Cherry Creek Shopping Center always places among Denver’s top 10 attractions, but it isn’t the only retail game in town. A respectable number of unique boutiques flourish within Denver’s oldest neighborhoods, adding spice to the standard fare served at regional shopping malls in all seven Metro Denver counties. Work your way through my favorites, starting in the core city and radiating outwards. Each has enough one-of-a-kind shopping opportunities to qualify as an outing, especially when combined with a little sightseeing and a quick meal at a nearby bistro.

Downtown
Start downtown, at Rockmount Ranch Wear Manufacturing Company. This landmark at 1626 Wazee Street has been making western wear in Denver’s historic core since before the streets were paved, and it has survived because a well made Western shirt is always a joy to find. Fans will do anything to get one with a little pizzazz. Just ask Ralph Lauren, Sting, John Travolta or any of the other celebrities who venture into Denver’s old warehouse district for Rhinestone Cowboy couture served up Rockmount style. www.rockmount.com

Then head to Larimer Square for one full block of distinctive shops houses in well-preserved historic buildings. At Cry Baby Ranch, 1421 Larimer Street, you’ll find a young, hip version of the West, with gear in all price ranges that shares nothing more than a nostalgic country theme. Got $1,098? Pull on a pair of Liberty Boot Company’s Sixties Cowgirl Boots, a knee-high expanse of smooth brown leather covered with hand stitched white flower cutouts. If $5 is more in line with your budget, consider a box of Cowboy Adhesive Bandages, 15 Texas size strips decorated with images of horseshoes and cactus. It’s easy to kill an hour or two browsing the books, furniture, hats, boots, t-shirts, accessories and clothing for men, women and children. Just being in the store makes me feel happy and a little bit wholesome. 

Need something a little frilly, a drop-dead dress that will help you swirl across the dance floor or light up a cocktail party? Mariel’s the place for it, at 1428 Larimer Street. The walls are wrapped with sexy, feminine things, and the staff is trained to provide unparalleled service while you work your way through the displays.

If your tastes are simpler but your inner artist still wants style, cross 15th Street and look for BolderSpace, 1512 Larimer Street. This gem is tucked back into the walkway that bisects Writer Square, and it couldn’t look more nondescript. Once you’re inside, though, the miracles unfold. Racks of hand chosen garments are packed tight between household goods, each one holding things you won’t find elsewhere. The owner has a mean sense of style and an eye for items that flatter a wide range of body types. And because the store is so small, shoppers can expect the kind of individual service we used to get at high-end department stores.

Twentysomethings often joke about their “little shopping problem,” an irresistible urge to drop cash at American Apparel, 1512 Larimer Street. Part of the appeal is the garments’ comfort factor, with most made from cotton knits so thin they feel like vapor. Other attractions: They’re made in the U.S. by relatively well-paid workers, yet prices can be a tenth of what you’ll pay in those neighboring boutiques.

If you’d rather walk on the wild side now and then, take a quick field trip to FashioNation, 613 E. 13th Ave. This tiny boutique opened in the late 1980s with a stock of handmade pieces designed for the urban urchins who congregated in Capitol Hill. Several decades later, the store is filled with quirky lines that appeal to an odd assortment of special interests. The B&D crowd loves it, as do rockabillys and mainstream clubbers in the market for dance outfits. More mainstream patrons often come in just for the purses. 

Highlands
To paraphrase Horace Greeley, go west young shopper, to the other side of Interstate 25, and you’ll find a handful of emerging neighborhoods and the creative entrepreneurs who thrive there. In the Highland neighborhood, home of Denver’s early day Little Italy, budding businesses are germinating in century-old buildings that had lain dormant for years. As businesses reach a critical mass, the landscape is changing from ghetto to hip, happening place.

Swank, 2405 W. 32nd Street, is a tiny whisper of a store tucked alongside a coffee shop and across from a new Pasquini’s Pizzeria. Like other stores in the area, it feels a little rough around the edges, which is part of its appeal. Swank is small and narrow, with more than its share of tiny little sizes, but loyal young customers rave about its jeans, purses and sexy little tees.

A little farther west is an old streetcar suburb that used to be called Berkeley. Now enterprising new settlers refer to it as Berkeley Highlands, attaching themselves to the mystique of their trendy Highland neighbors. The sleekest new store is Strut, 3877 Tennyson Street, which carries shoes, shoes and more shoes. Its merchandise is targeted to the young artistic pioneers who can afford to pay several hundred dollars for the perfect imported ballet shoe, Mary Jane or knee-high boot.

Old South Pearl & 
Old South Gaylord
Two streetcar suburbs to the south have a head start on West Denver’s youngsters. Like the Berkeley and Highland neighborhoods, Old South Pearl and Old South Gaylord were thriving commercial streets long before they were swallowed by Denver proper. Now Gaylord – on the north side of Interstate 25 – and Pearl on the south have renovated those main streets into thriving little entertainment districts.

