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Category Archive for San Francisco

New People World in Japantown, San Francisco! Torso Vintages, Haight Ashbury, Ayammy.

off shoulder long floral dress

San Francisco has some of the best vintage, avantgarde and Japanese streetwear boutiques in the USA. Are you keen on Lolita dresses? 1940s veiled hats? Cyber tribal bodysuits?

Then this San Fran shopping guide is for you — including photos from Japantown, and the Jpop department store New People World.

PS: I’m currently having a lovely time in paradise, aka Cebu in the Philippines. You can see outfit previews and more on my Instagram.

alice's pig, urban vintage dresses

That day, I wore an off-shoulder dress, sent to me by Alice’s Pig — a London based label inspired by urban vintage. The morning light shows off the silhouette and 90s-style dark floral print.

vintage fur coat shop

It was an appropriate outfit for visiting Torso Vintages, purveyors of the finest and most flamboyant fashions from past decades. (Address: 290 Sutter Street, in the SF Financial District)

torso vintages san francisco

Trevor showed Yukiro and me around Torso’s lower floor racks. Everything here is a decadent work of art, made with the finest materials and lovingly displayed. Price tags are on the high side, but that’s to be expected of dressing gowns that seem to come from the court of St Petersburg.

white feather bird mask

I was speechless at the curiosities everywhere. On the staircase, I came across this white bird mask. In the back room, we got to peek at the most treasured designs, including a futuristic hat worn by Michael Jackson.

vintage clothing san francisco

Torso is an institution in San Francisco — they’re simply the best at finding designs with old-time magic. Co-owner John (far left) has dressed quite a few celebrities in this store.

white fur shawl scarf

I couldn’t resist getting dolled up too. I fancied myself as an old heiress, draping myself in shawls and hats before a tea party.

crazy vintage hats

Imaginative pieces from the days of Art Deco, brought back to life on the mannequins.

designer torso vintage shop

The clothes aren’t just for human peacocks. John can help you find something to match any personality or occasion. At Torso, you invest in something special that you will keep and re-wear for years, if not decades.

vintage designer boutiques

The pins, the colors, the scarves… this is a wearable museum. Torso is one of the most outstanding vintage stores I’ve seen in all of America — so get over here!

haight ashbury vintage sign

Another must-visit district is Haight Ashbury. Haight is pronounced “hate” but this street is all about peace, love… and funka-delic clothing.

hippie buddhist shops san francisco

Haight-Ashbury was the hippie hangout in the 1960s, and it still has that tie-dye trippy vibe. There were quite a few Tibetan boutiques with Buddhist altars. (It reminded me of the garden at the San Francisco Zen Center,) where we stayed.

ceiba sf tribal burning man fashion

Most of the stores on Haight Street are too hippie-dippie for my taste, but I adored Ceiba SF. The window had this tribal-fusion mannequin in white, and a tribute to the late HR Giger.

ceiba san francisco futuristic clothes

Inside, Ceiba is a wonderland of dark futuristic fashion, by labels like Gelareh and Mother of London. Leather, harnesses, alien forms, draped dystopic designs. Be still, my beating heart.

weird avantgarde clothing haight ashbury

I’d recommend spending half a day shopping along Haight Street, starting at Whole Foods and Golden Gate park, and making your way down towards Bound Together, the anarchist collective bookstore. That’s San Fran in a nutshell! (Later, I’ll take you inside the Oddities SF store Loved to Death — it deserves its own post.)

japantown peace plaza tower

The city has a large Japanese population, making it a center for Jpop culture and events, such as J-summit. Most of the action happens in — obviously — Japantown. Start at the Peace Plaza, crowed by this Peace Pagoda. There’s a Daiso next to it (the dollar store filled with kawaii goods).

japanese mall san francisco

The most popular shopping destination is New People World, an entertainment complex dedicated to Tokyo street fashion and culture. (Address: 1746 Post Street). You can find both modern and traditional garments here.

aymmy japanese clothing, new people world

There are only a few boutiques in total, so don’t get your expectations up too high — this isn’t like shopping at Marui Shinjuku. Still, stores like MaruQ have a sweet selection of cute, gyaru and Lolita clothing.

Is that a red-haired Archie comics character in the back?

Aymmy in the batty girls

Not quite. This is Aymmy in the batty girls, a new brand starring model Ayumi Seto. It imagines her as a Jpop girl working in a 1950s Americana diner.

maruq shop new people world

The shop has a mix of cute, colorful fashions. Some are Tokyo brands, some are local.

rilakkuma bear toys

There are a lot of cute characters lying about, such as Rilakkuma the bear.

gothic lolita japan town

Perhaps I’m spoiled from shopping in Asia all the time… Nothing really caught my eye, especially upstairs. The prices were quite steep compared to Hong Kong and Japan, and I was able to browse through the entire building in 30 minutes.

kawaii dresses san francisco

However, if you live in North America, I know it can be hard to get your hands on kawaii clothing and toys unless you order online.

tralala tokyo gyaru

For this reason, I’m glad there is a department store like New People World, which makes Japanese items more readily available.

japantown tea cafe

Don’t forget to stop by the little cafe at the front for tea. The sign says “Nothing replaces a mother’s love except perhaps a fine cup of tea.”

rainbow unicorn mural

Finally, let’s mosey over to the Mission, around 16th and Valencia St. This is an artsy yet still grungy district, which was a punk haven in the 1970s.

