Shopping in Tamalpais-Homestead Valley

After consulting with customers and getting a feel for their decorative style, the experts at Marin Frames preserve small and large pieces using custom-selected mat and frame choices. The staffers specialize in works on paper, painted canvases, and inkjet prints, but they can arrange all manner of pieces thanks to a full stock of classic frames, thick frames, and sleek, contemporary shadowboxes. The Marin Frames team also offers delivery and hanging services for people with abnormally tall walls and shrunken arms.

Certified by the American Board of Opticianry, the staffers at 20/20 Optical match faces with a pair of their more than 5,000 frames aided by customer-service chops that earned them a spot on Pacific Sun's Best of Marin Hall of Fame 2012. Their cache of glasses includes haute and stylish frames from designers such as Tom Ford, Lindberg, and Anne Et Valentin, which stand ready to welcome newly crafted single- or multifocal lenses. All lenses are cut with laser technology in 20/20’s own onsite laboratory by certified opticians.

After spending the morning sketching designs for vintage-inspired nightgowns, Karen Judge pauses to admire the view of the port of San Francisco and Oakland’s hills from the tall windows of her studio in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. She also gazes south towards SoMa, where her team of expert garment makers stitch every finalized design from cotton, silk, microfleece, and satin. In addition to giving Toute la Nuit Loungewear’s founder and creative director easy access to supervising the sewing, the workshop’s location reflects her desire to pay fair labor prices and reduce the carbon footprint that often comes with fashion manufacturing.

Karen’s drive to forge her own fashionable path actually inspired her to create Toute la Nuit Loungewear. Frustrated by the pajamas she found in stores—which were either overwhelming sexy or scandalously frumpy—she began designing sleepwear that could easily transition from “bed to breakfast.” Inspired by vintage nightgowns, modern daywear, and old Hollywood style, she designed feminine, romantic, and comfortable robes, nightgowns, and separates. For their versatility and woman-friendly design, the styles have earned props from Daily Candy and California ApparelNews.net and a cease-and-desist letter from the fishnet stockings union.

In its four-decade history, Bananas at Large has provided production equipment and instruments to musical acts including the Grateful Dead, Carlos Santana, and Poison. At both the business' locations, soon-to-be superstars can stock up on their own equipment from well known and specialty brand names. Musicians just learning to tickle guitars till they cry melodies meet with dedicated teachers, many of whom studied music in school or have played professionally for years. In classes, the teachers draw upon their backgrounds in genres from funk to classical to lead 30- to 45-minute classes on instruments including the guitar, keyboard, and drums.

At Breaking Away Bicycles, cycling enthusiasts and mechanics facilitate two-wheeled joyrides with a full line of bikes and accessories, repair services, and custom bike fittings. Apparel from brands such as Hincapie, Louis Garneau, and Castelli prepares cyclists for safe road riding and off-road jaunts through nature. In the repair shop, mechanics service bicycles of all makes and models, inspecting shocks and custom-fitting bikes to conform to the needs of riders or earth-dwelling former mermaids. For those in search of a new ride, Breaking Away Bicycle rents out mountain bikes and sells cycles from brands such as Ellsworth, Raliegh, Blue and KHS.

Behind Silver Moon Jeweler's stately black flared awning, delicate wood and glass display cases glitter with precious stones and sterling-silver jewelry for women and men. Baubles from more than 40 artists such as Boma, Holly Yashi, and Rosselini dapple bracelets with inlaid stones, lend spartan embellishments to stately men's rings, and crown women's rings with jewels such as onyx and blue topaz. Silver Moon Jewelers nestles every bauble in a sealed gift bag along with an anti-tarnish strip to ensure ornaments remain sparkling and free of smudges and ancient curses.