Roni B Offers Designer-Clothing Looks at Affordable Prices

When Roni Binshtock used to work the “designer floor” at luxury department store Barneys in Beverly Hills, she’d watch customers try on a pair of $600 Prada pants and then order them to be custom tailored.

“I thought, if I take a $50 pant and rework it, I’m going to get the same thing,” she said. “That was kind of the beginning if it all.”

So, for the past four years, that’s exactly what Binshtock has been offering at her clothing boutique, at Ventura Boulevard and Woodman Avenue. She combines quality clothing, affordable prices, occasional alterations for great fit and free advice on how to put together knockout outfits.

“That’s what my shop is known for, style rather than label,” she said. “I see a little dress and I see 20 different ways in my head that the piece can be worn.”

For example, for one recent customer, Binshtock took an olive green, floral knit dress and had five inches taken off the bottom to create a cute dress for a Las Vegas outing.

Some of her repeat customers attend red carpet Hollywood events, and she provides stylistic advice and dresses. Others are Valley moms who want casual attire and bring in their kids while they shop. So, Binshtock keeps a basket of toys on hand for them.   

She's also budget-conscious and advises clients who want a special-occasion dress to bring in the shoes they’ll be wearing. 

“You don’t have to buy another pair of shoes,” she said. "I'll work from the ground up."

Binshtock grew up in Van Nuys, Woodland Hills and Calabasas, and was on a path to become a classical concert pianist, performing sonatas and concertos by Schuman, Mozart and Beethoven and winning competitions as a youngster. But she found that one of her greatest enjoyments was not the performance or the music itself but the chance to wear a new dress for concerts, sometimes made by her seamstress mother.

Once Binshtock realized performing didn’t thrill her, she switched from Cal State Northridge to Syracuse University to purse a music business degree but soon abandoned that as well and returned home. She “fell into retail,” she said, spending 14 years in Melrose Avenue boutiques and high-end stores like Lisa Kline, Barneys New York, Macy's and Marc by Marc Jacobs.

She began her own business out of her home, giving small parties and selling jewelry she had gotten on a visit to Israel and pairing it with clothing. Soon, she had a thriving boutique that was taking over her home, so she opened her shop in January 2008 within walking distance of her home. 

She loves giving fashion advice, and wants to expand that help to men who may want to surprise their wives or girlfriends with a special outfit or piece of clothing.

But Binshtock says her biggest thrill is seeing the difference she can make with a customer.

"There’s a bit of psychology at the retail level,” she said. “If a woman is not feeling good about herself and I put her in something that looks great, she’ll walk out with her head held a little higher. ... I love that.”

Roni B for the Fashionista, 13626 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; ronib.com.