Best Place to Buy Romantic Gifts 2005 | Epoch | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Place to Buy Romantic Gifts

Epoch

It's Valentine's Day year-round at Charli Warren's charming Ogden Street boutique, which has the feel of a lady's boudoir -- one that reveals an intimate secret with every step. There's a lacy prom dress, an eclectic mélange of flower brooches, Queen bath products, organza evening bags, beaded votives, sparkly hair clips, lilac incense and chunky pink-pearl chokers. In the back, the glass case is filled with beautiful baubles, from lovely costume-jewelry rings to rhinestone cowboy-boot flasks. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Best Colorado Status Symbols

Ducti wallets

Where's a Humvee-drivin', all-night-partyin', martini-swillin' guy supposed to carry his credit cards? A Ducti wallet, of course. For the past few years, Aurora denizens Dave and Joy Pippenger and buddy Wade Morrison have been making duct tape wallets, watches and handbags that have been turning up on the most stylish arms. But are they tough? You'd better believe it. As millions will attest, there's nothing more indestructible on the planet than duct tape. It's a beautiful thing.

Best Place to Get Well-Heeled

Rhine's Cobbler Shop

Tommy Rhine may grumble when you hand him the little pink sandal with the broken strap. He may even give you a lecture about wearing such silly shoes. But the man can glue a heel back onto a stiletto and make it look like was never broken while you were idiotically trying to run on the four-inch stilt. Rhine's has been around for almost a decade, but it looks like it's been there forever. Old newspapers collage the walls, and men smoke stogies and read Playboy while Rhine shines their shoes. A polish will set you back $5, while the strap comes in at a whopping $6.

Best Place to Bead

Studio Bead

Shopkeeper Joy Barrett really knows her beads. She stocks a glorious selection of Czech glass beads in a rainbow of sizzling colors and unusual shapes. Whatever the project, be it a complicated masterpiece or a single pottery shard hung on an organdy ribbon, Barrett will have what it takes to make it. But even if you have two left thumbs, there's plenty of finished beadwork to choose from, including Barrett's own gorgeous necklaces. Bead there, or be square.

Best Sewing Goods for Proper Ladies

The Silk Pincushion

Located in the carriage house of a magnificent 1882 bed-and-breakfast in Golden, the Silk Pincushion is not your typical sewing shop. But it's not exactly a modern-age stitch-and-bitch, either. The store is like an overflowing sewing basket of vintage lace, specialty and quilting fabrics, ribbons and trims, and state-of-the-art sewing machines. The owners, who prefer to be called simply Judy and Patty, host sewing, quilting and knitting classes, as well as overnight sewing retreats. Here, wishful thinkers can hone such old-fashioned skills as smocking, appliqué, embroidery and heirloom stitchery over homey tea and pumpkin bread, then plop into a beautiful bedroom to sleep. And while you're sewing away, Judy and Patty will see to your every needle. Just be sure to call ahead: The Silk Pincushion is open by appointment only.

Best Leather Shop

Jerry's Leather Goods

Occasionally, the need to craft with leather arises. When it does, it's best to head over to Jerry's Leather Goods to get your fix. While the front of the shop is a Harley-lover's heaven, brimming with custom chaps and vests, the back is a sifter's paradise. There are hundreds upon hundreds of leather remnants piled on the tables like snowdrifts, waiting to become bootjacks or pieced skirts or pouches. Lining the walls are the more exotic -- and organized -- leathers that are sold in larger pieces. No matter what you need, they're likely to have it -- and be willing to deal.

Best Place to Pretend Denver's Still a Cowtown

Lonesome Ace Boot Company

Clay Hathaway is a one-man show. As the owner and sole employee of Lonesome Ace Boot Company, he sizes, cuts, stitches, inlays, embroiders and shapes every one of the custom cowboy boots he crafts. And he's got more than a few masterpieces. Hathaway's created a pair of orange boots for a bartender at the Skylark Lounge, a tiki-themed set for a hotrod builder and a teal-and-calfskin duo for a Clear Channel executive. At an average of $1,000 a pair (more for exotic leathers), Hathaway's handiwork doesn't come cheap, but personality and quality rarely does. Boots off to the Lonesome Ace.

Best Retro Fashion Statement

Rockmount Ranchwear

Rockmount Ranchwear puts the snap into Western wear. Company founder and patriarch Jack A. Weil was the first haberdasher to put snaps on Western shirts, and the company's designs from the '40s and '50s are very snappy. Under the direction of the 104-year-old's grandson, Steve Weil, the Denver institution has been reissuing those beauties for years, and they account for about 25 percent of Rockmount's stock. In 2004, one very special shirt was released to accompany the publication of Weil the Younger's new book, Western Shirts: A Classic American Fashion. The timeless, art-deco-embroidered snap-down from 1954 was featured on the cover, and Rockmount is selling it in a limited-edition numbered run. The first batch sold out before Western Shirts even hit booksellers, so round one up before they're gone.

Best Vintage Duds

Rare Bird Vintage Clothing

Finding a perfect piece of vintage clothing is one of life's true pleasures. But searching can be exhausting, time-consuming and sometimes best left to experts. The proprietors of Rare Bird Vintage Clothing, a happening new boutique on a famously crusty stretch of 13th Avenue, scour thrift stores, estate sales and flea markets for prize finds. The store specializes in women's clothing, from '50s dresses to Western shirts to '60s hats and purses, with selections rotated seasonally. The collection suggests what the coolest closet in Capitol Hill might look like -- without the work.

Best Place to Find Vintage Furs and Suitcases

Graham Crackers

Debra Franklin travels across Colorado and Kansas, hitting every estate sale she can find, always searching for anything vintage. The fruits of her labor stuff her store, Graham Crackers, and spill over into her next-door neighbor's shop, Antiques Etc. A mink wrap from the '30s will come in somewhere between $65 and $90, while a three-piece luggage set from the '40s will set you back about $85 -- if you haggle right.

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