Kitschy Culture LA Style

(Meltdown Mascot - Photo by Erin Haley)

According to the oracle of pop culture lexicon - urbandictionary.com - the word kitsch describes anything that is “pleasingly distasteful. It's melodramatic, overdone, gaudy and tacky or sentimental and folksy. It's so bad that it's cool. Your cat might attack it, but it's hot.”

In the land of Los Angeles, where tacky thrives alongside classic, and doo-wop architecture plays nice with art deco exteriors, there are numerous shops to allow visitors to take a little bit of California kitsch culture back to their home sweet home.

Handmade Galleries, Sherman Oaks
There is something gypsy-esq about this store that has a little bit of everything from all over the globe. The shop carries De La Luna Design wallets that are leather and are one-of-a-kind with designs over the embossed leather ranging from geishas to flowers to butterflies to skeleton couples that seem en route to a Dia de los Muertos celebration. Then there are the whimsical cards courtesy of Papaya where inspirational sayings overlap luscious designs that range from flamingos to Buddha’s to pink lotus blossoms. Or, shoppers can snatch up one of the many prints by Nelson de la Nuez where he creates collages of pop culture icons and symbols and overlaps them with a tongue-in-cheek quip on modern society. (http://www.handmadegalleriesla.com)

Meltdown Comics, Los Angeles
With alien mascot ‘Mel’ standing sentry, Meltdown Comics is a Mecca for trekkies, Comic Con regulars, Neil Gaiman disciples and anyone who was smart enough to not let their mom sell their Star Wars figures in a garage sale back in the 80s. Shelves overflow with oddities, curiosities and peculiarities. In addition to the stock of comics, there is everything from Harajuku Girl dolls (such as Lollipop Girl) by Japanese designer Mizna Wada, the French hit book “The Complete Persepolis” and the critic’s comic favorite, “Watchmen” brought to stores by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. (http://www.meltcomics.com)      

Skybluepink, Burbank
Full of knick-knacks, (from cuckoo clocks to ambergris-scented candles to yoga how-to booklets), Skybluepink goes kitsch thanks to its line of Classic Hardware jewelry (http://www.classichardware.com). Imagine burrowing through the jewelry boxes of Bettie Page, Dita Von Teese and Rizzo (of Grease fame), and you get the sense of this sultry, sassy and sinful line of baubles and trinkets. Rings such as the Luck Tattoo Ring feature an old navy boy’s type of tattoo with a horseshoe wrapped in flowers, all in a heart-shaped frame, which would look perfect with the Sin on Wheels necklace and its pin-up muse.