Fashion Blog

Even if you don’t live in LA, you probably still recognize the Lisa Kline store front, one of the usual backdrops to paparazzi snaps of A-list celebs out for a good retail binge. Ever the fashion mainstay, 10 year after opening its very famous doors, the ultra hip Robertson Blvd. boutique is still the prime destination for clothes hounds (famous and anonymous), who crave style that is quintessentially L.A. “Sexy, casual, hip and fun…is the premise upon which Lisa Kline is based,” says the shop’s namesake owner.

Pieces meeting that description by Sonia Rykiel, Puella, Karta, Ella Moss, Rachel Pally, Nola Singer, Kooba, and Andrew Marc among others, fill the original store as well as Lisa Kline Beverly Hills, which celebrated a star-studded grand opening earlier this year. Two Lisa Kline Men stores and Lisa Kline Kids are also part of the empire that grew out of Kline’s girlhood dream to open a clothing store. Always determined, she realized this goal after putting in time working retail, studying fashion design, and figuring out that she “would rather buy and sell clothes” than make them. Kline was only 25 when she started her business.

Kline’s enviable success is credited with shaping Robertson Blvd. into the internationally known shopping mecca that it is today. In a savvy move, Kline opened her boutique in 1995, when Robertson was still just a “quaint pretty decorator’s street” that hadn’t a fashion scene to speak of. What it did have was the famous Ivy restaurant, so it didn’t take long before Lisa Kline’s brand of top-notch customer service and well-dressed windows were attracting such famous faces as Liv Tyler, Halle Berry, Julianna Marguelis, Eva Longoria, Jessica Biel, Reese Witherspoon and so on and so on. Now, Lisa Kline dresses the best of them and holds court among neighbors like Tory Burch, Chan Luu, Kitson, Anya Hindmarch, Nanette Lepore and a score of others that now call the boulevard home.

Lisa hand picks fashions for her regular customers and was kind enough to tell us what she’s loving this season. In a word: Dittos. And I couldn’t agree more since they come in fun colors and are easy to wear–I’ve yet to see someone whose figure wasn’t flattered by their high-waisted, wide-legged fit. Here are some of the especially cute styles you can find on LisaKline.com:

You can also score the season’s latest “it” coats, dresses, jeans, handbags, accessories and more.

Click here for Lisa Kline locations.

Tory Burch, $131.25

My love for the tote bag has been documented here already, but I will reiterate: I LOVE TOTE BAGS. That’s why I’m not sure whether I’m pro or con on the current tote bag mania that’s occurring. I think my ambivalence all started with Anya Hindmarch’s I’m Not a Plastic Bag tote, which I adore but could never buy because it’s just too dang trendy. And there’s the rub. The totes that are streaming out of the minds of designers are really hip, and even just a few months ago if I saw one in a thrift or vintage store I would have snatched it up in a hot second, but I shrink away from the total tote saturation that looms. Plus, some of them are super pricey, and the great thing about a tote is that it’s not super pricey.

But, still, a tote is always better than a plastic grocery bag:

Louis Vuitton, $150.00

Marc by Marc Jacobs, $188.00

Guess, $75.00

Tory Burch Contrast T Tote, $243.75

I love the simplicity of these totes and the fact that they’re superb for summer–you can fit a sweater, sunscreen, a water bottle, and all the rest of your summer grub in one. The price is steep, of course, but the quality is good, and because the colors don’t scream “summer,” this tote will work throughout the year. It’s certainly something to consider. I’m considering it this very second.