NEXT-LEVEL SHOPPING SECRETS
Booth Moore calls herself an “Olympiclevel shopper,” a good quality in someone whose career is devoted to clothing. For 19 years, she was the fashion critic for the Los Angeles Times, covering runway shows in New York, Paris and Milan, and is now senior fashion editor at the Hollywood Reporter. On her trips, she’s explored boutiques in the world’s more cosmopolitan cities, and met stylists and fashion insiders who’d made their own discoveries — from North and South America to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. As writers will do, she put it all together in a paperback called “Where Stylists Shop: The Fashion Insider’s Ultimate Guide” (Regan Arts, 2017, 464 pages), a book that inspires traveling to those distinctive boutiques as much as shopping itself. Moore was in town earlier this month for a lunch hosted by artist Suzy Kellems Dominik and fashion editor Tatiana Sorokko and a book signing at the Vintage Fashion Expo. (Interview edited for length.) Q: What do you love and hate about shopping? A: (Laughs). It’s such an opportunity for discovery. It’s a great way to see a new place and to get to know people and the environment and nooks and crannies of a city, exploring stores that are off the beaten path of the regular tourist stretch. When I’m traveling, it’s part of my routine. What I hate about it is that it costs money. And you have to be careful that it doesn’t take over your life — and your house. Q: Why do a book with tips from 175 style insiders — stylists, fashion designers, store owners — instead of listing your own favorite places? A: The point of the book is that everybody has a shopping story. One of my favorites is in the introduction — I went to get coffee on Third Street in L.A., near my house. There was a woman near the counter with fabulous earrings, nameplate earrings. She got them at a swap meet, which I hadn’t been to in years. It’s an institution in South Central L.A., a covered market with stalls where you can get your nails airbrushed and jewelry made while you wait. It’s a good example or symbol of what the book is all about. Q: Most surprising tips you learned? A: Learning about the really secret TJ Maxx that’s in the little town in Massachusetts where TJ Maxx is based, where they have all the best stuff there because it’s close to the home base. That one of the best socks stores in the world is in Penn Station, in New York. The fact that Rebecca Minkoff gets all her underwear at AEO/Aerie, where her daughter shops. It’s the random sources that people have for things. Once you find that perfect place or thing, you stick with it. Q: Do you have a favorite treasure acquired while shopping? A: When I graduated from high school, a lot of people wanted a car or a bike or a computer to use in college. I really wanted a jacket from Ralph Lauren, a Southwestern blanket jacket, late ’80s, early ’90s period. I wanted to buy it at Rhinelander Mansion on Madison Avenue, for the whole experience of getting it. I don’t wear it a lot, but it’s a prized possession and reminds me of a time. It was a coming-of-age thing. “Murphy Brown” (a fictional magazine journalist played by Candice Bergen) was one of my favorite characters on TV, and it was one of the things she wore on the show. It also represents my first high-fashion piece.
Q: What changes are you seeing in fashion and retail, both positive and negative?
A: I like the convenience of shopping online but there’s something almost chemical that is lost online — you don’t get the satisfaction of holding the thing, purchasing it. By the time it arrives, the moment is gone. I do like how it’s opened up access to more designers and more fashion markets. It’s expanded the fashion world and evened the playing field a little bit more. As shipping gets better and online becomes even more prevalent, you won’t have to pay as much as the thing costs to get it shipped from Africa. It really does bring the world to your door, which is the good thing about it.