La La Land

Last week, the editor and I were in LA. I could tell you about our appointments but then I "figured" (note the adopted LA language) that you all have jobs and I'm sure the last thing you want to hear about is someone else's working day. Let me tell you instead about the shopping and celeb spotting, both far more In Style subjects.

LA is a mecca for vintage clothes. But those in La La land don't do vintage like us Brits. Much like everything else in the city, LA's vintage clobber is polished and primed within an inch of its life. Take Decades on Melrose Avenue, arguably, the best vintage shop in the area. It looks like a posh boutique with rails of carefully picked gowns from the new season. But, upon closer examination, all the clothes are second hand. Pristine Chanel, Pucci, Givenchy and Valentino are lined up next to rows of shoes - including pairs by Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik and Marni to name but a few. My guess is that a lot of the A-listers flog their barely worn goods here after a trip up the red carpet. Still, even if you're only window shopping (the prices start at roughly £200 +) it's a bee hive for celebs: Winona Ryder was animatedly talking to the shop assistant whilst we were there; a few seconds later, Nicky Hilton skulked in, her mobile glued to her ear as she thumbed through the rails.

Sielian's on Melrose is another find. The standard is high - rails of vintage gowns are displayed in colour co-ordinated order - Keira Knightley is a regular as is celebrity fashion stylist Rachel Zoe. We spied a whole rail - perhaps 100 fabulous gowns - under a sheet. Old stock? Nope. The lot belonged to Paris Hilton whose assistant was picking it up later that afternoon.

One evening, we headed over to Hollywood's hub, the Chateau Marmont (home to Lindsey Lohan until recently). There we met up with one of the Ed's friends, Michael Martin, owner of the fantastically glamorous travel web-site jetsetreport.com. Over dinner and cocktails, we spied Lisa Moorish and later Joseph Fiennes who smiled in our direction. We swooned.

Over lunch at Mortons - a prime destination for Hollywood power players - Scarlett Johansson sashayed past in a green Fifties-inspired dress and black, high heeled pixie boots. With platinum blonde hair and bright lips, she's every inch the Hollywood siren - vintage style.