Lake

I don’t write Unilocal reviews but had to express my dissatisfaction with this store today. I’ve been a customer of Lake boutique for over 6 years (followed it from its old location). It is supposed to close at 7pm on Thursday. I took a 45 minute detour from home after work to go to this store. Traffic was heavy and I arrived at 6:40. I walked up and the door was locked. There were three women inside and one of the sales clerk saw me and just smiled. They all ended up leaving at 6:50. I feel someone should have opened the door for me at 6:40 when posted closing hour is 7. Will be sure not to go out of my way to visit this store again.

The clothes are uninteresting. I suppose that is the nature of a quote unquote curated store. Elegantly understated is really just another term for utterly boring.
But here’s the thing – a male reviewer hit it on the head: if you are a man in need a chick gift, you cannot go wrong here. She’ll think you have taste.

The clothes are for a very particular type. It was hard to find much that worked on me. Very expensive and not very friendly. I tried to exchange a vase a friend had bought for me there. I didn’t want my money back just something else or even a different color. I was told they «couldn’t» do it because my friend had bought the vase over 14 days before, even though they had plenty of the same thing in different colors. I won’t be shopping there again. Small neighborhood store with big city attitude!

Very nice little boutique with everything from clothing to housewares. All unique items. Most are handmade. Prices are decent and there is plenty of stock to keep you busy browsing for a while.
One of my favorites on this little shopping strip of Silver Lake Blvd.

Every time I visit Lake I find something that makes me swoon! The owner of the store has the most exquisite taste – she’s not so much a buyer for her store as a curator of fine goods. I think that’s probably the highest praise I could give any boutique.
Went in for a complimentary Arcona consult and facial the other day, and picked up a handful of new skincare products. This was what prompted me to finally write a review after shopping here several times over the last 2 years. Everyone was so knowledgeable, helpful and genuinely nice, I thought it was about time that I give a little back to a most deserving local shop.

I am a fashion journalist and an avid shopper. I stopped by Lake on Wednesday, February 16^th around 6pm and had a very disappointing experience. There were two sales associates «working» who were looking at celebrity party pictures online while I was shopping. The store was seemingly spotless and I was the only shopper there, but the girls didn’t so much as get up. Fine. So I helped myself to the clothes I wanted to try on, and dug through a neatly displayed «$ 40 and under» bin, where I found an amazing pair of Rag & Bone jeans.
I put my things into the dressing room myself and tried on the jeans. They fit like a dream. For under $ 40?! I was sold. So I brought them up to the register, and the first time the two women acted as though they actually worked there, they rang up the jeans for somewhere in the ballpark of $ 150.
I told them, «But these were in the $ 40 and under bin.» They had seen me pull them out of the bin before I tried them on.
The younger sales girl replied «Oh, whoops, I must have put them in there.»
«So, they should cost no more than $ 40,» I said.
To which the older sales associate replied, «The best I can do is $ 130.»
This should have been the sale of the century. And if the store was a crazed mess, and the two girls were running around like mad women, maybe I could have let it go. But these girls didn’t so much as lift a finger when I was in the store. They weren’t doing their jobs and expected me to just accept their apathetic negligence.
Here’s a tip: Do your job well, and you can sit back and relax. If you screw up, own up to your mistake.
Lake, you just lost a customer. In the words of Julia Roberts, «Big mistake, huge.»

Dropped by Lake for the first time this week, and now I’m wondering what took me so long. The shopgirl (owner?) was great– she gave me a friendly greeting when I walked in, and let me go about with my poking and peeking and snooping around the store.
I was impressed with the selection, and the nice combination of high-​end brands and affordable gifts. The prices were inline with the boutique quality of the brands, but being the thrifty shopper (read: broke) I scored a couple great tops from the $ 40 bin and the sale rack. The shopgirl was quite friendly and we had a nice chat as she rung up my purchases and wrapped them up nicely.
I’ll definitely be back to browse the new selections and to look for gifts in the future!

Simply Elegant…

I was on a serious hunt for a leather jacket at the beginning of this year, but I wasn’t ready to settle for just any old one. I wanted something spectacularly lovely, badass and slimming at the same time (don’t worry boys, this will never make sense to you!). I almost lost all hope until I walked into Lake one morning after dining a couple doors down. The clothes were well spread out and the ladies working were well dressed, each with an individual, effortless-​looking style, and attentive. I usually don’t want to be bothered while shopping, but I completely took advantage of their warmness by blabbing to them about my quest for leather, of the jacket variety. They asked me what my wardrobe «go to» staple pieces were so they could get an idea of what I might be interested in trying on. I explained my casual yet LA vibe and one of the girls practically sprinted from the register to a rack on the clear other side of the store.
As soon as she held it up it was like a light was shining down from heaven (and the little mermaid, ah ah ah, ahahahah, ah ah ah ah song might have sneaked its way out of my mouth). This was it! I finally found the new leathery love of my life. I know for some sort of animal’s sake I should have made sure it was faux, but I was a woman on one serious crusade.
So, I am coming up on my one-​year anniversary with said jacket, and I just wanted to give an official shout out to Lake for helping me complete me.
(Although I have not been back, as my spending days aren’t what they used to be, I continuously get emails about cool, unique events and specials they have going on about once or twice a month, and one of these days I will make it back over there!)

I echo the other reviewers in stating that this place has high price tags. I don’t mind paying more for items that are unique or locally made. This was the case with the body care items. They were beautifully packaged imported items, that were unique and moderately priced.
The clothing items were boring and very expensive. The staff was neither helpful or friendly. Though the next time I am looking for some lovely skincare products I will go back and brave the snobbery. Fancy lotion is worth the sacrifice.

Holy shit this place is expensive! For my budget, I could only afford to spend my time in the back section where the lotions and houseware products were. The front room is filled with cute small label brands, many of which I had never heard of. There is a good selection of women’s clothes and a small section of men’s grooming products and clothing. The apothecary section in the back, where I spent most of my time has a fantastic selection of obscure European products, blankets, tabletop accessories, and other fun gifts and knick knacks. The shop is directly next to the Raven spa, and is a great place to browse around to get ideas, however just not realistic for my pocketbook.

Cute boutique that reminds me of Anthropologie. Designers include James Perse, Vince, Ernest Sewn, and more.
A great selection of bath goods and home accessories in the back of the shop.
The staff was not too welcoming. They were busy eating lunch or something.

I found the clothes here rather drab and expensive to be frank, but it was worth checking out for the other things they carry. Books on Jazz Age beauties and vintage French postcards were gorgeous, they had enough prettily packaged lotions and potions to turn any old bathroom into a powder room, the softest throw blanket I have ever had the pleasure to touch, Nantaka Joy notebooks, vases blown into wire caging, ceramic abstract birds, and lots of other interesting things to consider. Prices on this stuff ranged, but were a lot more fair than the clothing. They also have a simple selection of shoes that appeal to poor people like me. The store just opened in February, and I am sure as they gain footing the stock will continue to impress.