The best places to shop around Venice Beach, California?

Try Abbott Kinney on for size first, and if none of the unique boutiques appeal to you go north to Main Street in Santa Monica. AK is definitely not the place for shoppers who are into chain stores and cookie cutter fashion, and it's very LA. Some of the clothing at these stores are on the steep side, but don't skedaddle if the price tags you find at the first one you enter shock you. Mosey along to the next store. Many have sales going on right now. I'd suggest starting at Skylark, a tiny gem of a store with prices that are refreshingly affordable for the Westside. The store has this sort of urban-folksy vibe with vintage clothes harmonizing with modern labels on the shelves. They have great dresses, scarves, tees, bags, and jeans, and the music they play will keep you mellow and happy.

I also love:

Surfing Cowboys ~ Quirky tee shirts, beach wear, posters, jewelry

ECookie ~ Adorable dresses (all casual), fun tops in vibrant patterns, cute tees, lingerie for younger women, accessories, and jewelry. Plus they have a shopping happy hour with discounted clothes.

Even if you don't find something you want to buy on AK, I think you'll have fun there. There's original coffee shops, fun cafes and places for treats for N'Ice Cream and Lemonade, and it's pretty chill but not boring.

Definitely check out the stores on Ocean Front Walk in Venice. Anonymous has jeans that are under $100, flirty dresses, and fun things. Unruly Fashion has booty shorts, tanks, and......other fashionably unruly items, haha.

Main Street in Santa Monica has some of my favorite boutiques in LA, plus dependable stores like the Max Studio outlet. Dame and Varga LA tend to have clothes that are geared towards our age group, and their prices are usually fair. Clever lives up to its name. It's a small store with a lot of really clever tee shirts and gifts. They carry a lot of the same brands you'd find at DTLA, and even though the prices are higher there, it's worth not having to trek allllllll the way downtown. Bumble Bee and Monkie are worth checking out.

The Third Street Prom has Forever 21, H&M, Anthropologie (with a whole room of clothes on sale), Zara, Mango, and a ton of other chains, plus smaller stores like Pink Ice. It's also just a fun area to shop. The Santa Monica Place Mall is okay. It's not as entertaining of an experience as the Prom, and the stores are higher priced and not that thrilling. However, Brass Plum at Nordstroms (the juniors / young section) almost always has great clothes and they have their own section for shoes.

There are so many awesome stores on the Westside, plus you have the blissful ocean breeze and plenty of eye candy to see, so I would stick to this side of town. If you have an afternoon with absolutely nothing else to do and you're not into the beach and you're down with driving a heckofafrickoflong way to downtown then check out the fashion district there. But, honestly, it's over $4 a gallon for gas and the traffic moves at a turtle's pace for half the way, so it's just not worth it if you're only in LA for a short time period. There are public transportation options to get down there, but they'll still suck up a lot of your time. And honestly, the deals aren't usually worth the time and the annoyances involved in getting to them.

Have fun wherever you shop!

~ skylark : )

Venice (Venezia) actually wants number release, see ways to get there with hotelbye . That city is a fabled destination for centuries. Only the title Venice is enough to conjure up a bunch of images, also for people who have not yet set foot in Italy. From gondoliers in striped jerseys to the Rialto and the Bridge of Sighs, bad balls, fantastic barges, courtesans in gondolas and failing palaces experiencing streets made of water Venice is an amazing city. When the sole connection over the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge scars the spot of the island's first settlement, named Rivus Altus and has become one of many a lot of place that Venice needs to offer.

This website lists all of the shops/stores in Venice Beach. Just click on "Shopping" on the left side of the homepage for an alphabetical list, and descriptions, of the stores/shops.

www.venicebeach.com

You'll be very near Santa Monica so you can easily go over to the Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Place for a bit of shopping. SMP is an upscale mall, so the stores are more expensive, but it's still fun to visit and browse. They also have live music performances on the weekends.

www.thirdstreetpromenade.com

www.santamonicaplace.com

If you're on a budget, then SMP is NOT the place to go. Head to downtown LA, and go to the Fashion District. You can find all kinds of bargains here. Shoot, I'm a guy, and even I know that. Sheesh.