A new shop has opened in Boothbay Harbor.

Finest Kind, at 12 Wharf Street, opened in early July.

Featuring vintage, and new designer samples, Finest Kind is full to the brim with awe-inspiring tops, dresses, hats, bags and accessories. It is a veritable fashion candy shop for women with a flair for a real feminine side.

Owner Brenda Lee Combrink and her husband Chris also have a boutique in Boca Grande, Florida.

Lee said she and her husband came to Boothbay Harbor last summer to visit friends. “Lindy, from Calypso, and Laurie, from Sadie Greens, shared a store with us in Boca Grande a few years ago. They kept telling me to come to Boothbay Harbor.”

After spending a week here, she fell in love with it, Lee said. She took a picture of the building that houses Waves, and formerly Gold/Smith Gallery. There was a for sale/lease sign on the door. “On the way back to Florida I told my husband I couldn't get that place out of mind. I said I wanted to spend summers here.”

The Lees, who exhibit and promote antique trade and trunk shows, decided they'd cut back on those and open a shop in Boothbay Harbor.

“We got home, signed some papers to lease the space that was formerly Gold/Smith Gallery, loaded up some things, and came back,” Lee said. “We got here on a Saturday and opened the next day.”

Their shop was open for five weeks last summer in that location, as a test market to see what people wanted, she said. “We were amazed at how welcoming everybody was.”

The couple came back this summer and opened in the same space with a line of fine jewelry and their daughter Chelsea's line of clothing. The shop is called Jewelry Boutique. Chelsea is a fashion designer with her own clothing line, Drift on Island. 

After opening that shop, they noticed that the space that was formerly Christmas Magic was empty. They leased the space and threw their shop together in two weeks.

“I've been in the rag business for a long time,” Lee said. The clothing in Finest Kind is mostly new designer samples, with vintage scattered throughout, she said.

Some of the designer samples in the shop never made it to production, or there may have only been a few made. “The samples come to one of my stores,” Lee said. “My clothes are very pretty and ladylike. Something different for the lady who has someplace to be and wants to look and feel pretty.”

The shop also carries estate and vintage jewelry, from a large selection of cameos, some hand-painted and diamond studded, to men's cuff links.

There will be grand openings at both Finest Kind and Jewelry Boutique on July 28, with live music, including a harpist or a violinist. It will go on all day, with the music starting late afternoon.