Yoga mamas and citizens of the world beat a path to 5 Green Boxes, 1596 South Pearl Street, in the Old South Pearl district. It stocks hard-to-find trinkets like Chinese paper wallets and patterned Hot Sox, along with queen of the rodeo belt buckles and an ever changing collection of handmade, natural fiber blouses, skirts and drawstring pants. A furniture store by the same name has been added a block away at 1705 South Pearl Street, carrying equally funky household accessories. And if you’ve got time for more browsing, stick your head into Seams Like Olde Times, 1501 South Pearl Street. Owner Sandy Tessier makes costumes and vintage clothing for purchase only, no rentals.

Women with more traditional tastes might prefer the shops along Old South Gaylord. With roots in the Pendleton tradition, Pine Creek Clothing has a corner store at 1099 South Gaylord Street that is big enough to showcase scores of casual lines not widely available in cookie-cutter chains. Look for Jag Jeans, Tribal, Icelandic, Christopher Blue, Tasha Polizzi, Canadian designer Robert Kitchen, Pandora jewelry and the kind of personal service that makes it easy for almost everyone to find something special.

Still got time for another stop? Try Sarah at 1067 South Gaylord Street, www.Sarah-Denver.com, for young, sexy womenswear, and Trout’s American Sportswear at 1077 South Gaylord Street, for tailored menswear with an outdoorsy feel.

South Colorado Boulevard
For another well-kept secret, drive southeast to South Colorado Boulevard, and turn into the most inconspicuous strip mall imaginable. Tucked inside is an institution best known for classic clothing and priceless personal service. Jack Gleason’s, 2474 South Colorado Boulevard, is like an elegant lady who is too well bred to brag about her pedigree. Each customer is made to feel like a million bucks, even if she is shopping the sale rack. Expect tasteful garments that are well made, will last forever and are selected to fit a wide range of body types. Another bonus – its dressing rooms are bigger than some studio apartments.

If "Fashionista" is your middle name, you won’t want to miss Barbara and Company, also located in southeast Denver. It’s the powerhouse that keeps Tamarac Square alive. From the outside, 7777 East Hampden Avenue looks like any other aging suburban mall, but inside it hums with the energy of women on a high-fashion mission. In Barbara and Company’s airy 3,000-square-foot store they find one of Denver’s best collections of well merchandised, feminine clothing. Lines are trendy and international – Cop-copine from France, Equestrian Pants, Burning Torch jackets and tops, Tsesay cashmere and Sarah Pacini’s sexy Belgian knits. A couple of caveats: Leave your plastic at home or expect to become very good friends with the nice folks at American Express. Items in every shade of the rainbow line the walls of this cavernous store, but they’re sized for trophy wives. Larger sizes do exist, but you’ll have to dig through yards of size 0s and 2s to find them.

Also at Tamarac Square: Pine Creek Clothing’s original store and Baudine’s Shoes, which stocks stylish brands for women of a certain age who aren’t willing to wear any old “sensible” shoe. Think Dansko, and expect to pay several hundred dollars for the trendiest imported lines.

Cherry Creek North
The shops at Cherry Creek North are in a league of their own, which is why I’ve saved them for last. You’ll need a full day to explore the boutiques that cover more than 20 city blocks. Start with MAX, at 3039 East 3rd Avenue, for a tight selection of women’s clothing, shoes, jewelry and purses from international designers. Look for Diane von Furstenberg, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Missoni, Prada, Stella McCartney and Miu Miu. Owner Max Martinez throws a mean party every year for glitterati who love to pose in his glamorous clothes. The store throws off the same tres chic vibe, with serious svelte mannequins wearing lots of short, tight black garments. If you’re 20 and loaded, or just live the lifestyle, this place is for you.

Next stop is Lawrence Covell at 225 Steele Street. This Italian boutique is the main course, a little slice of paradiso in the core of trendy Cherry Creek North. Cathy and Lawrence Covell have operated the men’s and women’s store for decades, raising their son on buying trips to the old country. Now he’s running the store with them, stepping with ease into Lawry’s Italian loafers. Tailored jackets, trousers and skirts in the world’s most luscious fabrics line the walls. Expect to pay for the luxury, but plan to wear the garments – and feel like Lauren Bacall and Bogey as you do – until the day you drop dead.

For American designers and some classic European houses, visit Andrisen Morton Women at 270 St. Paul Street, and Andrisen Morton Men at 210 St. Paul Street. Dave Morton and Craig Andrisen had been outfitting Denver bankers and lawyers for years from their shop in the heart of downtown’s Financial District when an opportunity came along. An aging Cherry Creek women’s boutique was for sale, with a prime corner property and a clientele heavy on socialites. The new Andrisen Morton Women was born. A standalone men’s store followed shortly thereafter. Loyal customers come for the deep selection of accessible designer lines – from Ralph Lauren to Armani and Versace – as well as the bridal department.