Piedmont Avenue is an area of the San Francisco East Bay that I am very familiar with.  I have been going there for years to eat at restaurants and to shop.  Since moving to Berkeley, I have gone there less often.  I did not know if this neighborhood had a vintage culture, but after a little research found that it had at least four vintage stores, so I decided to check it out.

My first stop was Mercy Vintage Now owned and operated by Jenny and Karen (4188 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA, 510-654-5599, www.mercyvintage.com, jenny@mercyvintage.com).  It is a small store, but has high-end vintage and contemporary clothing and shoes.  In a cabinet, that was not locked, I found a treasure trove of shoes by YSL, Dolce Gabbana and other designers that I'm featuring below. Jenny told me that their store was the first vintage shop to appear on the Avenue, but in the past year others had opened up.  She suggested that I go to Resurrect.

Before going to Resurrect, I walked down the street to a consignment shop called Bis, owned and operated by Lila (4254 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA 510-547-7800, Lila@bispiedmont.comcastbiz.net).  Bis is a high-end consignment shop, meaning that the prices are rather high.  Since I routinely shop at consignment stores, I thought it was a little over priced.  But all neighborhoods need consignment stores to recycle clothing and Bis is a viable store for the Piedmont neighborhood.  I especially liked a pair of black leather lace-up boots that (after looking at the photos again last night) wish I had bought.

Down Piedmont Avenue from Mercy Vintage Now and Bis, is Resurrect, (4135 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA 510-653-8716, www.resurrectdesigns.com, www.facebook.com/resurrectdesigns, kate@resurrectdesigns.com) a new vintage store that really has what it takes.  This small shop owned by two sisters, Kate and Ashley, is visually attractive and has both vintage clothing and handcrafted jewelry and hats.  I especially liked the Kachi pendants and the handcrafted necklaces. There were also beautiful evening gowns and other vintage dresses that were irresistible.  Resurrect is also pet friendly and allows dogs in to browse and shop with their pet parents.  I tried photographing one small dog shopper, but he would not hold still long enough for a good photo.

From Resurrect, I walked to Rare Bird (3883 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA 510-653-2473, www.therarebird.com, erica@therarebird.com) another small vintage store owned by Erica and managed by Tom.  While there, a seller was offering up quite a collection of vintage dresses from the 1950's that I would have loved to photograph. The shop was hopping with activity and I found some gorgeous items to share with you, including a black quilted circle skirt from the 1950's, a shimmery silver cocktail dress and a suede and faux fur coat by Lilly Ann.

My last stop on Piedmont Avenue was to a thrift shop called Dress Best For Less (3861 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA 510-658-8525, www.dressbestforless.org, dressbestforless@yahoo.com).  Clothes are donated and all proceeds from sales go to the Piedmont School District.  Here I found a beautiful brown suede fringed jacket and a kimono dressing gown.  I found that prices were slightly high, but know that the money goes to a good cause.

After my journey down Piedmont Avenue, I walked back to my car parked on a side street on 41st Street.  I was about a half block away and I looked up and saw the Discovery Shop (127 41st St., Oakland, CA 510-595-7130, stacy.overcamp@cancer.org) managed by Stacy Overcamp and owned by the American Cancer Society.  I couldn't resist and went in to see what this shop had to offer.  Discovery shop is a thrift store with most items under $10.  And there were some hidden treasures, including a pair of Marc Jacobs jeans and a gold and blue velvet Anne Klein jacket.

 Jenny at Mercy Vintage Now

 A view of the store at Mercy Vintage Now

 Front window at Mercy Vintage Now

 Mercy Vintage Now

 Candy apple red 1940's-esque shoes at Mercy Vintage Now

 Gold & brown leather flats at Mercy Vintage Now

 Boot corner at Mercy Vintage Now

 Another view of Mercy Vintage Now

YSL fantasy shoes at Mercy Vintage Now

 White suede boots at Mercy Vintage Now

 Fur coat at Mercy Vintage Now

 Fabric & red suede shoes at Mercy Vintage Now

 Dolce Gabbana black pumps at Mercy Vintage Now

 Retro 19th Century boots at Mercy Vintage Now

 Metallic green heels at Mercy Vintage Now

 Black faux alligator stiletto heels at Mercy Vintage Now

 Entrance to Bis

 Black dress with mink stole at Bis

 A view of the store at Bis

 Shoe corner at Bis

 Black lace up boots at Bis

 Wool DKNY blazer with velvet collar at Bis

 Pink knitted jacket with black trim at Bis

 Resurrect

 Ashley, owner of Resurrect

 A view of the store at Resurrect

 Hand crafted hats at Resurrect

 Kachi pendants at Resurrect

 Men's corner at Resurrect

 Black jet & crystal handcrafted necklaces at Resurrect

 Dreamy evening gown at Resurrect

 1950's day dress with fringe trim at Resurrect

 A comfortable corner to try on shoes at Resurrect

 Stunning black velvet dress at Resurrect

 Brown wool coat with fur collar at Resurrect

 Shoe area at Resurrect

 Pillow Talk dressing gown at Resurrect

 Rare Bird

 Window display at Rare Bird

 A view of the store at Rare Bird

 Black 1950's quilted circle skirt ($50) at Rare Bird

 Black & white checked jacket at Rare Bird

 Faux fur and suede Lily Ann coat ($88) at Rare Bird

 Slinky, silver cocktail dress at Rare Bird

Entrance to Dress Best For Less

 A view of the store at Dress Best For Less

 Beautiful Asian leather purse at Dress Best For Less

 Brown suede fringed jacket ($25) at Dress Best For Less

Black fur coat with mink trim at Dress Best For Less

Kimono dressing gown ($35) at Dress Best For Less

 Discovery Shop

 Inside the Discovery Shop

 Adorable black shoes by Paolo ($12) at Discovery Shop

 Candy cane slip on pumps ($8) at Discovery Shop

 Gray fabric flats by Bruno Magali ($14) at Discovery Shop

 Brown midi sweater at Discovery Shop

 Gold & royal blue velvet Anne Klein jacket ($20) at Discovery Shop

Marc Jacobs jeans ($29) at Discovery Shop