What Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is to
the rich, Melrose Avenue of Los Angeles' westside is to kitsch.
You won't find retailers like Cartier and Gucci on Melrose as
you would on ritzy Rodeo. That's not to say the shop-strewn
street that adorns portions of L.A. and West Hollywood isn't
fashionable. It is. But just as they say about beauty, fashion,
too, is in the eye of the beholder.
Melrose Avenue caters to a
contemporary, off-beat audience -- those who are into funky
clothes, gaudy jewelry, peculiar artwork, odd furniture, bizarre
trinkets and just about anything else that's kooky, zany or left
of center. So it's no wonder that the boutiques, as well as the
people who patronize them, are wonderful sources for window
shopping and people watching.
In the 1950s, decades before such
imaginatively named stores as the Soap Plant, Wacko, War Babies,
Aardvark's and Bleecker Bob's had sprung up or moved in from
other L.A. locations, Melrose was just another cross-town
surface street notable for its furniture showrooms,
upholsterers, picture-framing shops and various artisans. When
Patrick Terrail's phenomenally successful Ma Maison restaurant
opened on Melrose, it encouraged the addition of other tony
eateries and galleries and drew the carriage trade down from
Beverly Hills, Bel Air and other upper-class communities.
Melrose has taken on a much different
look and crowd since the 1980s, when it became the funky retail
street of Los Angeles. Bland, two-story, stucco buildings
suddenly housed unique, colorful shops and cafes, most of them
frequented by folks whose tastes might be considered outlandish
by much of Middle-America. Leather-wearing rock 'n' rollers and
punks in spiked rainbow colored hairdos are common sights along
the busiest stretch of Melrose, between Fairfax and La Brea
avenues. Here, you'll also find one-of-a-kind boutiques and
small, chic restaurants for more than a dozen blocks -- places
like the Soap Plant (for bizarre books, candles and
bric-a-brac), Wacko (toys, trinkets and postcards), Aardvark's
(vintage and used clothing), Maya (madcap jewelry) and Bleecker
Bob's (used records).
Melrose Avenue, besides serving as one
of L.A.'s major pedestrian islands, is home to a significant
architectural and commercial monument. The Pacific Design
Center, built in 1975, is a massive, brilliant blue glass
complex containing 1.2 million square feet of fabric and
accessory showrooms, furnishings and furniture. Set apart from
its Iow-rise residential setting at he corner of Melrose and San
Vicente avenues, the PDC or "Blue Whale" as it is
affectionally called by locals, is open on weekdays, but with a
caveat. Except on special market days, only professional
decorators and designers may purchase merchandise from
wholesalers who exhibit their wares inside. The public, however,
is invited to browse and dine at the PCD, just as they are all
along stylish Melrose Avenue.
