Yesterday afternoon, I visited one of my very favorite parts of the city, the Mission District. For those of you who don't know, it is the warmest and most vibrant part of San Francisco. It not only has the beautiful mission, Dolores Park and great restaurants, but also has a very active vintage clothing community. I only visited some of its stores, but the ones I visited were fantastic gems.
I rode Bart over from Berkeley and got off at 16th & Mission. I walked up Mission one block to Thrift Town, a vintage department-like store. When I first moved to the city many, many years ago, I bought most of clothes here, including vintage dresses. Clothes here are very inexpensive and you have to dig for quality items, but doesn't that make it more fun?
After leaving Thrift Town, I walked over to Valencia Street, just one block away and headed for my next stop, Schauplatz Vintage only a few blocks away. I was welcomed by Bernard who showed me several interesting vintage items to admire and photograph. A few more blocks down Valencia lead me to Retro Fit where Steven was busily working on a last minute project. I totally loved the decor in this store and the mannequins, some whimsical and others with so much attitude. A short distance away was Afterlife Boutique, which had a lot of clothes for men (hard to find in a lot of vintage stores).
At the corner of Valencia and 21st Street I turned left and visited a very cute, boutique/consignment store called Gravel & Gold. I was first attracted by the hand-painted breast shirts in the window. This store had a lot of whimsy. I walked back up to Valencia a few more blocks to my last stop, Painted Bird. Although this was one of the smallest stores I visited, it had the most to tempt me to buy, including a beautiful red, leather jacket by Prada. If it had only been a little bigger, it would have gone home with me. There was also a good selection of women's shoes less than $20 and vintage jackets in perfect condition for $40+. I would definitely come back here just to shop. Enjoy the photos!
Thrift Town
2101 Mission St. (17th & Mission)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 861-1132
Walking up Valencia St. in the Mission District
San Francisco, CA
Schauplatz Vintage
791 Valencia St. (Between 18th & 19th St.)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 864-5665
Bernard, owner of Schauplatz Vintage
Retro Fit
910 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA
(415) 550-1530
info@retrofityourworld.com
retrofityourworld.com
Steven at Retro Fit
Painted ladies on Valencia St.
After Life
988 Valencia St. (Between 20th & 21st St.)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 796-2398
www.afterlifeboutique.com
afterlifeboutique@gmail.com
Joey at After Life
Vintage coach purse at After Life
Coach collection at After Life
Gravel & Gold
3266 21st St. (Between Valencia & Mission St.)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 552-0112
dig@gravelandgold.com
gravelandgold.com
Sarah at Gravel & Gold
More sights on Valencia St.
Painted Bird
1360 Valencia St. (Between 24th & 25th St.)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 401-7027
shoppainted.com
Ralph Lauren flats at Painted Bird
Prada leather jacket at Painted Bird
YSL blazer at Painted Bird
Purrfect 1940's jacket at Painted Bird
Hi Toni , Thank you so much for visiting Painted Bird . The photos you took were quite lovely . If you're ever in the L.A. area , be sure to check out our location at 4208 Santa Monica Blvd . The owners of Painted Bird are usually there on the weekends . Happy treasure hunting !
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Michelle