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Welcome back to Neighborhood Style Showdown, our quest to determine LA's most stylish neighborhood.
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Earlier today, Silver Lake went up against the Valley in a knock-down, drag-out fight to determine which area is more stylish. Now it's time for Venice and Downtown LA to go at it. Tomorrow, the winners of yesterday's polls (West Hollywood and Santa Monica) will go up against each other in round two of our Showdown.
But back to today's competition. Both neighborhoods have a lot going for them, both have undergone rapid gentrification, both have great coffee and decent walkability. Within Venice you have Abbot Kinney (maybe you've heard of it?) as well as the burgeoning shopping stretches of Rose and Lincoln. There's a Steven Alan, a Lucky Brand and a Gant, sure, but there's also Heist and Mona Moore and A+R and Aviator Nation and Stronghold and so many more indies. There are always well-dressed people to be found here, and every time we visit we spot at least one dude with a great, scraggly beard looking like a lumberjack who just finished surfing.
Where Venice is pretty cohesive, Downtown LA is a collection of cool little areas separated by stretches of dodginess. There's the super-hot Arts District, with its artisanal coffee shop Handsome Coffee Roasters, gifty spot Poketo and cause-oriented men's boutique Apolis; there's the Fashion District, home to most of LA's showrooms; there's Chinatown, where indie boutiques like Ooga Booga and Welcome Hunters reside. DTLA is the home base of American Apparel and LA Fashion Week and it's got an Ace Hotel in its future. The look here is darker, the heels are higher and we'd say the hairstyles are approximately 75% more asymmetrical than in Venice.
So, let's put it to a vote.
· What's More Stylish: Silver Lake or the Valley? [Racked]
· What's More Stylish: Santa Monica or Hollywood? [Racked]
· What's More Stylish: West Hollywood or Beverly Hills? [Racked]
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