Meet the owners

Meet: Pippa

Boudoir Femme is an award winning, independent, womenswear boutique in Cambridge city centre is home to a mix of stylish, womenswear labels you’ll want to wear every day. Labels stocked include American Vintage, Maison Scotch, Rails, Reiko & accessories from Lily & Lionel, Vanessa Bruno & Woden trainers to name a few.

Tell us about your business:

Boudoir Femme is an independent business on King Street in the centre of Cambridge. We sell womenswear and accessories, a mixture of European and British brands coupled with great customer service. The style of our boutique is very much clothing that is easy to wear every day.

What do you like about being an independent business in Cambridge?

Running your own business gives you so much freedom, everything that happens within the businesses is down to you.  You make the choices and the decisions. I love that we’re individual and offer something very different and I think that is something to be really proud of.

Why should people choose to independently?

Independent shopping is by far the most interesting for a multitude of reasons. Whenever I am in a new city I always head for independents and look on Google to see where the interesting shops are. You often get connected with the owner who is normally the owner, buyer and the person that is selling to you so there is a great knowledge of all the products and a passion for what they have individually selected. It’s often a much nicer environment, you feel more connected because you have one-to-one shopping experience and you often make friends with the owners. It is a highly personalised service and there’s no doubt that it is much more pleasurable to shop in an independent over a multiple.

How do independent shops add to a city’s unique identity?

I think without it is just one homogenous mix of stores where there’s a large amount of the same products which I don’t think it is exciting for shoppers. I think you need something individual because what will make the different between someone shopping in Cambridge and going to another city where there is just a shopping centre can often be quite a bland experience. I know from experience of travelling all over the world that independents really make a city and long may they live as it’s a great experience as far as I am concerned. There is room for both, but indies rule!