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Suzy Menkes wrote an interesting piece in IHT yesterday about the high-end shopping hotspot that Melrose Place has become. Marc Jacobs moved in a while back with a Marc by Marc Jacobs store on Melrose and his main line hidden on Melrose Place this year. Paul Smith opened his bright pink shop in late 2005. Carolina Herrera is opening her store this month.

This got us thinking about how much (mostly for the better) LA fashion shopping changed in the past 2-3 years. A few years ago, when we were just starting to put together our LA guide, that stretch of West Hollywood was known for mainly one thing: Fred Segal. Well, there was Segal and while you were there you'd go across the street to the excellent Madison and a few adjoining stores. If you were into vintage you might walk a few blocks to Decades and that was pretty much for this sleepy section of West Hollywood.

Today however, the story is entirely different...

In this our final roundup of the Bay Areas prime shopping outlets we visit North Beach. Most know North Beach for its Italian restaurants and cafes. Some know it for the strip clubs across the way from the Italian restaurants and cafes. Others know it as a center of 1950's Beat culture.

Sure we know it as all these things too but also as an increasingly interesting shopping area.

A B Fits (1519 Grant Ave.) was a North Beach shopping destination before there was much North Beach shopping to speak of. While the shop now has a Union Square outpost, this original shop is known as the go to spot for imported denim and the best in men's and women's casuals.

Across the street from A B Fits is Ooma (1422 Grant Ave). This perky shop is home to all things girly, from sultry smoks to sparkly jewelry to colorful shoes.

For a break from the clothing shopping go to Aria (1522 Grant Ave). An antique shop that's neither dark, dank, or dusty, Aria has a knack for finding odds and end, many European, that are both interesting and attractive.

A few blocks from Grant Avenue but really a world away is another of little block of shops centered around street culture. First you'll run into Double Punch (1821 Powell Street), a mecca of Asian, European and American vinyl toys.

Right next door to Double Punch are a dynamic duo in streetwear and sneaker Recon and Nort (1827 Powell St.). Nort is Nike heaven.

Last, but most certainly not least is the legendary bookstore, City Lights (261 Columbus Ave.). Co-founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the shop was ground zero for Beat culture. But today, while still acknowledging its past with a huge selection of Beat writints, it is still very much a relevant and vibrant part of the community, and boasts and an expertly edited selection of fiction and non-fiction books. To go to North Beach without at least paying your respects would be criminal.

You only had to hit us over the head four or five times with your suggestions of shops in Berlin until you piqued our interest. We last visited Berlin in 2001 and even then you could tell something special was going on. The city was in perpetual construction. The giant cement block tenements of the eastern half were beginning to be encorporated into the city as a whole. There was grafitti. There was art. There were anarchistic bars. There were huge clubs. It was great.

5 years hence and apparently the city has continued to change and find its identity. Now commerce has come to Berlin in a big way. So we took some time to survey the landscape and present to you a bit of a snapshot of Berlin shopping. Hopefully we'll get the chance to see it firsthand very soon.

Edgy Label Boutiques

Have you heard of the labels like F-Troupe, February, Artysm and Nur Rock? Yeah, neither have we. These are a few of edgy, Euro labels available at Belleville (Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 27).

Don't be freaked out by the random full video clip that pops up from time to time when you visit their site. We were.

Nearby, Ulf Haines (Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 27) also deals in lesser known, avant-garde designers. The shop cultivates its brand list from Japan mixing in some European favorites like Ann Demeulemeester. Trained as a goldsmith, Ulf also apparently carries quite an interesting jewelry selection.

The winner for best concept for a store goes to Apartment (Memhard Str. 8), which leaves its massive store mostly empty, making you walk down to the basement to see a collection of everything from Bernard Wilhelm clothing to limited-edition Adidas shoes.

High-End Brand Boutiques

For your favorite in expensive avant-garde designers, go to Harveys (Kurfurstendamm 56-67). Yohji, Martin, Iseey, Comme des Garçons, they're all there. What you won't find there, you'll find at Van Ravenstein (Leibnizstrasse 49), which appears to be a temple to avant-garde design of the Belgian flavor. For high-end lingerie you'll want to see Blush (Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 22).

