Sunday, July 8, 2012

Mining for Vintage in the Mother Lode

I took a trip up to Sonora, CA this weekend, which is about a 3-hour drive from my home in Berkeley.  I went there to visit my parents and to discover vintage stores in the area.  I was not disappointed and found some very good stores as well as a flea market in a storage facility.  I took my mom, Fran, along on Friday afternoon and we found some very good vintage/consignment shops along Washington Street, the main street in Sonora.

Our first stop was Runway Xchange (115 S. Washington St., Sonora, CA, RunwayXchange@att.net, 209-532-9990).  This store is owned by Lauralee Whitman.  While she was not there on Friday, her store manager, Allison, gave us a tour of the store and displayed some her favorite clothes, including a print tunic by Trina Turk.  I also found wild Versace pants that were very reasonably priced and a red Moschino dress that I particularly liked.

After spending some time at  Runway Xchange, I promised Fran that I would treat her to an iced mocha at Legends, a coffee house down the street.  It was very hot out (over 100 degrees) and we both needed to keep up our energy level to see more stores.  Legends was a nice break (and air conditioned).  It was a bank during the time of the gold rush and has a vault in the cellar.  There are stories that people used to get to the bank through a tunnel that was under the town in order to protect themselves and their gold.  When I grew up in Sonora, it was a bar.  Now it is a lovely coffee house and bookstore.

After our iced mochas, we headed out again to our next store, Occasion Station (157 S. Washington St., Sonora, CA, 209-533-2400; also find them on Facebook).  This store is owned by Casie Schornick who has the greatest collection of vintage purses and hats at the best prices.  On Friday, all the purses were 50% and I bought the brown alligator purse that is shown below for only $12.  Fran got a beautiful shell necklace and a brown leather vest that she is modeling.  I liked the vest too, but had to let her have it since she is my mother.  Our final stop on Friday was Trade Winds (63 S. Washington St., Sonora, CA, www.tradewindsconsignment.com, 209-588-8810).  This store, owned by Hope Slifert, has a good collection of designer shoes (most under $40).  There is also a nice mixture of vintage and modern clothes at good prices.

On Saturday, I visited three other thrift stores and a flea market in a group of storage lockers.  The stores that I visited included (1) Anew boutique and consignment shop owned by Amber Grandois (610 S. Washington St. #B, Sonora, CA, anew2u@hotmail.com).  This store has a great assortment of knock-off designer purses and everything in the store was 50% off.  I got a beautiful (fake) Louis Vuitton purse for only $10.  (2) Purrrfect Bargains Thrift Store (Humane Society) managed by Kay Nordvik (14317 Mono Way, Sonora, CA, purrfectbargains@hsotc.org, 209-533-2963) - proceeds go to the Humane Society.  (3) Good Stuff managed by Diane Barreno (210 Stockton Rd., Sonora, CA, www.watchresources.org, 209-588-0550) - voted the best thrift store in the Tuolumne County.  The flea market in the storage lockers is called Gold Mine Storage Flea Market and is at the intersection of Tuolumne Road and Eagle Ridge.  This flea market happens every other weekend.


Fran displaying 1960's drop waist dress from Runway Xchange

Allison behind the counter at Runway Xchange

Runway Xchange

Shoe department at Runway Xchange

Red & black cowboy boot at Runway Xchange

Fran displaying wild, vintage Chinese jacket at Runway Xchange

Kate Spade purse ($72) at Runway Xchange

Pink polka dot Kate Spade purse ($118) at Runway Xchange

Kate Spade wallet ($42) at Runway Xchange

VERY cool boots ($52) at Runway Xchange

Allison displaying Trina Turk tunic ($29) at Runway Xchange

Red Moschino cocktail dress ($62) at Runway Xchange

Versace green & blue zebra pants ($32) at Runway Xchange

Polka dot Versace pants ($38) & Blue Versace pants ($68) at Runway Xchange

Runway Xchange

Fran studying the menu at Legends

Legends coffee house on S. Washington in Sonora

The Occasion Station

1950's dress wall display at The Occasion Station

Gold leather & fabric purse at The Occasion Station

Casie behind the counter at The Occasion Station

Cowboy boots & portrait at The Occasion Station

Wood & leather purse at The Occasion Station

Apricot strapless prom dress at The Occasion Station

Fran examining an abalone shell necklace at The Occasion Station

Vintage hats at The Occasion Station

1960's feather jacket at The Occasion Station

Gray woven shoulder bag at The Occasion Station

Leopard bag at The Occasion Station

Red suede shoulder bag at The Occasion Station 

My adorable alligator purse from The Occasion Station

Leopard purse with gold handle at The Occasion Station

Spring 1920's hat at The Occasion Station

1940's leopard hat at The Occasion Station

Fran dancing in her leather vest at The Occasion Station

Trade Winds

Pink flowered bell bottoms with yellow sweater at Trade Winds

1960's dress with Coach purse at Trade Winds

Trade Winds - a view of the store

Roberto Cavalli 2-piece top at Trade Winds

Bikini display at Trade Winds 

1950's blue satin & lace dress at Trade Winds

Ballerina at Trade Winds

Coach summer sandal pumps at Trade Winds

Anew

 Friendly staff at Anew

Hot dress at Anew

Good knockoff Louis Vuitton purse at Anew (I bought it)

Kate Spade shoes for $12 at Anew

Platform leather boots at Anew

Vendor's storage locker display at Gold Mine Storage Flea Market 

Vintage albums at Gold Mine Storage Flea Market 

Vintage purses at Gold Mine Storage Flea Market 

Purrrfect Bargains Thrift Store

Shilo - the store cat at Purrrfect Bargains Thrift Store

Clothing section at Purrrfect Bargains Thrift Store

Good Stuff

Spagetti strap sun dress & vintage purse at Good Stuff

White party dress at Good Stuff

Diane helping a vintage shopper at Good Stuff

Vintage hats & dolls at Good Stuff

2 comments:

  1. I love it!! One correction though, I'm not the manager. :) Thank you so much for your time and your friendly conversation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The plaid "kate spade" wallet is counterfeit. However, the purses are authentic. The black one is a "Sam," and the pink one is a "Dot Noel."

    ReplyDelete