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Boutiques We Love

In the latest issue of ReadyMade, we brought you the story of Wendy Yao and her eclectic clothing-and-music store, Ooga Booga in Los Angeles ("Shop Girl," August/September '09). Here's an expanded look at boutiques we adore.

A hand-picked selection of shops that inspire and amuse us, all across the land.

Albertine
13 Christopher St., New York; 212/924-8515, albertine-nyc.com
Owner: Kyung Lee

Modus Operandi: Albertine is where a majority of NYC-based fashion editors shop, not because Lee traffics in marquee designers, but because she manages to stay well ahead of trends while promoting gorgeously crafted, little-known labels. Every item in her eensy, boudoirlike West Village space feels one-of-a-kind—and since Lee is a master stylist who is never shy to completely modify a garment on the spot, everything essentially is. Nadia Tarr, the force behind the line Butter by Nadia and the seriously popular convertible dress, is just one of the many designers who Lee championed first

Local Flavor: At the recently launched Albertine Workshop just down the street, Lee is turning out custom-designed pieces from vintage fabrics, with a floor-length evening dress costing just $300.

Little-Known Fact: Lee was head cheerleader at her New Jersey high school.

Art Star
623 N. Second St., Philadelphia; 215/238-1557, artstarphilly.com
Owners: Erin Waxman & Megan Brewster

Modus Operandi: Waxman and Brewster, both Tyler School of Art graduates, got their start in 2004, when they launched the Art Star Craft Bazaar, which is now an annual Philadelphia tradition and arguably the centerpiece of the city’s DIY movement. Due to the Bazaar’s overwhelming success, the duo figured the area’s art community could support a permanent space, and so Art Star now hosts more than 60 well-chosen collections. The jewelry selection is particularly strong, including Monica Krols’ retro-inspired earrings crafted from colored plastic.

Local Flavor: Among the loot, look for Waxman’s own gorgeously sculptural earrings.

Little-Known Fact: Waxman still doesn’t have her driver’s license (“I swear I don’t need it in the city,” she explains), and Brewster had a carnival-themed wedding last year.

Bird
220 Smith St., Brooklyn; 718/797-3774; 316 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn; 718/768-4940; 203 Grand St., Brooklyn; 718/388-1655, shopbird.com

Owner: Jennifer Mankins

Modus Operandi: Bird is arguably Brooklyn’s best and most comprehensive boutique, complete with three well-placed outposts and a genius owner. Mankins got her start as an assistant buyer at Barneys before running the operation at famed NYC retailer Steven Alan—an education that fully prepped her for launching her own shopping empire. Her spot-on eye and irreverent love for exuberant prints, makes for a riotous rack of really, really beautiful things. She hits the high end with Thakoon dresses emblazoned with images of lips and impossibly cool Tsumori Chisato blouses, but mixes in loads of reasonably priced and little-known items, too, like quilt-esque dresses from Jackson, Johnston, & Roe and Unearthen’s bulletlike crystal necklaces.

Local Flavor: The newest Bird—a whopping 2,500 square foot space in South Williamsburg—is set to become the first LEED-certified retail store in New York City.

Little-Known Fact: At Grand Street Bird, there’s a shower room downstairs, which encourages the staff to bike or walk to work.

Black Parrot
131 Middle St., Portland, Maine; 207/221-6991, blackparrotmaine.blogspot.com

Owners: Sherrie Gibson & Warren Seelig

Modus Operandi: While Portland, Maine, might not have a reputation for pace-setting fashion, Black Parrot has changed that by snagging labels before they even land in New York and Los Angeles-based boutiques. Interestingly cut tunic tops from Scandinavian line Henrik Vibskov lay next to silky Surface to Air blouses and ‘50s-esque dresses by Mischen. All the new arrivals are photographed worn by real girls and then posted on the shop’s blog.

Local Flavor: Just over a year old, this much-heralded newcomer sits in a book repository from the 1800s, which provides an iconoclastically old-fashioned backdrop for the progressive wares inside.

Little-Known Fact: Gibson was a fibers professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and Seelig, her husband, still teaches there.

Creatures of Comfort
7971 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles; 323/655-7855, creaturesofcomfort.us

Owner: Jade Lai

Modus Operandi: Sitting in a giant industrial-toned space replete with rainbow-hued shoes that arc across the floor and a giant shelving unit made entirely from cardboard boxes, this Los Angeles stalwart is one of the city’s most formidable shopping forces. Lai has an impeccable eye, and while it often skews toward pieces that seem challenging—think VPL tunics with fabric cascading down the back—they’re always cool and interesting. Her e-commerce site is known across the globe as a spot-on resource for impossible-to-source pieces, like Manu by Lauren Manoogian’s geometric necklaces and Slow & Steady Wins the Race rain ponchos.

Local Flavor: Lai is exceptionally good about updating her blog when items in the store go on sale. And she’s equally adept at adding quirky little tidbits about her many LA-based friends’ even quirkier art projects.

Little-Known Fact: Lai studied art in college, which explains the shop’s offbeat decor and aesthetic.