Oh, and don't forget. If you'll be there soon, the Comme des Garçons guerilla store (Brunnenstrasse 152) will probably still be around.

Indie Label Flagship Stores

Berlin is also has a burgeoning designer community. For a peek at all the talent around, there's multi-label designer collective Little Red Riding Hood(Friedrichstrasse 71).

Then there's designer Sarah Heartbo and her Heartbo (Oderberger Str. 20) brand and shop. Check out the fit and finish of her line available only at her store and a few select locations.

Though Starstyling's (Rosenthalerstrasse 50) website is a bit hard to navigate, click enough random places and you'll uncover a delightful collection of carefully crafted T-shirts and accessories.

Streetwear Stores

It's the thriving streetwear community in Berlin that first got our attention. From the few suggestions for our Berlin guide, we knew already of Solebox, 95gallery, Kickback, Overkill and Nort.

New to the scene is Firmament (Schroderstrasse 8). From the same people who bring you online street mag Being Hunted and online shop The Glade, Firmament reps the hottest high-end streetwear labels from Japan and Europe.

Bestshop (Alte Schönhauserstrasse 6) describes itself as a streetwear shop also, but their take is completely different. They carry a plethora of edgy Scandinavian and Berlin labels like K7 to Scandinavian labels like Henrik Vibskov, the streetwear staple T-shirts and jeans, alongside records, accessories and random doodads.

Finally, we've brought up several sneaker spots already, but if you still haven't gotten your fix try Snika (Winterfeldtstr. 46) and Snea-Q (Fasanenstrasse 81) for boatloads of retro/limited-editon sneaker goodness.

Toys/Art/Randoms

For a look at where art, toys, comics, books and t-shirts intersect, check out Supalife (Raumerstrasse 40). This looks like a Euro Giant Robot to us and that can never be a bad thing.

And finally, if you know of Berlin at all you know that they like their clubs and their dancing, so check out Hard Wax (Paul-Lincke-Ufer 44a) if you're into that sort of thing.

If you've actually been to any of these stores or other great stores in Berlin, please don't forget to describe them to us so we can add them to our guide.

Major sources: JC Report, Superfuture.

It could have so easily gone all wrong. The Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco was ground zero of the '60s counter-culture movement. All the '60s icons like Hendrix, Joplin and friends passed through at one point or another. Our experience with neighborhoods such as this suggest decades later The Haight could have easily been a charicature of its former self, a place where tourists come to capture to spirit that has long since vacated.

And The Haight was probably headed in that direction, expect that sometime in past decade or so The Haight was adopted by another cultural movement, that of urban/street culture. And now? The neighborhood is alive, but not just with tourist on stop 4 for their 11 stop tour around San Francisco, but with plenty of young locals, buying sneakers or seeing a gallery show by a graffiti artist.

In the far west corner of the neighborhood is Giant Robot (618 Shrader St.), another outpost of the Giant Robot mini-empire. Started as an Asian pop-culture magazine, this Giant Robot store was the first outside of the magazine's LA home. The first room holds a candy-colored display of T-shirts, toys, art books, comics and zines, and other fun doodads. The adjoining gallery space plays host to many a talented young artist

But don't confuse Giant Robot with Kidrobot (1512 Haight St.), which has a mini retail empire of its own around designer/urban vinyl toys. The shop is best known for the many cool versions of the Dunny toy it has produced for the years.

Villains (1672 Haight St.) and high-end compadre Villains Vault (1653 Haight St.) are clothing anchors of the area. Villians is all about laid California style, with a mix of shorts, jeans, shirts, cords and casual shoes and sneakers. Surf brands, skate brands, Levi's, it's nothing you haven't seen before, Villian's just does it bigger. Villian's Vault is a more interesting proposition if only because the place seems wed to high-end denim from the likes of Rag & Bone, Acne, Nudie and Earnest Sewn.

For clothing and shoes with even more of an urban/street bend, you can't miss True (1415 Haight St) and True Sole (1427 Haight St).

