Maybe because owner Lena Kwardrat has a background in art, her atelier in the seventh district feels like a contemporary art gallery for fashion. The minimalist, industrial-chic space stocks interesting pieces like jersey jumpsuits and handmade shoes from Berlin. The shop also hosts pop-up shops for individual, up-and-coming designers.

Owner Theresa Siedl was born into a family of glove-makers and is obsessed with the old-fashioned accessory. This store (“handschuhe” is the adorable German word for gloves) stocks winter gloves (made of wool and leather and topped with fur trim), driving gloves (of hand-stitched suede) as well as over-the-elbow evening gloves for attending a ball or opening night of the opera.

Vienna-based designer Eva Buchleitner, who has worked for Vivienne Westwood, creates covetable handbags. The slouchy, convertible leather purses come in a variety of sizes, styles and colors and each season brings new designs.

This jewel-box boutique is a good example of Vienna’s ever-changing creative scene. For years it served as the atelier of talented designer Sandra Gilles whose line of whimsical hand and market bags, as well as sleepwear and some fashion, developed a real hipster following. With Gilles having returned to her native France, the boutique has been taken over by goldsmith Michaela Arl de Lima who produces a line of high-end gold jewelry in the back of the shop. The plan is for Gilles to return once or twice a year for a shopping event with her latest design.

Founded in 1830, Loden-Plankl is the top outfitter for traditional Austrian garb. In their store near the Spanish Riding School you can find dirndls but also pieces that are wearable the world over, like cashmere capes and jewel-toned fitted wool jackets with antler buttons.

The creative fashion of renowned Austrian designer Michaela Mayer blends a modern-day aesthetic with beautiful fabrics and muted colors that make them decidedly wearable. On a recent visit I fell in love with an asymmetrical cashmere wrap in light mauve. The fantastical evening couture—clingy dresses in sheer fabrics with low-cut backs—is inspired by Mayer’s other calling, a theater costume designer. Many of the more intricate pieces are made in an atelier behind her shop in the Singerstrasse.

This is the place to purchase tickets for the museums of the MuseumsQuartier (tip: the MQ Duo Ticket is cheaper than buying each ticket separately). There is also a small boutique selling items by contemporary fashion and interior designers, so it’s a nice spot to shop for unique gifts. Watch for their “Designer of the Month” program. Open daily.

Founded in 1903 by Julianna Mühlbauer, whose fourth generation of ancestors run and own the business today, this old-fashioned milliner has contemporized itself. Today Mühlbauer makes hats that fit all categories, from dapper felt fedoras to floppy, wide-brimmed woven straw hats shot through with metallic ribbon.

The two-level Park recalls Paris’s Colette, with an exclusive selection of cool but not obvious labels—think Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela 6 and Isaac Reina —and a well-edited collection of books, DVDs, accessories and even furniture. Owned by Helmut Ruthner and Markus Strasser (the latter, a former fashion lecturer at the University of Applied Arts), Park also has an exceptional menswear collection. Closed Sunday.

This family-owned fine leather shop is committed to “form follows function,” and the owners pride themselves on following the principle of the great Austrian modern designers like Josef Hoffman and Adolf Loos. Located in a charming courtyard near the Hofburg Palace, the boutique displays an array of leather goods from laptop briefcases and travel bags to wallets and iPhone sleeves, all in a rainbow of colors. Bespoke orders can be made in person or online.

Rudolf Scheer & Söhne, a shoemaker of the highest order, has been shodding Viennese royalty since 1816. And it’s only fitting that to obtain one of Vienna’s finest handicrafts, clients are required to return three months after the initial appointment, and then again, six months later. This timely process ensures the best product (the leather is meant to last a lifetime). Only 300 shoes are constructed each year, and prices begin at $5,000, then vary greatly according to the leather. Indagare can arrange a private evening event at the atelier, including a dinner in the romantic cellar, which is reached via a suede staircase. Contact the Bookings Team to arrange.

This hip boutique in the Spittelberg neighborhood carries an eclectic mix of fashion and accessories by designers from Berlin, Tokyo and Vienna. The owners felt that Vienna needed a dose of cutting-edge Berlin, a city teeming with concept stores, and are running Sight like an artsy showcase for lesser-known labels. The space, a former bookstore, is not large but the variety is impressive, and in our homogeneous shopping world, it’s a pleasure to come across new or lesser-known European designers. Closed Sunday.

One of Vienna’s few truly avant-garde fashion boutiques, SONG fuses fashion, art, and interior design in an artful location in Vienna’s second district. The cutting-edge concept store resided across the Danube in the Historic Center until 2006, but its new storefront is more spacious and accommodating for the many exhibitions and performances that are held there. The interior redefines industrial chic with concrete floors, rough wooden stools and high ceilings punctuated by steel light fixtures, but is simple enough that the designs take center stage. Men’s- and womenswear designers include Dries van Noten and Balenciaga, as well as other interesting Viennese and international designers.

We Bandits was originally a pop-up store in several locations around the city but has now settled into a permanent home on Theobaldgasse. With a slightly lower price-point and funky, unique options, the boutique features up-and-coming designers, local and from abroad.