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here ’ s a new lady next door behind the teal walls of the titular vintage shop on Water Street in Warren . But to be fair , Christine Stulik really isn ’ t all that new . “ I grew up as a quirky teenager in Barrington , and a friend first brought me to the shop when I was a senior in high school ,” she recalls . From then on I would spend hours in the back trying on vintage dresses and hats .”
She also got to know Sandra “ Sandy ” Nathanson , the “ fierce , awesome and inspiring ” woman who founded the Lady Next Door . Stulik went on to major in theater at Northwestern University in Chicago , but whenever she returned home , she always made a point to visit the shop . In that time , the two bonded over their mutual love for the performing arts . But as it turns out , Nathanson was much more than an admirer : she was Trinity Rep ’ s prop master and set decorator from the late 1960s to the early 1980s and worked closely with local legends including Adrian Hall , Richard Cumming and Eugene Lee .
Thanks to her extensive career and discerning eye , Nathanson became adept at sourcing and collecting rare items . As Stulik tells it , sometime before retiring , Nathanson became friends with the owner of the Square Peg , a former Warren antique store for which the current Square Peg tavern is named . The owner eventually gave her space in the backroom facing Water Street to sell some of her own finds . When people walking by asked him about the products in her window , he would respond , “ That ’ s from the lady next door .”
Thus , the name was born . It became an even more fitting moniker when she eventually set up shop in the neighboring building . Nathanson then became a self-taught expert in all things antique and vintage , going on to run the shop for thirty-seven years .
“ She was pretty badass ; she really knew her stuff ,” Stulik says . “ I got to know vintage clothing through her . I ’ d say a third of my permanent collection is from Sandy .”
Meanwhile , Nathanson nicknamed Stulik her “ theater friend .” The two kept in touch while Stulik worked and toured with the Hypocrites
66 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MARCH 2021