soma

Vim and Vigor Salon

Photography courtesy of Vim and Vigor Salon

Step inside newly re-launched King Street salon Vim and Vigor, and the first thing you’re likely to notice about the club-like interiors are walls strewn with what, from afar at least, appear to be undulating tendrils of hair. But take a few steps closer, and you’ll find the swirling lines are actually mane-like fibers embedded in the walls. And thank the styling gods for that.

Craigslist

Usually the apartments you find in SoMa are either uber-modern luxury numbers or former crack dens with a fresh coat of paint (if you're lucky). We like this one bedroom at Shipley Street between 5th and 6th because of its reasonable rent and well-kept interior. For $1475 a month you get an updated kitchen with granite countertops, wood floors throughout with berber carpet in the bedroom, a small balcony and access to a backyard area.

gr.dano Designers Jill Giordano and Brian Scheyer with their Discarded to Divine design, now a part of their label's Fall/Winter '09 collection.

Photography courtesy of Discarded to Divine

One of San Francisco’s can’t-miss fashion events of the year takes place tomorrow night in SoMa. In case you’ve been trapped in a dressing room somewhere and haven’t heard the buzz (not likely, we know, but possible), the Discarded to Divine benefit held each year taps fashion designers to create garments from donated clothing and textiles and auctions the finished wearables off to raise much-needed funds for the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s programs aiding the poor and homeless. Recycled fashion? Design for a good cause?

Photography courtesy of Mariele Williams

Instead of the unattended-to mail, errant articles of clothing and various electronic gadgetry one might expect to find strewn across the desk of the average 21-year-old SoMa resident, there’s a band saw and what remains of a pheasant carcass perched on the one belonging to Mariele Williams, whose leather, antler and feather jewelry made us stop and stare (in a good way) during a recent visit to The Perish Trust.

Julie Chaiken

Photography courtesy of Chaiken

What better way is there to thank mom for your good looks than treating her to some new ones of her own?

And besides, chatting over breakfast with Julie Chaiken, goddess of black pants, before heading to her private studio for a one-on-one style session peppered with the San Francisco designer’s tips and takes on current trends isn’t a shabby way for a fashion supplicant to spend a Saturday.