Alert and Awear

Clothes buyer Becky Bauer wants to bring a little bit of edgy L.A. to Orange County. She’s stuffed Awear House of Fashion’s tiny space in Tustin with slick casino-inspired jackets for men and purple color-washed jersey dresses for women.

But the merchandise isn’t the gamble. The site is.

Awear is squeezed between a chain Chinese takeout place and a bagelry, attracting, she says, “looky-loos who are just waiting for their food” rather than those serious about alternative clothing.

But that’s OK. It’s all part of branching out.

Bauer worked three years for a department store but took the shopping center route when she realized that she’s “not corporate material.”

She also wanted to experiment with funkier buys--”the street wear version of couture, because who among us can afford a $3,500 dress?”

For her women’s wear, she counts on vendors such as Lola and Katayome Adili. For men, there’s Bodybagz and Stussy. She also stocks hip classics that have staying power among the club set.

Last week Bauer kept the store open until 11 p.m.--the shopping center’s curfew--and invited folks to a coming-out party. The back wall needed painting, but that was camouflaged with aluminum foil--”which looked great with the candles’ flickering reflections,” Bauer noted.

The Busstop Hurricanes played; people danced, and champagne was uncorked. Memphis restaurant in Costa Mesa catered the party, and, thankfully, Bauer said, there were no bagels or looky-loos around.