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Little Otsu
Finally, useful tools for the artistically inclined: Keri Smith's freeform 'Daily Non-Planner' so you can make lists and dates when so moved, an 'Aquatic Adventures' planner by Allison Cole, and a Simon Evans airplane bookmark that ominously declares its destination as 'TERMINAL EXCESSIVE SENSIBILITIES.' Recycled paper stationery makes eco-smart gifts, especially that phone log for your slacker roommates (hint, hint).
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Lyle Tuttle Tattooing
This shop was started by tattoo legend Lyle Tuttle, who inked San Francisco, and celebs like Janis Joplin, Cher and Joan Baez. Since his retirement, the shop's owned and operated by Tanja Nixx, who's developed a following of her own for full-color flying carp and Day of the Dead sugar skulls. Tuttle's shop worked with the SF Health Department to set industry standards for safe, sanitary practices, so you're in good hands here.
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Mac
'Modern Appealing Clothing' is what they promise, and what they deliver with structured looks from Belgian minimalist Dries Van Noten and Chilean drape-master Maria Cornejo, and bold moves from Van Beirendonck's Pop Art patterns to Eley Kishimoto's splashy layered colors. The staff is on your side, rooting for you to rock these designs, steering you away from looks that don't quite click and gloating with you when you score something from the 40-75% off sales rack.
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Macy's
Five floors of name brands, plus a basement food court best avoided for the oddly sour smells. The men's department is across the street so they won't have to worry their pretty little heads about where to find boxer briefs and Kenneth Cole, while women have to brave the perfume police and fend off slightly insulting free makeover offers just to check out the shoe sale (its totally worth it).
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Marc By Marc Jacobs
The quirky American designer has such a following in San Francisco, you might suspect he was handing out designer condoms. Oh wait: he actually does. This 'mid-priced' shop runs around US$100 -300 for clothes, and more for sensational black-and-white spectator heels and sought-after bags - hot accessories and limited-edition T-shirts are priced around US$50 , so everyone can get a piece of the fashion action.
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Margaret O�leary
Hand-knit cardigans like mom used to make, only less lumpy and minus the itch factor. This San Francisco designer specializes in knitwear that's ultra-soft, in cashmere or eco-minded bamboo yarn, but with a sleek urban edge - perfect for a town where sweaters are a must and frumpiness the ultimate fashion crime.
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Miette
Kids aren't the only ones that go wild surrounded by fully stocked candy jars, a table of chocolate bars and a cookie counter. Tots load up on Pixie Stix and chocolate fire trucks, while adults ogle salty French caramels and Fair Trade chocolate bars spiked with chili. Ask for help first, so you don't get caught with your hand in the candy jar.
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Mingle
To break up the khaki monotony of the Gap and wrest free of H&M trends, get out there and Mingle. Local designers stock the place with hot dirndl dresses, mod bags and glam gold leather rings, all for less than you'd pay for Marc Jacobs on sale. Men emerge from Mingle full-blown metrosexuals, in dark tailored denim and T-shirts screen-printed with unicorns that might prompt a world of horn-related puns if they weren't so disarmingly charming.
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Mollusk
The high-impact store sign by renowned artist Tauba Auerbach is the first hint that this is the source of West Coast surfer cool. Visits by celebrity shapers (surfboard makers) yield limited-edition boards you won't find anywhere else, and the signature Mollusk T-shirts and hoodies by local artists buy you instant SF street cred. Surf books and sculpture installations by the likes of the Society of Driftwood Enthusiasts give non-surfers vicarious surf-subculture thrills.
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My Roommate's Closet
All of the half-off bargains and none of the clawing dangers of a sample sale: pop-art graphic Trina Turk dresses, LAMB button-waist sailor pants that'll have you channeling Gwen Stefani and designer denim at prices approaching reality. Not that added incentive is needed, but if you spend around US$100 you get 10% off your next purchase.
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Nancy Boy
All you closet pomaders and after-sun-balmers: wear those products with pride, without feeling like the dupe of some cosmetics conglomerate. Clever Nancy Boy knows you'd rather pay for the product than advertising campaigns featuring Scarlett Johansson, and delivers locally made products with effective plant oils that are tested on boyfriends, never animals.
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Needles & Pens
Do it yourself or DIY trying. This scrappy 'zine/craft/how-to/art gallery delivers the inspiration to create your own magazines, rehabbed T-shirts or album covers. Nab Dishwasher 'zine, Pete Jordan's continuing adventures in dishwashing across all 50 states, and while supplies last, around US$3 local punk 'zines by Jay Howell, and limited-edition screen-printed calendars.
