5 min read
Shopping in Los Angeles requires a road map. Unless strolling—or, God forbid, riding the Grove Trolley—at one of the city’s outdoor malls, the best purchases are made at a sprawling constellation of tucked-away shops best known to bona fide Angelenos. These speciality stores are relics of a bygone era—when Hollywood relied on experts, not AI, to verify authenticity. When retailers offered charge accounts and had customer measurements on-file. Though a spree through old L.A. may not be convenient, it’s worth the trip.
Men’s fashion is often presented as endless layers of vests and button downs. But at Anto in Beverly Hills, located just two blocks over from Rodeo Drive, second-generation owners Jack and Ken Septjian know the value of a well-fitting basic. When jewelry designer Lisa Eisner acquired Sammy Davis Jr.’s wardrobe in 1993, she discovered the performer’s collection of Anto’s suits, prompting her research on the brand’s layered history. “[Anto’s] made tuxedo shirts for the Rat Pack” she says. “And the amazing ties in Casino. It goes on and on.” The shop sells custom-tailored dress shirts, bowties, and polos crafted using the same traditional pattern-making process since the store’s opening. Clothing is produced in a nearby Sherman Oaks factory, which is also the site of an archive containing files on every client—from Frank Sinatra to Leonardo DiCaprio—in Anto’s 70-year history.
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Just blocks from the bustle of Rodeo Drive is Anto’s. The Beverly Hills staple has been a go-to for custom pieces for discerning shoppers from Frank Sinatra to Lisa Eisner.
Book an appointment at California Millinery Supply Company, the city’s oldest hat shop. Since 1939, the millinery has worked with film production companies and individuals to devise the perfect topper, whether it be a white bonnet a la TheHandmaid’s Tale or a horsehair toupee a la men of a certain age. Owner Irene Arroyo, a former stage and costume designer, helps new customers navigate the crowded downtown store—a treasure box with ribbons spilling out of drawers and fascinators dangling from the ceiling—while brides in search of something old leaf through the red TWA binder containing vintage lace trims.
Dress-up continuesat the towering eleven-story Western Costume Company, the film industry’s oldest and largest costume supplier. But it also services individuals: “Western Costume is where everyday folks like us can rent costumes for fancy dress parties,” says designer Hutton Wilkinson. The 124-year-old Burbank supplier stocks an estimated 1.5 million pieces—or eight miles of costumes—and was the consummate purveyor of silver screen history: Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Marilyn Monroe’s black beaded cocktail dress in Some Like It Hot, and the Von Trapp family uniforms (sewn from curtains by Sister Maria) in The Sound of Music. Today, Western Costume outfits entire productions and rents to individuals in search of period clothing and accessories.
Where there’s fluff, there’s probably Mother Plucker Feather Company. For more than 40 years, the store’s four-person fabrication team has constructed accessories of epic proportions,including 20-foot-wide ostrich fans for Jennifer Lopez’s Las Vegas residency and a 10-foot-tall realistic chicken for a Jack in the Box commercial. When the Kardashian-Jenner sisters dressed as Victoria’s Secret angels for Halloween in 2018, internet sleuths identified Mother Plucker as the source for the reality stars’ towering white wings. In addition to a Westlake shop, Mother Plucker has a dyeing facility and three warehouses filled with every legally attainable feather on the market. Strap on a pair of the famous turkey feather wings or attach a peacock bustle. No fringe is too fringe for Mother Plucker’sexperts de plume.
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Elizabeth Taylor was among the fans of the Brentwood Country Mart, where she was photographed in this undated picture.
For those who prefer quiet luxury, the Trading Post at the Brentwood Country Mart sells Armor Lux shirts, classic Lacoste polos, and other requisites of the Westside uniform. Opened in 1948 as a Post Office Substation, the Trading Post still provides postal services as well as printing, scanning, and copying. Though errands quickly become an afterthought at the sight of soft Hudson Bay Blankets and art monographs neatly stacked in the store’s baby blue shelves. Luxury consignment business owner Amanda Sotherland goes to Trading Post almost daily. “It’s my go-to place for gifts,” she says. “I love their selection of Le Prince Jardiniere items and Smythson notebooks. They carry brands you can’t find anywhere else.”
Another twofer: Mickey Fine Pharmacy fills prescriptions and serves milkshakes inside the wood-paneled Beverly Hills store. Visit on a Saturday morning and you’ll find yourself in line next to everyone—like Kate Beckinsale, recently spotted strolling the aisles in towering platform boots. “Our little, old school, yet see-and-be-seen pharmacy,” says designer and philanthropist Bridget Gless Kessler. The 70-year old drugstore offers annual vaccines and herbal medicine, plus some of the fun stuff—Voluspa candles and Skin Gym facial rollers. Hungry? Grab a leather swivel chair at the L-shaped counter. The old school luncheonette serves burgers, tuna melts, and fountain sodas.
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Mickey Fine Pharmacy in Beverly Hills is more than just a drug store for the rich and powerful. It’s also where they can get a fountain soda and a tuna melt.
For more variations of soft drinks, Galco’s Old World Grocery sells 750 varieties of pop from around the world. The 120-year old family-owned business began as an Italian grocer in DTLA before relocating to Highland Park, where the owner began expanding the soda inventory. Today, the long shelves are stocked with dusty amber bottles of Cheerwine, shiny cans of Moxie, and imported Japanese cream sodas. There’s a waitlist for Red Ribbon mint sodas, a mouthwash-colored beverage that gets snapped up for Kentucky Derby parties. Galco’s also sells vintage candies—Razzles and Mallo Cups—and fresh sandwiches, made with the same sourdough bread and Molinari cold cuts the family has stocked for decades.
Sweets are on the menu at Edelweiss Chocolates, the 1942 confectionery made popular by Golden Age actors who lined up for handmade marshmallows, toffees, and nut clusters. Nancy Reagan and Lauren Bacall were regulars; Katherine Hepburn wrote about the dark chocolate pecan chews in her 1991 autobiography, Me. Today, Edelweiss is sustained by discerning customers and industry players. “The chocolate covered pretzels come in a nifty red box with orderly slots,” says director Matt Tyrnauer. “I give them as gifts at parties.” Visit one of the art deco storefronts in Beverly Hills or Santa Monica to pick up an elegant housewarming gift in Edelweiss’s signature red packaging.
Step into another world at Iliad, a used bookshop that’s beloved by titans of industry. Paul Giamatti played with the store’s cats for a 2022 New York Times photoshoot; Pamela Adlon wandered the aisles in a 2017 Better Things episode; Patton Oswalt championed a 2022 fundraiser after the building suffered exterior damage. Inside, the purple bookshelves are lined with more than 150,000 titles, as well as glass cases with an impressive selection of rare books. Spend the day draped across one of Iliad’s stuffed couches with a new title and feline friend.
Lydia Horne is a reporter and editor based in California and New York.