Negotiating the ‘Menswear Mall’
DEAR MISS HOT: My boyfriend hates to shop but wants me to help him add more “presence” to his wardrobe. Where do we start?
MISS HOT REPLIES: Start by suggesting that he dress as if heading for the beach. Smart guys tell me that wearing sandals, cutoffs and a T-shirt (all easy to slip on and off) is the only way to fly when trying on clothes.
Next, head for Beverly Center, also known as the menswear mall. This place has 43 men’s shops. Euro-style emporiums include Alexio (Armani ties, shirts and suits) and Bernini (Versace’s “lower-priced” Versus line). Since you’re looking for clothes with attitude, be sure to check out Traffic (cutting-edge sportswear and casual dress clothes) and Boxer Bay (elegant men’s underwear along with some silly stuff).
If your boyfriend needs frequent shopping rewards, Beverly Center offers some of the more inviting meal- and movie-break opportunities in malls. But avoid going on a weekend. The place is usually mobbed and maneuvering in the parking structure can be, well, outrageous.
I once witnessed a passenger get out of a car locked in bumper-to-bumper traffic, walk past waiting cars and throw her body into a parking space the second a car left it. She defiantly guarded the slot until her friend’s car arrived and wound up playing a scary game of chicken with an angry driver who’d been waiting for the space. She won the fight, but for awhile it looked as if she was headed for the emergency room.
SHOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE: You might expect to find swimwear pioneer Robin Piccone checking out beam-me-up gear at Trekkie conventions. But the Body Glove designer would rather poke around at the PCC (Pasadena City College) Flea Market.
Among her recent buys: $45 celluloid earrings and matching $20 necklace. Also, $6 glasses frames, in which she had new lenses installed.
Piccone finds the PCC Flea Market infinitely more manageable than the gargantuan Rose Bowl Swap Meet and points out that there’s no admission charge. And, because vendor fees are less than at bigger meets, PCC attracts a wider variety of sellers. “There’s even a lady who sells cakes out of her car,” she says.
The PCC Flea Market is the first Sunday of every month, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., in a parking lot at the corner of Hill and Colorado in Pasadena. More info: (818) 585-7384.
