For some, shopping is a matter of necessity, a pesky chore. For others, it’s a point of pride, a chance to score the best for the least. For Gigi Guerra, 28, shopping is both an art and a science. An editor of Lucky magazine, the shoppers’ bible, she has a job most young women would covet. Every month, she heads to a different city (recent stops include London, Nashville, Austin, and Las Vegas), scouts out stores, and writes them up for the magazine. In other words, Guerra is paid to shop.
For the August issue of Lucky, Guerra is chronicling Boston’s consumer side. So the New Yorker and her entourage of three scruffy-haired male photographers put down their landing gear at the Millennium Bostonian at Faneuil Hall and set their sights on Boston’s best boutiques.
When I meet up with Guerra on a sunny morning, she’s already done Cambridge (just okay, she proclaims), and she’s been there, done that on Newbury Street (fairly predictable). The destination for our venture is Beacon Hill. Guerra — a tall brunette whose spindly figure hints at her training in the fashion industry — is dressed for the occasion, sporting a mix of pieces she’s picked up in various cities: red-and-white polka-dot flats from London; Paper Denim and Cloth jeans she just snagged at Louis Boston; a French Connection black fitted blazer scored in Nashville; and a black tee from Anthropologie in Portland, Oregon.
"I haven’t been to this neighborhood since I was, like, four," marvels the Boston-born Guerra as we descend down Charles Street, which has recently attracted an influx of new, young shop owners. Over the next two hours, we race from store to store — Wish, Moxie, Good, the Flat of the Hill, Koo de Kir. At each, Guerra walks in unannounced, surveys the stock, then introduces herself to interview the store owners. Most of the shops have a copy of Lucky stashed somewhere amid the merchandise.
At Koo de Kir, Guerra homes in on two items. "Did you see this?" she says, her eyes gleaming. She’s holding up a chrome clip that attaches to the side of a plate ($75), giving partygoers an additional hand when they’re toting food and drink. "It’s so awesome. It’s like an adult lunch tray!" She ducks into the back room, trying on a wicker-basket backpack with army-green shoulder straps ($55), which she eventually buys — with her own money (Lucky is generous, but not that generous). "It’s so Nantucket. How funny would it be to wear it around New York?"
At the Flat of the Hill, Guerra heads straight back to the discounted cosmetics section, sniffing bottles ("I love smell. I smell ehhhverything"), touching the packaging, inspecting price tags. She pauses to appreciate Karibou Karacters letter necklaces ($36).
As Guerra flips through racks of wares at Wish, co-owner Kelly can’t contain her excitement about meeting the writer. "I feel like I’m meeting a celebrity," she enthuses. "Maybe it’s because it’s Gigi!" Guerra offers a gracious, awkward smile and turns away, embarrassed.
By two o’clock, we’re pooped. Guerra has scoured five stores in two hours. We aim for lunch on Newbury Street, but not before making one final stop. "Head straight to the back," Guerra instructs photographer Squire Fox as they race into Allston Beat. Guerra and Fox fall upon the racks of Adidas and Pumas in a spectrum of colors. And then they commit what's usually considered the ultimate fashion faux pas: they buy the same pair.
Where to find it:
• Allston Beat, 348 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 421-9555.
• Flat of the Hill, 60 Charles Street, Boston, (617) 619-9977.
• Good, 88 Charles Street, Boston, (617) 722-9200.
• Koo de Kir, 34 Charles Street, Boston, (617) 723-8111.
• Louis Boston, 234 Berkeley Street, Boston, (617) 262-6100.
• Millennium Bostonian, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, (617) 523-3600.
• Moxie, 73 Charles Street, Boston, (617) 557-9991.
• Wish, 49 Charles Street, Boston, (617) 227-0170.
