Weekly Fashion Finds: Stylish shoes for girls sizes 9-4

It's seems like almost week there's a new pair of amazing shoes in the alley, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that women's shoe stores are expanding their shoe selection for girls. The alley has an incredibly selection of women's and men's footwear as well as kids, but the young girls and tweens  sizes had been a bit limited, until now that is.

Forever Shoes has an entire new area within the store dedicated to girls shoes sizes 9-4. As you can see in photos above they range from boots to sandals and everything in between. The shoes are stylish and age appropriate, and most styles are available in various colors.

Forever Shoes

1031 Maple Ave. inside Santee Alley

How cute are these combat boots?

Santee Alley Spring 2014 Shoe Trends

With the official arrival of spring a few days ago, it's officially time to update our shoe game for warmer weather. This season seams to be all about edgy footwear, cut outs, and caged bootie/sandal styles. 

What exactly do we mean by caged booties and/or sandals? See exhibit A below...

Exhibit A

A cross between gladiator sandals of season's past (which seem to be making a comeback for summer by the way) and our favorite fall booties, this trend combines our love for both into one shoe. A similar but more formal shoe style is also trending this season. The lace up heeled sandal, like the ones pictured below, have the same caged feel an bootie-like aesthetic.

Combat boots are still going strong, but the DocMarten's inspired lace up ankle boots we're seeing int he alley come in spring-perfect colors like sky blue, fuscia, white and our personal favorite, the floral print.

And how fierce are those wedges? While the wedge is a spring classic, this style again puts emphasis on the "edgy" look. We've seen a lot of shoe styles with gold detailing and hardware, including the booties below. Notice how these fall in line with "cutouts" trend we mentioned above.

Which one is your favorite?

All of the shoes pictured in this post are available at Forever Fashion located at 1031 Maple Ave. inside the alley. For purchase or product inquiries please contact the store directly at 213-746-6336.

Weekly Fashion Finds: Sex and The City Style for Less

Images via SJP Collection Instagram

While promoting her new show line, Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker has been spotted wearing floral prints in black, red, and pinks, and look what we found in the alley! This super cute cardigan is in almost an identical print to SJP's. We love that it's a super versatile piece and can be worn open or closed and belted.

The cardigan is available at Vickie's Fashion located at 1136-B Santee St. For purchase inquiries please contact the store directly at 213-745-4336 or vickiesfashion@aol.com

5 "Must Do's" for First Time Santee Alley Visitors

We'll be the first to admit the first time you visit  Santee Alley can be a little overwhelming. The sights, the sounds, the delicious food smells... not to mention all there is to see. Whether you're visiting for the day or just a couple hours here's our 5 "Must Do's" while visiting the alley.

1. Start shopping at either the Olympic Boulevard or 12th Street entrance, between Santee Street and Maple Avenue. We find that having a start and end point assures you'll see the entire alley and keeps you from getting lost. Santee Alley is only 2 blocks, but there's tons of stores in the surrounding area, and it branches out into other alleyways. You can download a map here for reference.
2. Grab lunch at The Alley Dog. A long time staple of the area, Alley Dog has the best bacon wrapped hot dogs in town. Their "bionicos" are also a local favorite.
3. Peruse the $1 jewelry store and booths (you'll see these randomly set up throughout the alley). They don't look like much at a glance, but many a treasures are bound to be found here.
4. Check out the shoe stores. The alley is known for its unique shoe selection. You'll find shoes here that are unlike anything you'll see at your local mall. Even if intricately designed 5-inch stilettos are not your style, they are still worth checking out if only to appreciate the "artwork".
5. Spend $5. Sunglasses and phone cases are both $5 here and they range from cute to crazy - phone cases and sunglasses alike.

Weekly Fashion Finds: New at Vickie's Fashion...

Vickie's Fashion

1136-B Santee St.

For purchase or pricing inquiries please contact 213-745-4336 or vickiesfashion@aol.com

Santee Bargains: Women's Shoes Starting at $14.99

We've been documenting the amazing shoe finds in Santee Alley since the inception of this blog (as evidenced here, here, and here). However, this little gem hadn't made it on the blog yet. Forever Shoes is one of the largest shoe stores in the alley, but you would never know it without walking in. Shoes here start as low as $14.99. In fact, while we were visiting they had select styles going for $4.99! Talk about a bargain... You can see more of their shoes styles on their Instagram page or scroll down to see more photos.

Forever Shoes

1010 Santee St. inside Santee Alley

Weekly Fashion Finds: $25 Handbags, Made in USA Accessories, & Hair Extensions

New at Santee Alley this week:

There's a $25 Handbag sale happening at Ice Handbags & Accessories, located at 1150-B inside Santee Alley. ALL handbag styles are $25. We're not sure how long this sale will last, so hurry on over! You can also place orders online via the Ice Handbags Facebook page, where they post new styles every week.

Matching crop top and bottom sets are all the rage this spring and Madera Fashion (1041 inside Santee Alley) has sets available in various prints and colors. You can view their current inventory here.

A true Santee Alley hidden gem: Handmade, made in the USA, leather belts and accessories at Cristian Oliver (315-C inside Santee Alley). They're made right here in LA!

Our most favorite sight in the alley? Freshly restocked "shoe walls". New styles are available at Forever Shoes, just in time for the weekend :)

And last but not least for this week's round up of our weekly fashion finds, everything for your hair needs. We've noticed multiple vendors in the alley are now selling wigs, hair extensions, and hair tools. Ladies, we're officially you're one stop shop for all your fashion AND beauty needs.

Downtown Case Factory for All Your Cell Phone & Tablet Needs

Downtown Case Factory, formerly Royal Cell Phone Accessories, has expanded their cell phone case and cell phone accessories selection at their 1119-C Santee Alley location. A Santee Alley favorite for their $5 cell phone cases, Downtown Case Factory also carries cases for tablets, and cell phone and tablet chargers.

The phone case selection is unparalleled, as it is the largest retailer of cell phone cases and accessories in the alley. DCF carries cases for all phone models including various versions of the iPhone, Galaxy, HTC, and LG. Inventory changes weekly, but some of our current favorites are the print cases (pictured in the photo below, second row from the bottom on the wall), the bright pastel colors, and the "book" cases which flip open like books (pictured in the third photo below).

Downtown Case Factory

1119-C Maple Ave. inside Santee Alley