Hard as it is to believe, Christmas and Hanukkah are nearly upon us, and whether you’re Burl Ives or Ebenezer Scrooge (or, hopefully, somewhere in the middle), the traditional holiday shopping season is in full swing. Because we don’t want you to end up doing your gift-buying on December 24 at an all-night truck stop (wives like beef jerky and NASCAR bumper stickers, right?), Panorama offers a rundown of the best neighborhoods in the city for unleashing your inner elf, and even some gift suggestions for those special people on your list. On your mark, get set…shop!
Back Bay
This super-chic
neighborhood is right in the middle of
everything that makes Boston a super
city—close to fine dining, cool nightclubs
and historic landmarks—but it’s primarily
earned a reputation for the strong
concentration of great shopping on its two
main thoroughfares, Newbury and Boylston
streets. Newbury’s been described as
Boston’s own Rodeo Drive, and if you’ve got
anyone on your list that’s into designer
clothing, there’s no place you’ll find more
of it. From Armani to Ralph Lauren to
Burberry and Marc Jacobs, all the fashion
industry’s top names can be found alongside
local boutiques like Johnny Cupcakes
(279 Newbury St., 617-375-0100) and Diane
Agoun’s uniquely modern and trendy
Soodee. And even on ritzy Newbury,
there are still bargains to be found:
international favorite H & M has a
location there, while that Boston-born
institution
Filene’s Basement still teems with
marked-down fashions for men and women.
Heck, even man’s best friend can get a new
outfit and accompanying accessories for the
holidays at Pawsh Dog Boutique (31
Gloucester St., 617-297-2045).
Shoe fiends can get their kicks at
Rick Walker’s (306 Newbury St.,
617-482-7426),
John Fluevog (302 Newbury St.,
617-266-1079) and Steve Madden (324A
Newbury St., 617-262-4600).
Fans of the bling can be dazzled in the Back Bay by gorgeous jewelry creations from legendary Boston designer John Lewis; the venerable Shreve, Crump & Low; giftware and jewelry masters Lux, Bond & Green; and, of course, the first name in glitter and sparkle, Cartier.
Those looking to beautify their abodes
can hit Newbury Street’s collection of
display and retail galleries, including
The Society of Arts & Crafts, which
specializes in contemporary American
craftwork in media ranging from glassware to
ceramic sculpture to furniture;
Galleria Florentia, which boasts
breathtaking bronze and stone sculpture,
museum-quality paintings and other works
created by some of Europe’s top artisans;
L’Attitude, known for its indoor and
outdoor contemporary sculpture; and the
International Poster Gallery, home
to authentic vintage art posters and prints
from virtually every style and period over
the last 120 years.
The Back Bay even boasts a pair of
“malls,” although they’re unlike the Orange
Julius/Spencer Gifts-laden teen hangouts we
might associate with the term. This holiday
season, take advantage of one-stop shopping
at glamorous high-end Back Bay venues like
Copley Place, the sleek and
sophisticated home of top shops like Nieman
Marcus, Barneys New York, Tiffany, Burberry
and Emporio Armani, and the gorgeous,
sun-drenched
Shops at Prudential Center, which
satisfies shoppers with top-notch eateries
like Legal Sea Foods, P.F. Chang’s, Haru and
others, as well as specialty retailers like
Frette, L’Occitane, Warlox Wireless and
Ross-Simons and department stores like Saks
Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor.
Charles Street
Ritzy Beacon Hill’s main
commercial drag is a beacon for shoppers who
like the finer things in life—be it antiques
(Devonia Antiques, 43 Charles St.,
617-523-8313; A Room with a Vieux, 20
Charles St., 617-973-6600), fine art (Caswell
Company Ltd., 31 Charles St.,
617-523-9868; Tesorino Gallery, 70
Charles St., 617-742-0061), gorgeous,
hand-tooled and colorful cowboy boots, belts
and jackets (Helen’s
Leather) or even decadent chocolates
(Beacon Hill Chocolates, 92B Pinckney
St., 617-725-1900), there’s bound to be
something perfect here for your most
blue-blooded relatives.
Downtown Crossing
Once the premiere shopping
district in Boston and home to late, great
department stores like Jordan Marsh and the
original Filene’s Basement, Downtown
Crossing retains its vibrant commercial
status thanks to a combination of pushcart
vendors, a number of bustling retail outlets
and heavy foot traffic. The flagship
Macy’s store in Boston resides
here, alongside smaller shops like
Aldo Shoes (415 Washington St.,
617-357-6891), which offers 50% off sale
shoes every day. The city’s original jewelry
district is still represented by shops like
E.B. Horn Co. (429 Washington St.,
617-542-3902) and DePrisco Diamond
Jewelers (333 Washington St.,
617-227-3339). And the
Corner Mall offers a variety of
popular shops and an extensive food court,
all under one roof.
