Molly Bloom knows style

Last week I talked about affordable shops for plumping your wardrobe. But mass-market clothes can be a drag — not-so-free trade, child labor, caustic dying methods — who knows what that $25 shirt has seen. Below you’ll find a list of San Francisco men’s hot spots. Some of these shops feature local designers and all are locally owned. When you shop boutique the prices are higher but so is the quality. Bonus: it’s unlikely you’ll see another guy wearing the same thing if you shop in smaller stores.

The Upper Haight chock full of casual hipster clothing stores. There’s everything from faux vintage to real vintage to rockabilly gift stores to urban slick to cheeseball clubber-guy duds. Shoe Biz is one of my favorite San Francisco shoe stores, and there are three of them on Haight Street (as well as outposts in Noe Valley and the Mission). Kweejibo (1580 Haight St.) makes shirts for men in a variety of current and retro styles. While some shirts are awesome, I find other styles too be a bit out of date and unflattering — look for the leaner cuts that have the seams right at the shoulder (not halfway down the upper arm). For those who insist on buying more T-shirts, Giant Robot (622 Shrader) has a cool selection of comic book/Japanese-American influenced superhero stuff.

Style doesn’t always come cheap in Hayes Valley but there is plenty of it. The shops along Hayes and Octavia are independently owned by people with great fashion sense. It’s hard to go wrong in any of the dozen boutiques along this route. Another plus to shopping in Hayes Valley: you can plop down with a cocktail at Absinthe (398 Hayes St.) or have a coffee in the back garden at Arlequin (384 Hayes St.) and admire your new acquisitions.

RAG, or Residents Apparel Gallery (541 Octavia St.), features locals-only designs for men and women. Depending on who’s renting rack space, clothes can be dressy, upscale or adventurous. RAG is a cool place to shop for one-of a-kind (or few of a kind) items. I’ve bought things at RAG and get compliments on them with every wearing.

Zeni (567 Hayes St.) boasts a great selection of upscale brands. The men’s section has lovely crisp dress-casual shirts and a fine array of current jeans. There are rows and rows of sunglasses to tempt you, and I think you should give in to temptation here. Zeni also sells underwear, and you should probably update your underthings while you’re at it.

Shoe-shopping is fantastic in Hayes Valley. There’s the sneaker store, Huf (516 Hayes St.), which is owned by a former pro-skater and feels more like a gallery with its curated kicks; Bulo Men’s (437A Hayes St.) specializes in stylish shoes in the $150-300 range; Paolo (524 Hayes St.) is all about the Italian leather design. Hot stuff.

This is a very Bay Area-centric list. Many independent designers don’t sell their wares online because of the inventory (and potential losses) required. If you know of a great online store selling independently produced clothes, send it my way and I’ll pass it on.

Earlier this week I went to a wedding in Las Vegas. I packed two dresses, sequined espadrilles, a swimsuit and a parasol — all you need, really. I spent my days floating in the lazy river at the Monte Carlo and my nights at swanky lounges. I ordered room service and rode the deliciously air-conditioned Monorail. I saw the Sea Horse Lounge and Forty-Deuce Burlesque. I had a fine time.



In Caesar’s Palace I won playing the quarter slots. I cashed out pronto and headed down to the Forum Shops where I purchased a polka-dot shirt dress at Bebe with my winnings. Eating at Emeril’s I pondered the expense account of a well-dressed woman holding court at a business luncheon two tables down. Then I went ahead and ordered the lobster bisque with my entree and appetizer, Size 4 be damned.



Vegas glitz shined in all its form. There was Grandma Glam, with the zip-front silk jackets in leopard and zebra prints (see above); Stripper Glam, with the impossible acrylic shoes and thin thighs and big hair; Cocktailer Glam, with the sportcoats and short skirts and support hose; and Middle America Glam, with the sparkly halter-back tent tops and tight jeans and French pedicures poking out of strappy slides. There was a lot of glitter going on and amen for it.

I can’t bring myself to take mean-spirited photos of real-live people. If I could, there would be shots of people wearing swimsuits in the lobby of my hotel, too-small stretchy knit tops on otherwise attractive women and cheap plastic flipflops everywhere. I saw more unpedicured and sunburned and downright terrifying feet this weekend. Two dollar shoes aren’t walk-around-town shoes. Please stop taunting me, you’re making my feet hurt.

