Not-So-Desperate Housewives

By Kate Pursell
Published: November 11, 2007
Last Updated On: September 2, 2011

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Shopping

Naples

Marco Island

Put on your shopping shoes and head to Naples, where high-end chain shops mingle with consignment stores and independent boutiques.

On a recent shopping trip to Naples I met up with some other style mavens in town for their own retail therapy. They called themselves the "Four Desperate Housewives from New York," but they weren't searching for pool boys and illicit afternoons on what could only be described as a picture-postcard, Chamber of Commerce Saturday afternoon in Naples.

They came on a girls' long weekend to find shopping nirvana. And they did, what with a Vera Wang trunk sale, Oprah-endorsed Cambio jeans and unique gifts galore for the folks back home.

One of the forty-something housewives called Naples "Shopping Heaven," adding "Don't use our names… we're really not desperate housewives!" as they left the Arabesque stationary and gift store on palm tree-lined Fifth Avenue South.

Their shopping bags fluttered in the gentle afternoon breeze as the "desperate housewives" strolled among other shoppers in the charming "olde" downtown area. Gushing about their first time visit, they vowed "We'll be baaack,'' as one housewife adjusted her jaunty navy-trimmed straw hat.

It was at a consignment shop when I – not a desperate housewife! – had my "Holy Grail" moment of shopping when I spotted a cream-colored Chanel boucle jacket.

Naples does have gorgeous beaches, excellent restaurants and superlative golf courses, but equal lures are its upscale shops, shopping and outlet malls and consignment stores.

It was at a consignment shop when I – not a desperate housewife! – had my "Holy Grail" moment of shopping when I spotted a cream-colored Chanel boucle jacket. The $300 price tag made my heart flutter: Retail would push it to several thousand. St. John, Escada, Jil Sander, even a few Valentinos – castoffs that qualify as full-blown treasures – filled the shop.

Wearing comfy shoes is a must, because you'll want to spend hours scouring the shops for unique treasures. "Unique" certainly described the toddler-sized pink chiffon swimsuit with matching hat that Kathy LaBlue bought for her granddaughter. Later, as she took a final sip of coffee at McCabe's Irish Pub & Grill, she smiled impishly and whispered the $142 price tag so hubby couldn't hear.

At Marissa Collections on Third Street South (also part of the historic downtown district), Dolce & Galbanna, Prada, Versace and Valentino enticed, as did the Vera Wang trunk show. I was tempted to slip on a pair of Manolo Blahniks and strut in my best imitation of Sarah Jessica Parker.

Adoration was easy at the Village on Venetian Bay (waterfront shops, galleries and restaurants with brick paths and courtyards) and at the Waterside Shops at Pelican Bay. Here there are high-end stores that include Tiffany's, Saks, Talbots, Papyrus and Ralph Lauren.

Shopping can be tiring, and you need your strength, so a light lunch of iced tea and a California Bleu (a mixed-green salad topped with sugared-walnuts, fresh strawberries and bleu cheese) at Silver Spoon is a necessity. Or so I told myself.

Thus fortified, dare I now mention the Coastland Center, with 150 stores such as Dillards, Macy's and Victoria's Secret? Or the many bargains to be found at the Naples Outlet Center mall (located between Naples and Marco Island)? Sounds as if those desperate housewives might have a stop or two more before heading home!