And if you're going to mention shoes and The Haight in the same sentence, than you need to talk about Shoe Biz (1446 Haight St.). Shoe Biz opened in area many, many years ago and has since opened Super Shoe Biz (1420 Haight St.) and Shoe Biz II (1553 Haight St.). Shoe Biz carries what we like to call urban casual shoes, Shoe Biz II is all sneakers, and Super Shoe Biz has more exclusive, expensive labels along with an Adidas concept shop.

We are certainly not going to make the case that there are not enough things to do in San Francisco proper. Between the restaurants, parks, shop, museums, protests and bars, the city can keep you occupied for months. But if at some point you yearn for life that moves just a little bit slower, head to the East Bay.

The East Bay consists of over a dozen cities and towns, but the two that stand out are Berkeley and Oakland.

Berkeley

The most developed shopping district of Berkeley is the Fourth Street neighborhood. The funny thing is Fourth Street looks like it came straight out of upwardly mobile suburbia rather than a city known for its liberal/counter-culture roots. We guess even hippies need a Crate & Barrel from time to time. But besides the national chains that have settled on the block are a few nice indie shops.

A decade ago, the area that is Fourth Street was frequented by construction workers/builders. Even now if you walk a few blocks you'll find lumber yards and building supply companies (or the buildings they left behind when they moved to cheaper digs). Builders Booksource (1817 4th Street) is the only direct clue to this past. The intruiging bookstore stocks everything from from official electrician's manuals to DIY home construction guides.

Zinc Details (1842 4th Street), which we mentioned in our SF Pacific Heights guide, also has an outpost on Fourth Street.

For that matter, so do bath store Hydra (1710 4th Street) and bookstore Cody's (1730 4th Street).

Downtown Berkeley and the famous Telegraph Avenue, which runs right into UC Berkeley have some interesting shops as well, but are at this point mostly of chain stores for the former and hippie holdovers for the latter.

There are however still some great book and music stores around. In downtown, drop by Comic Relief (2026 Shattuck Avenue) for an education in how far comics have come since the superhero days. On Telegraph, Stop by Amoeba Music (2455 Telegraph Avenue) and Rasputin Music (2401 Telegraph Avenue) to realize just how lame chain music stores are. Step into Moe's Books (2476 Telegraph Avenue) for a bit of a scholarly respite, but don't stay too long, we have more shopping to do.

A few blocks north of Telegraph Ave. is College Ave. and as you go down south on College you'll right into Elmwood, the other of Berkeley more upscale shopping areas. Elmwood is still less infiltraited by national chains than Fourth Street. Make sure to stop by Tail of the Yak (2632 Ashby Avenue) to see what they have in store today and to say hello to the doves resting in the middle of the shop. Swing by Dish (541 Hayes Street) for the best women's clothing shopping in the neighborhood.

Oakland

Keep going south on College Avenue and you'll eventually get to the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland. On this our latest visit to the SF Bay area the local news was reporting murders number 75 and 76 this year (on the same night even!) in Oakland. But yet in the Northwestern edge there is this area with tony shopping and impossibly large houses. Weird.

Anyway while some things in Oakland seem to never change, the Rockridge neighborhood has changed quite a bit. Last we visited it was defined by clothing stores where older women went to get their flowy earth mother clothes or "gift" shops where people went to get random tchotchkes. Yet now, on the southern edge of Rockridge is a block or two of some damn fine stores.

We start with Scout (5550 College Avenue), which every so often completely restocks the store with the goods of one destination. On our visit France was on the menu and there were some really unique goods on display.

Next is August (5410 College Ave), which would stand up just fine in any hip LA or New York block. On a long ledge on one side of the huge, zen-like space are denim jeans from some of the finest producers such as Nudie, Acne and Habitual. On the other side is a long row of high-end clothing for men and women. Everything from Martin Margiela to Rogue's Gallery. Martin Margiela in Oakland, who woulda' thunk it?

On the next block over is a trifecta of fine homewares establishments. First is Swallowtail (5332 College Ave), which holds an intriguing, eclectic collection of fine, new and vintage furnishings.

Next door is Form (5330 College Ave), which mixes new issues of mid-century modern furnishings with immaculate representations of the real deal.

And finally we have The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (5322 College Ave) which stocks beautiful, and not so beautiful, vintage ceramics.

