Child Abuse Center’s ‘Be a Hero’ gala

favorite color is black, at least when it comes to her attire. It’s both chic and safe for her job as partner at 212 Communications, a boutique public relations and communications firm located in Harbor East.

But for the “Be A Hero” gala, the 36-year-old Canton resident decided to step outside her comfort zone.

“You don’t throw an ’80s party without dressing in theme. I was going for the ’80s vibe, so I went with the neon colors. … I walked into [the Harbor East boutique] Sassanova and saw that dress and thought, ‘I’m going to move away from my black classic cocktail dress and be a little funky,’” said Mechlinski. The gamble paid off. “It was fun. I was getting compliments the entire night. So it made the splurge purchase worth it,” said Mechlinski.

Did that mean she might step outside the box a little more in the future? “To be honest, I’ll probably go back to the safety of black. But now I have one brightly colored piece to pull out when the mood strikes again,” she said.

ETrina Turk multicolor striped off-the-shoulder dress and black and Mignonne Gavigan pewter foil wing-shaped earrings from Sassanova. White House|Black Market black suede sandals with block heels. Danielle Nicole shoulder bag from South Moon Under.

“Designers and name brands are not as important to me as the way clothes fit. I am a serial shopping cart abandoner. I like shopping online, but I don’t always pull the trigger and buy things. If I do shop [in stores], I like to go to local boutiques and not chains.”

HER ENSEMBLE: HOW SHE SHOPS: