Los Angeles Shopping

Aardvark's Odd Ark

This large storefront near the Venice Beach Walk is crammed with racks of antique and used clothes from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. It stocks vintage everything, from suits and dresses to neckties, hats, handbags, and jewelry - and it manages to anticipate some of the hottest new street fashions.

85 Market St, Venice, CA

American Rag, Cie

First to draw shoppers back to industrial La Brea in the early '80s, American Rag has grown from a small vintage clothing store to include trendy new fashions on its own label, as well as adjacent boutiques selling shoes and children's clothes; there's even a kitchen and housewares shop with a small cafe. Once a best-kept secret of hip teenagers, the American Rag dynasty today draws more tourists than trendsetters.

150 S. La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA

Betsey Johnson Boutique

The New York-based designer has brought to L.A. her brand of fashion-trendy, cutesy, body-conscious women's wear in colorful prints and faddish fabrics.

8050 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA

CP Shades

CP Shades is a San Francisco ladies' clothier whose line is carried by many department stores and boutiques. Fans will love this store, devoted solely to loose, casual cotton and linen separates. CP Shades's trademark monochromatic neutrals are meticulously arranged within an airy, well-lit interior.

2937 Main St, Santa Monica, CA

Fred Segal

They've become an L.A. institution, these breezy collections of ultrahip boutiques linked like departments of a single-story fashion maze. Shops include the latest apparel for men, women, and toddler, plus lingerie, shoes, hats, luggage, cosmetics, workout/lounge wear, and a cafe.

500 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA
8100 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA

Golyester

Before she opened this ladies' boutique, the owner's friends would take one look at her collection of vintage fabrics and clothes and gasp "Golly, Esther!" -- Hence the whimsical name. You pay a little extra for the pristine condition of hard-to-find garments like unusual embroidered sweaters from the 1940s and 1950s, Joan Crawford-style suits from the 1940s, and vintage lingerie.

136 S. La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles downtown garment district

Reminiscent of the New York garment district, but not quite as frenetic, L.A.'s downtown has dozens of small shops selling designer and name-brand apparel at heavily discounted prices.

Los Angeles St, between 7th St. and Washington Blvd, Hollywood, CA

Maxfield

Here you'll find some of L.A.'s best-quality avant-garde designs, including men's and women's fashions by Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, Dolce & Gabbana, Jil Sander, and the like. Furniture and home accessories are also sold. The store's provocative window displays have ranged from sharp political statements to a Jerry Garcia tribute.

8825 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, L.A

Oilily

This refreshingly colorful line of kids' play clothes came from the Netherlands like a storm, and now kids around town are all sporting candy-bright colors and retrobold florals. Moms get into the action, too, with a coordinating line of sun wear.

9520 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills, CA

Playclothes

Men and women alike will thrill to the pristine selection of vintage clothes housed in this boutique, tucked into a burgeoning antiques row west of Coldwater Canyon Avenue. Playclothes approaches its stock with a sense of humor and knows exactly how each item was worn and accessorized in its heyday.

11422 Moorpark St, Studio City, CA

Wasteland

An enormous steel-sculpted facade fronts this L.A. branch of the Berkeley/Haight-Ashbury hipster hangout, which sells vintage and contemporary clothes for men and women.

7428 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, Hollywood, CA



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