Dress for success: a guide to San Francisco's amazing thrift stores

This is the queen bee of all San Francisco thrift stores. This is the mecca, the holy grail. This was probably what the crusades was fought over. It’s that amazing. At least 50% of my wardrobe at any given time is from Thrift Town, and I say that with pride. Their prices are astronomically awesome – you will probably not find a single article of clothing here over $10. My friend bought a $5 authentic 80s-era Member’s Only jacket here. I have an entire rack of unitards and leotards in my closet from my happy sojourns to Thrift Town. If I ever have $3 in my pocket and I have no idea what to do with it, I generally just come to Thrift Town and buy an entirely new wardrobe. And did I mention this place is HUGE?? They have an upstairs. And it’s in a warehouse. And the upstairs is all furniture and random knick-knacks. You can find at least 10 different toasters that may or may not work at this place, any day of the week. And random phones, microwaves, dishracks, basically any object in the world. If I could give something 50 stars out of 5 stars, Thrift Town would be it. Trust.

I like Out of the Closet. Their proceeds go to charity. And they sell lots of awesome shit. There are the coolest transvestites who shop at this one, in the Castro, and they will happily dispense fashion advice to you if you want to strike up a conversation. They won’t charge you the insane prices of some other places (ahem, I’m looking at you, Wasteland) but will offer a better selection – lots of brand names if that’s your thing. BCBG, Theory, AX, etc. Different colored price tags mean different discounts (50%, 60%, 70% off) and I bought a black leather skirt here that was supposed to be $15 but the saleslady rang it up as $3 just because it was Thursday and she was in a good mood. And if you see a tag that says $1 attached to a cashmere sweater, it’s not a mistake. Sometimes things here are just $1. For no rhyme or reason. But don’t ask questions. Just buy!

Clothes here are arranged by era, so this is a great resource for people who know exactly what they are looking for. Want something for a Golden Girls marathon party? Check out the amazing selection of 80s sequined party suits in the back. Clothes Contact is either by the pound (cheap and great) or by price tag. If the piece doesn’t have a price tag, that means they weigh it to determine cost. This is a great thing. The bought The Most Beautiful 60s Schoolgirl Dress in the World here for $9. Otherwise, they can get a bit aggressive with the pricing – some things are marked up as high as $35. It’s operated by the owners of Mission Thrift, so there is some overlap. For some reason, the same high-waisted suede miniskirts that never seem to sell at Mission Thrift don’t sell at Clothes Contact either. I wonder why. However, this is THE place to go for great party dresses – a bigger and better selection than at the Mission Thrift big brother.

Amazing selection of: 80s prom dresses. Sequined sweaters. Ugly sweaters. Christmas sweaters. Halloween costumes. Hats. Sunglasses (80s dead stock!). Leather. Cheerleader skirts. They even have a selection of Little House on the Prairie dresses. Their shoe selection is a little bit run down, but you just might find scuffed motorcycle boots here, if you’re lucky, for $15 a pop. Some of my favorite things discovered at Mission Thrift: bright blue fishnet tights, a black high-waisted denim skirt ($10), gold sequined 80s pumps ($10), a purple velvet smoking jacket ($16). Yes. Thank you Mission Thrift.

This is a consignment store that carries high-end and luxury designs. Meaning, you won’t find a $2 black and red “D.A.R.E.” shirt, but you WILL find Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Chloe, Philip Lim, Prada, Vera Wang, Badgley Mishka, Manolos, etc etc. While you’ll still be paying something like $150 for a pair of Gucci pumps and $200 for a Marni sweater dress, you won’t be paying the $500 or so you’d spend at Saks. Clothes are a few years out of date but everything is in good condition. This is a great place to sell your designer clothes too, if you’re looking to get some of it out of your hands. The store is organized by color too, which is thoughtful, thank you Cris.

Crossroads is really cheesy, and even a pair of high-waisted dark blue Jordache jeans from the 80s won’t bring me all the way out to Haight Street and brave the crowds of tourists, even if said jeans could be found at Crossroads, which they won’t, because Crossroads carries ‘vintage’ Banana Republic, if you catch my drift…oh and sometimes, Crossroads forgets to take the original price tags off their clothing. I once saw a dress that was priced $30 on its original price tag, but $35 with a Crossroads price tag. Yeah… stay classy, Crossroads!

