Harputs Market

Zana from Garbage Dress was wearing this amazing Diana Brinks dress and Jeffrey Campbell open toed boots when I met her at Harputs. She was also wearing a DIY elastic harness---coincidentally, we made a very similar one for 66Sick a couple of months ago too!

Although I haven't had much free time to myself on this Christmas vacation, at Lulu's suggestion, I managed to squeeze in a trip to Harputs Market. Even though it is located on a relatively unassuming section of Fillmore Street, just outside of Japantown, it was well worth the visit. The store workshop style store houses their own label, which can be tailor made on the premise, as well as a large selection of Margiela and Pleasure Principle, better than any I've encountered in New York.

The highlight of the visit though was meeting Zana of Garbage Dress who works at Harputs.  Lulu had instructed me to introduce myself to Zana, who was wearing an incredible outfit, including a pair of Givenchy style open-toe lace up black leather boots, which she revealed were from Jeffrey Campbell. She was incredibly nice, and I definitely encourage anyone visiting S.F. to stop by the store and introduce themselves.  Since I've been terrible about taking pictures during this trip (my computer access has come largely from the Apple store), I've posted some pictures that she took for her own  blog.  Now it's back to New York...

Zana took a picture of me outside of Harputs wearing my Martin Margiela bra leotard, Marc Jacobs coat, Joseph leather skirt, Rachel Comey boots, Kova & T leggings, Topshop Unique cardigan, H&M scarf, Gryson for Target bag, and Antti Asplund cross necklace.

-Tiffany

Fake Tales of San Francisco

Standing outside of my favorite San Francisco cupcake and candy shop, Miette, in Hayes Valley. Marc Jacobs coat, Balenciaga knit top, Burfitt high-waisted denim skirt, Rachel Comey boots, Wolford tights, DIY Rodarte inspired scarf, vintage wool beret from American Rag, Gryson for Target bag, Antti Asplund cross necklace, and Banana Republic cashmere armwarmers.

So I'm back in San Francisco, and the first thing on my to-do list has been to hit up all of the places that I missed on my first trip. For example, I've been wanting to stop by American Rag for awhile, but it's on a strip-mall style street full of car dealerships, and I couldn't bother to head over there with nothing else to entice me. When we stopped by this morning though, I was not only impressed by their incredible selection of vintage clothing, but how reasonably priced most of it was. As I've gotten older, I've also gotten simultaneously suckier at thrifting and digging for vintage finds, and while Nicollette can walk in and out of Buffalo Exchange in five minutes with a pair of Henrik Vibskov sandals in tow for under $20, I almost always walk out emptyhanded, and with a massive headache. Therefore it is always nice to have someone else buy and gather everything under one organized roof, and I was happy to find a vintage French wool beret for $26.

Afterwards we strolled over to Hayes Valley, which is one of my favorite places for cute boutiques and cafes. How could I have possibly skipped over MAC (Modern Appealing Clothing) last time, one of San Francisco's best retail spots, stocking Martin Margiela, Dries, and Tsumori Chisato, among loads of difficult to come by cult designers---even a few that I haven't seen in New York, like Walter Van Beirendonck. After hearing rave reviews from Laura Wills of Screaming Mimi's, and Nicollette, who declared it the best store in S.F., I knew I had to stop by. I certainly wasn't disappointed, and was most taken by their impressive selection of art, which is displayed amongst the clothing. The pieces, which are mostly works on paper and prints, start at $20 for a poster, and go upwards from there. The artwork provides a nice compliment to the clothing, which is equally curated towards pieces that you'll probably see in a museum some day. Even Jimmy managed to entertain himself with the dapper selection of menswear, and toyed with the idea of picking up a Dries pajama-style button down shirt that was on sale for $150. Alas, both of us left empty handed, but I highly recommend it to anyone visiting San Francisco, if only to enter a gallery where you can play with all of the artwork.

We finished off the day with a trip to the De Young Museum to see the YSL exhibition. I nearly balked at the $20 entrance fee, but it was worth every single penny, and I probably spent 2 hours in the show alone, marveling over every inch of silk gazar, and every oversized costume bauble. Note to self: whip up some oversized bejeweled chandelier earrings ASAP!

Now it's off to meet Lulu for a night at a dive bar, which she warns might be resplendent with douchebags! I love this city...

-Tiffany

The Honeymooners

Carrots serves mini carrot cupcakes while you shop.

Inspite of starting out my day with a somewhat inauspicious sprained ankle (which was directly followed by two elderly Chinese men burping at me), San Francisco has been, in almost every way, incredible. We began in the design oriented Jackson Square area, blocks away from our apartment in Nob Hill. Taking Ashley's advice, I made Carrots my first destination, with Jimmy in tow. Thankfully they had plenty of men's clothes, including a nice selection of Rag and Bone to entertain him while I snacked on their carrot cupcakes, and looked for a pair of flats for swollen ankle. Unfortunately, while their selection of Richard Chai and Stella McCartney clothing is incredible, their shoe selection was limited, and I left emptyhanded. Limping along, we made stops at Eden & Eden, a home accessories shop that carried Tatty Devine's plastic baubles and Ivana of Helsinki clothing, and AREA, a beautiful furniture store that was filled with AREAWARE's witty designs, before heading to the Castro area for lunch.

After tacos and chocolates at Chocolates on Castro, we headed to Haight Ashbury where we hit the major vintage shops. Long ago, I lost all of my patience for sifting through piles of junk for hidden treasures (I'll leave that to Nicollette, she's a professional after all), but once in a while I'll make an exception. I picked up some Look From London plaid tights at Wasteland, and then we stopped at Decades Vintage, which has the most incredible selection of clothes from the 1880's-1980's, including a breathtaking selection of hats. I was dying to pick up a tophat, but they started at $180 for the silk collapsible variety, and went up to $300 for the turn of the century beaverskin hat of my choice. I also inquired after a Paul Revere style tricorne hat, which is selling at the Marc Jacobs store right now for over $1,000, but apparently, they were all snatched up by Burning Man Festival attendees. Eep! A true fashion victim moment. I guess I will take this as a sign to skip the tricorne hat for FW08.

Acrimony in Hayes Valley.

Non-stop window shopping and a sprained ankle started to catch up to me, so we took a rest in Golden Gate Park, where drug dealers appears to be operating in a free market. We then went for a well deserved drink for Jimmy at Magnolia Gastropup and Brewery, where we shared a sweet rosebud flavored beer, and I pocketed a few of their beautifully illustrated coasters. We moved on to Hayes Valley, which is like San Francisco's Smith street, and is lined with cozy restaurants and cute boutiques. We took a look at Nida, where we tried on Opening Ceremony and Y-3 clothes we'll probably pick up back east, and then Acrimony, which stocks a reasonably priced selection of Hussein Chalayan, Stresis and Minimarket. We finished the night with happy hour drinks at Sugar Bar, which not only had $4 well drinks, but free appetizers, which left us giddy with drink, as well as with San Francisco's prices.