Shopping

Nothing reveals the personality of a city better than a survey of its shopping scene. A handy little search tool on the Washington Post website's City Guide page, www.washingtonpost.com/cityguide, allows one to browse its list of some 600 D.C. stores, then sort them into categories, from beauty to shoe stores. The guide, though not comprehensive, is sufficiently extensive and up-to-date to reveal some rather interesting facts: that women's clothing stores score the highest number (127), with home and garden furnishings shops coming in second (125), gift stores third (100), beauty shops (including spas and hair salons) fourth (96), and bookstores in fifth place (60).

What does that tell you? Washington women are successful and understand that fashionable dress, coiffure, and makeup are all part of that package; that Washingtonians take care to decorate their house and garden, which is in line with the idea that we entertain a lot; that gift giving is a part of the culture, for those who live here as well as for the city's many visitors buying take-home purchases; and, last but not least, that we are a wonky and well-read bunch. All true.

(And what must one make of the fact that men's clothing stores number only 50? The obvious, I'm afraid: that Washington men, successful though they may be, are not quite hip to the concept of looking the part.)

This guide should enlighten you further. Not only do we have many women's clothing stores, but they are of every type, haute couture to preppie. Our furnishings stores represent global designs. Best of all, perhaps, are the beloved homegrown shops of resident entrepreneurs, from the Zenith art gallery in the Penn Quarter, to Alex, a contemporary clothing store featuring creations of international and local designers and some vintage fashions, in Foggy Bottom.

Note: Most of the stores listed are located within the District, although I do include some suburban suggestions, for malls, department stores, and other notable shops, that lie outside the city.

The Shopping Scene -- Most Washington-area stores are open from 10am to 5 or 6pm Monday through Saturday. Sunday hours tend to vary, with some stores opting not to open at all and others with shorter hours of noon to 5 or 6pm. Two neighborhoods prove the exception to these rules: Many stores in the Penn Quarter and in Georgetown keep later hours and are also open on Sunday. One example is the downtown Macy's department store, in the heart of Penn Quarter, whose hours are noon to 6pm Sunday; 10am to 8pm Monday, Thursday, and Friday; 9am to 9pm Tuesday; and 9am to 10pm Wednesday and Saturday. Other exceptions include suburban shopping malls, which are open late nightly, and antiques stores and art galleries, which tend to keep their own hours. Be safe and call ahead if there's a store you really want to get to.

Sales tax on merchandise is 5.75% in the District, 5% in Maryland, and 4.5% in Virginia. Most gift, arts, and crafts stores, including those at the Smithsonian museums, will handle shipping for you; clothing stores generally do not.

Great Shopping Areas

Union Station -- It's a railroad station, a historic landmark, an architectural marvel, a Metro stop, and a shopping mall. Yes, the beauteous Union Station offers some fine shopping opportunities; it's certainly the best on Capitol Hill, with more than 100 clothes and specialty shops, and more than 40 eateries. Metro: Union Station.

Penn Quarter -- The area bounded east and west by 7th and 14th streets NW, and north and south by New York and Pennsylvania avenues NW, is in a frenzy of development. The latest buzz comes from the opening of a multiuse complex, Gallery Place, at 7th and H streets, in the heart of Chinatown, backing up to the Verizon Center and overtopping the Chinatown/Gallery Place Metro stop. Gallery Place combines condominiums, offices, a bowling alley/bar, a 14-screen theater, stores that range from Urban Outfitters to Aveda, and several restaurants. Elsewhere in the neighborhood you'll find a long list of "name" stores, such as Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, H&M, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, and Filene's Basement; and one-of-a-kind places, such as Apartment Zero and Olsson's Books. Look for the huge Borders bookstore at 14th and F streets NW, in the grand old Garfinckel's Building. Macy's (formerly known as "Hecht's"), at 12th and G streets, continues as the sole department store downtown. Metro: Metro Center, Chinatown/Gallery Place, or Archives/Navy Memorial.

