I recommend getting a basic wordpress theme and added to it. Of course if you don't mind paying for one, there are some very nice wordpress themes for sale.
Selecting "the best" is going to be hard as people have different taste and different uses for WordPress, personally i would say that solostream.com's wp-mediamag is one of the best out there.
Thematic is absolutely brilliant. I don't think I can post links yet, so sorry. IT's a theme framework, which means that there are hundreds upon hundreds of functions and possibilities. Because it's a framework, you customize it with a child theme. I'm in the process of of developing a child theme. Check it out: http://wordpress.blogpanoptic.com/wordpress-themes/ Read more about Thematic here: http://themeshaper.com/thematic/ Check out more Child themes here: http://themeshaper.com/category/thematic-child-themes
Although i prefer making custom themes for my sites, but usually Studiopress Themes works perfectly as well.
This might have not the best design, but in terms of flexibility and SEO, I highly recommend Thesis Theme. But if you are looking for free WP themes, check this out: http://wphacks.com/50-best-free-wordpress-themes-gallery/
I'm looking at both WP-Smooth by Solostream and the Church theme by Studiopress. Both are virtually the same except for the CSS images... which can be edited rather easily. Difference is Solostream is $40-$50 more than Brian Gardner's Studiopress themes... What makes Solostream think they are worth the extra money? Brain's stuff is extremely SEO friendly, and probably has the best support out of any wordpress author. Anyone care to elaborate?
Hi, I like Wordpress themes from http://www.webdesignlessons.com and http://www.skinpress.com They are attractive.
If you are looking for magazine layouts, arthemia is the best. There are other magazine layouts as well but arthemia is easy to configure and has a lot of features.
Thesis theme by diythemes[dot]com is the best theme there is. If you want to go for free theme then copyblogger, cutline, pressrow and newclassic from the same designer at pearsonified[dot]com/themes
It is hard to tell which theme is the best becouse there is so many great wordpress themes you can find on internet no metter if they are free or you have to pay for it.
What is the best flavor of icecream? What is the best car? What is the best brand of .... There is not best. You have to find the tool that suites your needs.