Alexandria, VA – Hard to believe anyone with an extra minute could pass by the sparkling array of exquisite jewelry, interesting folk art, and tasteful clothing that beckon from the colorful, large display windows at 325 Cameron Street. For well more than a half-century, Gossypia’s allure and curiosity still persist.
Add to those bespoke items, the terra-cotta painted brick, deep turquoise shutters, and attractive accent trim and the little bit mysterious corner boutique—whose name is derived from the Latin word for cotton—urges entry up the two steps from the red-brick sidewalk. Just across the street, Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, a significant historic destination and landmark, is one of the many attractions of this niche in Old Town.
Even a sign on the inviting maroon front double-doors of owner’s Amanda Lasker’s self-described “Eclectic Boutique”—each with a stylish, shiny brass knocker above the hand-painted Gossypia placard—entices visitors to enter and “Visit Our 2nd Floor!”
Whatever the appeal is—the eye-catching gem called Gossypia at the intersection of Cameron and North Royal Streets enchants shoppers with its exotic yet totally wearable merchandise, such as unusual necklaces, exquisite broaches, large-eyed folk in metal and wood, and clothing in native fabrics with natural dyes.
For more than 65 years, buyer-CEO-manager Lasker, 91, has worked hard to draw in customers to her shops, situated in a block with several stylish clothing shops including Cyrous next door at 323 Cameron St. and Donna Lewis USA at 309 Cameron St. Actually, before purchasing the Gossypia building in 1970 for $50,000, Lasker owned a smaller boutique called The Phoenix just steps east on Cameron. A successful new boutique back then, it drew in shoppers with its gleaming silver necklaces and pins from Guatemala, cotton clothing from Mexico, and wool scarves from Peru.
Moving down the block to Cameron and North Royal in 1970, she launched Gossypia with its three floors of linens, cottons, silks, and a bounty of other beautiful fabrics in an array of designs, spanning wedding dresses and “dressy dresses” to loose-fitting flowy pants and shirts sourced from more than a dozen countries including the United States.
“I just wanted to pop in for a look,” said Jennifer Lovitt, an experienced employee of Elizabeth’s Tres Chic Clothing Store located in the stylish Cotton Exchange in downtown Wilmington, N.C. Lovitt complimented Lasker on the window display of art and an attractive white cotton top on a mannequin at the corner of front steps. “I’m waiting for the historic tour to start,” she added, “and will come back after the tour.”
“I can see you have a lot of the best names here in your blouses,” Lovitt told Lasker who smiled knowingly. “That’s a nice shade of pink—and it’s cotton.” Lovitt did return to make purchases.
What Lovitt could not have known is exactly how well Lasker knows her materials and international experience gained operating Gossypia for more than 55 years at the high-visibility corner and a full decade earlier down the block.
“I sell a lot of linen from India and Lithuania—and also cotton from Serbia and other countries,” Lasker explained during an interview, adding a few other clothing supplier and textiles ranging from cotton to flax to silks, from Japan, Hawaii, and China. She continued, “I get my hats from Australia—from Wallaby Hats—and silver from Mexico with some pieces from other places in South America.”
Among the accessories are colorful tagua nut necklaces from Ecuador (looking like giant coffee beans) dyed in in a rainbow of colors that circled the necklines of summer dresses and all-season shirts. On the second and third floors are a large selection of gorgeous, handmade wedding dresses—many from Mexico—and a bonanza bazaar of South American folk art—predominantly all from South America, featuring many Mexican holiday items with mirrors and hand-painted figures and faces.
The countries of Central and South America hold special allure for Lasker, who turned 91 years old on June 25. After graduating from Sophie Newcomb College (part of Tulane University), she used her youthful knowledge of growing up on a cotton farm and business in Lake Providence, Louisiana, and worked as a guide at the United Nations for two years. She then worked as an aide to a cotton broker in Sudan, spending six months in Khartoum, before passing the Foreign Service Exam and being assigned to Guatemala. She loved that country and convinced her father and brother to buy farms there near the shores of the Pacific Ocean. During the Cold War years, she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in Mexico City with labor unions for three years. Romance and marriage brought her to Northern Virginia where she settled in the Mount Vernon area to raise two daughters, Brenda and Cynthia. With the help of her husband, who passed away after 54 years of marriage, Lasker established her boutique businesses here in Old Town, flourishing over six decades and specializing in imports, originally importing from four or five countries in Central and South America.