My nods for most stylish hotels/casinos: TheHotel at Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand and Caesar’s Palace. Somehow the sound-level in the casinos is turned down compared to the louder-than-bombs game rooms in other joints.

ballet flat - A flat shoe with a thin sole that resembles the shoes worn by ballerinas. This style sometimes includes ribbons that wind up the leg to tie in a bow or a strap at the ankle. It is also called a ballerina flat.

Absence makes the shopping heart grow colder. If it’s been a long time since you’ve shopped for clothes, you may need a few easy and inexpensive starter stores. If you’re looking to augment your wardrobe with something trendy and current or stylish and sophisticated, here are some mass-retail options. Next week I’ll follow-up with some independently designed menswear lines.

At the risk of suggesting the obvious, H&M is as inexpensive as current gets (150 Post and 150 Powell in San Francisco). Their selection is constantly changing. If you’re admiring a $35 windbreaker, it’s best to buy because it may not be there when you return. In addition to current everyday clothes H&M has a solid collection of dressy stuff. If you’ve been wearing the same style of Dockers or other casual pants for a while, mix it up and try on pants in the new cuts. Seemingly small details like the placement or size of pockets and fullness in the legs can make an entire outfit jump into 2006.

H&M also carries a line of ties and suits in current shapes and colors. If you rarely wear a suit, it makes sense to spend more of your wardrobe allotment on everyday items. These suits won’t last forever but one or two should get you through the latest round of weddings.

Zara is another international retail brand. They are slightly more expensive than H&M but with a more consistent collection of clothes. Their San Francisco store (250 Post St.) has an entire floor of menswear and includes shoes and man-cessories (belts, umbrellas, socks — socks, an entire post for another day!). The sales staff is helpful and well-versed in what looks good. They also sell suits and fantastic overcoats.

Club Monaco (in the San Francisco Center at 865 Market St.) offers sophisticated casual clothes. A current trouser or casual sportcoat is as dressy as it gets, but they have very stylish basics that are a step up from other stores. Club Monaco always has great collared shirts and knits. Ballpark-speaking, you can get a blazer for less than $200. They do free alterations on full-price merchandise, just speak with the fitting room attendant.

I should point out these clothes probably aren’t free trade — but they are affordable. What you lose supporting a local independent designer you get in value. None of these stores sell clothes online but they do have locations in many urban centers. Sometimes the sizing is different from what you may be used to, so don’t worry about a larger size making your butt look big.

broomstick skirt - A skirt characterized by numerous pleats and crinkled material. Traditionally, a wet garment was wrapped around a broomstick to create uneven, crinkly pleating as it dried. They are often knee-length or longer, and can be very full.

There’s something going on I don’t understand: vests are back.

Vests belong under a suit. They should be part of a tailored men’s suit, and that suit should include the wearing of the jacket over the vest. I love a man in a well-made suit. Saville Row, you get a pass on the vests.

I thought vests were gone. The ’80s drove what I hoped was the final nail into the vest coffin. The worst offenders were the oversized, tailor-inspired vests. Such vests were added on to an outfit to suggest a certain kickiness. This look screamed, “Look at me in my funky vest! I am the coolest seventh-grader around!” This device was used instead of solid scriptwriting by TV producers who wanted to over explain how sassy sitcom characters really were.

And then there are sweater vests. How I loathe the sweater vest.

The preppies rocked the sweater vest, and that was almost OK. The pairing of an argyle vest with a starched Brooks Brothers shirt and pleated pants was an ’80s uppercrust staple. I could deal, if only because the entire ensemble said, “I am not trying to be fashionable, I am trying to be traditional.” I got it.

But sweater vests? Now? Now that we have form-fitting jeans and adorable skirts? Now that the most coveted attribute is rock-hard abs? It is counterintuitive to what’s going on in popular culture, and maybe if no one buys them they will go away.

There are many reasons to hate the sweater vest. Busty women should not even look at a sweater vest for fear of top-heaviness. If you’re thin, a sweater vest adds back the paunch that you work so hard to keep off. If you’re heavy, a sweater vest adds more bulk. This is a bad idea unless you plan on wearing it with a too-short shirt in an attempt to point out your thin wrists.

I cannot even talk about the baggy sweater vest/large belt/leggings combo I saw in a catalog. First I was mad and then I was sad, what with all the prospective sweater vests on the horizon. I’m trying to understand, and I can’t.

There are vests that could possibly be acceptable to wear without a shirt underneath. But if you can go sleeveless, it’s too warm for a sweater. And that is not practical, and I hate not practical (unless it is in the shoe department, and then I urge moderation).

Will the right vest change my mind? Is there even such a thing as the right vest? I think not.