You pull out that beautiful flannel and spend the afternoon wilting in it. Or you decide summer is sticking around, leave the sweater at home and regret it by dinner.
Our recent shoots at Half Moon Bay and the Pelican Inn offered a pretty good demonstration.
Half Moon Bay gave us fog, wind off the Pacific and exactly the sort of weather that makes tweed, Shetlands and heavier wool feel right. A few weeks later we arrived at the Pelican Inn with much the same idea: an English pub on the Marin coast, tweeds, flannels, knitwear — autumn had practically styled the shoot for us.
Except it was considerably warmer than expected.
There we were, dressed for a brisk day on the English coast while Marin decided to give us sunshine. Jackets stayed on. Sweaters were worn. Brows were mopped between shots.
We suffer in the name of fashion.
And that, really, is October in the Bay Area. Drive a few miles in almost any direction and you can find yourself dressed for an entirely different day. Once the sun goes down, the whole thing changes again.
Which brings to mind one of our favorite 30 Rock lines:
“Gonna move to the Bay Area now, pretend that was your dream the whole time?
Have fun always carrying a light sweater.”
It was meant as a dig at the Bay Area. We prefer to think of it as sound advice.
This time of year, our wardrobes tend to be a mix of lightweight flannels, tweeds, Fox Air and knitwear. Nothing gets packed away completely because you never know what next Tuesday might bring.
And yes, we carry a light sweater.
Our Shetlands are made in Scotland from proper wool and are particularly good for this kind of weather. They look just as good thrown over the shoulders as they do actually worn, and work with everything from jeans and chinos to a relaxed suit. They’re thin enough to slip comfortably under a sport coat but woolly enough to earn their keep when the wind picks up or the temperature drops after sunset.
October in the Bay Area may not make much sense as a season.
But it beats the hell out of Buffalo in February.
Our Locations
San Francisco
Our San Francisco showrooms are nestled at the crux of an eclectic mixture of Jackson Square, the Financial District, North Beach, and Chinatown.
This showroom is appointment-only.
Palo Alto
Our newest showroom in Palo Alto opened in 2023, and is tucked away at 433 Hamilton Avenue.
This location is appointment-only.