Next to a secondhand store, we saw these rainbows and kissing unicorn-ladies.

mission valencia alley street art

This is Clarion Alley, an alleyway covered in murals (between Mission and Valencia / 17th and 18th Streets). The works are mostly trippy, and constantly changing. We passed by an artist who was painting dogs on a door.

hipster san francisco shop

Walk along Valencia and you’ll see lots of hipster interior design and clothing boutiques, as well as secondhand clothing at low prices.

paxton gate san francisco

I was enthralled by Paxton Gate, two shops filled with curiosities for both kids and adults. (Address: 766 and 824 Valencia St, SF).

taxidermy stuffed cat

Here, “buying a stuffed cat” has a whole different meaning…

stuffed piranhas

Taxidermy piranhas, anyone? A nice house-warming gift for the Addams Family, perhaps.

taxidermy mice steampunk clothes

Steampunk white mice, stuffed and standing! Now I’ve seen everything.

skulls in glass case

Skulls and bones and spooky objects — Paxton Gate rocks.

826 valencia pirate store

And don’t miss the Pirate Supply Store at 826 Valencia! It’s a treasure chest of pirate-y slogans and must-haves like… a jar of gangrene. The shop is actually the “business” front for the writing non-profit started by Dave Eggers.

haight ashbury goth

I leave you with a snap of my Alice’s Pig skirt and crop top. For more of this outfit, check out my San Francisco travel posts. They include guides to alternative Goth nightlife, restaurants, and other sights.

Have you shopped in San Francisco? What other boutiques would you recommend, in Japan-Town or elsewhere?

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San Francisco Goth parties & gay nightlife. Wicked Grounds, Cat Club.

wicked ground san francisco fetish cafe

Yikes, I’m extremely back-logged with blog posts… but they’ll come hot and heavy from now on, I promise.

Let’s go back in time, to our Wicked Grounds drag performance party. Then I’ll run through the best Gothic, alternative and LGBT nightlife in San Francisco. Sounds good? Strike a pose, vogue, and let’s go-go-GOTH.

giant cupcake cake

You’ll recall that some of my best friends and I gathered in San Francisco over Memorial Day Weekend (you can read all our SF adventures to date).

We learned a big travel lesson: it’s extremely stressful to travel during this American public holiday, since the rest of the country is doing the same. Hotels were booked solid, traffic was choked up… It took far too many hours to pick up this birthday cake with a boot on it (don’t ask why) and drive the short distance to the venue.

goth drag queen makeup

Still, Die Schwarze Frau managed to get dolled up, and vamped in the alleyway before her big American debut.

human sized cage

We got to Wicked Grounds, the San Francisco kink cafe, and immediately felt at home. The space is a gathering-place for the alt community, and has regular events such as themed munches. Plus, they serve yummy food and drinks.

girl whipping boy

We took full advantage of the human-sized cage, and tested out the selection of floggers

tiger girl drawing

Die Schwarze Frau’s performance was tiger-fierce. She whirled around, screamed at skulls, stripped, and did drops to the ground. I’ll show you more photos from her Tokyo performance soon, and perhaps a video!

body drawing, sketching

To open the show, Naomiyaki did spooky live drawings on bodies, such as an overturned bottle of poison. (She also took most of the photos in this post.)

live drawing on human back

Naomi asked the audience to participate and made body-art the spot, based on this girl’s personality. Thanks to everyone who came to our event, and to Wicked Grounds for hosting us: we loved meeting you, and hope to be back soon!

dark shadows goth party, cat club

After, the shenanigans continued at Dark Shadows, a much-loved San Francisco Gothic night at Cat Club. Such a pleasure to meet many readers and friends at this event.

san francisco goth clubs, nightlife

We’re quite the motley crew to party with. Can you spot in this photo: a bear, blood, Covenant, unicorns, Frankenstein?

goth girls san francisco

The DJ played some of our favorite synth-Goth tracks, like Mylène Farmer’s Désenchantée. On the right: “Despite all my rage, I’m still just a… bat in a cage.”

sf goth party, events

If you aren’t ready to commit to a permanent tattoo, Goth body-art lets you be expressive for a night.

san francisco gothic nightclubs

Things with Trevor got a bit blurry…

japanese hakama, samurai skirt 袴

I’m wearing a hakama, or traditional Japanese skirt as seen on samurai. It’s a modern interpretation by J-Goth brand Despair.

muni san francisco metro subway

The MUNI (San Fran subway system) was an easy way for us to club-hop. We weren’t in town for Death Guild at DNA Lounge (every Monday), but we managed to see Bianca Del Rio at Trannyshack. Remember this post about how we met the RuPaul’s Drag Race winner?

can can dancers, Konservatory SF

I adore retro culture — can can dancers, top hats, burlesque — so we stopped by an Absinthe Party to honor Autumn, the designer behind San Francisco’s Dark Garden Corsetry.

autumn, designer dark garden corsetry

She was traveling to Paris to further study the art of corset-making. (Soon, I’ll do a post about the shops we visited in San Francisco, including vintage and Jpop boutiques).

Dark Garden Absinthe Party

We raised a glass of the green fairy, and bid her bon voyage.

bondage a go go, cat club

On another night, we went to Bondage-a-Go-Go, held every Wednesday night at Cat Club. BaGG has been running for 21 years, and is a fixture in the “kinky, fetish-y, gothy, nerdy, punky, leather-y” San Fran scene.

san francisco bondage fetish party

Photos aren’t allowed unless you have special permission, so be assured this is a safe and private space for play. That night, we saw dungeon demos by people in masks, and Go-Go dancers in cages.

castro gay district

The only San Francisco nightlife that didn’t live up to our expectations… was the Castro gay district. Long lines, unfriendly bouncers, and a slightly dingy atmosphere. Stick to the Goth / alt scene, and the lively T-shack drag shows, and you’ll have a grand time in this city.

lgbt san francisco clubs

Have you experienced San Francisco’s clubs and bars? How do they compare to the scene in other cities?

If we missed out on anything in this round-up, let us know in the comments! Coming up: coverage from New York, Cape Town, Taipei, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul…