This article is part of I Love San Francisco, a feature series of essays that highlight what makes San Francisco iconic and irreplaceable.
San Francisco has a way of taking what you think you know and flipping it on its head. That’s how I felt decades ago when I moved here from the California Valley.
In LA, the film and TV industries shaped how I thought women should look and dress, but the Bay Area? Style here is about breaking rules, embracing eccentricity, and celebrating individuality. That’s why it has great secondhand stores, and it’s also why I love the Haight.
Yes, it’s a lot of tie-dye and hippie-flavored apparel, but the Haight’s deeper legacy pulses beneath the surface. As the epicenter of America’s 1960s counterculture, the Haight embraced bohemian fashion and vintage style long before they were trendy. The sixties saw a radical reimagining of fashion that blended Americana with global textiles, craft embellishments, and natural fabrics. The Haight fostered a fashion ethos rooted in sustainability, quality, and unapologetic self-expression.
A dozen vintage shops now operate along a five-block stretch from Shrader to Masonic, each with distinct selections, styles, and price points. It’s great they’re right next to each other; I can almost always find what I’m looking for and easily compare their offerings.
Some sell beautifully curated vintage pieces from the archives of American fashion, while others focus on handpicked designer or specialty items. At least one qualifies as a traditional thrift store with bargain prices. Leaving aside debates about how to define “vintage,” what most of these stores have in common is a mission to resell high-quality garments from the 2000s or earlier. Some of the best have pieces more than half a century old. Here are my favorite spots:
Decades of Fashion
1653 Haight St, San Francisco, CA
Website
Decades of Fashion is a shop that could double as an interactive fashion archive. Shopping here is an education in fashion history with the bonus that you can try and buy these clothes. Arranged by decade, the shop carries clothing and accessories dating back to the late 1800s. Their knowledgeable staff also serves as stylists for those wanting to assemble iconic looks. My daughter has banned me from Decades on our joint shopping trips because, once inside, I never want to leave.
Relic Vintage
1475 Haight St, San Francisco, CA
Website
Relic Vintage is an upscale shop specializing in American-made vintage. Their focus is on pristine pieces from the 1940s-1960s, often showcasing beautiful fabrics, sophisticated sewing techniques, and fine detailing. I love the cohesive curatorial eye behind this store, especially around mid-century dresses, skirts, beaded sweaters, hats, and jewelry.
Held Over
1543 Haight St, San Francisco, CA
Website (ish)
Held Over excels in reasonably priced pieces from the ’60s and ’70s, with an especially good selection of jeans, miniskirts, men’s shirts and tees, and European vintage.
Chameleon
1605 Haight St, San Francisco
Instagram
While I’m thrilled and fascinated by the styles, techniques, and fabrics found in “true” vintage stores, I also appreciate the newer crop of stores specializing in more recent trends and designers. Chameleon, a store carrying Japanese and European vintage, recently earned praise from GQ as one of the best shops nationwide for vintage menswear. Manager Oleg Nikitenko says the store often attracts those who appreciate and want to learn more about its Japanese brands.
Roommates Vintage and Haight Street Vintage
1780 Haight St, San Francisco, CA
Instagram
1519 Haight St, San Francisco, CA
Instagram
Roommates Vintage and Haight Street Vintage appeal to nostalgia for more recent decades, a growing consciousness around sustainable fashion, and consumers who recognize the quality and value of older garments. Roommates focuses on unique, often designer, pieces. Haight Street has a great selection of Bay Area-specific sportswear, like old Giants and Oakland A’s tees and jackets.
While the 1960s influence can sometimes feel like a long hangover that the street just can’t shake, countercultural ideas about fashion remain relevant today. I owe the liberation of my own fashion sense to their reverberations, and I am inspired anew with every vintage fashion foray to the Haight.
Laura Stein is a San Francisco-based writer.
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