Shopping in New York

New York compresses the whole American argument about style into one island: Fifth Avenue altitude, Madison's Ivy wit, an 1838 Village apothecary, and downtown rooms where Japanese denim and world tailoring found their U.S. embassies. It rewards the walker with range no other city matches.

The walk: New York — Fifth Avenue to Tribeca — 4 hours.

Tiered houses of New York

• Brooks Brothers Heritage House
  America's oldest clothier (1818) — inventor of the ready-made suit and the original polo button-down collar. brooksbrothers.com
• Bergdorf Goodman Icon
  Fifth Avenue’s temple since 1901 — nine floors on the old Vanderbilt mansion plot; the shoe salon has its own zip code, the seventh-floor windows their own cult. bergdorfgoodman.com
• Paul Stuart Heritage House
  Madison Avenue’s dandy since 1938 — the sharper, wittier cousin of Ivy; Phineas Cole upstairs for the brave. paulstuart.com
• C.O. Bigelow Heritage House
  America’s oldest apothecary, 1838 — gaslight fixtures, Mark Twain’s prescriptions on file, house formulas still compounded. bigelowchemists.com
• Leffot ORBIS Pick
  The West Village shrine of men’s shoes — Edward Green, Corthay and friends in one tiny perfect room; trunk shows worth flying for. leffot.com
• Blue in Green Hidden Gem
  SoHo’s Japanese-denim embassy — loomstate rolls, chain-stitch hemming machine humming in back, Momotaro to Warehouse wall to wall. blueingreensoho.com