My Top Twenty Stores in New York

I just came home from the most fantastic bachelorette party ever, thanks to several of my lovely lady friends. The better part of every day was spend shopping, and I’m sharing my favorite spots in the city. In my favorite two boroughs, anyway. This is basically organized from down up, beginning in Bk.

Brooklyn

Dear Fieldbinder, I got the most fantastic blue cutout back dress from here (post coming soon). The shopgirl was super nice and held the dress for me and didn’t laugh when I came back five minutes later to buy it. Major score that it’s on Smith St., which is quickly becoming the coolest street in Brooklyn (in my opinion). You should visit this store if you’re in New York – basically everything in the place is on sale. No lie.

Brooklyn Flea For me, the Flea is truly a hit or miss. I don’t own a home yet, so I don’t even bother looking at the furniture. The tshirts and clothing vendors are alright, but I’m really more drawn to the screen prints and food. The food is never a miss.

Fred Flare – I love their online store and their place in Greenpoint is too much fun. The store manager that was there when I went Thursday was a doll and helped me tie the first thing I bought on the trip. I also picked up a cute ring. Though the store is kitchy they have some really stylish clothes. Visit their website and see. Affordable too!

Minimini Market – I saw a t shirt in here that said I Miss Brooklyn and I was so tempted but I resisted (for my rationale, see Brooklyn Industries). They have lots of awesome jewelry here and some cute shoes too.

Shoe Market – Love their collection of boots and keds. This is an (off) Bedford staple and the shoe lover must visit. They are great for every day shoes.

Pema – Pema has tons and tons of jewelry. Clothes and shoes too, but go there for the jewelry. Plenty of goldtone stuff, which you know I love.

Pop - This place has great clothes, conveniently by color. Plus they’re basically across from Lodge, a fantastic brunch place.

Brooklyn Industries – a staple. I always stop by to check out their sale rack and t shirts. I have yet to buy a shirt though there are several I want. I just can’t justify spending over $30 on a really thin graphict shirt. Maybe someday, when I’m rich.

Manhattan

Club Monaco – I adore Club Monaco and hate that they don’t have a store near New Orleans. I love that the collection is built around basic black and white but when they do stuff in color, they do it right.

Steven Alan Outpost – I love everything Steven Alan and I like Steven Alan sale stuff even more. The outpost is on the Upper West Side and seeing as I can’t buy anything full price, this store is the way to go.

The City Quilter – lotsa cool fabric. I got a subway print. Not sure what I’m going to do with it…but we’ll see.

Fabulous Fanny’s love this place! The only reason I didn’t buy some frames that I liked there is because I’m retuning to New York soon and won’t be able to get the prescription filled till after the wedding anyway. E.g. after the wedding, when I have decent insurance to pay for lenses.

Zachary’s Smile This store has some great vintage pieces but I’m really more in it for the house label stuff. I found a cute black dress with a drop waist that I would have gotten, only it was too plain for the price.

Inven.tory – This place has lots of BB Dakota, which I like. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the dress I craved. Thanks anyway, Victoria Eisner.

Foley + Corinna – This is my new favorite. I am really not sure why I never visited this place (every day) when I lived in the city, but I guess their dresses and tops are really more for special occasions (at least if I were to incorporate them into my wardrobe). I got an awesome post-reception bar dress from here (our reception is footsteps from a couple of bars). I refuse to reveal it until I actually wear it after the wedding. But it’s hot, trust me.

In God We Trust I love this boutique. This is my favorite Refinery29 shop, and their Lower East Side store is on the same block as Some Odd Rubies and Dolce Vita, to name a few. They have great jewelry and great clothes (though I can’t afford most of them). I adore their sweet nothings necklaces.

Purl Soho In a very smart move, the store’s yarn and fabric stores have merged into a fabulous space on Mercer. I found the final pieces for my little project.

Madewell I love this store. The first thing I saw when I walked in was a gorgeous dress by Twelth Street by Cynthia Vincent. But the kicker was the insane sale they had on jeans – how about skinny jeans for $14.99 down from $95. I got two pairs.

All Saints Everything in here is morbid, expensive, and either black, white, or beige. But the store is worth a visit just to marvel at the walls of old school singer sewing machines. It’s so sweet.

TopShop I loved shopping at TopShop in London and was jazzed when I found out they were opening up in New York. I love to browse, and their shoe lounge is particularly sweet, but this store is too young and colorful for my taste. But still a fun spot!

Please please please give me your opinions on these! I plan on ammending/appending the list the next time I go to NYC (1 month!).