The Wasteland was the coolest vintage store in San Francisco 15 years ago, but that title has been long stolen by rivals like The Painted Bird and Schauplatz. Overpriced is an understatement for the stuff they sell. If I want an overpriced “Everyone Loves an Irish Girl” t-shirt that even Urban Outfitters won’t sell 75% off, I’ll spend $15 to get it here. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, but not if it’s $60 and it’s a pair of Armani Exchange jeans that are at least 5 years old and not even in the ironic the-90s-is-so-coming-back kind of way. Hello, Ebay exists, why is there still a market for The Wasteland?

Best furniture and random knick-knacks selection in the entire city of San Francisco. You want a filing cabinet? A couch? A ‘new’ dining table set? Well, look no further than Community Thrift. Their selection of luggage is also out-of-this-world. I saw The Darjeeling Limited and had this incredible urge to buy vintage luggage (basically, I get this feeling whenever I watch a Wes Anderson movie), and I came here and founda mustard-yellow leather suitcase with a wooden handle for $4. $4!!!!! My friend also once found a tiny suitcase that was meant to hold a calculator, which she obviously bought for $1. So cute – it’s the size of an index card. I got a great stack of 70’s gay porn here too, for my roommate who collects. Their magazine and book selection is great – you might even find some vintage Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar, which are great for gifts.

I fell in love with Shauplatz the moment I walked through the door. The owner’s eye for style is absolutely spot-on, and he has a selection of clothes that will make you laugh, make you cry, make you believe you can fly – literally, they have a selection of aviator goggles. And for $30, you can even take some of the mannequins home with you. For serious. The clothes may be pricier than your average vintage store, but everything you find here is one-of-a-kind. Especially the wonderful collection of vintage bathing suits. Come here if you want to look like a bathing beauty, lounging in Coney Island, circa 1935.

The Painted Bird has vintage prices, not thrift store prices. So while that great gold and purple 80s prom dress with the linebacker shoulderpads might be $3 at Thrift Town, it will be $15 at the Painted Bird – but at least it won’t be $40, like it would at any store on Haight Street. That said, you should come here if you need something guaranteed to be cute. The clothes here are amazing, and you won’t have to dig either, the way you would at a thrift store. Everything is pre-selected for maximum cuteness. They also organize by color, which is more helpful than you’d realize. Oh, and they have a killer selection of boots. Shop here!

The Salvation Army is cheaaaap. The magnitude of the shoe department is mind-blowing. There is also a ton of awesome furniture if you’re into vintage stuff. Once, I found an old Lionel Ritchie vinyl in perfect condition for 50 cents. Sometimes they have great discounts, like around Halloween time, or when Christmas sweaters are half-off the day after Christmas (better pick up a good one for next year’s ugly sweater party). The books are also cheap – $2.50 for hardcover and $0.75 for paperbacks. Want some Nora Roberts? The Salvation Army’s got you covered.

Goodwill has great prices, but you might have to dig to find what you’re looking for. Then again, what do people really look for at thrift stores? Isn’t the experience of finding that thing you didn’t realize you wanted (ie a blonde Cleopatra wig) the cause celebre of going thrifting in the first place?? My gripe with Goodwill is that most of their stuff is really bland. They have a thousand white Gap shirts, which is great if you want to do some screen printing and just need a cheap tee, but try finding a 40’s-era wartime nurse cape, and you’re probably out of luck. Also, there’s a lot of clothes here but not so much in the way of furniture or random knick-knacks.

Buffalo Exchange seems to have a mix between clothes that are just 6 months out of date, and clothes that are hella 90s. I saw a pink leopard print skirt here once. They also have a huge selection of vinyl combat boots, perhaps to appease the Burning Man crowd or the tourists of Haight Street. Some treasures, surely, can be found, but will require lots of effort to dig through the rest of the stuff that resembles a sales rack at TJ Maxx. Not that there’s anything wrong with TJ Maxx, but I don’t want to pay $15 for a Forever 21 sweater with a hole in it. Go online and order something half-off on the Urban Outfitters website. It will probably be cheaper, even with the shipping fee, and it at least it will be new. Buffalo Exchange seems to miss the point of thrift shopping. If I wanted something new, I’d get it new and pay the price for getting it new. I don’t want to get something used, pay for it like it’s new, and also have it be decidedly not-cute. Vintage shoppers, go elsewhere!