Check it out - Skateboards on Haight March 24th, 2024
From classic bohemian pieces to mid-century gems, the Haight is a paradise for secondhand shopping in San Francisco.
The Bold Italic
Nov 18, 2024
This article is part of I Love San Francisco, a feature series of essays that highlight what makes San Francisco iconic and irreplaceable.
San Francisco has a way of taking what you think you know and flipping it on its head. That’s how I felt decades ago when I moved here from the California Valley.
In LA, the film and TV industries shaped how I thought women should look and dress, but the Bay Area? Style here is about breaking rules, embracing eccentricity, and celebrating individuality. That’s why it has great secondhand stores, and it’s also why I love the Haight.
Yes, it’s a lot of tie-dye and hippie-flavored apparel, but the Haight’s deeper legacy pulses beneath the surface. As the epicenter of America’s 1960s counterculture, the Haight embraced bohemian fashion and vintage style long before they were trendy. The sixties saw a radical reimagining of fashion that blended Americana with global textiles, craft embellishments, and natural fabrics. The Haight fostered a fashion ethos rooted in sustainability, quality, and unapologetic self-expression.
A dozen vintage shops now operate along a five-block stretch from Shrader to Masonic, each with distinct selections, styles, and price points. It’s great they’re right next to each other; I can almost always find what I’m looking for and easily compare their offerings.
Some sell beautifully curated vintage pieces from the archives of American fashion, while others focus on handpicked designer or specialty items. At least one qualifies as a traditional thrift store with bargain prices. Leaving aside debates about how to define “vintage,” what most of these stores have in common is a mission to resell high-quality garments from the 2000s or earlier. Some of the best have pieces more than half a century old. Here are my favorite spots:
Why I love vintage shopping on Haight Street
Greg