Vintage L.A.: Eats, Boutiques, Decor, Landmarks, Markets & More [Paperback]

Jennifer Brandt Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2008

L.A. native and style guru Jennifer Brandt Taylor grew up in a culture that fostered extreme creativity, a unique fashion sense, and an obsession with everything Hollywood, everything vintage, and everything glamorous. In Vintage L.A., she takes readers on a true insider's tour of this glittery town, with gorgeous, original color photography as well as charming vintage photos and rare relics. She showcases the best of vintage locations, including such famous L.A. hotspots as the Beverly Hills Hotel, Musso and Frank's, Decades, and the Château Marmont, and reveals dozens of ways to live the vintage L.A. lifestyle, highlighting the best places to eat, shop, view classic films, and hang out.

Complete with interviews with famous Los Angeles natives, prominent vintage collectors, and indie rock bands, Vintage L.A. is a heartfelt homage to the city's decadent past by a modern Hollywood dame.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jennifer Brandt Taylor (formerly Jennifur Brandt) established herself as a writer and clothing designer at the young age of sixteen when she began self-publishing her own magazine, Pesky Meddling Girls, out of her bedroom. In 2001, she penned Life Is a Movie Starring You: The Pesky Meddling Girl's Guide to Living Your Dreams, and wrote a teen advice column for ELLEgirl from 2001-2006. Jennifer is currently designing vintage-inspired jewelry for her upcoming line, J.B. Taylor, as well as custom stationery for Thunderwing Press, the letterpress company she founded with her husband in 2007. A lifelong Los Angeles resident, she recently relocated to New York City, where she is working on her next book, Vintage New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (June 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061122785
• ISBN-13: 978-0061122781
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book was made for me., June 30, 2008

By 

L. Lebiedzinski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vintage L.A.: Eats, Boutiques, Decor, Landmarks, Markets & More (Paperback)

I saw this in the bookstore yesterday and read the whole thing in one sitting. It's perfect for anyone who isn't typical, and likes the cooler things in life.
I grew up in LA and while I knew MOST of the haunts in the area, I still discovered a couple new facts in this great book.
You won't be disappointed. Trust me.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fabulous trip through classic LA sites & spots!, August 8, 2008

By 

D. Tures (los angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vintage L.A.: Eats, Boutiques, Decor, Landmarks, Markets & More (Paperback)

This book covers just about everything I like about LA -- the good old-timey stuff! It's beautifully photographed, typeset and laid out from cover to cover, looking and reading like a Disneyland brochure from the '60s. The author leads you to historic walking & shopping destinations in every neighborhood in and around LA, with a special focus on all things glam and baroque. The photos are spectacular and the descriptions are fun, first-person, non-snooty and truly evocative of the wonder of visiting these groovy underappreciated relics. You'll want to visit each and every spot, and the more of them you experience, the more your view of LA will change from the unfair stereotype of a dumb, violent, smoggy wasteland to a true love of this lovely, historic fantasyland left behind by dreamers of the past.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impossible to put down., August 8, 2008

By 

N. Taylor "A Hound for Baskerville" (NYNY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vintage L.A.: Eats, Boutiques, Decor, Landmarks, Markets & More (Paperback)

Knowing a good deal about book design and something about near-history, I can say that this book is a perfect package. From the gorgeous full-color pages saturated with great photography and vintage postcards to the colorful language used to illustrate this opulent city of dreams, Vintage LA is the magnum opus to Los Angeles. Anyone I know who has read this book recalls sitting down in the evening to crack the spine, and a few hours later they were finished, and ready to buy plane tickets to LA. It's a beautiful book!