Painted Bird: A thrift and vintage clothing shop in the Mission

Michelle Elaine is a blogger from Fvncy (read: fancy), a personal lifestyle blog covering fashion and art. She enjoys thrifting and vintage hunting, and will be sharing the best of her San Francisco experiences with Hoodscope. You can check out Fvncy at fvncy.com and follow her on Twitter @meesow00.

I trekked from the South Bay to the Mission to visit Painted Bird as a suggestion from fellow blogger Liz from Late Afternoon. The place is small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in details. I highly doubt you’d be able to find the pieces they sell at just any thrift store. The prices are higher than Thrift Town & Goodwill, but like I said you won’t find these pieces just anywhere.

Painted Bird goes out of it’s way to select and show only the good stuff, leaving you with a great selection to peruse, as opposed to having to dig through racks of undesirable items (and possibly leaving empty handed). I really recommend this place if you’re looking for a vintage fur coat or funky leather jacket. I spotted a pair of white RVCA jeans with grey leopard print, several pairs of great boots, a few animal printed over-sized sweaters, some alluring lingerie bustier tops, and heaps of men’s wear (that could easily be worn by women). In addition to selling thrift and vintage they also carry labels by various independent designers and deadstock jewelry and sunglasses.

I came out of there with a black scarf by De Nada. I did have a hard time deciding if I should get it in creamy off white or black, and then gave myself a hard time about whether or not to make the purchase. However, I couldn’t put it down and I couldn’t ignore that I felt that it needed to be in my life, so it was decided for me that I had to have it. It’s possible that I’ll be back again to purchase the creamy off white scarf as well and a beautiful vintage fur coat, though.

Painted Bird has been around since 2005, but they recently relocated from their original location on Guerrero to their new location one street over on Valencia. You can sell and trade your own clothing, at 35% for cash or 55% for trade.

Keep It Fvncy,
Michelle Elaine

Painted Bird
1360 Valencia Street (between 24th & 25th)
San Francisco, CA 94110
7 days a week 11-8
(415) 401-7027
http://www.paintedbird.org

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