Santa Ana in Orange County features an amazing variety of shopping appealing to contemporary tastes, and traditional values. Downtown Santa Ana filled with historic buildings and an art district also includes one of the the best shopping areas for Hispanic celebrations and familiar clothing items.

While gowns and bridal dresses may appear to come from the sweeping "Gone with the Wind" opulence that included tight bodices and full-bodied skirts held in place through hoops, the fashion apparel still maintains romance appeal in Hispanic ceremonies ranging from the teen girls "coming of age" celebration to weddings.

A unique shopping experience, even if you are merely window shopping, is a well spent afternoon in downtown Santa Ana, Calif. where you will see vendor carts selling colorful juice drinks, brightly-colored food you many never have seen, and windows filled with a variety of colorful costumes and clothes.

While the traditional MainPlace shopping center, an indoor mall that was used for the filming of Kindergarten Cop with Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a few miles away in Santa Ana, downtown Santa Ana includes many stores that are privately owned and operated as mom & pop shops. You'll enjoy the stroll and change of pace.

And what's especially interesting about stepping into this culturally-rich experience is that a few miles away in Westminster you can enter another culture and different world completely in Little Saigon.