Detours

If you're on Fourth Street in Berkeley, avoid that yuppie food like the plague. All of it is expensive, most of it is mediocre. Instead, walk down a few blocks west to Everett & Jones (1955 San Pablo Ave). Have some pork ribs. Thank us later.

Or, if you're feeling a bit more cosmopolitan walk a few blocks south to Viks Chaat House (726 Allston Way). Choose from 10 chaats (basically, small Indian appetizers) and a rotating selection of larger meals. If we were you, we'd stick with the chaats. Get #9, #8 and maybe a dosa if it's available that day.

If you're around downtown Berkeley or the Telegraph Avenue area, make sure to first pay homage to UC Berkeley. Go Bears! Then get yourself some good cheap college food. There are several local pizza joints, we like Fat Slice (2375 Telegraph Ave).

If you're in Oakland, you really ought to go to Fenton's (4226 Piedmont Ave) for ice cream, which has roots dating back to 1894.

One day, when we're somewhat older and much, much richer we dream of living in Pacific Heights. It will be magnificent. We will stake our claim to a sixth floor walkup condo for 2.1 million dollars. In the mornings we will plop ourselves down in one of the many cafes and watch the denizens of The PH go to yoga or pilates, the women all sporting sunglasses the size of welding masks and the same hay blond dye job, the men in their pink or lavendar button-ups and chinos wrinkled just so.

Go to Pacific Heights to get a taste of the good life, San Francisco style. The area lacks the clothing stores of Hayes Valley and the furniture stores of The Mission, but all told the piecemeal collection of various boutiques make for a good morning's worth of shopping. By the way, most of the good shopping here is for women, there's nary a decent men's clothing or shoe store to be found.

The best clothing in the neighborhood can be found at sister stores Blu (2259 Fillmore Street) and Cielo (2225 Fillmore Street). These stores collect the best European fashions (Cielo stocking the more upscale items) under two roofs, simple as that.

The best in window on the block belongs to HeidiSays (2426 Fillmore Street) which stocks pretty, perky women's clothing. Nearby is a branch of the Erica Tanov empire (2408 Fillmore Street), which is chock full of earthy but stylish clothing that are oh so perfect for Northern California.

Zinc Details is the preeminent design shop on the block and is now actually two storefronts, one for accessories (1905 Fillmore Street) and the other for modern furniture (2410 California Street). Look out for an occasional selection of vintage tableware and accessories that you're not going to find in other stores.

Hydra (1919 Filmore Street) is just about the most cool, creative bath store we ever did see, an original inspiration for the Jargol shopping guide. Someone on the founding team must have been a set designer what with their giant tubs or ducks of paper mache cakes. Even if you can never see yourself buying anything, take a peek inside.

Detours

Do yourself a favor. Show up early to Pacific Heights, head directly for Boulangerie Bay Bread (2325 Pine Street, usually just known as Bay Bread) and buy yourself a couple of croissants. It's not just that Bay Bread makes the best croissants and sweet treats in The Bay, it's that no one else comes even close. While Bay Bread outlets are sprinkled in most of the nicer neighborhoods of San Francisco, the Pacific Heights location is the flagship, where the breads and croissants are actually baked.

Now that your croissant and cup of coffee and walk up a few blocks north to Alta Plaza park, one of our favorites. The tiered pyramid park has tennis courts and a play area, but more importantly it has benches with some of the best views in the city. The southern view puts the whole city at your feet while the northern view gives peaks of the Golden Gate bridge. On a foggy day where all but the top level of the park is enveloped the scene is pure magic.

If we were to pick a favorite neighborhood in San Francisco, it would have to be The Mission. The Mission is historically the most diverse neighborhood in San Francisco and although some great shopping and hip restaurants have moved in and some condo projects are rising in the periphery, the neighborhood has not lost its essence. We think it has to do with the large area that The Mission covers but there seems to be enough room for everybody. Both hip restaurants and cheap, delicious taquerias and pizza stands. Both new shops owned by young designers and entrepenuers and businesses that have been around for decades.

Clothing Stores

If you've come to find well known European or American labels then you've come to the wrong place. The clothing in The Mission is mostly about independent and local designers.

