Nicole Richie Gives Boston a Stylish Stamp of Approval

Boston rolled out the pink carpet for celebrity Nicole Richie, the special guest at yesterday’s grand opening of National Jean Co.’s Newbury Street store. Richie, the creative director of the clothing lines Winter Kate and House of Harlow 1960, spoke to reporters and posed for photos before a party celebrating the new store and her collections. The champagne flowed as the city’s fashionistas trotted out heels, leather, and jumpsuits — almost as if we had something to prove.

We shouldn’t have worried: When a reporter asked whether she thought Boston was stylish or not, Richie replied, “You’re like the third person who’s asked me that tonight, and I see where you’re going with this. Someone told you guys you’re terrible, right?” (It was GQ, of course, and we’re still smarting.) “Well, it wasn’t me,” Richie continuted. “From what I’ve seen tonight, everybody looks great!” Good to know that we’ve got a celebrity endorsement of how we dress.

I asked Richie about drawing inspiration from the ’60s and ’70s, a fact apparent not only in the name of her jewelry line (House of Harlow 1960), but in the styles she sent down the runway. The gowns were flowing, the sleeves wide, and the hemlines short, all an homage to the age of Aquarius. “I would say, as a whole, I truly am inspired by the 60s and the 70s,” she told me. “I love the music of that time and the overall freedom, the idea that clashing didn’t exist, that you were able to mix fabrics and prints.”

Richie’s own dress last night was made from two different prints; she practices what she preaches.

Here, some photos I snapped of Richie’s clothing and jewelry as worn by models at last night’s show: