IVANA SHOPS L.A.
Welcome to sunny L.A. Undoubtedly you've been dazzled by an array of stimulating speakers and riveting panels, which you want to discuss further with a group of your equally enlightened peers. What better way to engage in an afternoon of discourse than by combining the vaunted principles of the Socratic method with the exercise of shopping—interfacing Art and Commerce, so to speak. What follows is a virtual guided tour of L.A.'s consumer musts conducted by HITS' chronic conventioneer and inveterate shopper.
By Ivana B. Adored
The Century City Mall is a quick walk from the Century Plaza hotel. Please, please, please remember to take off your convention badge before you start mingling with the public. Nothing quite says "loser" like a programmer with a lanyard. This mall has all of the basics: Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, Banana Republic, etc. Undoubtedly, you'll be able to find something to wear to the Playboy Mansion on Thursday.
No trip to L.A. is complete without a visit to the Mothership, a.k.a. Barneys, which is located a short distance from the hotel at 9570 Wilshire Blvd. (corner of Wilshire and Camden). If you're feeling flush from the enormous return on your Internet stocks (or you're with Lee Leipsner), feel free to venture east on Wilshire and north on Rodeo Drive. If your contract is up and you're feeling less financially secure, take Wilshire one block further east past Rodeo to N. Beverly Drive, which is where you'll find:
- Anthropologie
- Ron Herman
- Club Monaco
- Gap
- Victoria's Secret
Now, you're finally warming up. Next stop: Robertson Blvd.—the blocks between 3rd St. and Beverly Blvd. First, have lunch at the Ivy, using Daniel Glass' name to get a reservation. Fortified, you're ready for the Big Time:
- Curve: 154 N. Robertson Blvd
- Agnes B: 100 N. Robertson Blvd
- Madison: 104 S. Robertson Blvd.
- BCBG: 106 S. Robertson Blvd.
- Cynthia Rowley: 112 S. Robertson Blvd.
- Lisa Kline: 136 S. Robertson Blvd.
- Kate Spade: 105 S. Robertson Blvd.
- Tehen Boutique: 107 S. Robertson Blvd.
All this shopping is making you hungry, so you head North on Robertson and east (right) on Melrose to…
- Diane Merrick Clothing Salon: 8588 Melrose Ave. Have a couple of pieces of Diane's homemade fudge that's always on the front counter and stock up on the BEST t-shirts, pajamas, sweaters, candles, etc. Tell them Gaby Skolnek and I sent you.
Next stop, Melrose, between Crescent Heights Blvd and just west of Fairfax…
- Fred Segal: 8100 Melrose Ave. The BEST store for celebrity spotting and old concert T-shirts that have been "bedazzled" and now sell for $500. Where else can you see Ringo Starr trying on pants, asking the salesclerk if his ass looks too big? If you're feeling intimidated, ask for my friend Gia Harris, who works there. She'll help you out.
While you're on Melrose, check out these nearby stores: Emma Gold, Xin, Resurrection, Costume National, Miu Miu, Liza Bruce and Decades/Decades Two.
Sure, you can hit the tourist trap of Melrose between Fairfax and La Brea Blvd. Yeah, if you want to shop with the AMATEURS. By now, you're in the Big League and ready for one last stop: the BEST shoe store in all of Los Angeles…
- Diavolina: 7383 Beverly Blvd. No bigger than a shoebox itself, yet once you discover this store, you'll never want to buy shoes anywhere else. Except Prada on Madison Ave., but I'll save the NYC shopping tips for the MTV Awards.
