With so many streetwear boutiques popping up all over Los Angeles it’s hard to be cool anymore. I mean it’s no secret where you got that hoodie from anymore. You can get that tee shirt anywhere and they sell your dunks at Urban Outfitters. However, I still love clothes and the stores that sell them. So this will be the first in my series of reviews of streetwear stores in the Los Angeles area. Exciting, huh?

Barracuda… Melrose’s finest vendor of upper-end streetwear. Great tee-shirt selection you don’t see everywhere else, interesting kicks and an eclectic mix of brands make this store a must-see stop when out shopping. (I’m always forgetting to take pictures of the outside of the store)

You walk in to the girls’ section on the bottom floor where brands like Insight, Stussy, Gentle Fawn, and many more grace the racks. They’ve got a nice collection of denim and tees for girls and probably the best selection of tops, sweaters and jackets I’ve ever seen. Every time, I go in there there’s something awesome I want to buy for my wife. Barracuda does a really good job buying clothes that are unique and hip without being too weird and unwearable. They’ve got uber-hip, over-sized, 80s style girls sweatshirts, fitted jackets and more.

Head upstairs to the men’s section and there’s more clothing hotness for yo ass. Barracuda always has a big selection of Stussy tees and caps… always. They’ve also got tees from RVCA, Insight, 2K, and a bunch of other brands I can’t remember. Whether you’re looking for some soft, slim-cut tees, or some standard, stiff streetwear type stuff, Barracuda gotcha covered.

Barracuda also has a kick-ass shoe selection of not only Nikes and Adidas in rare colorways, but higher end Varvatos Converse, and other shoes like that.

Like the women’s section downstairs, the men’s selection of jackets and hoodies is dope. They’ve always got nice numbers from Stussy, FreshJive and others. They recently were carrying a dope black on black camo-ish jacket from Quiksilver, not a brand you see in most boutiques like this.

While I was there they were having some crazy dope sale. Like 50% off AND buy 2 get 1 free on shoes and tees or something like that. I’m not sure if that sale is still going on, but you should definitely check it out.

Lastly, Barracuda has a whole special section dedicated to LA-based line Kazuo. Kazuo is a cut ‘n sew line with simple graphic tees and clean, bohemian-modern shirts, jackets and more. I didn’t like this line too much when I first saw it, I thought it was kind of boring, but after a while it’s definitely grown on me. The pieces are classic with a just a touch of strange.

So that’s Barracuda in a nutshell. Definitely stop by if you never have. While it’s not strictly a streetwear store, I’d say it’s the most unique store of it’s kind in LA and there are always great finds there. The best store on Melrose for sure and arguably the best boutique in LA.

Barracuda

7600B Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046

(323) 852-7179

www.wearchildren.com

Tags: streetwear los angeles fashion barracuda boutique kazuo stussy

My wife and I and some others went to The Rose Bowl Swap Meet last weekend. It was the first time I’d ever been there; pretty sad as I’ve lived in LA my whole life.

Over all it was pretty cool, but I’m not writing a review on that. My real issue here is the Stussy booth that was set up there. I could not figure out if the clothes real or bootlegged. Overall, most of it looked real, but the whole set up was so messy and unofficial looking that I really couldn’t tell.

Hundreds of Stussy New Eras, thousands of tee shirts… all just piled on tables outside. I mean does Stussy really sell their stuff like that?

I saw at least one shirt that looked like it fit badly, like it was too short and wide. I saw another shirt where too much ink was applied on the silkscreen and the image was kind of bubbly. Maybe they were just seconds, like mistakes and what not, but I couldn’t help thinking it was all fake.

One guy picked up a Stussy x Mad Hectic x Undefeated tee and asked the lady working the booth how much it was. She told him it was $40 and that it was available only in Japan. Well according to Hypebeast it was available at Undefeated in the US, too. Maybe she was just misinformed… or maybe she was trying make a sale on some fake-ass shit!

The Rose Bowl Swap Meet is a huge event though and I would think that if they were selling fake Stussy, they’d get caught real quick. What the hell do I know, though.

Anyone out there know if this stuff was real? I mean shit, I should have bought some if it was.

www.wearchildren.com

Tags: streetwear stussy tee shirt new era fashion los angeles rose bowl

I’m sure you’ve heard of some the websites that sell streetwear: krudmart, karmaloop and others. I just wanted to give a shoutout to my homie with the underground, grassroots, real deal, independent, hot ***, hardcore, old school, new school, dopeness:

El Mercado

Check them out.

Thanks.

The underground teeshirt world has gone the same route as everything else underground. Namely… no longer underground.

I used to be in love with Stussy. It was immortal, untouchable. I thought that no matter what they did, they would still just be the dopest brand out there. Even when they were selling at Macy’s, I loved it.

Over the last year or so, I have slowly been coming to terms with Stussy’s mainstream movement. This last week… I accepted it.

RIP Stussy

Stussy was the originator, the first real teeshirt line, my graduation from Gotcha. They’ve left their irie roots and moved on to a very generic hip-hop/skate thing. The all-over prints, the logos aaaaaallllllll ooooovvvvveeeeerrrrrrrr everything, the NewEra caps. Not that anything is wrong with any one of these things, but you know… if i wanted that stuff, I’d rock LRG or Roca Wear.

I was at Barracuda on Melrose the other day (for those that don’t know, probably the best store in LA) and I was dissapointed at my selection of men’s tees. Normally a sick selection, I was confronted with a wall of Stussy tees and hats (all looking the same in different color-ways), some 2K and some otherhand-drawn looking tees of monsters or girls throwing up or something. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DOPE TEES?!?!?! Everyone loves a dope tee. (In Barracuda’s defense they did have a dope selection of denim, kicks and other goods, but we’re talking tees).

Maybe it’s just my oskee-woskee bias, but these new tees are, for lack of a better word, whack! Some lines are still holding it down: FreshJive, Upper Playground, and others, but even some of the more underground ones… they just all look the same. It’s dissapointing really. I’ve only bought 2 new tees in the last year, a FreshJive and an X-Large (the Woody Allen tee, DOPE!). Other than that, I seriously have not found tees that I just had to have.

I used to be able to rely on Stussy and FUCT (another one of my old favorites), but it seems these days there’s only 2 or 3 companies with different tags. I don’t like wearing shirts that seem to scream out, “CHECK OUT HOW DOPE MY TEESHIRT IS!!” I may as well print that on my next shirt. I need a little subtlety in my gear.

I’ll still keep my eye on Stussy. I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for them; I’m sure I’ll buy something of there’s again. But for now, i guess I’m, on my own.

So… that being said, check out my line: CHILDREN.

PS - My wife and I found out yesterday that it’s a girl.