The perfect wardrobe is a collection of vintage beauties and trendy new things, but shopping in this form takes devotion. Thrashing through thrift stores may not be your style and consignment shops often have a tendency to overwhelm with rack after rack of fashion-flops. Alas, Collage Clothing and its queen bee Erica Skone-Rees are making your life easier. The closet-size shop in Potrero Hill hosts an ever-changing assortment of local designers, consignment and vintage pieces, meaning you can leave the hunting and gathering to someone else.
Every inch in the adorable shop is carefully attended— manager and buyer Skone-Rees is a former merchandiser with a gift for making each item in the store look irresistible. Collage Clothing opened its French doors in November as the new neighbor to its mother store, Collage Gallery, an 18-year-old, Potrero Hill staple for vintage furniture and locally made jewelry.
The front-window display alone is enough to get people inside and browsing— from mannequins to antiques, Skone-Rees rearranges the display every two days, paying mind to details and setting up featured items as if they were famed works of art.
“Runners will go by in the morning and send me emails once they get home, telling me ‘the window looked great today’,” she says with a proud smile. “And guys from Blooms (Bar across the street) will stand outside, smoking their cigarettes and watch me change the display. People really get a kick out of this window.”
The store carries items for both men and women, and if you’re clueless about what to try on or just in need of some direction, Skone-Rees is one to ask. The first time I went into the shop, I came out with a sexy blue-suede dress straight out of the 90s. Skone-Rees and I chatted while I walked around the store in my new body-glove, chatting like we were old pals. As special as it was, Skone-Rees offers this kind of big-sister service to all of her customers.
“This store is like my baby— I eat, sleep and breath Collage and I love it.”
Each month Collage Clothing and Collage Gallery host a double-trunk show, offering customers a chance to meet and greet local designers, buy up some goods and toast with champagne. This month’s event— Thurs/18 from 6-9pm— features the FLEECE-A-NISTA collection by Jeanne Feldkamp and Topi Hat Designs.
Check out the gallery for current items hot on the rack this week.
Collage Clothing
1331 18th St
(between Texas St & Missouri St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 755-8306