BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Even if you have no desire to shop till you drop a walletload of money, if you're in Los Angeles, it's worth making the trip to Beverly Hills.
Yes, the brand-name, high-end shops on Rodeo Drive are ridiculously expensive, but no one says you have to buy. Ogling is free. And there is much to gape at.
All those high-end clothes you normally see only in magazines? In Beverly Hills, you can touch them as they hang on a rack.
Perhaps the best display space is Prada (343 N. Rodeo Drive), which has a theme to its displays that verges on art installation. In July, the theme was travel, with mannequins toting luggage on the front steps of the store, which is so cool it doesn't bother with a sign out front announcing it's the Prada store. The facade is blank.
Inside, the travel theme carried on throughout the store, perhaps most extensively on the second floor in menswear. Arches symbolizing airport-security metal detectors led into a showroom designed to resemble an airport baggage claim, all done in a stark black-and-white color scheme.
Up the street at Juicy Couture (456 N. Rodeo Drive), a pink knight stood guard near the stairs to the second floor. Upstairs, a pool table in the middle of the men's department awaited anyone who wanted to pass the time while others shopped.
Rodeo is also home to upscale brands such as Hermes, Chanel, Brooks Brothers and Cartier. If those stores are out of your price range, walk one block east to Beverly Drive to find typical chains (North Face, Gap, Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel), but also less expensive, less common shops.
Canadian clothing retailer Roots has a small store (371 N. Beverly Drive) that offers the company's trademark comfortable casual wear. Down the block at Adriano Goldschmied (329 N. Beverly Drive), a giant wheel of denim sits near the front window. It's made of 3,000 pounds of compacted jeans, a store specialty.
