scratch Co-op, the farmer’s market in Cambridge. And it just, it really took off, and I had such a great response from everybody that I met there. And the natural fibers were so important to me. My clothes are 100% untreated cotton, made with only natural dyes. They’re not preserved or sprayed with chemicals in any way. So my whole family and my whole lifestyle is just very natural and very organic, and I just felt like we have enough chemical exposure in our lives that our favorite clothes shouldn’t be another one,” explained Lenchis. “So it just kind of grew from there, and a lot of the people that I met shared the same passion as me, and it just became really easy to go full steam ahead.”
There are several styles of dresses in various patterns to choose from, and all are available in little girls’ sizes 2, 4, 6, and 8 and in women’s sizes extra small through extra large in the store. Orders for custom sizes are accepted; however, there is a lead time because everything is handmade and hand-dyed.
In addition to dresses, the boutique sells tops, pillows, products from Dancing Woods Apothecary, and soon teas from Woodland Herbal. A display of local honey from the Lenchis’ beehives is also available to purchase.
“We’ve got 29 beehives on our farm in Norwich, and he [Michael] practices natural beekeeping, which is also a chemical-free version of beekeeping, said Lenchis. “So our honey has a very strong floral, natural flavor to it where we don’t supplement with any sugar feeding or anything like that, so there’s no watered-down, you know, white sugar kind of taste to it, which is great.”
Clarity Cotton Dresses can be found online at claritycottondresses.com or on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Shop in person or browse the showroom Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.
