Anna Pepper Vaux

Anna Pepper Vaux was born and raised in Bluffton, and like any self-respecting small town girl, she dreamed of getting out.
"I thought when I was younger that I wanted to go away and do something dramatically different," said Anna. "So I went to Italy for a year as a Rotary exchange student, and after that I realized that I wanted to be nowhere but here."
Newly appreciative of her hometown, where everybody knew her name and she could always be herself, Anna returned to Bluffton. She brought with her new dreams-and a new sense of fashion. "Italy was what got me noticing clothes," she said. "It was like wearing art over there-people used clothes to represent who they are."
It's no surprise then that she and her two sisters, Mary Gwinn Vaux and Emily Burden, eventually teamed up to open Gigi's, a clothing boutique on Calhoun Street that was named after the girls' grandmother. Anna never got to meet her, but she's played dress-up with her clothes and has seen pictures of this stylish woman who rode horses and went to polo matches while still looking like a lady. In all probability, Grandma would have approved of her namesake store's selection: bright, colorful clothes that are casual and classy at the same time-perfect for a day on the river or a night on the town.
Speaking of the river.it's bound to come up in any conversation with Anna, a child of the tides like all Lowcountry natives. "Sometimes I feel like going out there checks you back into reality," she said, adding that the Sandbar is, and always has been, Bluffton's biggest social scene. "You don't have to put on makeup, you just be who you want to be. And my favorite smell in the whole world is sunscreen."
When you see Anna's fresh, clean style, colorful clothes and healthy complexion, you may be tempted to ask what her beauty secrets are.
"I feel like there's this glow that the river gives," she said. "It's like a salty feel with sun-kissed skin. But it's not just about looking good.you get so relaxed that it keeps you positive and you portray that. That's what gives you style."
For Anna, staying positive doesn't come from river time alone; it's also a result of the sense of community that she feels and the way Bluffton folk look out for one another. Especially as she looks for success in her new business, she knows she will rely heavily on the support of the community.
"Although we're not related, we all come together and help one another like family," she said, cheerfully holding a baby in her lap so that one of her customers can try on dresses. "We want to be in each others' lives. I try to make others happy and share a smile with somebody. So many people are stressed and they talk about how they're stressed. I want to be easygoing and hope that it will rub off on others."