hopping can be a frustrating activity. Pounding dance music gets the heart rate up. Sweaty change rooms with cellulite-enhancing lights are enough to make even the most dedicated consumer buy on impulse to escape before she has an anxiety attack. The worst shopping stumbling block of all is the overeager, over-complimentary salesperson paid on commission. She is usually located in the kind of store that doesn’t have mirrors in the change rooms, forcing customers to emerge in whatever they’re trying on to the onslaught of pleading praise. To look in a mirror and hate what you’re wearing as the salesperson tells you how great you look is enough to put a damper on a whole day of shopping. These triggers of Retail Rage are what Forever in Blue Jeans owner Heather Rifkin abolishes in her new Miami store.

Rifkin got her start in New York as an intern at Bergdorf Goodman’s and an executive trainee at Saks Fifth Ave. After moving back to her Floridian hometown, Rifkin got jobs as a buyer for Sunglass Hut and D&G Eyewear. After a brief hiatus to procure a family, Rifkin opened up Forever in Blue Jeans. All this is to say that the girl has an eye for quality clothes and she refuses to bullshit her customers when it comes to what looks good and what doesn’t. “I would rather have a customer come in and buy nothing then have them buy something they’ll never wear. I want my customers to come back,” Rifkin explains.

Considering the relaxed atmosphere of the shop and its diverse denim contents the least of Rifkin’s problems will be a lack of customers. Rifkin herald’s J-brand skinny jeans (Angelina wears them so you must too), Anlo’s sailor pants, Genetic, Hudson and Chip & Pepper jeans as her best sellers among the 30+ brands Forever carries. The store carries tops and accessories as well to go with her expansive denim collection. Every shirt style from a casual tee to an elegant evening top are sold from the lines of Ella Moss, Free People, Testament and more. Leather belts by Brave and Lauren Mirkin handbags will finish off the Forever in Blue Jeans look that focuses on, you guessed it, the jeans.

All the goods are laid out on quirky, antique, painted wood furniture that lends the spacious store some warmth. There are cookies, candy, pretzels, soda pop and bottles of water on sale to keep up customer’s energy during the harrowing process that is jean shopping. It could take upwards of an hour to find the perfect fit and Rifkin won’t let you leave in anything less so the sustenance will come in handy.

All the girls in Miami wear dresses and all the shops subsequently carry them. Rifkin made the decision to abandon the saturated dress market altogether in favor of her more coveted denim niche. It’s only right that a girl who got teased for her denim obsession in high school should be setting trends for the stylish and utilitarian pants. Miami was in need of a laid back jean boutique. Finally, we have an antidote to Retail Rage. –J.T.

Forever in Blue Jeans
8851 Southwest 132nd Street
Miami, Fl
305-235-1212