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Gesamtkunstwerk ("Werk")
Photograph: Jakob N. LaymanGesamtkunstwerk ("Werk")

Best gift shops: Lower East Side

Find out where to shop for gifts in this downtown Manhattan neighborhood.

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Critics' picks

Bag
  • Shopping
  • Bags and luggage
  • Nolita
  • price 2 of 4

A quality product at a plausible price point is the recipe for a satisfied shopper, and this accessory boutique has it in the bag. Recently relocated from Nolita, this new LES location is three times the size of its old digs, and offers a wider selection of goods in a spacious, gallery-esque setting. Prices range from $99 to $325 for bags, and $50 to $150 for wallets and clutches, including standout pieces like the Tano Boogie leather bucket tote ($215), Moving on Up cobalt blue bag ($265), and lightweight unisex messenger caryall ($198) from the in-house label Relysh. Also in-store is a small collection of footwear (for more options visit sister store Shoe at 247 Mulberry St). Treat your feet to a pair of Cydwoq shoes ($198 to $340), cleverly crafted to feel as though you’re walking barefoot on sand.

Gesamtkunstwerk
  • Shopping
  • Lower East Side
  • price 4 of 4

Unmarked and hidden below street level, Gesamtkunstwerk—which translates to “complete artwork,” but most folks call it Werk—is like shopping in an artist’s studio, complete with a work space in back and crafts displayed up front. Fresh out of the Cooper Union School of Art, business partners and friends Allie Kuzyk and Lucia Vera opened the cozy gallery to showcase the creations of local artists and sell their own quirky jewelry designs, which they craft on premise. Pick up unique gifts like Trashmour crocheted necklaces made from recycled plastic bags ($60–$90), Der Bears stuffed creatures handmade from reworked cotton, linen and velour ($10–$65), Naughty & Nice animal paintings on vintage wallpaper ($50–$350), and Kuzyk’s sterling silver and pewter pendants ($20–$50) and earrings cast from found objects, including starfish from Jones Beach and acorns from Central Park ($30). Aspiring designers, take note: Werk will offer jewelry-making workshops ($125) in its studio on Sundays from noon to 3pm, where you can learn to make your own sterling silver rings.

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  • Shopping
  • Lower East Side
  • price 4 of 4

Co-owners Evin Cosby and Wai Chan have selected the Lower East Side to reopen their second location of PB & Caviar (the original was in Tribeca). The intimate space specializes in all-occasion women’s dresses and receives new shipments of garb every two weeks, so you can expect a constantly changing inventory. Step into the girly, purple-hued store to peruse frocks from labels such as Torn by Ronny Kobo, Sauce and Butter by Nadia. Discover dresses and separates hanging along the walls, including Hype feather-print frocks ($215) and Onion tribal halter dresses ($160). Then head to the back corner to try on Matt Bernson beaded wooden wedges ($231) and check out Barbara Wiggins artsy metallic-cover notebooks with bird designs ($28).

Sheherazade
  • Shopping
  • Design and interiors
  • Lower East Side
  • price 2 of 4

This Oriental-decor dealer has been importing home furnishings from the Middle East and North Africa for more than eight years, which means it surpassed the original Scheherazade’s 1001 Arabian Nights about five years and several dozen divans ago. Rich walnut benches, tables and mirrors from Syria with mother-of-pearl inlays ($650–$1,600) are almost too pretty to use, despite their solid heft.

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The Tenement Museum Shop
  • Shopping
  • Lower East Side
  • price 2 of 4

This shop, which is adjacent but connected to the Tenement Museum, sells New York City books and souvenirs, with particular deference to items evocative of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The space also hosts a regular series of lectures and book signings that more often than not have a historical focus.

More shops for gifts on the LES

Babeland
  • Shopping
  • Sex shops
  • Lower East Side
  • price 1 of 4

At this friendly sex-toy boutique—run by women and skewed toward women—browsers are encouraged to handle all manner of buzzing, wriggling and bendable playthings, including the famed Rabbit Pearl vibrator. The shop also stocks a huge variety of condoms and hosts frank sex-ed classes on a variety of subjects. There’s also a Brooklyn location at 462 Bergen St.

Top Hat
  • Shopping
  • Gifts and stationery
  • Lower East Side
  • price 2 of 4

New York native Nina Allen opened this home-decor and gift boutique to showcase international finds from Sweet Bella, a wholesale company she started seven years ago that sells a mix of goods like stationery, birdcalls and bags. The minimalist shop specializes in oddities from small companies and family businesses, whose craftsmanship techniques, such as ceramics and leather working, have been passed down for generations. Allen travels the globe, handpicking eclectic items such as Atelier NL by Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum clay dishes from Holland ($30–$130), Valenki wool boots from Russia ($130), Kyouei Design balloon lamps from Japan ($35), gorgeous Sweet Bella signature hand-painted Venetian leather pouches ($56–$90) and Patrick Fray Industrial Design cloth unraveling calendars ($90), which have strings you can pull away until you reach the end of the year. Bonus: During the winter months, patrons can rent handmade wooden toboggans and sleds ($15–$20 per hour) or purchase them ($140–$350) and get them custom engraved for $18.

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  • Shopping
  • Sex shops
  • Lower East Side
  • price 1 of 4

At this friendly sex-toy boutique—run by women and skewed toward women—browsers are encouraged to handle all manner of buzzing, wriggling and bendable playthings, including the famed Rabbit Pearl vibrator. The shop also stocks a huge variety of condoms and hosts frank sex-ed classes on a variety of subjects. Browse and sign up for classes at Babeland

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