San Francisco - Alison Bing [34]
The magazine 7×7 (a reference to the city’s size in miles) and its website (www.7×7.com) are good bets for food and drink listings, shopping and fashion coverage, plus inexplicable society-page coverage (as if anyone here really cares). San Francisco magazine is a slick monthly that’s surprisingly stodgy in its recommendations, but has some interesting reportage on local arts, culture and politics.
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RADIO & TV
Nearly 100 radio stations in the Bay Area broadcast hip-hop, classic rock and alt-rock, country and western, jazz, classical, Mexican banda, news, talk, sports, evangelism and college esoterica. Bright spots on the dial include multiple public radio stations, with original programming and the usual NPR standbys – it’s the soundtrack you’ll hear in many San Francisco cars, homes and workplaces. TV consists of the usual national network affiliates, ethnic media in multiple languages and a proliferation of cable stations. The most truly original local programming is found on KQED (channel 9), the PBS affiliate.
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FASHION
If San Francisco had its own unisex national costume, here’s what it would include: fly kicks or funky low-heeled shoes to manage those hills; jeans of course, invented here by Levi Strauss 150 years ago and getting more overpriced by the minute; a whimsical and/or controversial T-shirt, or possibly a vintage Western shirt; a sweater and/or coat of some kind, which remains inexplicably unbuttoned even in the chilliest fog; and a backpack, handbag or man-bag, holding big books and exceedingly small techno-gadgets. That said, there’s no designated underground-culture uniform here; trucker hats, ironic T-shirts, white belts and skinny jeans are far too mass-marketed and one-size-fits-all for SF’s sub-subcultures (see the boxed text, above). The most double-take-inducing, original fashion is spotted by night, especially at Downtown art galleries, Mission bars, Haight haunts or SoMa clubs.
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SF’S MIXED FASHION SIGNALS
You may think you can tell a subculture at a glance, but SF has its own set of dress codes that don’t conform to fashion norms elsewhere. The same fashion statement can signify more than one SF subculture, for example:
Skinny jeans: Mission punk guitarist or Marina soccer mom
Combat boots with backpack: Haight anarchist or Castro clubgoer
Sleeves of tattoos: Downtown bike messenger or SoMa software engineer
Statement jewelry: Pacific Heights socialite or Tenderloin drag queen
Fleece vest: Crissy Field yuppie or Berkeley radical
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Yet if you ask how long it took to pull that look together, most San Franciscans will swear they got dressed in 10 minutes, and if you compliment some article of clothing, you’ll probably be told what a bargain it was. San Franciscans do their utmost not to be confused with Los Angeles’ fashion victims, and like to think they’ve got more important things to worry about – such as protesting wars, attaining enlightenment and finishing that documentary film. Natural, low-maintenance beauty is the norm, or at least the goal – San Franciscans prefer to conserve their effort for drag, Burning Man and promising Saturday nights. Cutting-edge salons provide the stylish yet effortless cuts and outrageous color. Except for piercings and tattoos, San Franciscans don’t often pain themselves for fashion.
Dressing off the rack is only for the fashion-impaired in San Francisco, where DIY is the dominant ethic. The ultimate San Francisco fashion statement is a one-off made by hand, preferably your own. Vintage shops, local boutiques and indie designers are the preferred sources for readymade style, and the savvy regularly trawl the sales racks on SF’s most boutique-studded streets: Haight, Valencia, Hayes, upper Grant, Fillmore, Union and Polk. There’s no shame in admitting