The Changing Face of Shopping : A Look Back at Bullocks Wilshire

Pictured: A view of Bullocks Wilshire from the parking lot. (photo: M. Hall)

What if I told you there was a place were you could buy the very best, made in America, housed in an elegant setting where movie stars would be your shopping companions? Where fur was still sold, and even more shocking those furs were displayed in a special room, where they were  kept chilled. The dressing rooms were large, large enough for you to lay down in, or invite all your girlfriends in for a viewing.  Not, it’s not the land of Oz, but shopping as it was back in Los Angeles in the 1930s and event through the 1960s at Bullocks Wilshire Los Angeles.  This one time shopping mecca housed the best of fashion, but there was nothing frugal about Bullocks Wilshire.  Marion Davies was apparently seen shopping there and dragging her fur coat along the floor behind her. Bullocks Wilshire closed in 1993 with the advent of American  shopping malls, discount stores and off-shore cheaply made, lower-priced fashions.  It was inevitable perhaps, but it was the end of a certain type of shopping.  The kind where your mother took you out to look for your 10 key wardrobe stables that you would keep in your closet for years, and mix and match.  Today, we don’t shop like that.  We shop for trendy, disposable clothes that won’t last until next season.  And then we pick up new ones next season.  Clothes are more disposable and generally not as well made.

Pictured: The inviting changing room at Bullocks Wilshire in Couture (photo: M. Hall)

On July 30th Bullocks Wilshire will reopen its doors for the annual tour sponsored by the Southwestern School of Law.  The former store is now part of the Law School and houses its Moot Court facility and law library. Every summer the school reopens Bullocks Wilshire for a wonderful tour, which also offers attendees the chance to chose to have lunch or high-tea in the legendary Tea Room where stars like John Wayne stopped in, and models in the latest fashions floated between the tables of ladies who lunched. This year, the tour will take place on July 30th. General reservations for the tour will open on July 6th.  If you live in Los Angeles, or are visiting, the tour is a magical experience inside a historic landmark.

Pictured: The design work of Irene Lentz on display at Bullocks. (photo: M. Hall)

 My favorite place at Bullocks is of course the salon of Irene Lentz Gibbons.  The salon is still alive with her fashion presence and some of her sketches are framed and displayed on the walls. Irene’s salon was the first of its kind, a boutique within a department store selling the work of a specific designer.

Pictured: One of Irene’s sketches on display in her old salon at Bullocks. (photo: M. Hall)

 Her fashion shows were organized at Bullocks Wilshire and models walked among the patrons wearing her classic designs.  Only a few department stores today have live shows in stores, or designer boutiques where the designer actually shows up to work.  Of course, there was a significant expense in maintaining a store like Bullocks Wilshire, and eventually the economic slowdown of the late 1980s and early 1990s put the store out of business.  Today, only the flagship stores for chains like Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue even come close to the standard set by Bullocks Wilshire.  It’s worth a look on July 30th to take the tour, and enjoy tea from the original menu.  Click here to learn more.