Saturday, October 27, 2012

Halloween Vintage on Polk Street, SF, CA

I couldn't have picked a nicer day to tour the vintage and consignment shops on Polk Street in San Francisco.  The weather was warm and beautiful and the mood festive since the Giants' successes this week.   Many people were wearing orange and black clothes as well as Halloween costumes.  I met my friend, Kathy, at the Pete's Coffee on Van Ness in Opera Plaza and after a short how are you, we headed towards Polk Street only one block away.


Our first stop was Fashion Exchange (1446 Polk St., San Francisco, CA, (415) 441-1331), which was crowded with Halloween costume shoppers.  There were racks of costumes, but also a large selection of consignment clothing and accessories.  I especially liked a tailored, black Burberry suit on the wall.  Kathy found 2 micro mini skirts in red and black.  They also have a huge collection of shoes.  Down the street from Fashion Exchange, is Out of the Closet (1498 Polk St., San Francisco, CA, (415) 771-1503).  They wouldn't let me take photographs inside the store, but I did get a shot of a very hunky male mannequin in the window wearing a muscle body tee shirt.

A few blocks away, we passed by a bakery that was also an antique store, Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques (1720 Polk St., San Francisco, CA, (415) 359-9039).  This small store is a combination bakery and collection of antique curiosities and some vintage clothing.  It had a great collection of gold compacts  and bracelets in a cabinet.  The pastries and cakes were also very tempting.

Our next stop was Townschool Clothes Closet (1850 Polk St., San Francisco, CA, (415) 929-8019, townschoolclothescloset.org), which is a combination thrift store and clothing store.  Every 2 months, this store has a huge sale at 50-70% off.  Proceeds go towards community schools in the area, so it's a great place to shop.

Heading towards Broadway, we stopped in at Molte Cose, a small consignment shop that has a large selection of vintage beaded purses.  It also had vintage shoes, gloves and other interesting accessories combined with antique figurine and toys.  I liked the black patten leather t-strap shoes by Anna Sylvestri.  If they had fit me, I would have brought them home.  Oh well.  After shopping here, we needed a break and had lunch at Nick's Crispy Taco's (Corner of Polk Street and Broadway).  Since the weather was so nice, we sat outside and feasted on grilled fish burritos.

After lunch, we walked across the street to Cris Consignment (2056 Polk St./Broadway, San Francisco, CA, (415) 474-1191.  This was our last stop on the tour and my favorite.  The store was crammed full with gorgeous designer clothes that were affordable.  I enjoyed photographing the clothes and also searching for anything that took my fancy.  While going through the skirts, I found a black and white checked sequined skirt that had a petticoat underneath.  It was so unique that I had to try it on and yes it did fit (just barely).   Kathy found many things to try on and finally settled for a soft wool, plaid shirt for only $20.  At the sales counter, I enjoyed meeting and talking to the owner, Cris, and her friendly sales staff.  Cris not only gave me a bag for my skirt, which is now a no-no in San Francisco, but she also tied a small flower arrangement to it, - such a nice finishing touch.  It was a great way to end my day and I will definitely go back and visit Cris Consignment again.


Fashion Exchange

The busy sales counter at Fashion Exchange

A view of the store at Fashion Exchange

 Halloween mask and wool hats at Fashion Exchange
 Flower power costume at Fashion Exchange
 Men's department at Fashion Exchange
 Sales rack at Fashion Exchange
 Multi-colored petticoats at Fashion Exchange
 Pink panties and gold pumps at Fashion Exchange
 Fur coats at Fashion Exchange
 Hot black boots at Fashion Exchange
 Huge selection of shoes at Fashion Exchange
 Micro mini skirts at Fashion Exchange
 Strapless mini dress at Fashion Exchange
 Burberry suit at Fashion Exchange
 Sequined bras at Fashion Exchange
 Colorful pants at Fashion Exchange
 Out of the Closet
 Mannequin in muscle body shirt at Out of the Closet
 Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Mannequin wearing faux fur cape at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Mannequin in helmet hat with antique lamp at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Silver metal vintage purse at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Vintage compacts and cases at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Colorful bracelets at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Pee Wee and platforms at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Fur muff at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Kathy in the bakery at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Vintage hats and feather fan at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Pastry to die for at Lotta's Bakery/Sweet Antiques
 Townschool Clothes Closet
 Townschool Clothes Closet
 Townschool Clothes Closet
 Leather & rhinestone clutch purse at Townschool Clothes Closet
 Mineralesque purse at Townschool Clothes Closet
 Velvet clutch purse at Townschool Clothes Closet
 D&G tortoise sunglasses at Townschool Clothes Closet
 Kathy walking towards Molte Cose
 Lies, the owner of Molte Cose 
 Vintage clip-on earrings at Molte Cose
 Drop earrings at Molte Cose
 Purses & poodles at Molte Cose
 Pink fantasy dream dress at Molte Cose
 Cooking in the kitchen at Molte Cose
 White beaded purse at Molte Cose
 Beaded purse with floral design at Molte Cose
 Little yellow ducky with red chair at Molte Cose
 Vintage brown alligator pumps with white gloves and hat at Molte Cose
 Embroidered purse with perfume bottle & figurine at Molte Cose
 Jackie O sunglasses & gloves at Molte Cose
 Anna Slyvestri dancing shoes at Molte Cose
 Black beaded flower purse at Molte Cose with hat & gloves
 A view of the store at Molte Cose
 Shell purse at Molte Cose
 1930's or 1940's yellow & green pumps at Molte Cose
 Heading towards Nick's Crispy Tacos for lunch
 Diners having lunch at Nick's Crispy Tacos
 An elegant Kathryn Hepburn ensemble in the window at Cris
 Cris
Shoppers at Cris
 Kathy lost in the racks at Cris
 Patterned jacket at Cris
 Double breasted black wool jacket at Cris
 Leather & velvet heels at Cris
 Chanel flowered pumps at Cris
 Red fabric Chanel flats at Cris
 Brown leather shoes at Cris
 Copper wedgies at Cris
 Black suede & leather wedgies at Cris
 Black dresses and pearls at Cris
Gray & white Ferragamo dress at Cris
 Italian art fantasy mini dress at Cris
 Kathy checking out a skirt at Cris
 Black Armani jacket at Cris
 Shoes at Cris
 Black faux alligator purse at Cris
My black & white sequined skirt from Cris