SF vintage clothng stores?

bartenders, feel free to move if this is in the wrong place...
Hi Ladies, I need help from those of you who live in or know San Francisco pretty well. I'll be heading there next week to vacation for a few days and wanted to hit up a few places for some vintage. Problem is I don't have very much time there and want to make the most of it, I found a list of stores, can any of you tell me which are worth a look and which to avoid? I'll be looking mostly for 40s / 50s stuff and I'll have only the MUNI to get around.

Aardvark's Odd Ark
1501 Haight Street (at Haight and Ashbury), San Francisco, 415.621.3141.

American Rag Co.
1305 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, 415.474.5214.

Buffalo Exchange
1800 Polk Street, San Francisco, 415.346.5726 closed
and
1555 Haight Street, San Francisco, 415.431.7733

Clothes Contact
473 Valencia Street at 16th, San Francisco, 415.621.3212
Vintage clothing & fabrics sold by the pound.

Guys and Dolls
3789 24th Street, San Francisco, 415.285.7174. Vintage clothing 1920s through 1950s.

Held Over
1543 Haight Street, San Francisco, 415.864.0818.

Hide and Seek Antiques
1913 Hyde Street, San Francisco, 415.776.8865. Incredible selection of Bakelite, Mexican Silver jewelry. Specializing in 1920's clothing, shawls, hats, purses made in France and Chinese embroidered robes.

La Rosa
1543 Haight Street, San Francisco, 415.668.3744. For the ladies, 1930s and 40s daywear, cocktail dresses and formals. For the gentlemen, vintage tuxedos, double-breasted suits, and accessories. Open every day.

Martini Mercantile
1773 Haight Street at Schrader, San Francisco, 415.668.3746. Classic clothing for men & women. Vintage accessories.

Mission Thrift
2330 Mission Street at 19th, San Francisco, 415.821.9560. Mostly contemporary used clothing.
Retro City Resale
1825 Polk Street at Washington, San Francisco, 415.673.1144. Mostly contemporary. Consignment.

Satellite Vintage
1364 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117. Tel. 415.626.1364.

The Street Shop
2045 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, 415.931.4382.

Third Hand Store
1839 Divisadero St., San Francisco, 415.567.7332. Open noon-6, Mon-Sat.

Ver Unica
148 Noe Street, San Francisco, CA 94114. Tel. 415.431.0688.

Unforgettable
2435 Polk Street (between Union and Filbert). Tel. 415.474.0115. Superb vintage attire, accessories, jewelry, Bakelite. 1900-1950's garments and accessories for women only.

The Wasteland
1660 Haight Street, San Francisco, 415.863.3150.

Costume Shop (thats its name)
at the corner of Hyde and California

Thanks!

I did some yes and no, let me know if you want me to take it off. -LD

I am not from San Francisco, but from North Bay, where there are several good ones:

Marin County:

Shadows in San Anselmo

Deja Nu in San Rafael

Sonoma County:

Haute Couture in Santa Rosa

Moxie in Santa Rosa

Also there are several good ones in San Jose/ Berkeley/Oakland.

Skip most of the 'exchange stores'. They are pretty lame. Haight street has some good ones but be prepaired for some crazy pricing.

There is a great costume shop on Hyde at California that I go to often. The owner is nice and he has tons of vintage mixed (like 30-s to 50s stuff) in with costume wear.

Let me know when you are coming to the citay, maybe we can meet up

LD

I'm not from San Francisco, but when I took a day-trip alone from Berkeley to Haight Ashbury, I noticed that a lot of the vintage stores were clumped together...Aardvark was definitely one of them. I got some great deals at those places.

I've been pretty unimpressed with the Buffalo Exchange stores in other areas. The one in Albuquerque is amazing, with a whole "vintage" section and RIDICULOUSLY priced goods...but the locations I've seen elsewhere aren't nearly the same.

thanks Ladies, I'm looking forward to the shopping (who doesn't look forward to shopping?)

nicoletta: not sure that I'll be able to venture out of the immediate SF area but maybe I can get a friend of ours from Oakland to drive us around. thanks!

lady day: thanks for the yes and no's, (I was wondering where that highlighting came from!) I'll be in town the 16-20th, Katie Brookes mentioned a get together in the SF knitwear thread. I'm open to a shop-a-thon or cocktail meetup. I'll send you a PM in a few.

gluegungeisha: haight street does sound like the place to go, despite the $. And, yeah I was pretty unimpressed with our Buffalo Exchange too, their selection is almost all new stuff and take them a bag full of great vintage and they'll scoff and offer you $10.