One buying rule Lasker has always followed is purchasing quality natural fabrics wherever she finds them globally, pointing to the colorful stock of linens from India and Lithuania, cottons from Serbia, organic tagua nut jewelry from Ecuador, silks from Japan, etc. Many items are one-of-a-kind pieces of accessories, art, and clothing. Fans of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo will find her image on numerous objects, including art, earrings, and purses.
“What we have is very different,” explained Lasker who classifies her clientele as “a big variety—young ones, older ones, and people in between who want original and unique things.”
Indeed, one of Lasker’s objectives is variety. Her schedule for buying trips and global travel is mind-boggling, keeping up the tradition of her early days of the store when she started buying merchandise from Guatemala during her foreign service career there. Over the last 55 years with Gossypia, she added some notable U.S. vendors, some Asian clothing and jewelry, and more Latin American folk art from Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Mexico, including Pueblo and its southern peninsula of Oaxaca. Gesturing around her showroom, she identifies the wide range of accessories and fabrics.
“So many vivid colors and lots of variety! That’s what the customers say when they come here,” Lasker asserted.
Over the years, Charlotte Hall, the former Old Town Business Association executive director, said that Gossypia adds to the rich cultural environment of Old Town businesses.
“That store’s great!” she exclaimed. “When I came to town 35 years ago, Amanda was one of several female pioneers in the retail community in Old Town. It was these talented women, these determined women, these women who were involved in committees and commissions. These women were involved in what was good for the retail community and what was good for Alexandria. They didn’t hesitate to say to the city what needed to be done. They listened to their customers’ concerns with parking, sidewalk sales, and other ways to bring people to Alexandria. They wanted business in their retail shops especially during the holiday season.”
Also witnessing ongoing success of the popular boutique is Lucelle O’Flaherty, a retired Wells Fargo Bank vice president, who counts Lasker as a former business client and a friend she admires. “Amanda Lasker and Gossypia were my banking customers 40+ years ago. It is so great that the business continues to thrive after all these years.”
With rising tariffs and other challenges, Lasker will be purchasing clothing for next spring, lamenting that now “you have to buy eight months ahead—it’s a gamble,” adding that she has been able to weather market changes over six decades. “I have excellent help,” she added, crediting two special assistants.
With clear gratitude, Lasker praises the expertise of her boutique assistants as part of her business’s success. With over a combined 37 years of service, Tony (Antonella) Chinellato from Italy, a store assistant for the last seven years, and Liliana Ilich from Serbia, who joined the staff in March of 1999, have helped create a friendly and warm atmosphere at the boutique.
“She (Lasker) is a very interesting person. Very intelligent. Very eclectic—which is reflected here,” observed Chinellato as she arranged a pair of gray flax pants from Lithuania with a Chinese red shirt accented with an antique silver necklace (which Lasker had identified as belonging to her own mother’s collection) on a shelf near the front door. “She’s into so many things and she is the one who chooses everything here—because she knows her customers!”
Ilich, who is also a world traveler, agreed that Lasker is an incredible businesswoman with the cultural expertise to succeed. “She was a success from Day One. She was born with this talent to create a unique and exceptional store. It is her love.”
“Amanda brought the culture from Guatemala and Mexico with her (when she started her business in Old Town) and that is what is so unique about her. People from all over the Washington area are drawn to her,” Ilich explained. “Many government people have retired but she still has a lot of clientele who keep coming and a lot of new people interested as well. It is different from anything else in Old Town.”
Among the highlights for the fall, Lasker promises a major sale on the folk art starting in late October and running to the winter holiday season. “And then, who knows?” shrugged Lasker, noting her upcoming buying trip to New York and possibly another trip to Oaxaca.
“My last trip to Oaxaca was to buy folk art and shawls,” said Lasker, adding that she found it easier to go with friends in the business, but now, sadly, many of them have closed their shops. “I’m thinking of retiring but I just don’t know when,” she said with a smile and a wink. “I’m not getting younger! But I really love what I do.”
