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Thomas Jefferson set the bar for high style in Charlottesville–have you seen the way he decorated Monticello? Now, more than 200 years later, that flair for "traditional with a twist" has spread from nine blocks on downtown's Main Street to additional trade on the side streets and western outskirts of town. You'll find no mass-marketed chain stores in this city of 40,000. But you will find a weekend full of shopping, history, and, if there's a football game, an orange-infused tailgate extravaganza. Learn the University of Virginia's signature holler, "Wahoowa," soon; you may find yourself yelling it as you discover the cottage appeal of our favorite shops, the early fall cool of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and some of the best dining in the Appalachians.
Saturday is the day to shop. (On Sunday, when most shops close, you can rest your charge card and explore the city's nonconsumer side; see "Sunday suggestions.") Early Saturday you can map your itinerary (or use ours) with a fat muffin and a cup of "C'ville's Best Cup of Coffee" at Mudhouse in the Downtown Mall's west end. Mud Cup in hand, you're fueled to walk four blocks south to the Downtown Design Center, a former lawnmower repair building showing its hardworking roots in landlord Alana Woerpel's retail fabric and trim shop, Alana's (now open by appointment only). In addition to the textiles and a Richmond line of "Sunny's Goodtime" paint products, her workroom makes a variety of slipcovers, bedding, and take-away handmade custom draperies. Around the corner, Quince displays a delicious fraction of the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furniture and fabrics you can order, plus some Dransfield & Ross pillows that will jump-start the shopping process. Get owner Sharon Manering to show you the range of pillows in feathers, fringe, faux fur, buttons, suede, and passementerie (ornamental trim). 2 French Hens hums along to Gallic chansons playing in this former warehouse that's now full of painted and upholstered furniture its owners recondition largely from early 20th-century finds. Keep an eye out for snazzy Parisian "Sabre" barware and still cool 1920s and 30s French fonts for monogramming the shop's linens.
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