Hi--yeah--the Haight is a great place to get vintage, but be prepared to pay the price. But you are sure to find some beautiful beautiful items.

Happy shopping! And my personal recommendation is the Costume Shop on Hyde street. The fellow got these bails of dresses from Germany in the forties and fifties that are great!

I was in the Haight / Ashbury area last night, there are quite a few there but yeah...pricey. I know that there are some in San Jose as well, but as my dad has this tight schedule worked out for me unfortunately I won't be able to hit any of them and I can't remember where they are right now either.
LD I wish I'd been able to let you know I was in the area! I didn't even know I was going up there until my dad told me to get in the car *sigh* I wish I had more time on this trip, I would love to get together with some of y'all while I was here

There's also Decades on Haight (across the street from La Rosa, I think) that has a great selection and it's more reasonably priced than La Rosa. My boyfriend got some stuff there this week while he was visiting.

And if you can get to Marin, I second Deja Nu! They have awesome stuff, and it's very reasonably priced. I also love the older lady that works there, she's very friendly and fun to talk to!

Really!? You find Decades reasonably priced!?

I went in there looking for sweater guards, and she had to dig only three out of the back and quoted me a price right there she just made up "$40, oh, these are rare"

LD

Lady Day said:

Really!? You find Decades reasonably priced!?

I went in there looking for sweater guards, and she had to dig only three out of the back and quoted me a price right there she just made up "$40, oh, these are rare"

LD

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Well that's just insane! I didn't pay too much attention to the prices of the ladies' clothing (my boyfriend and I were just shopping for him), but the 30's dress pants he got were only priced at $68, which I thought was pretty good!

What I liked about the store though was the selection. I saw a lot of really interesting pieces from the 30's and 40's, and that stuff if just so rare in LA. LA is totally picked over, so if I can find a beautiful piece from those decades in person, when I can actually try it on and check it for flaws, I'm a lot more willing to pay a higher price.

I only got to peek through the windows. There was no way my dad was going to let me go inside and look at anything. My dad thinks my vintage style is stupid and that I look ridiculous so asking him to let me take some time to look in the stores is almost laughable. My mom is slightly better but then she spent years in the fashion industry.
What caught my eye at decades was the wall of hats....my heart leapt...

Nashoba said:

I only got to peek through the windows. There was no way my dad was going to let me go inside and look at anything. My dad thinks my vintage style is stupid and that I look ridiculous so asking him to let me take some time to look in the stores is almost laughable. My mom is slightly better but then she spent years in the fashion industry.
What caught my eye at decades was the wall of hats....my heart leapt...

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Are you still out here?

FG.

FedoraGent said:

Are you still out here?

FG.

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Yep sure am. I'll be at my parents until monday then in anaheim until friday and then back at my parents until the 21st

well everyone thanks for the suggestions! Wish me luck as I'm heading out there tomorrow.
A couple of you had mentioned a meetup and while I'd love to I don't think I'll have time or be able to coordinate anything. I wish I had more time to spend there

Nashoba said:

What caught my eye at decades was the wall of hats....my heart leapt...

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Awww, if it makes you feel any better, her hats are overpriced (says the guilty owner of a $50 partridge-feathered pancake with a moth nibble* I got there on impulse one day when my snood blew away).

*hidden by an artful (viva!) hatpin.

The Salvation Army near 26th(?) St. in the Mission is often good (and I have got hats there), as is "Costume Party", the shop others have mentioned.

well I have returned from my SF trip, back to the 100 degree Dallas heat. (its actually not that bad here today) Anyways,yes shopping along Haight was quite pricey. I stopped by La Rosa and Decades (was too pooped to walk to Satellite).Both places had some very nice things (especially La Rosa) but I just couldn't bring myself to spend $100+ on one dress. It really made me appreciate what we have here in Dallas. An average vintage dress from the 50s will run $30-$40 while a nicer, more rare design (or great fabric) dress will be $40-$60.
Costume Party had a great sale rack (dresses starting at $15!) but I couldn't find a single one in my size (all were way too large or small). I did splurge and buy a couple of things there and even found a swimwuit at Wasteland. Wasteland had the WORST store music by the way, could barely stand to be in there. Anyways a successful shopping venture, had a blast. I'll post my finds in the 'show us your purchases' thread tonight.

Memories...

I used to work at La Rosa (and found my husband there as he shopped!), and Spig from Costume Party is one of my oldest friends!
I am always up for a shopping trip, so if any of you out-of-towners are coming to visit, let me know!

ssubialdea said:

An average vintage dress from the 50s will run $30-$40 while a nicer, more rare design (or great fabric) dress will be $40-$60.

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Sigh..... those were the days.