Dan's Papers - August 24, 2007

East Hampton's Main Street is one of the busiest blocks in the Hamptons. Walking down it on a sunny Saturday afternoon over the summer, one is treated to the fulfillment of every Hamptons cliché - women in chic glasses and white pants lunching outside at Cittanuova, old friends catching up with each other about their travels through Cannes and St. Tropez, good-looking young couples strolling by Ralph Lauren together and a few hip teenagers meandering around. The street has unarguably become the defining hotspot for Hamptons glamour to a near shameless degree.

While the rest of the East End may pride itself on unique boutiques and a relaxed atmosphere, East Hampton has boldly decided to forgo the facade of seaside subtlety and friendliness and paint itself as an over-the-top family shopping fantasyland for upper-echelon second home owners. And so, as the crowds have grown on Main Street, it has become an attraction unto itself. But with all the glitterati that's been brought to East Hampton in the past few years - the expensive, architecturally-fascinating stores, rare clothes, beautifully paved blocks and star sightings - who is really buying?

The Gucci store, now two years old, flaunts its one of a kind Gucci "Hamptons bicycle" in the window, equipped with a price-tag that's more than tenfold that of your sturdy Schwinn. The store also wows shoppers with a television displaying nonstop runway action from Gucci fashion shows. The old candy store at the beginning of town, Nuts about Chocolate, is, as of this June, a fun, family-friendly Dylan's Candy Bar, the mini candy fun-land of Ralph Lauren's daughter. Interesting fashion favorite Alice + Olivia On The Circle, has been replaced by fashion mainstay Jill Stuart. Elie Tahari has re-opened his store in a larger location - replacing the old East Hampton post office. John Varvatos has opened a store with a plethora of hanging light bulbs coming together in the center, forming a piece of electric art. The Ralph Lauren Kids store has upped the ante on kid's clothing stores by placing a giant white treehouse in the middle of the store. Animal-print enthusiast Devi Kroell has opened shop this season on the northeast corner of Main Street and Newtown Lane. Italian cashmere and men's luxury clothes designer Brunello Cucinelli, whose dramatic website lists "philosophy" before "collection," has also opened an East Hampton store this summer, one of the few in the world. Almost every important designer is now selling their high-end clothes at even higher prices in flashy stores in East Hampton, each trying to outdo the others.

Shopping on Rodeo Drive, I once bought a stick of Versace deodorant at the breathtaking L.A. store. I bought it because, at sixteen, I thought the block was so beautiful that I had to take some relic of it home with me and, having lived in L.A. for six weeks, I couldn't even afford cologne. Despite leaving Rodeo Drive having blown some cash on unnecessary (though quite pleasantly aromatic, I must say) deodorant and an overpriced lunch at an expensive "diner," leaving me relatively empty-handed, I still thought of the day as one of the best I spent in that city. This is because Rodeo Drive itself has long been one of Beverly Hills' main attractions. Seeing the stores (and occasionally the stars, though far less often than one is led to believe) and the shoppers (a surreal canvas of commercial perfection, similar to that of East Hampton Main Street, though, perhaps on a more grandiose scale and with palm trees) has become a cultural activity unto itself, rather than the actual buying of the high-end commodities. Every day, thousands of tourists flock to Rodeo Drive and Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, often with wide-eyed children in tow, to day-trip along the Avenue's legend as (allegedly) the creme de la creme of aristocratic shopping, as well as famous for the manmade beauty, such as Sak's snowflake winter light show. In reality, L.A. residents generally avoid the touristy Rodeo Drive, which is ostentatiously overpriced and impractical. And New York City residents often avoid Fifth Avenue, where designer boutiques refuse to have sales while designer department stores down the block offer discounts on the same duds. Regardless of the impracticality of these avenues, the designer stores themselves are so ornately designed and meticulously crafted that they are worth seeing just for themselves. And so, East Hampton's Main Street has joined a similar rank.

Of course, very few people who actually live in the Hamptons, even only over the summer, do the majority of their shopping on East Hampton's Main Street. But entertaining Hampton newcomers for a weekend, one has to take them to Main Street in East Hampton for a day - not doing so might be like robbing them of the full Hamptons experience, in spite of the fact that the day is an experience you would probably not want to have again (in lieu of a trip to the beach or a bike ride) if you weren't with guests.

Main Street, like the fashion hotspots of many major cities and fashionable towns, is beautiful in the way that a Hamptons virgin would have imagined it to be. In fact, its almost become the embodiment of what outsiders expect when they hear the term the "Hamptons," (often in the media, like on VH1's new show, "The Fabulous Life Of: The Hamptons"). The idea of the Hamptons has become marketable in and of itself.

With the amount of money that goes into crafting the boutiques, versus the amount of money actually spent by consumers on the clothing, the general belief is that these stores often don't break even. However, the locale of your brand has become essential to building it. Notice that on storefront and shopping bags, designers often place the names of the places that their store exists. Underneath "Example High End Designer," you will almost always see something like, "New York. Los Angeles. Paris." and often places like "Aspen. Bal Harbour. Bali." Rarely will you see "Buffalo" under a brand name, even if a department store in that area carries it. Now, adding "East Hampton" to the top-drawer list has become crucial to keeping up with the other prominent brands. Similarly, the store itself has to impress. In order to sell a brand name, the brand has to prove itself worthy of its prices and pretension by looking the part. So although the individual stores on Main Street, in reality, rarely garner the company a ton of money, they serve as the most important form of advertising and prove the brand's merit in the fashion game, all of which translates into a fun day for the family or guests, who try on clothes in interesting-looking stores around well-dressed people.

On the other hand, Main Street in East Hampton, is still really perfectly paved and filled with the prettiest people. And the clothes are often the most beautiful of their kind. In the end, Main Street isn't really even selling clothes anymore - its selling the facade of a long-coveted lifestyle, where money can be spent to an endless degree purely on fun, luxury and beauty. But while a day on the surrealy-chic block serves as alluring entertainment, make sure you don't spend too much time in the area - because, like everything else on Main Street, while that luxurious lifestyle is attractive, it's still a bit overpriced.