melrose avenue

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

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.

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+

When I first moved here to LA in the late 70s there were lots of "Mom & Pop" shops on Melrose between Fairfax Avenue (to the west) and LaBrea Avenue (to the east). It was a great shopping experience. However, perhaps sometime in the late 80s (or thereafter) those (M&P) stores ceased to exist with landlords requiring ridiculous increases in their leases when they expired. There are still a lot of business in that "corridor" on Melrose but it is NOT the same. Ironically, Melrose became very up-scale but now that is west of Fairfax to east of La Cienega. Stores like Marc Jacobs, Alexander McQueen, Paul Smith plus trendy restaurants (Ago, Comme Ca, Lucques, etc.) opened their doors, And Melrose Place (yes, it does exist but NOT like the TV show) has in its rather short street a number of very high end merchandise for sale (like Pratesi). It has sort of become like a mini-version of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. So, if you're looking for affordable items (go east of Fairfax) but if you have the money to spend then go west of Fairfax. Either way, you will, I think you will enjoy the experience and the dichotomy,

I live a few blocks away. It is disappointing but this area as well as many parts of West Hollywood have become overpriced both to rent or buy merchanidise and attract very few of the original artist or creative types anymore.Melrose Ave in the 80's and 90's was full of all kinds of shops drawing people up and down all day. Now it is spotty at best with many empty buildings. Unless you knew how it was, I suppose you think that a few clothing shops, or tattoo places, and few restaurants is great. Well It is only a fraction of what it use to be. I would drive down the street to check it out. If you see something then stop, It really is not worth devoting time as a destination anymore.

If you're into Vintage clothing then Melrose Avenue is worth a visit to browse in the shops and I say browse because they are expensive. I would recommend visiting on a Sunday so you can go to the Melrose Trading Post which has lots of lovely things at much lower prices.

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'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).

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 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.

We recently wandered down Melrose from around Sweetzer (where our hotel was located) to LaBrea. It was a beautiful day and the window shopping and people watching was excellent. We watched the shops go from posh, to trash, to hip. The people (even the other tourists) ran the gamut of the same! It was an enjoyable way to spend a spring/summer afternoon and don't forget to stop in to the Village Idiot for a snack and a pint to refresh yourself!

If your like $100 used levi jeans this is the spot. It's great to wander the shops. Good Johnny Rockets right on the sidewalk with tons of outdoor eating. Still the hip area of LA.

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.

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!