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Neiman-Marcus
Hoity-toity and proud of it, Neiman-Marcus delivers old-school wow factor with soft lighting filtered through an oval rotunda and shamelessly obsequious service. There's a reason it's called Needless Markup - unless you're prepared to surrender that trust fund, stay a good 20 ft away from the personal shopper eager to help you into that emerald green, ruched raw-silk Prada number. Check the website for designer trunk shows and fun runway events.
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Nest
Remember the last time you sneaked into a bedroom at a party? That's the thrill of Nest, where this intimate space is dominated by a wrought-iron bedstead draped in teal Chinese silk bedding, celadon petticoats waving in the breeze from their hangers and nymphets skipping across framed Victorian book plates. Even the chandeliers are bound in twigs, indulging their nesting instincts.
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New Lab
This pro lab will do right by your artistic inspirations, whether you're an old-school photographer who needs contact sheets and proof prints, a new media maven looking to output massive Giclee prints of digital photos, or in transition converting your slides to digital images. Turnaround time is usually 4 hours for photos, 24 for contact sheets and proofs.
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New May Wah
No truly adventurous eater should leave town without a trip here, where the selection and prices are not to be believed. Flavored tapioca tea kits and stinky, acquired-taste durian are just a beginning: sharpen your stir-fry skills with an array of fish sauce and bean pastes, and work your way through the shelves of chili sauce and soju (Korean rice wine) if you dare.
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Nippon-Ya!
Tea, seasonal treats and omiyage (traveler's gifts) ranked by popularity make Nippon-ya! worthy of exclamation. There's a whole wall of tea and treats to accompany it, like green-tea mochi, the ever-popular strawberry mochi with chocolate filling and arare rice crackers basted with sweet soy sauce. Everything is so lavishly wrapped that that goldfish keychain looks fancier than one from Tiffany's.
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Noe Knit
So you love handmade sweaters, but could never dream of making one yourself? Noe Knit has heard that old yarn before, and they're out to prove you wrong with friendly service, starter needles, handy pattern books, yummy yarn in a variety of colors and textures, plus classes to get you started.
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One Half
Bargain hunters and anyone who keeps a cache of gifts for friends that need cheering up will go wild in this shop, brimming with designer overstock at half the retail price. Recent finds include letterpress cards that spell 'thank you' in sign language, elegant eco-bamboo serving platters and messenger bags in traffic-stopping neon colors. No refunds or exchanges, so check your merchandise carefully.
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Ooma
Feel-good style is what Objects Of My Affection is all about: cascading tourmaline earrings that tickle your shoulders, polka-dotted peep toes that make you wiggle your toes, and locally made Del Forte organic denim that's supple, eco-friendly and made without using sweatshop labor. Better still, most of it is in the shockingly affordable double-digit range, including locally made jewelry. Check the website for arrivals and sales.
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Original Levi's Store
The flagship store in Levi Strauss' hometown sells the usual, plus denim you won't find at your local Levi's emporium, from rare 1950s prison model denims to jeans with a pocket for your MP3 player. Use the latest in Silicon Valley jeans-fitting technology: the IntelliFit machine, which maps your body with microwaves to recommend the best style for your behind.
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Park Life
Is it a design store, an art gallery or an indie publisher? Or all of the above, with limited-edition scores that include flashlight-shaped candles, a soccer ball fruit bowl and Park Life's own publication on graffiti artist Andrew Schoultz. The back gallery shows local and international heavyweights, including Chris Ballantyne's abstract subdivisions that look like skate parks, and Michelle Blade's ominous rains of parachutists.
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Past Perfect
So this is how Pacific Heights eccentrics fill up those mansions: entire walls of Blenko glass vases, antique Chinese perfume bottles shaped like goldfish and sleek, Danish teak credenzas with champagne buckets to match. The store is a collective, so prices are all over the place - some sellers apparently believe their belongings owe them back rent, while others are happy just to unload Aunt Millie's legacy.
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Paxton Gate
Salvador Dali probably would've shopped here for all his taxidermy and gardening needs. What with the puppets made with animal skulls, a stuffed mouse dressed like the Pope, a vast selection of pruning shears and lollipops with actual worms in them, this place is beyond surreal. Did we mention they have a wedding registry?
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Peace Industry
Persian carpets usually take credit for grand entrances, but Peace Industries' cooperative-made Iranian felted wool rugs offer graphic appeal and a deliciously spongy, ticklish texture underfoot. Get back to nature with a dewdrop pattern in off-white and brown wool, go arty with Ruth Asawa-inspired glowing red and orange orbs, or opt for Op Art black-and-white swirls.
