Emilie Shapiro Travels to Timbuktu By Way of The East Village

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New York City has more stores than anyone could physically tackle, but somehow we always keep returning to the usual suspects. To break out of the rut, we've asked some of the city's shopping and fashion gurus to provide their hidden retail gems—those unique stores around our island (and beyond) that we might not all know about. Cue The Beatles: We're about to get a little help from our friends.

Emilie Shapiro considers herself an alchemist. The creator of the We Are Here jewelry line begins her process by grouping together materials that have no relation to each other, so she appreciates the colorful juxtapositions in East Village shop Timbuktu, which specializes in items from Morocco.—Yale Breslin

The first place that comes to mind is Timbuktu in the East Village right next to New York Adorned. It's a really beautiful shop filled with treasures from Morocco ranging from clothing to slippers, furniture, scarfs, statues, and unbelievable jewelry. Their prices range from from cheap to really expensive, but the pieces are exquisite. I've scooped up amazing treasures like a silver and carnelian breast plate from the 1800's, more modern lapis necklaces, and super cool rings. They have really beautiful tunics and my favorite crochet slippers are from here.

The overall aura of the shop is really wonderful and it is a great place to escape for a while. But my favorite thing about Timbuktu is after some good shopping, you can walk across the street for an amazing (inexpensive) dinner at Frank. Delicious.