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Neighborhood: Meatpacking District Type of Place: Gift Shops Description: I was walking around the Meatpacking District today. Its cobblestone streets were relatively uncrowded (the nighttime club crunch was hours away), and I was able to admire the scale and the quirky architecture of the neighborhood. "You guys haven't been back here in a while," I heard one woman say to her friends as they walked along. "Can you believe what's happened?" Truly, who could have known that this patch of the city, named for its historical ties to a distinctly unfashionable industry, would beome a hub of chi-chi restaurants, velvet-rope nightspots, and designer shops? I've lived in New York long enough to remember when, on hot summer days, the streets here smelled pretty much like blood. Auto grabbed my attention not so much as a throwback to the neighborhood as it was--the store does not practice meatpacking--but as a welcoming, though beautiful, option among what can be intimidating retail choices. (I'd thought about ducking into the Christian Louboutin shoe boutique, but, alas, I really wasn't dressed for it.) Billing itself as a "mini department store," Auto features two shop spaces alongside each other, one carrying primarily housewares and the other clothing and accessories. In the clothing "branch," I loved the bags by Luisa Cevese, made from recycled materials: totes with snappy metallic trim ($55) and vintage fabrics (from $145). I also admired the hand-batiked silk kimonos ($195); the whimsical acryillic-on-wood paintings by Trisha Krauss (displayed in both shop spaces, $200-$400); and the long "Grecian" dresses from Canadian designer Virginia Johnson ($276). Husband-and wife design team Epice get extra points for intercontinality: She's Danish, he's Indian, and they're currently based in Paris. Their fabric purses ($55) and cheerful scarves ($37) looked fresh for spring. I've been writing this column for a while now and, in the process, have seen a lot of jewelry. Much of it I've coveted; some of it I've actually splurged on. But I don't recall coming across jewelry that almost moved me to tears, until now. Jewelry artist Jeanine Payer hand engraves quotes from literature, mostly poetry, into her pieces--in fine, tiny script that indicates countless hours of hard work. I was drawn in by a silver ring engraved with a passage from Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass": "I am the poet of the body, and I am the poet of the soul." Imagining Payer bent over her engraving to honor writers' words (Rilke, Checkov, and Proust, among others, are represented) was truly emotional for me. I've since learned that she has an ardent following (no surprise), including some celebrity devotees (Halle Berry owns some of her pieces). Not that a price can really be put on artistry and passion, but--Payer's ultra-beautiful work sells for $200 and up. In the housewares shop area, I liked the hand-embroidered pillows ($190), the assorted glassware, the children's toys (starting at around $35), and the cards (one especially beautiful sample featured "watermark" heart designs on hand-made white paper and was imported from Finland; $8). Special mention to the great-smelling and affordable soap from Brickhouse ($6), with the amusingly cheeky tagline of "Never shower alone." Auto half-jokingly bills itself as a "mini department store" due to the variety of its offerings; but obviously you'd never find wares like these at most of the big chains. There may well be something for everyone at this lovely shop--but whatever it is, it's likely to be something creative, whimsical, and/or flat-out gorgeous that the recipient hasn't seen before. - Pamela Grossman
auto. 803-805 Washington St New York, NY 10014 (212) 229-2292 http://www.thisisauto.com/ Map Subway
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