CandyStore (3153 16th Street) is probably the best example. Between the old school candies, the rows of colorful print dresses, skirts and T-shirts, and odd vintage items, it's impossible to walk by without stepping in to take a peak.

No less than three shops in the neighborhood have their own clothing line. Minnie Wilde (3266 21st Street) makes cheery, girly clothing with a vintage flair. Dema's (1038 Valencia Street) collection also has vintage influences but the clothes generally lean older and more sophisticated. Completing the spectrum is Sunhee Moon (3167 16th Street) which focuses on stylish basics for everyday urban life. Pencil skirts, slacks and shirts come in a variety of solid colors and with reasonable price tags.

Home Stores

While the clothing stores in The Mission all have an indie flair, the home stores are all over the map. You can't miss X-21 Modern (890 Valencia Street) which looks like the warehouse of a movie production. Here you'll find a practical sideboard next to a giant fiberglass pickle. There are all sorts of treasures in the huge, sprawling space.

For the uber-modern look, try Architectural Elements (573 Valencia Street). They bring in high-style modern furniture from around the world.

For mid-century modern, you have a few choices. Restored, pristine, iconic pieces: Monument (572 Valencia Street). A huge selection of as-is pieces with quick turnover: Touch (956 Valencia Street). A mish-mosh of vintage furniture, some of it mid-century modern, priced to move: The Apartment (3469 18th Street).

Other Stores

The Mission is such that a group of stores don't really fit any traditional category or classification.

826 Valencia (uhm, duh, 826 Valencia Street) is the Bay Area's largest independently owned pirate supply store. Avoid the long lines and ill-informed staff of those evil national pirate supply chains and help support the 826 Valencia writing and after-school tutoring center.

Right next door, is Paxton Gate (824 Valencia Street), which calls itself an "eccentric garden store." The plants are in the back but to get there you'll have to navigate a wall of moose and deer heads, tables stacked with odd jars and bowls, intriguing bits of furniture, teas and tea accessories, preserved bugs and butterflies and the odd river rock or two.

Self printing and publishing is also alive and well in The Mission. Check out Needles & Pens (3253 16th Street) for their extensive selection of zines.

Also drop by Little Otsu. The store and micro-publishing house periodically puts outs out its own calendars, notebooks and T-shirts and sells them alongside the zines, books, paper goods and comics of their artist cohorts.

Detours

On any given block of The Mission you'll find any number of eateries that are 1) tasty 2) cheap 3) busy. So really you can't go wrong. Our advice, try a couple of Mexican eateries in the area (like, say, Pancho Villa on 3071 16th). There are many, many good ones. For Pizza, go to Arinell (509 Valencia Street). It's the best New York style pie we've eaten in the Bay Area.

For coffee, go to Ritual Roasters. The place is like a scene out of a movie depicting 1997-2001 tech-obsessed San Francisco. It's a huge, beautiful place with great coffee. Everyone is on a laptop.

The last time we were in Hayes Valley, Hayes Valley wasn't Hayes Valley. It was two or three blocks on Hayes street just east of the Civic Center and Opera House. Now, with the completion of the Octavia Boulevard project the neighborhood has exploded into a full scale neighborhood, a model of gentrification if we ever saw one. Hayes is now (or rather will soon be) among the best represented SF neighborhoods in our guide.

Clothing Stores

Quite fittingly, the gem clothing store of the neighborhood is hidden away a few blocks away from the main drag. MAC (387 Grove Street) stands for Modern Appealing Clothing but they're being modest. We think we would name it Modern Awesome Clothing but then again we are from Southern California. Anyway, the 20-year old institution stocks a smart mix of niche New York labels, bohemian European brands, up and coming indie designers and hip American brands. The front of the store is mostly women's but turn the corner and you'll find a ton of men's clothing. And the best part: the clothes don't come with pretense.

The other go-to clothing spot on the block is Azalea (411 Hayes Street). Known to shoppers around the country for its online shop, Azalea has a massive stock of stylish, mostly casual clothing for men and women and a enviable denim selection.

