Shopping LA- PART 3 Vintage Stores

Yesterday definitely got away from me. As promised here is the final installation of my shopping trip in LA: vintage stores.

Finding vintage stores in LA is not tough, they're practically on every block, however finding vintage stores that are actually worth checking out is another story. With limited time in LA, I decided to get advice straight from the experts. At every vintage shop I stopped, I asked the owners what shops they liked for vintage. What I received was some great advice and a treasure trove of fantastic vintage stores around the city.

(Image courtesy of Surfing Cowboys)

Surfing Cowboys- Yes, I'm talking about this store twice, I love it that much. Unlike most vintage stores that are packed to the brim with items, Surfing Cowboys offers a carefully curated collection of finds. Vintage surf and skim boards are hung from the ceiling in an artful display. Old signs are mixed in among great mid century sofas. If you're looking for anything having to do with vintage surfing or skating, this is your place.

Bazar- I tried twice to go to this store while I was in Venice because the items in the window looked so cool, however the first time, they were "back in 15 minutes" and the second time they had closed early. While I never made it inside, peeking in the window this is definitely a place I'd like to check out in the future.

 (Image courtesy of Weego Home)

Weego Home- While not technically vintage, more interior design, I loved this store with all it's stylish, fun and bright home accessories. Among Jonathan Adler tabletop items, they sell Hable Construction pillows, which if available in orange would have been coming home in my suitcase. The owner of this shop told me to check out Empiric on Beverly Blvd.

Emperic Studio- Definitely one of my favorite vintage stores of the day, from the unusual, industrial vintage finds to the masculine styling, I loved just about everything in this store. Empiric has a great natural curiosities vibe with vintage and reproductions mixing happily together. As a bonus, this shop owner recommended a ton of great vintage stores along Beverly, La Brea and even showed me on a map where I needed to go next.

(Image courtesy of Modernica)

Modernica- Classic mid century items from shell chairs to George Nelson bubble lamps, this store has it all. They also have a huge collection of vintage items that they rent out for movies and TV shows. I was amazed at their collection of vibrant blown glass color blocked along the walls.

(Image courtesy of Apartment Therapy)

Gibson- I could probably spend hours poking around Gibson. Far from minimalist, Gibson stacks great one of a kind, vintage and mass produced finds on every surface. One wall is literally covered in carefully hung paintings from floor to ceiling. Definitely worth a visit just to find some cool, repurposed items.

LA Shopping- PART 2

Phew! I am back from a whirlwind trip to LA. Despite a bad cold I picked up while I was away, I had a fantastic time checking out the City of Angels. As I explored LA, I tried to avoid all the name brand stores and instead head to some of the smaller  boutiques in different areas. Car definitely needed! As promised, here is the PART 2 of my LA shopping trip: Santa Monica, Venice Beach and Brentwood.

Since it's hard to take pics in the smaller boutiques (my sneak shots always end up blurry, or of my feet), I've decided to show a few things that I purchased along the way instead...

VENICE

Aviator Nation- Once a solely a collection of surf and skate ts, Aviator Nation has opened their first headquarters location on Abbott Kinny Blvd in Venice Beach. The bright blue store has a straight out of California vibe with 70s music spinning on vinyl, arcade games, ping pong tables and a small stage outside. While I am probably outside of their target age range, I couldn't help but love the vintage inspired T's, sweatshirts, corduroy shorts and gear. Oh and did I mention the surf coozie you get when you purchase a T?

Skylark: If I lived in Venice Beach, this small, hipster boutique filled with fantastic finds would be my go-to for neutral pieces. The alt-country store has a distinctly California feel to it with fedoras sitting next to an awesome selection of Frye boots. I picked up a cotton heather brown t-shirt dress, a faux tan leather bomber jacket and an awesome chain necklace all for what I would have expected to pay for one item downtown.

Surfing Cowboys- I love this store so much that I'm going to mention it twice (look for the complete review on their vintage collection tomorrow). In truth, I knew about it before heading to Venice, in fact it's one of the reasons I went out there. Filled with cool vintage long boards, surfing magazines, books and mid century furniture, this shop feels more like your uncle's cool California living room than a vintage store. Shop owner, Wayne Gunther was on hand to give me thoughts on his favorite surfing books and encouraged me to sit and thumb through the books at my leisure. (I ended up with the one he recommended a fabulous history of surfing printed in the 80s).

SANTA MONICA/ BRENTWOOD

Sugar Paper Los Angeles- My friend Tara, from the fantastic Prippy Handbook, first got me into letterpress cards at Greenwich Letterpress in the West Village. While shopping the adorable Brentwood Country Mart, I ran across Sugar Paper Los Angeles. I'm not joking when I say I spent about 40 minutes pursuing this pint sized space. I wanted to walk out with just about one of everything, but narrowed my selections to a few cards, a craft paper to do list and a box of quirky thank you cards. Maybe this will inspire me to write more...

And a few I wished I could have purchased items from...

Undrest by the Sea- This whitewashed swimsuit and luxury lingerie boutique has just the right amount of charm and style with a touch of girlishness. It's the perfect beachy compliment to the urban, preppy Jack Spade next store. I adored the chevron bathing suits hanging on the fence outside and the soft cotton cover-ups. While contemplating the snowy winters ahead, it was hard to think about buying a new bathing suit, but I'll definitely be back to Undrest by the Sea come summertime.

Tortoise General Store: This store is sort of like the California cousin of Muji in NYC. It's smaller, softer and packed with just as much Japanese design goodness. Perfect for picking up a gift for a friend, or neighbor who waters your plants while you're away. Be sure to check out their online shop.

Apartment Number 9- An incredible men's store in Brentwood Country Mart. Among designers like Band of Outsiders, Rag & Bone, they sell Rouge's Gallery T's from Portland, Maine (a fav!). The owner also told me to celebrate their Apartment Number 9's 9th B'day, Rogue's Gallery has designed a limited edition number 9 tee. If you're in LA, pick one up for me!

Since most of Sat was devoted to checking out vintage stores in the area, look for LA Shopping Part 3- Vintage tomorrow...