Question:
I am desperately in need of some shoes I can't afford so I'm looking to start thrifting. Sacramento doesn't have jack, so I want to hit up San Francisco. Anyone have any recommendations where I should go?
Answer:
pejsek is the Bay Area thriftmaster, but he is not heard from much lately.
In my own NYC experience, thrifting is a lousy way to find shoes. Men, typically, have fewer pair of shoes than woman, and what men have, they wear to death. I would say that chances of thrifting decent shoes are lower than chances of thrifting any other article of clothing.
Answer:
Yeah that is what I'm thinking too but I keep seeing threads with people who thrifted some cool shoes. I will have to take a look just to see. I don't expect to find anything really, maybe come cool ties or a vest. I actually found a couple neat 50s ties around where I live.
Answer:
I buy virtually all of my shoes in used condition from eBay. Of the ten pair I bought, they all fit fine. Plus, you get some of the older stuff which is much better made (like Cole Haans made in the US). I haven't paid more than $50 and this includes a nearly new pair of AE Randolphs. At most I have to reheel the shoes. A minor expense.
Its a great way to have fun with a little money.
Answer:
Check out Repeat Performance on Fillmore, in Pac Heights. All proceeds go to the SF Symphony and its inventory is in large part made up of donations from Symphony patrons. For a thrift store, it has a rather upscale selection.
Answer:
The Mission district and Haight Ashbury each have several good options.
I'm told there's a place in/near Castro that has contemporary fashion/luxury brands like Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, etc!
Answer:
The San Francisco thrift scene is really collapsing. The Goodwill and Salvation Army stores are consolidating, closing down stores, and laying off long-term staff in favor of new inexperienced managers and low-cost employees drawn largely from the ranks of drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs--i.e. people who know absolutely nothing about the business.
I used to buy at least one pair of great shoes per week from the thrift stores. I don't think I've bought anything since the lizard Tramezza loafers way back in August.
I don't know where stuff is going. As a sort of test, I gave about 20 pairs of good shoes to the Goodwill about a month ago. None of them have turned up in the stores.
If you let me know your shoe size (as long as it's not my own!!) and what you're looking for I'll be happy to keep my eyes open. Not promising anything, but it will save a likely fruitless trip.
Answer:
That is Crossroads on Market near Church. It's OK, worth a look once a while.
Answer:
Goodbyes on Sacramento Street usually has some nice shoes. Usually stuff from Wilkes or Neimans. Of course, prices are not like Goodwill. But, you might find something here if you make the trip to "the city".
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I'm absolutely sure Sac has some worthwhile thrift stores. You must look harder.
Personally I think SF is worse because there are so many thrift hounds. I prefer the burbs.
Spotting a trendy youngish well dressed guy wearing 100% vintage stuff in my size sniffing through "my" thrift store = grrrr.
Answer:
("Personally I think SF is worse because there are so many thrift hounds. I prefer the burbs".)
I once heard that San Francisco was fantastic if you wanted suits & knew where to look. This is because apparently Willie Brown who is a Brioni fanatic would dispose of a suit a week or something similar. If you're his size, (if you aren't I can't say I'd recommended most likely gaining the req'd. weight.....) then YOU'RE IN!
San Francisco actually has a lot of sweater knitting communist types, so I imagine thrift stores in general would be pretty terrible. It reminds me of Santa Cruz where I live. I once went into a Salvation Army and it was just really incredibly bad. I saw a pair of pale blue Ferragamo shoes that had just been absolutely beaten to s**t. I wouldn't have taken them as a gift.
I imagine NYC is probably THE place to thrift or E-Bay. I've been really happy with some of the scores I've found on E-Bay, some of which happened to be from San Fran.
Answer:
Agree with Repeat Performance on Fillmore. After looking there, walk south on Fillmore and you will pass the Seconds To Go and the Junior League thrift store. Several blocks down on the other side of the street is The Victorian House, not as good as the first three. Town School Clothes Closet on Polk gets excellent stuff but is not cheap. All of these stores are associated with organizations with wealthy supporters, the quality of their donations is much higher than what you can find at Goodwill.
There is a 'Goodwill Boutique' in West Portal which allegedly carries a higher quality of merchandise, but it is small and they rarely have anything good. The people who are supposed to be picking the good stuff out the donations don't have a clue.
There is Thrift Town on 17th and Mission as well as the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores, but you are unlikely to find anything good there.
I agree that Goodbyes on Sacramento is great, although not thrift store cheap.
If you are driving from Sacramento you might want to consider hitting the Thrift Town in Hayward. I used to find some decent stuff there, and it's very cheap.
I wish you luck, but I'm afraid you are wasting your time. Pickings here are pretty slim. I have never found a decent pair of shoes in a SF thrift store that fit me.
Answer:
Yeah, I think I'll give up on the shoes in thrift stores and start checking ebay. Actually, someone told me to look harder in Sac and I found a place a few blocks from my place called Ed's Threads on 19th and J, somewhere around there. I walk in and there is a brand new pair of Ferragamo black/white spectators, not sure how much. They were a size too small unfortunately.
He had some decent shoes though, but his prices were a bit high. He buys things and resells them. He seems to be a reliable source for vintage slim ties, though $20 is a bit much. He also had a really cool cream and orange color cardigan from the 50s but he wanted $45, which wasn't at all worth it given the condition of some of the seams. I think I'll buy a TaT cardigan instead.
Answer:
Any shoes that I have seen in thrift stores are pretty beat up compared to the other things there. If I were you I would thrift on other things and use the money you saved doing that to buy the shoes that you want. If you are like most men, you will wear them for a long time! A good way to start saving money is by eating at one of the cheap, yet healthy
vegetarian restaurants in San Francisco
Good luck :rimshot:
