 |
|
|
|
| Dine on angel-hair pasta at
Fred Segal on Melrose Avenue after splurging on Helmut Lang pants and a
Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress. Then, after your third double espresso
of the day, stroll to Decades, the premier vintage shop in Los Angeles,
where you might spot Tom Ford, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson shopping
for golden oldies from Gucci, Hermes and Courreges. Whiz further down
the road to LA Eyeworks for the most stupendous collection of eye
accessories in town, or Royal Fleash for sari-fabric wrap skirts.
It's just an average shopping day in LA, and if you can't find anything to buy you're either frugal or foolish. Melrose is considered the apex of street style in the surreal, spaced-out city. From acid-green faux-fur coats to shrunken cheesecloth tops, Melrose is as far removed from chi-chi Rodeo Drive as New York's Soho is from Madison Avenue, or London's Camden Market is from Old Bond Street. Not that Melrose is to be confused with a paradise for down-and-outs. At the parking lot outside Fred Segal, there is a litany of Porsches and BMW Cabriolets. Inside, stylists for Madonna and Courtney Love are checking out the latest arrivals from Dries Van Noten. The store's tiered, maze-like interior is seductive: from the sparkling rhinestone clips at the cashier's desk to the sorbet-coloured pashmina shawls wound around wooden poles. Decades is about as chic as it gets. Owner Cameron Silver will happily give you a rundown of what's to die for inside. A new second floor is being transformed into a showcase for Dior's fur-lined satin coats of the 1950's and authentic Hermes Kelly bags of the 1970s. Until recently, Decades and Fred Segal were the only top-notch emporiums on the western corner of Melrose; now, they have been joined by the likes of hip LA designer Liza Bruce, New York designer Daryl K and Italian label Miu Miu. Further east is typical Melrose terrain: for men's clothes, Wasteland, a favourite with club-hopping types, and a host of small, cheery stores selling great local labels--- |
|
