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Unless your style inspiration is Shaun White, Jimmy Buffett or Pitbull, Alaskan men are, well, kind of screwed. Which is why Renee Curzie deserves an award for five years of steadfast style outreach. Curzie owns Blu MensWear, one of the few local boutiques exclusively focused on modernizing men's fashion in Alaska.
And if being a loner in her sartorial pursuit weren't enough, she has to contend with, well, you guys.
"Men are just so ... the last place that most of them want to be is trying something on," Curzie said. "The one thing I appreciate when shopping with a guy, they know what they don't like. They don't necessarily know what they like, but they know what they don't like."
"I don't like V-necks, or flaps, or embellishment on the pockets," she said, imitating the opinions she hears in her shop. "I don't like skinny jeans -- every man says that!"
Curzie opened Blu in midtown Anchorage in late 2007. ...