New York is famous for a lot of things, but it’s virtually impossible to set foot in any neighborhood in the city without doing a little bit of shopping. Even window shopping counts, and that might be one of the most fulfilling activities here, because the windows are not simply displays, but works of art in their own rite. It’s one of the key fashion cities in the world, and with the trend for vintage sticking around as long as it has, there are plenty of vintage stores for every bargain hunter.

Perhaps bargains aren’t necessarily the first thing on the menu, however, because even places like Cheap Jack’s has plenty of vintage items that come with a contemporary price tag. But if you are looking for stylish clothes that are particular to any era, this is one of the best in the city. The clothes are arranged by decade, so if the mid-60s look is getting to be too 2009 for you, then you might enjoy entering into the 1930s. The results will be stunning.

Resurrection is a higher-end vintage store, started by designers that have a very keen eye for elegance. There are also plenty of touches of whimsy here, and the feel of the place has nothing vintage about it, unless you’re looking for a high-class boutique from days gone by. The owners now live in Los Angeles, with new vintage stores there as well, as the trends become more bi-coastal as the world gets smaller.

For the window shopper, however, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect day than waking up in a gorgeous luxury hotel and then heading out to see what’s on at Screaming Mimi’s . Here, there is a gorgeous aesthetic in the layout and the selection inside the store, and the windows are as close to splendid as a store window can get. Seasonal and small, the window always evokes a strong reaction, where touches of the pastoral enter into tasteful goth, and it’s hard not to imagine yourself in the scene.

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