Fred Segal on Melrose

Hey darlings, I'm baaaack! And yes, as if I don't already go on enough long haul flights, I went on another 12 hour flight. Anywho, I went to SF and LA (again) and this time, I finally managed to make my way to Fred Segal on Melrose-where all the stars shop. And according to the driver, every time he has driven someone there, a star is spotted. So of course, I was completely excited and had very high expectations of this Fred Segal.

I must say, I was rather disappointed with Melrose and the store itself. It just looked like any old LA street and not the incredibly trendy and hippy street I'd imagined. But I reserve judgment of the street because I have not personally walked the whole way (it was waay too hot and smoky) and I DID spot Miu Miu there. I'm sure there are hidden treasures to be found. The Fred Segal store looked marginally more interesting. . .

Anywho knowing absolutely nothing about Fred Segal (besides that stars liked to shop here), I stepped inside determined to be positive. The first sentence anyone said after going in was, ". . Is this second hand stuff?" from mom. And I don't really blame her, because the first section, the shoe section, was full to the brim with designer shoes and bags all carelessly thrown together like what one would expect to find at a vintage store. I myself had doubts at first until I went further in and found clothes that are 2 of a kind.

Going through the hapzardly arranged clothes, I found that they were actually very trendy, gorgeous and expensive clothes from Chloe, Dior etc disguised as $100-$200 clothes. Determined to buy something, the cheapest thing I found were $60 flimsy tanks by Jet, which hardly seems a very uniquely Fred Segal buy. In fact, most of the brands I saw could've been bought elsewhere (like more conveniently located department stores). Its just another shop where many brands are accumulated, kind of like this shop called Theodore I saw on Rodeo. Maybe the styles are more unique and trendy, but I'm not sure since I didn't stay for long. And darn, I wish I'd paid more attention while I was browsing there-because afterwards in the car my cousin informed me that he thought he saw Mischa Barton shopping next to me there!!!!! I can't BELIEVE he didn't tell me when I was there. That is just an outrageous sin.

Personally I don't particularly find Fred Segal a great place to shop (unless you are mega rich), but as a fashionable tourist, it is a must stop experience to be inside a store with clothes worth millions of dollars draped in such an understated way.