Recommendations

A great mix of vintage and vintage-inspired contemporary clothing, with no need to rummage through piles of nasty cast-offs.

Guide: Hipster (Isabella)
Location: LES

Strengths

• Love vintage but can't deal with putting on the rubber gloves to rummage through clothes that who-knows-who has worn and who-knows-who has sifted through before you? Do you not have the stomach for looking through hundreds of over-sized, button-up shirts and the off-the-shoulder, hot-pink bedazzled sweatshirts to get that special-something? Welcome to HEAVEN, AKA Foley and Corinna. This place is gorgeous, from the antique furniture your boyfriend can nap on, to the flower-painted walls, and all the sparkles a girl could want.
• Vintage clothes are neatly arranged by color, and there isn't a loose seam or missing button in sight.

Shortcomings

• If you have big feet, forget about the shoes. All the really pretty Cinderella slippers would really only fit, well....Cinderella back in the 19th century when women's feet were teensy.
• They were "hipster cool" until Liv Tyler and Jessica Simpson started shopping here; now they are mainstream "cool". But for some, that's not so much of a shortcoming.

Insider tips

• Ok, so you're not into the whole vintage thing, but you want a gorgeous top with a vintage feel. Lucky you! These girls not only sell the best vintage in town, they also design their own tops, which are now sold at major retailers. So if you don't feel like venturing to the LES, Google Foley and Corinna online.
• If your boyfriend doesn't feel like napping, he can run down the street to the Foley and Corinna men's store at 143 Ludlow.

Anecdotes

• Years ago I was at a party and overheard someone talking about a "magic top." Of course I had to find this top before anymore people found out about it. So I searched high and low and came upon Foley and Corinna. It was a sad, lonely store at the time, in an un-gentrified LES, but it had a halo glowing above it and lured me in. And for good reason. There was the "magic top" hanging on a mannequinn, waiting for me. I tried it in and found out how it earned its name. If you take your time with it, I think there are about 10 combinations of how you can wear it.