1st Place: Isabelle & Co.
2nd Place: TJ Maxx
3rd Place: Savers

Perhaps one of the most venerable of retail categories, a women’s clothing store is a thing that more than one well-intentioned husband or boyfriend has wandered awkwardly around for hours at a time. Isabelle and Co. is located in one of Eau Claire’s newest high-end clothing stores, and the caliber of the merchandise fits in perfectly with the beautifully remodeled downtown building in which it resides. TJ Maxx holds strong as an affordable store where one can find the best fashions at prices that the average lady can easily afford. Like going on a treasure hunt, Savers pins down the third place spot by offering diamonds in the rough that you just simply can’t find everywhere else. Your mother might laugh that you spent money on something she wore at some point in high school, but your friends will wish they had seen it first. – Aryn Widule

Really?: My sewing machine