If you're staying in Culver City, definitely hop on the 10 and go to the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade. They just redid the area to include some cool higher end stores like AllSaints, Burberry, etc to their usual gamut of stores like Miss Sixty, Diesel, and Zara. It's also a fun place because of all the street performers, and there are plenty of parking garages.
http://www.santamonica.com/vis...../downtown/
The Beverly Center is also close to you, and they have stores like Fendi, Prada, D&G as well as less expensive fun ones that you don't find everywhere in the US like Superdry UK. They also have a supergigantic Forever XXI, and there is a pretty impressive Loehmann's adjacent.
http://www.beverlycenter.com/
I personally don't love South Coast... haven't been there in a couple of years, but it seemed like miles and miles of stuff I could never afford... not enough variety for me, though I don't know what your budget is.
For funkier/quirkier stuff, you might try the Melrose strip, which has upscale vintage, a pretty darn good Crossroads (new and used merch), and boutiques.
http://www.latourist.com/index.....ose-avenue
Don't waste your time with the Westside Pavillion, Century City mall, Fox Hills mall. They are the closest to you, but there's nothing special in there. If you need to stay close to Culver City for whatever reason, you'd be better off at the Culver City TJ Maxx, which is not any kind of "vacation" experience, but usually has a good selection. I don't recommend Beverly Hills, either, as the parking and traffic is a nightmare, and the stores don't seem all that stand-out for the prices they charge.
