Mixing Vintage, Decades and Eras at Aubergine

Looking for a costume to wear for Burning Man or thinking ahead to Halloween? Feeling that you need to update the cami and jeans you bought at the Gap? Aubergine, the vintage and retro-chic clothing boutique, has clothes from the 1940s to the present.

Expect dresses, shoes, motorcycle and combat boots, cowboy boots, handbags, a wonderful selection of belts including wide stretch belts from the 1980s, accessories, and a wonderful collection of vintage slips from Europe.

The vintage slips, said owner Morgan Graves, 19, have evolved over the years, from the very plain look of the 1940s to the waist-accentuating look of the 1950s. Today, they are worn as outerwear with comfortable flats, heels or cowboy boots and maybe a waist-cincing belt.

"For a summer daytime look over tights or skinny jeans," Graves suggested.

 Graves, grew up in the business in Sonoma, where her father, Randy Graves, owns Aubergine Vintage Emporium and Café in Sebastopol.

In the future, Graves hopes to complete the retro looks with a hair salon, specializing in "updos" from different eras.  

She is currently adding inventory for the Aug. 30 to Sept. 6 Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nev., with "gaudy bustiers" and fur jackets that are fashion favorites at the artist enclave.

 In September, Aubergine will have a large collection of costumes for Halloween from Randy Graves' store.  

Sales associate, Marjorie Rose Taylor, a vintage collector and expert herself, is excited to be working at Aubergine.

"In fashion right now, there are no rules.  It's all about about putting together all the different eras and decades, and mixing and matching the silhouettes from those eras," Taylor said. "That is what the major fashion designers are doing right now and what you see in the magazines too. And with people like Lady Gaga, doing these outlandish things in fashion, anything goes."

Customer, Cameron McEfee of San Francisco, came in one day looking for men's shoes to wear to a club in SF that is done up like a speakeasy. At Aubergine, he found a pair of men's black dress shoes to go with a 1930's suit he already had, so his ensemble would be complete.

New customer Linda Bulgo, a popular performer, well known to Bay Area audiences for her role as Snow White in San Francisco's "Beach Blanket Babylon," was driving by one day and liked what she saw in the windows.  She had been looking for 1960s clothes.

Bulgo spent about $400 the first day she shopped at Aubergine and was ready to come back for more.

"Shopping at Aubergine is such a bargain. I can't wait to go back in for more pieces," Bulgo said.  

For less than $100, the team at Aubegine can put together an outfit that is a fraction of the cost of what is seen in popular magazines.  

Prices for dresses range from $12 to $60, belts are from $12 to $30, handbags $14 to $50, vintage slips $8 to $22, women's shoes and boots $12 to $40, men's shirts $4 to $60, men's pants $14 to$32, jeans $8 to $44, and cowboy boots up to $72.  The jeans, for both men or women, are vintage or contemporary, and they have current styles from Diesel and G Star.  

And, for certain purchases over $30, they even throw in a scarf.

Aubergine

Address: 1344 Fourth Street, San Rafael (between C and D streets)

Phone: 524-8965

Open: 11 a.m. to 6 pm. Tuesday through Saturday

Website coming soon.

In the future, Aubergine will be taking consignments from every era as long as the items are in pristeen condition.