If you need a dose of color just in time for spring, we know where to find it. Head over to the Kate Spade boutique at Stanford Shopping Center. There you'll find totes in grass green and sky blue; "picnic shoes" of orange, fuschia and white woven leather; brag books in pink with gingham lining; tennis balls in Kelly green and royal blue; and red leather-bound notebooks for "Play Dates" and "Forget Me Nots." It's 1900-square feet of the witty, practical and All-American style of Kate Spade.
The Palo Alto boutique carries the entire collection of handbags, stationery, shoes, eyewear and beauty, as well as the home collection of tabletop, bedding and bath. There are also exclusive and one-of-a-kind items -- vintage books, cashmere, raincoats, and jewelry from Kenneth Jay Lane and Alexis Bittar. Kate Spade's books – Manners, Style and Occasions – offer advice on everything from flatware to call-waiting and a Kate Spade CD with music from pop band "beaumont" features the "ks theme." (Its cover has the same motif as the wallpaper in the Spades' Hamptons house.) It's clearly a lifestyle being offered here, not just a brand.
Manager Caitlin Greene says the clean, modern space of the boutique is meant to evoke Kate's world. "It's how Kate would want you to feel if you walked into her apartment," says Greene. Our feeling is you'd want to be friends with a girl with such great taste. Spade's appreciation for classic design with a twist of color, a dose of practicality, and a little bit of irreverence brings in everyone from high schoolers looking for handbags to women of a certain age who appreciate the vintage charm bracelets. We're most fond of her riffs on polka dots, especially in the Larabee Dot vases, and her nod to sixties op art, particularly in the bold color and geometric patterns of the Alexander Girard totes.
The Kate Spade boutique is located at 153 Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto and is open seven days a week – Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m..