San Francisco Trip Recap + Consignment Shopping Guide

This year’s San Francisco trip was a little less about me taking photos and more about shopping and videos. After traveling to the city for the fourth year straight on a consistent basis (thanks to my husband’s job), I was finally able to spend less time exploring like a tourist and more time shopping like a New Yorker.

I usually don’t shop when I travel. I don’t check luggage, so I end up not having room to bring everything back. This time was no different, but I decided to go ahead and ship a box back home. I’m glad I decided to just go for it because I ended up picking up some cute stuff for relatively cheap. You can see one of my hauls in the last video I made.

What I Pack:

If you’ve been in San Francisco, you know that it’s not exactly the typically warm California weather place. When the fog sets in, it gets chilly. Seeing that it’s by the bay, there’s also a breeze that tends to be on a cooler side. Make sure to pack a light jacket or sweater and some light layers. I pretty much spent the trip in my jeans and a variety of sweaters. I always brought along my pea-coat with me to throw on towards the evening.

A lot of my luggage space is devoted to my camera equipment (this time, I brought three lenses along with my tripod) and skincare products. My skin tends to freak out when I travel, so I learned to pack masks and plenty of specialized products to tame it. I attribute the freakouts to the changing sleep patterns, diet and airplane air, naturally.

I brought the Perricone MD H2 Elemental Energy line with me this time around since I just got it before the trip. I was anxious to test it, and it just meets the liquid limits for carry-on luggage. I also packed in the Perricone MD Chloro Plasma Purifying Mask.

The mask is amazing to tame inflammation, so when I start getting splotchy, or blemishes start popping up, I typically slather this mask on my skin. I used it twice while in San Francisco after, like clockwork, my sebum production somehow went into overdrive (I don’t understand!!).

I used the H2 eye cream, the serum and the “cloud” cream religiously morning and night. I haven’t noticed any results from the eye cream, but the serum left my skin softer, and the moisturizer felt like I splashed water on my face. My skin was nice and quenched without feeling greasy. Solid choices for travel!

San Francisco Consignment Shops:

Ok, so the first place I stopped into isn’t necessarily a consignment store. It’s the Goodwill at 295 Bay St. I’m so glad I made it here! The racks are well-organized, the selection is broad enough to find an item or 10 without being completely overwhelming, and the workers are super friendly! Seeing as it’s near a very touristy area, I didn’t expect much, but I was pleasantly surprised. My entire “haul” in the last video was from the Goodwill.

I stopped into the Goodwill on Fillmore St. too, but there was absolutely nothing there that I liked. There were a few more items that could classify in the name brand/vintage category, like a hot-pink Max Mara button-up silk shirt, but it wasn’t exciting enough to snap up.

Keeping on Fillmore St, next stop happened to be Crossroads Trading Co (1901 Fillmore St). These can be found in multiple cities and tend to feature a more hipster selection of clothes. I saw a few more “trendy” items here and a more curated brand-name selection. A pair of leather Rag & Bone jeans were offered for $60. That’s an exquisite price considering leather Rag & Bone jeans tend to go into $1k+ price range. The items are generally higher price than at the Goodwill, for a good reason. Still, I walked out without buying anything. I didn’t see anything unique popping out.

My stroll led me to ReLove at 1815 Polk St. The store has a pretty organized selection of a healthy mix of fun vintage and some newer brand names. I overheard the owner telling one of the consignors that she doesn’t buy fast fashion brands, but I did come across a few Zara items (I’m a firm believer the creators of Zara and Forever21 will burn in hell for unleashing their Pandora’s Box of hellish delights). Anyway, that small detail aside, I found a few interesting looking items, most notably a lace-up red leather mini-dress (that, unfortunately, did not fit me at all). I ended up walking away with a Chanel tie for my husband instead, a steal at $50.

Cris Consignment at 2056 Pol St. was my last stop for the day, and I’m so glad I stopped in despite being exhausted! The selection is out of this world. Cris obviously has an amazing eye and picks up the cream of the crop for her store. If you’re looking for some high-end labels for a decent price point, this is where you should be spending the day.

The girl who was working that day (I think her name is Juniper- I wish I wrote it down!) went out of her way to make sure I found everything I needed. This was the first time I actually asked for help in a consignment store. I specifically asked for a high-waisted leather skirt, preferably with pockets, and a drapey 70’s style gold dress. While the dress didn’t work out, she did find the skirt and a matching Judith Leiber statement belt to go with it to boot! I also managed to snag a Margiela x H&M pristine-condition tuxedo jacket for like $60. This was definitely my most successful haul!

FYI, Cris Consignment also sells their wares online HERE.

The Places I Went: Video Travel Diary

Nataliya Ogle

Founder

Nataliya Ogle likes making sure others live to their full potential. She publishes articles on her primary website styletomes.com and works as a freelance writer for other women's interest sites. Her physical body is in New York but her presence can almost always be found online. The internet is her first love.

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Get inspired