Shopping in Greenwich Village: The best stores and boutiques

The PPB's main focus is on couples looking to invigorate their sex lives with props, potions or costumes. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the store carries a huge number of toys, starting with cheap bullet vibes and topping out with $100-plus extreme dildos. The company's been in business since 1972, which makes Pink Pussycat a trusted name for dommes and submissives alike.

In operation since 1965, this friendly West Village institution sells all manner of fetish attire, as well as books, sex toys, magazines and plenty more.

You’ll be transported to Paris once you step inside this opulent bath-and-body shop. Rich burgundy carpets, gilded wallpaper, a gloriously huge chandelier and a mahogany desk that serves as the checkout area set the stage for the luxurious fragrances ($50–$300), candles ($20–$400), lotions, and soaps from brands like Diptyque and Annick Goutal. Curiosity cabinets house many of the store’s exclusives—the West Village outpost is the only location in the country to sell several items, including candles by Les Secrets Ladurée Paris.  

This stationery store—with exposed brick, cheerful floral wallpaper and a pink overhanging lamp—exudes West Village charm. It’s owned by sisters Amy Swanson and Beth Salvini, whose family has been in the printing biz for three generations, and nearly everything is designed in-house and produced on an old Gutenberg-style press. Aside from note cards and stationery, GLP also offers notebooks, rubber stamps, labels, gift tags and striking wrapping paper ($3–$5 a sheet).

This San Francisco hatmaker expands with a second NYC location (the original is in Park Slope). Brick walls, a black tin ceiling, a leather lounge chair and Edison-style lightbulbs provide an old-timey vibe—fitting, since the company began in 1895. Even the merchandise harkens to the days of yore, with a wide range of fedora styles for ladies and gents, including short-brimmed leather ($100), satin-banded straw ($50) and summery plaid ($54) variations. Guys can don any number of newsboy caps ($38–$110), while women can get a sweet retro look with all manner of cloches ($34–$140). Goorin does contemporary styles too, as evidenced by wildly printed ball caps ($34) and trucker hats ($25). Gals should stop in for summer’s must-have floppy sun hat ($350–$490), such as our favorite red Panama straw version ($140). 

New Zealand–born designer Rebecca Taylor brings her feminine, flirty women’s label to the Meatpacking District with the opening of her second Manhattan store (the other is located in Nolita). Each month, she handpicks her favorite movies and books (such as the cookbook Good Things in England, by Florence White), as well as home accents like candles and pillows to sell in the Parisian-inspired shop, which is decorated with ornate moldings and a tin ceiling. In addition to wardrobe musts, such as floral-print jumpers ($375), tulip-print ballet dresses ($375), scalloped leather jackets ($695) and python messenger bags ($275), the boutique offers sterling-silver dolphin necklace and bracelet charms ($110–$125) created by Taylor and her jewelry-making sister, Tory. Proceeds from the charms will be donated to the Oceanic Preservation Society’s campaign to save the dolphins in the Pacific.

This vintage mecca has been peddling men’s and women’s clothing and accessories since 1978, serving clientele as diverse as Alexa Chung, Marc Jacobs and Cyndi Lauper. Owner Laura Wills travels the world, scouting eclectic finds that span the 1950s to the 1990s, and organizes clothing racks by decade. Do you need sunglasses from the ’70s? How about a royal-wedding T-shirt from the 1980s? Head upstairs to check out higher-end specialty garments like men’s Moschino printed suit jackets ($595) and Hattie Carnegie satin cap-sleeve dresses with beading ($895). The boutique is transformed into a Halloween showcase for the month of October, and since the staff is made up almost entirely of stylists, it's a great place to put together a complete period look, including the era-appropriate wigs and accessories.

Shortly after Donna Karan launched the Urban Zen Initiative, a nonprofit aimed at expanding holistic health care within NYC hospitals as well as preserving African cultures, she opened this earthy boutique next door to her studio. Natural materials and wood tables from Bali adorn the whitewashed joint, which has evolved in the past year into an organic mix of clothing, furniture and home designs.

Local designer Hayati Banastey opens his first brick-and-mortar store, selling vintage-inspired men’s and women’s threads ($45–$99) with affordable price tags. The country-casual aesthetic of the line carries through to the shop’s decor, featuring farmhouse wood floors, custom-crafted wood display tables and antique trunks. All of the button-up shirts ($59–$89) and soft knits ($34–$79) are cut, sewn and hand-dyed in a local washhouse. Women will love effortless button-up shirts ($60–$70) and linen dresses ($80–$99), while men can score worn-in chinos ($80) and patterned shorts ($65–$70).

Similar to his main collection, the Jonathan Adler Junior line offers modern and graphic furnishings for your babe's room—ranging from piggy banks and rugs to pillows and lamps. http://www.jonathanadler.com/