I would appreciate some help from any women who are reading this forum. My wife and I will be visiting Manhattan in August, and I would like to take her shopping for clothes. Any suggestions? My wife is 38, somewhere is the middle as far as fashion is concerned (not too conservative or wild) and I am somewhere in the middle as far as my pocketbook is concerned. Dresses, skirts, blouses, purses, shoes, coats would all be in the shopping agenda. Any help at all - favourite department stores, boutiques, etc. - would be greatly appreciated.

If you're looking for maximum inventory in minimum space: Bloomingdale's has a wide variety of styles and designers, as does Macy's. Barney's is a great store, but has generally more expensive designer merchandise, as does Bergdorf Goodman.
The designer shops in Manhattan are generally quite pricey, even the sale merchandise.

I am very frugal when it comes to shopping. August is a great month to shop. You can find good deals in Bloomingdales and Macy's. You can also get good finds on 34th street. You have Daffy's, Conways, Strawberry's, Cliquers, and the $10 store.
If you go to the Lower East side on Delancy Street you can haggle your way down to the price that you want. They mostly have deals on leather goods and sneakers.
If you go further uptown you can visit 175th street and St. Nicholas Ave. Stores like Pretty Girl etc sell good quality clothing at unbelievable prices.

Greg,

For shoes there is a really cool shoe store. Otto Tootsie Plohound, yep I know strange name but great selection especially when they have a sale. The location I go to is on West 57th between Park and Lexington. It is about 3 doors or so down from The Habitat Hotel. The reason I liked it is that you can always get Gucci Prada etc..but they have beautiful shoes that stand on their own. Most of the shoes are Italian and are brands that I have never heard of but that is what makes it fabulous. I like something that I can wear and somebody does not say "Hey I just love your Prada outfit". Anyway they do have designer names as well. This place gets my vote. Another place for shoes is Siegerson Morrison (sp?). I cant remember location however. Best of luck pal. There is no way my husband will go shopping with me in NYC. Your wife is a lucky gal.

Sigerson Morrison is on Prince in NoLita. Beautiful shoes but quite expensive; they're also sold at Saks and probably Bergdorf's, too. One of my favorite shops in the city is Searle--they're known for their beautiful coats but they have a great collection of clothing that falls somewhere between conservative and wild while including lots of classic items. They're pricey, but have amazing sales. Amazing! I have gotten designer clothes at a quarter of their original prices at Searle. Also check out H&M--cheap trendy clothes--and Zara, which has inexpensive trendy/classic clothes that aren't too wild. Zara's clothes are (on the whole) not well made, but they're so cheap that you get your money's worth before they fall apart. Have fun!!

I'm a fan of discount designer stores like Loehmann's on 7th Ave around 16th Street, Filene's Basement (couple locations) and T.J. Maxx. Lots of variety, the Back Room at Loehmann's can yield some amazing finds. I miss Century 21, across from the WTC, I hear it will reopen in March. There are also locations in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Long Island. The store is always packed, but great deals abound. Finally, I love Find Outlet, with locations on 17th Street and 9th Ave, and Mott Street between Spring and Prince. Find Outlet is like a constant sample sale, more up and coming designers than big names, but fabulous stuff that you alone will have. Check out newyork.citysearch.com for lots of guides, sample sale listings, etc. Have fun! Most of these stores have men's stuff as well, so don't worry.

I live here and can tell that unless you are looking for Designer clothes on Madison Avenue in the 70's (yes pricey), much of what you find at the major department stores can be found elsewhere.

I would window shop at Barneys do the same with Bergdorf. When will you have a chance again to take a peak at Vera Wangs bridal window, walk into individual stores dedicated to Donna Karan, Georgio Aramani, Prada (these re just the big names a lot of less recognizable but cutting edge names)most of this save for Bergdorf can be seen on stroll down Madison avenue (50-70's) stop by and have dessert in an authentic italian/French/Japanese dessert shop. Maybe have a French dinner. I would not waste my time on shopping to actually find something. It is wearing to do that with clothes in this city, I hate I hate I hate it.

Century downtown use to be a sure bet for great quality affordable cloths but WTC put an end to that for the moment. Daffy's, Loehmans are also great stores but they are all hunt and find stores and that can get old in a NY minute. If you must Lord and Taylor (38th and fifth)but I can't imagine you will find something you would not see at better department store at home (dito Macey's). Bloomingdales a good suggestion but not worth missing the stretch I speak of IMHO.

That stretch on Madison is what I believe gives Manahattan it's name as fashion center great to get a gander at it. Who cares if you don't want to spend money on it the window dressings are enough just to walk by. Oh also Soho is great. This what you want to look at to see NYC fashion IMHO.