Piedmont Avenue is an area of the San Francisco East Bay that I am very familiar with.  I have been going there for years to eat at restaurants and to shop.  Since moving to Berkeley, I have gone there less often.  I did not know if this neighborhood had a vintage culture, but after a little research found that it had at least four vintage stores, so I decided to check it out.

My first stop was Mercy Vintage Now owned and operated by Jenny and Karen (4188 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA, 510-654-5599, www.mercyvintage.com, jenny@mercyvintage.com).  It is a small store, but has high-end vintage and contemporary clothing and shoes.  In a cabinet, that was not locked, I found a treasure trove of shoes by YSL, Dolce Gabbana and other designers that I'm featuring below. Jenny told me that their store was the first vintage shop to appear on the Avenue, but in the past year others had opened up.  She suggested that I go to Resurrect.

Before going to Resurrect, I walked down the street to a consignment shop called Bis, owned and operated by Lila (4254 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA 510-547-7800, Lila@bispiedmont.comcastbiz.net).  Bis is a high-end consignment shop, meaning that the prices are rather high.  Since I routinely shop at consignment stores, I thought it was a little over priced.  But all neighborhoods need consignment stores to recycle clothing and Bis is a viable store for the Piedmont neighborhood.  I especially liked a pair of black leather lace-up boots that (after looking at the photos again last night) wish I had bought.

Down Piedmont Avenue from Mercy Vintage Now and Bis, is Resurrect, (4135 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA 510-653-8716, www.resurrectdesigns.com, www.facebook.com/resurrectdesigns, kate@resurrectdesigns.com) a new vintage store that really has what it takes.  This small shop owned by two sisters, Kate and Ashley, is visually attractive and has both vintage clothing and handcrafted jewelry and hats.  I especially liked the Kachi pendants and the handcrafted necklaces. There were also beautiful evening gowns and other vintage dresses that were irresistible.  Resurrect is also pet friendly and allows dogs in to browse and shop with their pet parents.  I tried photographing one small dog shopper, but he would not hold still long enough for a good photo.

From Resurrect, I walked to Rare Bird (3883 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA 510-653-2473, www.therarebird.com, erica@therarebird.com) another small vintage store owned by Erica and managed by Tom.  While there, a seller was offering up quite a collection of vintage dresses from the 1950's that I would have loved to photograph. The shop was hopping with activity and I found some gorgeous items to share with you, including a black quilted circle skirt from the 1950's, a shimmery silver cocktail dress and a suede and faux fur coat by Lilly Ann.

My last stop on Piedmont Avenue was to a thrift shop called Dress Best For Less (3861 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA 510-658-8525, www.dressbestforless.org, dressbestforless@yahoo.com).  Clothes are donated and all proceeds from sales go to the Piedmont School District.  Here I found a beautiful brown suede fringed jacket and a kimono dressing gown.  I found that prices were slightly high, but know that the money goes to a good cause.

After my journey down Piedmont Avenue, I walked back to my car parked on a side street on 41st Street.  I was about a half block away and I looked up and saw the Discovery Shop (127 41st St., Oakland, CA 510-595-7130, stacy.overcamp@cancer.org) managed by Stacy Overcamp and owned by the American Cancer Society.  I couldn't resist and went in to see what this shop had to offer.  Discovery shop is a thrift store with most items under $10.  And there were some hidden treasures, including a pair of Marc Jacobs jeans and a gold and blue velvet Anne Klein jacket.


 Jenny at Mercy Vintage Now
 A view of the store at Mercy Vintage Now
 Front window at Mercy Vintage Now
 Mercy Vintage Now
 Candy apple red 1940's-esque shoes at Mercy Vintage Now
 Gold & brown leather flats at Mercy Vintage Now
 Boot corner at Mercy Vintage Now
 Another view of Mercy Vintage Now
YSL fantasy shoes at Mercy Vintage Now
 White suede boots at Mercy Vintage Now
 Fur coat at Mercy Vintage Now
 Fabric & red suede shoes at Mercy Vintage Now
 Dolce Gabbana black pumps at Mercy Vintage Now
 Retro 19th Century boots at Mercy Vintage Now
 Metallic green heels at Mercy Vintage Now
 Black faux alligator stiletto heels at Mercy Vintage Now
 Entrance to Bis
 Black dress with mink stole at Bis
 A view of the store at Bis
 Shoe corner at Bis
 Black lace up boots at Bis
 Wool DKNY blazer with velvet collar at Bis
 Pink knitted jacket with black trim at Bis
 Resurrect
 Ashley, owner of Resurrect
 A view of the store at Resurrect
 Hand crafted hats at Resurrect
 Kachi pendants at Resurrect
 Men's corner at Resurrect
 Black jet & crystal handcrafted necklaces at Resurrect
 Dreamy evening gown at Resurrect
 1950's day dress with fringe trim at Resurrect
 A comfortable corner to try on shoes at Resurrect
 Stunning black velvet dress at Resurrect
 Brown wool coat with fur collar at Resurrect
 Shoe area at Resurrect
 Pillow Talk dressing gown at Resurrect
 Rare Bird
 Window display at Rare Bird
 A view of the store at Rare Bird
 Black 1950's quilted circle skirt ($50) at Rare Bird
 Black & white checked jacket at Rare Bird
 Faux fur and suede Lily Ann coat ($88) at Rare Bird
 Slinky, silver cocktail dress at Rare Bird
Entrance to Dress Best For Less
 A view of the store at Dress Best For Less
 Beautiful Asian leather purse at Dress Best For Less
 Brown suede fringed jacket ($25) at Dress Best For Less
Black fur coat with mink trim at Dress Best For Less
Kimono dressing gown ($35) at Dress Best For Less
 Discovery Shop
 Inside the Discovery Shop
 Adorable black shoes by Paolo ($12) at Discovery Shop
 Candy cane slip on pumps ($8) at Discovery Shop
 Gray fabric flats by Bruno Magali ($14) at Discovery Shop
 Brown midi sweater at Discovery Shop
 Gold & royal blue velvet Anne Klein jacket ($20) at Discovery Shop
Marc Jacobs jeans ($29) at Discovery Shop

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