We all remember, regardless of age, when Clueless came out and everyone ran to Contempo Casuals and Rampage for all the new trends at cheap prices.  Well unfortunately, the Beverly Center has been in a slow decline to it’s death ever since.

In an effort to make myself feel better, and help you, I have prepared a mini rant and rave: 

Aldo
There is an Also shoe store so why must there be a store solely for Aldo accessories? For accessories I would OBVI check out For Love 21 or Claire’s.

Bloomingdales
I used to LOVE going to Bloomingdales and now I do not. I have such vivid and amazing childhood memoires of going to Bloomingdales in NYC. I distinctly remember that there were ten floors and the children’s section was on the tenth floor.

My family had other floors to look at so the ride from the first floor to the tenth floor seemed like eternity.

Now a days, Bloomingdales in NYC is still a good store but nothing like it used to be and nothing like the crap Bloomies that is at the Beverly Center.

* The most expensive designer they carry is Fendi, and only for purses.
* The purse selection sucks… If i want Le Sport Sac or Michael Kors, I can simply walk out the sixth floor and find their designated stores.
* The shoe area used to be my favorite, and now I don’t even walk near the area because I know I will hate everything.
* I wanted to look at a Bobbi Brown eyeshadow, but was unable to without two sales people down my throat. Hence why I never buy makeup at Beverly Center Bloomies.
* They are always sold out of panty hose, thigh high socks, leggings, etc.
* There are no cute cafe’s like the other Bloomies.
However, I do like:
* The selection of dresses on the sixth floor
* The bra selection
* The area with the costume jewelry

Crocs
Just what you always wanted, a Crocs store ! Crocs in hundreds of different designs, colors, fabrics, and styles!

The world has come to an end now that there is an actual store for ONLY CROCS… They need to just stay on the little carts at Century City and other malls.

Don’t disrespect your feet.

Henri Bendel
When I go to New York, I must always check out Bendels… It’s just a thing I gotta do.

Henri Bendel is known as a luxury store carrying the finest and newest accessories from OTHER designers. ” Henri Bendel is a New York based upscale women’s specialty store that carries women’s apparel, fashion accessories, lingerie and loungewear, cosmetics and fragrances, gifts and gourmet foods.” – From Wikipedia

I decided to check out the Henri Bendel store today and was sooo disappointed, to say the least ! What makes Henri Bendel is the fact that you can view hundreds of different brands slash designers at once. This store only carried OBNOXIOUS Henri Bendel branded merchandise.

I do not care for anything with Henri Bendel written on it, I want the jewelry, purses, watches, hair accessories, lingerie, and makeup that the real Bendels sells!

(If you want a bracelet that looks like the enamel Hermes designs, you can find them here !)

H&M
I feel like I need to have a funeral for H&M as it was once one of my favorite stores in the entire universe.

Whenever I would go to New York, the first thing I would do after I woke up on my first day was run to H&M, because they always had an amazing arrangement of clothes that looked like they were right off the runway, for a veryyyy reasonable price.

During my teen years up until about four or five months ago, I could always depend on H&M for whatever I was looking for. Now, I often cringe when walking through the Divided and regular HM sections.
I’m sure the NYC store on 5th ave. is still amazing, which is very unfair.

(Recent diffusion lines have have been so disappointing)

Planet Funk
This was a very popular slash trendy store when I was in highschool, even though it was way over priced for what the clothes were. I remember there was a good one on Melrose and one in The Westside Pavillion. Planet Funk has gone so down hill that they should of closed all of their stores down years ago. Now all you will find is Ed Hardy and Affliction type gear for men and I do not even know what you would call the womens apparel.

Kira Plastina
This is a great story… Extremely wealthy Russian teen demands to have a clothing line funded by daddy -> Out of nowhere, Kira Plastina stores pop up all over LA -> Kira appears in Teen Vogue and has an LA fashion show equipped with socialites, actors, and musicians -> The clothes are gross and poorly for the price she asks and everyone realizes it = January 2009, Kira’s firm, KP Fashion Co., files for chapter 7 bankruptcy = A lot of the stores in Los Angeles disappear, but the one in the Beverly Center still remains.. figures!

The Movie Theater
I will never see a movie in this theater again because of the strange, awkward, and perverse people who frequent this theater. I have had all kinds of unfortunate experiences here including creepy men following my little nieces out of the theater and waiting for them outside the bathrooms.

Stores that no one cares about or should be removed

Ricordi di Firenze probably has the worst merchandise in the whole mall.
Chromo Bones
Karen Millen
Teno
Sketchers
Replay
Arden B
Togs Soho
Image
Kippling, haven’t heard that name since I was in fourth grade.
White House | Black Market, eve though it has not opened yet!

Forever 21 – For Love 21
The only reason I go to the Beverly Center is for these two stores.
I believe that to have a successful wardrobe you need to mix and match things. On any given day you can see me wearing clothes/accessories that are really expensive or really cheap. I don’t care where I buy things, as long as I love it.

I went to FIDM, in Downtown LA. I remember a project I did that has always helped me. I was to choose an outfit out of a magazine that would cost multi thousands of dollars and on poster board create the same outfit but for 70 or 80 % less. To this day, I research clothes on a daily basis and know everything that is out there!

I LOVE Forever 21 because there is an endless plethora of clothes, shoes, lingerie, accessories, etc. Often times they make good copies of higher end designers merch.

The Forever 21 that we all hate is the girl who buys and wears it in the wrong way; There is a method to the madness!

My mom hates Forever 21 because she says that the clothes are cheaply made and fall apart and that instead of buying two dresses and a jacket, I should get one dress or a dress and a jacket elsewhere that is made better and will last longer. I agree with that point to an extent and that is why I am very selective with my purchases there… One day I will write a guide to shopping at Forever 21

I also believe that you must have fun with clothes, so buying cheap silly things that you would never spend a lot of money on but you can buy it at xxi because if it falls apart its ok because it cost 10, 20, or 30 $.

I hate when people tell me that its hard for people who don’t have money to be fashionable because that is so not true. Forever 21, H&M, Topshop, Urban Outfitters, Target diffusion lines, vintage shops, American Apparel, etc are all out there and available for you to mix and match the newest trends with timeless staples.
For Love 21 was the greatest invention…. EVER ! Everyone and anyone that you can think of from an A list actress to a ten year old buys things from here.

You can literally walk in this store and buy twenty five items for less than fifty dollars… It’s really insane.
Why would I buy a Givenchy necklace that would only be cute for one season for 2,000$ when I can buy it for less than 10$?

Of course, the reason that I love it so much is that there are hundreds of bows everywhere, in rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, bra’s, shoes, purses, headbands, clips, etc.

Other facts
There are too many sneaker stores
Fox Hills mall would not accept the food at the food court.
There are always activities in which the police are summoned; I was there once when a rapper was shot.
Macy’s had a heart attack years ago and hasn’t been the same since.
The Bed Bath and Beyond feels creeps me out

Hunky Santa
After getting off the escalator today, I felt as though I was in the airport of Las Vegas with pictures of half naked girls and guys in my face everywhere I looked. You will not be able to escape the posters and promotions for Hunky Santa and the Candy Cane Dancers. You might recognize this disaster because one of the Candy Canes fell during her routine last week -> http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/?watchId=87d27239-8aa7-4b98-80b6-b80165fdb793

Some photos for your viewing pleasure …. Beverly Center’s Hunky Santa during Christmas: