I'm not sure exactly why I've always been so fond of Clement Street. Located in the Inner Richmond, Clement is almost always chilly and foggy, even by San Francisco standards. Maybe it's because it's one of the areas of the City I got to know first; my mom interned as a therapist at a place over there after she finished her master's and I used to sometimes go with her and hang out at The Blue Danube Coffee House while she worked. Maybe it's because the street still holds some of the more positive memories I have of my ex-husband; we went there everytime he visited when we still in the long distance relationship way before we got married. We would spend an hour browsing in Green Apple Books, then pick up fried noodles with Satay sauce at Java Restaurant and sesame balls at one of the dim sum places (Clement Street is sort of a second, unofficial and non-touristy San Francisco Chinatown) which we would eat later at the Sutro Baths near Ocean Beach.
I went there with my family a couple of weeks ago and, yes, it was chilly and foggy but we had a nice time anyway. Thankfully Green Apple was still there, which is not what can be said for Black Oak Books in Berkeley or Pegasus Books in Noe Valley. Independent bookstores seem to be fading away which is truly sad because it's not likely they will ever be replaced....
My sister is super cool. She lives in the City (what us East Bayers call San Francisco)and has the most amazing wardrobe. She also has an extensive Fiesta Ware collection and makes her coffee every morning in a stoneware French Press. Once she was accussed of being some rich bitch, but it's so far from the truth: in fact, she buys nearly everything at the Goodwill on Mission and South Van Ness.
Ah, the City by the Bay. San Francisco is a beautiful place and, let's face it, it also has quite its share of rich people. Luckily a fair amount of them are also apparently shopaholics who donate to Goodwill (for tax reasons, to make way for the new, who knows?)and my sister is there with her hawk-like eyes, ready to gather and glean their cast offs. San Francisco, the city where you can have a world class wardrobe at five bucks (or less)a pop.... Unfortunately Berlin doesn't have much in the way of thrift stores. What we DO have, however, are flea markets. Any travel guide will have some of the bigger ones listed, but for the most part, they are all quite touristy and not the place to go if you're looking for bargain. Here is a list (in German) of the flea markets in Berlin: Click Me. Personally, I think the best are the one in Mitte on Arkona Platz, Boxhagener Platz in Friedrichhain, and the one by Rathaus Steglitz.
Today I took some pictures at the one near my house on Marheineke Platz. As you can see, there are many things to be had there, including sex toys (though somehow I have the feeling, sex toys and underwear are things you should probably be buying new!!!)
As a last note: Isn't baby Li adorable? (I promise I will not end all of my blog posts with pictures of my children. I may fancy myself one hip mama, but in the end I'm really just a mom. ;) )
I just thought I'd post some of my husband's photographs on this wet, dreay late Sunday afternoon. A lawyer by day, he is also an aspiring photographer. I may add some of the photographs to my shop Schaufenster just to see what happens. If any sell, then I told him I will take him out for a nice dinner!
I've always loved hunting for vintage treasures. There is nothing like wading through a thrift store or pages of ebay offers for just that one perfect thing. Even the negative sides of thrift stores, like that "smell" (what IS it exactly? Decaying fabric I suppose because it always the same....), the occasional crazies or how jammed packed they are with mostly trash is somehow (almost) endearing. Perhaps I merely like the bragging that goes something like "Wow, I love your knee-high vintage boots/folkloric skirt/gold lame Dries van Noten dress." "Thanks! I got it at Goodwill for 5.99!" Because you have to work for it, it also seems like you've earned it. You can't just waltz into The Salvation Army and find the most amazing handbag of your life, you have to stay a while, browse through the rack, let it sink in. I impressed my husband two years ago in Santa Barbara. We went to the Goodwill there that I already knew about but he was instantly overwhelmed. He wandered, a little lost, for a half an hour, sure he didn't want anything whereas in that time I not only found a few great things for myself, but also two shirts and a sweater for him plus a pair of shoes which are now one of his most favorite. Still, I am nothing compared to my sister. If you told my sister I need a black dress to wear to a party with a v-neck and a hem line of 18 inches by a well known designer or brand she will be able to find it for you in under ten minutes. I swear! A natural talent, she has also had plenty of oppurtunity to hone her skills. A few years ago she did an advertising job for the San Francisco Examiner in a pretty ghetto part of the city. Since it was ghetto, there was no where to really spend her lunch hour and like hell was she spending it in the office. She soon discovered that there was a Goodwill in the shopping center next door, started going there to pass the time, and soon a love was born. No one ever asked her why she often came back from her lunch break with a big plastic bag full of clothes, but then her co-workers sounded pretty strange themselves. Later, after she had quit the job and started studying psychology, she discovered Goodwill's flagship San Francisco store, on Mission and Van Ness (or maybe South Van Ness.) San Francisco is famous for a lot of things, but not everyone knows that it is really full of a lot of rich people. Rich, spendaholic women who cast away great clothes and shoes they only wore once if not at all. My sister loves to pick up their leavings, as do I. About 75% of my wardrobe is from trips to that Goodwill I make when I visit my family in California. I've been having a lot of fun doing it here in Berlin. I'm starting to offer vintage items in my shop (actually, I'm even thinking of opening a new shop specialized in vintage)and find that Berlin also has so many treasures. People here are also traditionally more into crafts (for example, it is not at all uncommon to meet someone relatively young who cans preserves)so a lot of the pieces are hand sewn which is really cool. Then they are truly one of a kind. Anyway, here is a slide show of some of the pieces I have now. I will be adding a lot more in the weeks to come. As I stated in an earlier post, I also plan to start altering vintage. (The dress I added the buttons to turned out cool, but I ended up giving it to a friend!)