Also in the neighborhood are RAG (541 Octavia Street), which collects the T-shirts and cut-and-sewn works of local designers and Nida (544 Hayes Street) which you'd like very much if casual clothing for rich people is your thing.

Shoe Stores

Now that you're fully clothed from the ankle up, it's time to put some shoes on, you filthy hippy. Our favorite stop is Huf (516 Hayes Street) and its selection of exclusive sneakers for men and women. The other two Hufs on Sutter street are sort of out of the way and they can be imtimidating for those of us who don't horde sneakers like crack cocaine.

Nearby are the two Bulos (418 and 437-A Hayes). Their leather European shoes are a perfect complement to the clothes of Nida and the pricepoints are pretty reasonable. Also checkout Gimme Shoes (416 Hayes Street) for high-end European faire.

Home Stores

It's a close call, but Propeller (555 Hayes Street) is our favorite home store on the block. It's a bright, colorful, crowded space filled with cool vases, tableware, candelholders and placemats, along with a small collectio of premium modern furniture.

Find carries furniture with a more local feel. The expansive space is dotted with attractive, contemporary furniture, many from local design houses. Some are sort of boring contemporary, some are strangely beautiful.

Friend has the strongest accessory selection of the block. From the Bay Area's own Heath Ceramics' line of attractive earthenware to Los Angeles designer Helene Ige's Beetle Pillow, their focus is on how well an object is designed rather than party affiliations (modern, traditional or independent).

Finally, there's Scandinavian Details (364 Hayes Street). We've longed yearned for a store to go beyond the now far spread Scandinavian brands (Iittala, anyone?) and delve a bit deeper into their design world and Scandinavian Details does a yeoman's job. Aprons to bars of soap, tumblers to water bottles those Scandinavians give all sorts of everyday items a design makeover.

Detours

Go to the Blue Bottle Coffee kiosk (315 Linden Street) for the best coffee ever. Walk west to Alamo Square to see the Six Sisters.

Most people think of Union Square in San Francisco as an overpriced, overcrowded tourist trap. And mostly they're right. But you're here so you might as well make the most of it.

Chain Stores

Levi's is based in San Francisco so naturally there's a Levi's flagship (300 Post Street) on the corner of Union Square. The three level store has all the Levi's you could ever ask for including Levi's Vintage Clothing jeans that are found mostly in Europe and Japan.

Besides Levi's, Union Square has a branch of just about every major department store and luxury brand within a ten block radius. There's Neiman Marcus, Saks, a (old, but decent) Prada store and Hermes. Off of Stockton, look for Maiden Lane which is a sort of alleyway that has a series of luxury brand boutiques including Chanel.

Local Shops

Right off of the square on Geary is Britex Fabrics (146 Geary Street). If Project Runway were filmed in San Francisco the designers would likely be going to Britex to pick up their fabrics. The San Francisco landmark has thousands and thousands of fabrics stacked up to the ceiling.

Sure this being Union Square you could go to Tower Records or Barnes & Noble or Borders or whatnot. But we prefer to support the locals. If you're looking for books, you can't miss Cody's (2 Stockton Street) right on the corner of Stockton and Market, and if it's CDs and vinyl you seek try Bay Area music chain Rasputin (69 Powell Street).

Gump's (135 Post Street) is another San Francisco shopping landmark. A proper home accessories store is full of furniture and items from around the world mixed with glass, jewelry, art and ceramics from local designers.

There's not much in the way of small boutique shopping in Union Square. There is AB Fits, which has high-end casual clothing for men and women, mostly from Europe. There are also whole row of boutiques on Sutter street north of Union Square. Definitely stop by Big Pagoda (310 Sutter Street), especially if you're looking for a nice gift (and by nice we don't mean a set of Golden Gate Bridge shot glasses). And if you're rich or hope to be soon one day, across the street is Metier (355 Sutter Street), a women's clothing boutique that brings in clothing from the top European luxury labels. Also on Sutter are Karikter (418 Sutter Street) and Rims & Goggles (445 Sutter Street).

Detours

By this point you've probably engaged in a good bit of consumerism and we're guessing you feel a little bit dirty. Which means its time to try on a bit of culture. Just east of Union Square is SF MOMA (151 Third Street). MOMA is the city's pride and joy, just about any day you go by you're bound to see something interesting. And lest you feel a little flushed from all this learning, there's always...

the SF MOMA store.

