The hip crowd abounds on Melrose Avenue. Beautiful botiques, diverse pedestrians, and good restaurants, makes this a must-do to pass some time while in the Hollywood area.
An interesting strip of shops, cafes and restaurants. There is something for everybody here, from high end designers down one end to second-hand shops down the other. It also has the chain stores like Urban Outfitters. A mix of places to stop and eat/drink also. We enjoyed Melrose Ave so much the first time that we returned our next stop in LA, especially since it is outside as opposed to an indoor shopping mall (but in saying this the Beverly Centre is awesome for shopping). Melrose Ave is also relatively close to the Farmers Markets.
I've heard, "cute boutiques and funky shops." 1st of all, nothing opens till the afternoon. 2nd, the shops are more like tattoo parlors and "intimacy boutiques." My 15 yr old was mortified. And it's very dirty. East of Orlando has about 2 blocks of very upscale shops. Dash is there and the main reason my daugther wanted to go. But everything is SO expensive. She couldn't get anything (she could afford the pencil).
I loved Melrose, it is so alive and vibrant. Each shop is different, the windows enticing you to go in. Chic boutiques and tattoo/piercing parlours dotted along it. It was rather invigorating to go there as it was so different to most places in LA. There are some great coffee shops too where you can sit and watch life pass by.
Lots of novel ideas, some truly great shop-and then, there are the restaurants! It's not the open anything goes area that it was in the late seventies, or 80's, people watching is no longer for the early pump scene, nor Goth: for me that just makes people watching more fun, "there's a game afoote. A3+
Okay...There are some cute shops that are worthy of patronage, for sure, but I don't like a lot of the styles Melrose promotes, considering that jeans with huge holes in them fetch thousands of dollars merely because the label sewn inside is "prestigious"...Also, so many of the clothes are poorly constructed. There are three or four shops I do, and will continue to, shop at, when appropriate, but otherwise, use your money for clothing that suits you, not an image!
You must shop this street if you come to LA - the independent boutiques are fun and intriguing even if you arrive from another large city !
I walked to Melrose Ave specifically to visit the DASH store (being a closet Kardashian fan). If you love shopping and people watching it's excellent! DASH itself is great if you are the perfect figure with deep pockets. I will admit I did pay $11 for a souvenir water to bring home to my sister.All in all check out Melrose is you have time to spare... To me not a necessary :s
So many stores and styles to choose from. I definatley loved that you could find items that you cant get at a regular mall. Definately a must for shoppers !
I found that most of the merchants I visited delivered personal service and were welcoming, which is always nice. Perhaps they knew that I had money to spend? I would hope that they would treat those browsing the same way, but in this area one never knows. Street parking is an issue. There is a paid parking lot nearby.