Fanueil Hall
Marketplace
The name says it all—the rows of buildings
that sit in the shadow of famed historic
Faneuil Hall are packed with shops selling
everything from top-of-the-line
professional-grade running shoes (Bill
Rodgers Running Center) to women’s sports fashions (Lucy’s
League, 617-248-3986) to CDs, books, DVDs
and pop culture toys (Newbury Comics). The city’s most
popular tourist attraction, you can shop
here all day long, then refresh with food
and drink from one of 17 nearby restaurants.
Harvard Square
As you’d expect from its
proximity to America’s most renowned
institution of higher learning, Cambridge’s
Harvard Square offers great shopping options
for the bookworms and young hipsters on your
shopping list. The Square is home to the
area’s finest vintage bookstores—including
the Globe Corner Bookstore (90 Mt. Auburn
St., 617-497-6277),
The Grolier Poetry Book
Shop (6 Plympton St., 617-547-4648) and
Schoenhof’s Foreign Books (76A Mt. Auburn
St., 617-547-8855)—as well as edgy clothing
stores like
Urban Outfitters (11 JFK St.,
617-864-0070) and Hootenanny (36 JFK St.,
617-864-6623). Berk’s (50 JFK St.,
Cambridge, 617-492-9511) sells everything
from sandals to sneakers to boots and boasts
a constantly updated clearance rack loaded
with name brands, while
TistiK abounds with creative
handmade bags and other accessories imported
from South America.
North End
With its
mouth-watering Italian bakeries, the North
End is a good spot to pick up goodies to
leave by the tree for Santa. It also boasts
stylish boutiques for the woman in your
life, from denim emporium In-jean-ius (441
Hanover St., 617-523-JEAN) to contemporary
clothier
Casa di Stile (371 Hanover St.,
857-233-4885) to retro-fabulous vintage shop
The Velvet Fly (424 Hanover St.,
617-557-4359), to fashion eyeware outfitters
Sol Optics.
High
Gear Jewelry offers wallet-friendly sterling
silver pieces, charm bracelets and other
items that will delight any lover of
beautiful jewelry, while
Filthy Rich offers
replicas of pieces worn by celebrities like
Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Cameron
Diaz at prices that belie the store’s
high-rent nomenclature. Finally, A Matter of
Face carries high-end cosmetics sure to be
welcome in any fashionable lady’s make-up
case.
South End
For the artsy urbanite on your
list, Boston’s South End is the best place
to find modern fashions and housewares to
delight them this holiday season. Tremont
Street is the prime shopping drag, boasting
spots like jeweler Laura Preshong’s
eponymous gallery (558 Tremont St.,
617-236-7660); stylish housewares boutique
Vessel (652 Tremont St., 617-425-5292); and
upscale shoe emporium Leokadia (667 Tremont
St., 617-247-7463). And the South End
remains a hotspot for funky menswear at
shops like Motley (623 Tremont St.,
617-247-6969), high-end consignment boutique
Bobby from Boston (19 Thayer St.,
617-423-9299) and
Uniform (511 Tremont St.,
617-247-2360). Finally, a real hidden gem
for shoe lovers is Zapatos (90 Wareham St.,
617-423-2842), a true hit-or-miss oddity
that’s been known to offer up name brands
like Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Anne Klein
and more for extravagant bargains and where
mixed bins of Italian designer shoes can be
found for $10 a pair. 
Talking Shop
 Holiday
shopping can be a head-scratcher for
those who make a conscious effort to
skip the malls 364 days a year.
Panorama consulted designer Anthony
Corey, owner of Anthony Corey
Neckwear and Anthony Corey Design
and a host on local TV network
NECN’s “Styleboston,” to get
shopping tips that will make the
holidays less of a hassle for the
retail-impaired.
What’s
the biggest mistake we tend to make
when it comes to holiday shopping?
Buying clothing for another person seems particularly rife with potential landmines. Is there a way to do it successfully? The best rule, if you’re going to buy clothing, is to keep it simple and classic. You can’t go wrong, for either gender, with a beautiful cashmere sweater. Bottom line, don’t let some salesperson convince you that a certain outfit or style is “in” and that, consequently, it’s for everyone. Making some sort of big, trendy statement with clothing can go wrong in a hurry. And if you do have a girlfriend or wife who’s into high fashion, that’s when a gift certificate makes a good gift. Normally, it’s not very romantic to hand over a plastic card, but if it’s for someplace really extravagant—like Jimmy Choo or Christian Louboutin, for a shoe lover—that’s a gift that’s exciting to receive. And, as
Charlie Brown has taught us, the
holidays don’t have to be all about
commercialism and the size of the
price tag, right?
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