Book Review
Shopping LA: The Insiders' Sourcebook for Film & Fashion
(2nd edition)
by Marcy Froehlich, Barbara Inglehart and Pamela Shaw
Publisher: Shopping LA, 3727 W. Magnolia Blvd. #266, Burbank, CA 91505
Phone: 213-469-2477
E-mail: ShoppingLA@aol.com
1997, spiral bound paperback, $40.00
ISBN 0-9647815-1-4
Shopping LA
is a definitive Southern California resource for finding just about anything in the way of clothing, accessories, jewelry, and all types of costume-making supplies (from feathers to flightsuits). The three authors are all costume designers, who have worked in television, film, theater and opera and commercials, and who obviously have had extensive experience combing the back streets of Los Angeles neighborhoods for the perfect final accessorizing touch within the grueling deadlines of film and stage schedules. The book is organized alphabetically into almost 200 categories from "Adhesives, Glues & Tapes" to "Wigs", with additional sections of company listings, mills and shopping areas, and an appendix which gives information on guilds and organizations, catalogs and research facilities.
The scope of the book is very broad, so there is a lot of information on branches of department store chains, such as Macy's, Foot Locker, Target and even Federal Express offices. Most of the sources are located in the Los Angeles area, although mail order companies such as Amazon Drygoods and Ornamental Resources (familiar to many costumers throughout the U.S.) are included, along with a smattering of non-local businesses, such as Lacis in Berkeley. The Los Angeles focus (along with the price) limits the usefulness of the book to people who don't live in Southern California or visit there regularly, but since the book is titled
Shopping LA
, this should come as no surprise.
I particularly like the book's spiral-bound printed format: at over 600 pages (approximately 5 by 8-1/2 inches page size), it's the only way to make it physically manageable! If I have any quibbles, it's that
Shopping LA
is really over-categorized: as an example, there are 19 separate sections of "Sporting Goods." This results in a lot of multiple listings for sources, contributing to the book's size. (On the other hand, it may make it easier for people in a hurry to find some sources.) Also, there are no maps, which would be handy, especially for finding areas where useful shops might be concentrated.
I had fun just flipping through the book, discovering such intriguing shops as
Ebbets Field Flannels
in Seattle (you never know when you might need historical minor baseball league apparel...) or
Necromance
on Melrose in LA ("animal & human skulls & bones, mounted butterflies & insects, jewelry, antique funerary & medical, oddities"). And if you desperately needed, say, ecclesiastical wear, here are 14 potential sources. I'm definitely taking this book with me on my next trip to Los Angeles, so that I can check out some of these many potential treasure troves.
Reviewed by Eleanor M. Farrell
Return to Celluloid Wrappers