Adams-Morgan -- Centered on 18th Street and Columbia Road NW, Adams-Morgan is a neighborhood of ethnic eateries and nightclubs interspersed with the odd secondhand bookshop and eclectic collectibles stores. It's a fun area for walking and shopping. Parking is possible during the day but impossible at night. For the closest Metro, you have a few choices: Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams-Morgan, then walk south on Connecticut Avenue NW until you reach Calvert Street, cross Connecticut Avenue, and follow Calvert Street across the Duke Ellington Memorial Bridge until you reach the junction of Columbia Road NW and 18th Street NW. Sunday through Friday evenings and all day Saturday, you can catch the no. 98 Adams-Morgan-U Street Link shuttle bus, which loops between the Woodley Park and the African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo (at 13th and U sts. NW) Metro stations, departing every 15 minutes from each location, traveling along 18th Street in the heart of Adams-Morgan, where you can hop off; it costs only 25¢. Second choice: Dupont Circle; exit at Q Street NW and walk up Connecticut Avenue NW to Columbia Road NW.

Connecticut Avenue/Dupont Circle -- Running from the mini-Wall Street that is K Street north to S Street, Connecticut Avenue NW is a main thoroughfare, where you'll find traditional clothing at Brooks Brothers, Talbots, Ann Taylor, and Burberry's; casual duds at the Gap; discount items at Filene's Basement and the Ann Taylor Loft; and haute couture at Rizik's. Closer to Dupont Circle are coffee bars and neighborhood restaurants, as well as art galleries; funky boutiques; gift, stationery, book, and record shops; and stores with a gay and lesbian slant. Metro: Farragut North at one end, Dupont Circle at the other.

U Street Corridor/14th Street -- Urbanistas have been promoting this neighborhood for years, but now the number of cool shops, restaurants, and bars has hit the critical mass mark, winning the area widespread notice. If you shun brand names and box stores, you'll love the boutiques along U and 14th streets. Look for provocative handles, like Go Mama Go! and Pulp, then step inside to inspect their equally intriguing merchandise. Metro: U St./African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo.

Georgetown -- Georgetown is the city's main shopping area. In the heart of the neighborhood, stores line Wisconsin Avenue and M Street NW, and they also fan out along side streets. You'll find both chain and one-of-a-kind shops, chic as well as thrift. Sidewalks and streets are almost always crowded, and parking can be tough. Weekends, especially, bring out all kinds of yahoos, who are mainly here to drink. Visit Georgetown on a weekday morning, if you can. Weeknights are another good time to visit, for dinner and strolling afterward. Metro: Foggy Bottom, then catch the bright blue Georgetown Metro Connection bus, which runs every 10 minutes, takes only a few minutes to reach Georgetown, and costs 35¢ with a Metrorail transfer, or $1.50 without a transfer. Metro buses (the no. 30 series: 30, 32, 34, 35, 36) travel through Georgetown from different parts of the city. Or catch the D.C. Circulator bus, which costs just $1 to board. Otherwise, consider taking a taxi. If you drive, you'll find parking lots expensive and tickets even more so, so be careful where you plant your car.

Upper Wisconsin Avenue -- In a residential section of town known as Friendship Heights on the D.C. side and Chevy Chase on the Maryland side (7 miles north of Georgetown, straight up Wisconsin Ave.) is a quarter-mile shopping district that extends from Saks Fifth Avenue at one end to Sur La Table at the other. In between are Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Banana Republic, Jimmy Choo, Christian Dior, Barney's Co-Op, Polo, Tiffany's, Versace, and two malls (the Mazza Gallerie and the Chevy Chase Pavilion). The street is too wide and traffic always too snarled to make this a pleasant place to stroll, although teenagers do love to loiter here. Drive if you want and park in the garages beneath the Mazza Gallerie or the Chevy Chase Pavilion. Or take the Metro; the strip is right on the Red Line, with the "Friendship Heights" exits leading directly into each of the malls and into Bloomingdale's.

Old Town Alexandria -- Old Town, a Virginia neighborhood beyond National Airport, resembles Georgetown in its picturesque location on the Potomac, historic-home lined streets, and plentiful shops and restaurants, as well as in its less desirable aspects: heavy traffic, crowded sidewalks, difficult parking. Old Town extends from the Potomac River in the east to the King Street Metro station in the west, and from about 1st Street in the north to Green Street in the south, but the best shopping is in the center, where King and Washington streets intersect. Weekdays are a lot tamer than weekends. It's always a nice place to visit, though; the drive alone is worth the trip. Metro: King Street, then take a blue and gold DASH bus (free weekends, otherwise the fare is $1) to reach the heart of Old Town.