1624 Montana Ave. Santa Monica, CA 90403 | (310) 828-4149

It's been a little more than a year that this gem of a boutique has been at its location in Santa Monica, and it's not showing signs of leaving any time soon. This is good news for those in the area as this store has some, for lack of a better term, kick-ass shoes.

Shoes from designers like Christian La Croix, Giuseppe Zanotti, Barbara Bui and Claudia Ciuti line the Robin's-egg blue walls, interspersed with a few luxe handbags and pieces of jewelry. It may sound like your average boutique, but don't come here expecting anything ordinary. The shoes from these mostly European lines are not the typical styles you'd run into at the department stores or even at other area boutiques. Instead the owner and buyer Beth Whiffen looks for the fun, sometimes even funky, standouts that possess elegance balanced with individuality.

You may wonder as we did where the name came from and I'm glad you asked! ‘Il Primo Passo' means ‘The first step' in Italian, and it's a play on the 12 steps of recovery. You see, the store's tag line is ‘For Shoe Addicts' so for those of you who aren't so familiar, this store is basically admitting you have a problem…the first step.

If you're in the area this is yet another store we would recommend visiting. Even if your credit card is maxed it's worth swinging through just to check out the décor and selection. Know anyone in the area who wants to have a shoe party? Yes, they even do that too which is truly fabulous. Oh and when you're there, please say hi to Brent from the girls at RWH!

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