The Montecito Shopping Guide (Part II)
Already a worldwide brand for its schools, climate, retail shops and fastidious neighborhood planning, Montecito now has an Internet connection to the rest of the world. Quickly equipping themselves with websites, Montecito stores are giving potential clients the ability to supplant window shopping in favor of e-voyaging. You can check out Occhiali’s line of glasses through a computer screen or sort through Silverhorn’s collection of handcrafted jewelry wearing just a bathrobe and slippers.
But if you ask us, you have to see it to believe it. We encourage you to spend a sunlit afternoon strolling the village’s humble sidewalks and stepping amidst the company of Montecito’s friendly shopkeepers, who won’t ask you for a password and whose service never lags.
In the previous issue, we covered Upper Village and out-of-town businesses. This time, our focus turns to Coast Village.
A.H. Gaspar:
1213 Coast Village Road; contact Katie Gaspar at 969-6362; www.ahgaspar.com
• Diamond studs are one of the popular and universal items, and husbands buy them for wives, boyfriends for girlfriends, fathers for daughters. The designers make the store unique. Mark Patterson uses dramatic colors and unorthodox designs, Steven Webster has an outlandish rock ‘n’ roll style and Annie Finsterstock’s designs are all handmade in Brooklyn.
Angel:
1221 Coast Village Road; 565-1599
Antoinette/Intimo:
1046 Coast Village Road; 969-1515
Auriginals:
1150 Coast Village Road; 969-6129
Christine Schell:
1268 Coast Village Road; 565-4859
Dressed & Ready:
Two boutiques at 1253 Coast Village Road suite 202 & 204; 565-1253; dressedonline.com
Eliane Alexandre:
1250 Coast Village Road #6; 969-5071
Eye of the Day:
1250 Coast Village Road #G; 969-5071
Hayward's Home:
1101 Coast Village Road; 565-3636
Hulas:
1187 Coast Village Road suite 5; 969-6926
J. Charles Interior Design:
1275 Coast Village Road; 565-1300
Kate:
1137 Coast Village Road; contact Kate McMahon at 695-8822
• Cashmere sweaters, particularly popular during the rainy holiday season because the fabric is so versatile, cost $200 to $300; scarves are also popular, costing $100 to $200.
• Shearling suede coats are available from $800 to $3,000.
• Kooba brand handbags also make nice gifts, costing $400 to $600. Gift certificates are available for any value desired.
Kreiss:
1273 Coast Village Road; 969-4294; www.kreiss.com
La Vie Bohème:
1150 Coast Village Road #G; 565-1004; www.lavieboheme.us
Step inside the store for the décor alone. The staff spends an inordinate amount of time fitting a huge number items inside narrow retail space. It helps that all the employees have design backgrounds.
Letter Perfect Stationery Gifts:
1155 Coast Village Road; 969-6320
Lewis & Clark:
1286 Coast Village Road; 969-7177
Lily:
1131 Coast Village Road; 695-0625
Maison K:
1253 Coast Village Road; 969-1676
Maureen Murphy Fine Arts:
1187 Coast Village Road suite 3A; 969-9215; www.mmfa.com
Mischief:
1225 Coast Village Road; 565-9588
Montecito Frame:
1225 K Coast Village Road; 969-1129
Montecito Optometry:
1046 Coast Village Road; 565-3415
Montecito Pet Shop:
1145 Coast Village Road; 969-6818
Montecito Sports:
1046 G Coast Village Road; 969-6517; www.montecitosports.com
Objects:
1187 Coast Village Road #3B; 565-3335
• “Before you do anything else in Santa Barbara you have to stop by Objects in Montecito,” claims the boutique’s owner, Arlyn Goldsby, a former fashion designer turned retail maven. People come from all around the world, Goldsby says, to visit her store and inventory that appeals to a “discerning woman with means who doesn’t want to be commercially dressed.” You won’t find anything in Objects in the catalogues, and in fact, you’ll be hard-pressed to find the same clothing in anyone else’s closet. Goldsby takes immense pride in obtaining handmade, one-of-a-kind items. “People come for the originality,” she says.
• On top of Goldsby’s holiday list are Masha Archer necklaces, weighty, but not bulky jewelry that sells at Objects in the $800 to $2,500 range. “Accessories are one of our big fortes,” Goldsby says.
• Objects also collaborates with Tours de Arte, a Santa Barbara-based upstairs gallery at 5390 Overpass Road, replete with the work of local artists. The store and the two-year-old gallery meld “art fashion and fine art” in one setting to build appreciation for the mutually exclusive but undeniably similar forms. Last month, they held an exhibition reception at the gallery, featuring models wearing Goldsby’s garments and the works of the sculptures and painters, who include Peter Clark, Ruth Ellen Hoag, Zivana Gojanovic, Peggy Ferris, Pamela Larsson-Toscher, Elliot Chang, Lou Mariani, JoAnne Duby and Jill Vanderhoof.
For more info on the gallery visit www.sbtoursdearte.com.
Occhiali Eyewear:
1046 Coast Village Road; 565-3415; www.occhialieyewear.com
Peregrine Galleries:
1133 Coast Village Road; 969-9673
Portico Gallery:
1235 Coast Village Road; 695-8850; www.porticofineart.com
Red Hair & Makeup Studio:
1272 Coast Village Road; 969-6963
Ritual:
1277 Coast Village Road; 565-0884
Salon Mango:
1235 Coast Village Road; 565-5857; www.salonmango.com
Serafina Baby Boutique:
1269 Coast Village Road; 695-0420; www.serafinaboutique.com
Silverhorn:
1155 Coast Village Road; 969-0442; www.silverhorn.com
Souliers:
1235 Coast Village Road; 695-0105
Sullivan Goss:
1266 Coast Village Road; 969-5112; www.sullivangoss.com
The Perfect Fit:
1225 Coast Village Road; 565-3424
The Tennis Shop:
1187 Coast Village Road; 969-1551; www.tennishopofmontecito.com
Tony Rose Camera & Video:
1253 Coast Village Road; 969-5846
Waterworks:
1150 Coast Village Road suite H; 969-7610; www.waterworks.com