And after you're done there we suggest you partake in that other great American tradition: gluttony. Right around the block from the museum is Beard Papa (99 Yerba Buena Lane). The Japanese chain sells one thing and one thing only, cream puffs. A great idea if we ever ate one.

We heard this statement in passing we don't remember where and it sort of stuck in our minds. Sure statements like this are as ridiculous as "gray is the new black" but there's a certain nugget of truth there. As rents are rising in Brooklyn or LA or SF, artists, designers, musicians, creative young people in general are settling in places where they can afford to live and have a shot at owning a business or a home. We've heard Portland, we've heard Baltimore and we've also heard Philadelphia mentioned time and again.

The "new" Philadelphia has naturally filtered into some interesting shops opening up in the past couple of years.

Vagabond

With a growing base of talent in the area, why not take advantage of it? Vagabond does just that, combining clothing from local designers, their own line of knitwear and clothing, select independent brands from around the country and some funky vintage for good measure.

Smak Parlour

Opened just last year, Smak Parlour is all about in-house creations. The aesthetic is fashionable punk: girly cuts, colors and patterns messed up just so.

Ubiq

For the guys (mostly), there's Ubiq. The shop is sneaker boutique executed to perfection. The building is from another era. The interior is a white-walled gallery with a wall of shoes from brands big and small, domestic and foreign. Like you doubted it for a second, the shop also plays host to art shows from urban artists.

We'll be talking about more stores in a few future posts that we'll link here later.

Update 7/4: And here they are:

• Art Star
• Rarebreed
• Minima

Being as we are a shopping magazine and living as we do in LA, you can imagine we get quite a few personal requests from friends and family for the inside scoop on shopping in LA. Indeed we've led more than one guided tour of Los Angeles shops. But while we spend an awful lot of time speaking of $500 dresses and $2000 sofas, our friends, like us, are usually hanging on to the bottom wrung of the monetary ladder. So before we go off into the dreamworld of avant-garde designer labels and Italian furniture companies we like to start off every tour with a visit to a little string of stores in Echo Park.

We're surprised it took us this long to add these shops to the guide, but we're not going to be too hard on ourselves. See these shops don't really like to open before noon or 1 and they spend their Mondays and Tuesdays nursing their headaches from the crazy weekend. A typical scene at this little one-block stretch of Echo Park Boulevard is sort of surreal. On any given hot afternoon you'll find the stores' staff parked on the sidewalk in plastic chairs, usually with a cellphone or magazine or drink. You can walk from store to store undisturbed and whatever it is you just picked you better really want it. Because then you must walk out of the store and interrupt the store clerk who is on the phone with her friend/reading her art magazine/sipping her cold beverage and say "Hello, I would like to engage your fine establishment in some economy-stimulating and small-business-supporting commerce, oh, and by the way, how much does this thing in my hand cost?" The slightly perturbed clerk will then quote a price that's usually quite affordable and if she's feeling generous might even throw in a tidbit about which young artist/independent label/small local company made your lip gloss/jersey dress/ghetto blaster belt buckle. So don't be sending us messages like "I went to these stores and the shop girls pretended like I didn't exist. How rude!" Relax. Have a cold drink (in the corner coffee shop) and enjoy shopping, Echo Park style.

We consider Show Pony the anchor of the block, with its artful mix of locally designed, reasonably priced clothes and accessories.

Han Cholo, provides the block with some urban edge. The store is best known for its line of men's and women's jewelry that feature Star Wars and other pop imagery. But the store also has a line of cool T-shirts. We bought their black Stars Wars/LA scene logo T-shirt in black and it's become on our favorites (we don't know that hell they did to this think but it is super comfortable and the black wont fade).

And of course, the obligatory vintage store is called Flounce. The small space is stuffed with women's clothing and accessories at prices way below the vintage stores in the Hollywood/La Brea area.

OK, so there's actually one more store on this block which, if memory serves, is called "Work." But, big surpise, it was closed on our last couple of visits and it'll have to wait until we drop by another day.