Silicon Valley Fashion Isn’t Just Patagonia Bros

KQED’s Silicon Valley Unseen is a series of photo essays, original reporting and underreported histories that survey the tech capital’s overlooked communities and subcultures from a local perspective.

Hey Siri, what defines Silicon Valley fashion?

If you Google the phrase, you’ll get some obvious responses: “basic male,” “tech worker aesthetic,” “‘tech bro’ hoodie wardrobe.” But perhaps the most revealing result you’ll get is itself a question, one asked for years now: “Do people lack fashion sense in Silicon Valley?”

Look, I’m not here to defend Silicon Valley’s fashion choices. But I can’t help but notice two things. First off, Silicon Valley style seems inextricably linked to tech culture, thereby erasing any other local presence, as if only tech workers wear clothes around here. And secondly, the tech workers being ridiculed are often white, well-off, middle-aged men — not exactly the best barometer of fashion.

Sure, there’s Santana Row — Silicon Valley’s Beverly Hills-esque shopping area — gleaming with high-end luxury brands and a Tesla dealership. It’s where you’ll find all the stereotypical tech-mogul outfits. That side of Silicon Valley is real.

But there are nooks around here where the norm is not “Patagucci.” Cultivated by punk rockers, skaters, hip-hop heads, nightclub-goers, Chicano lowrider clubs, strip mall addicts, anime convention-goers and more, the styles around Silicon Valley vary just as much as its diverse population.

Tam Tran, a first-generation Vietnamese American, is among them. Born in San Francisco in the ’80s, she moved to San Jose at age four and has gone back and forth between the cities ever since. After a career in graphic design, the fashionable millennial started a pop-up version of Classic Loot in 2012. Her passion eventually turned into a quirky, glittery thrift shop in San Jose’s Japantown filled with vintage goods and hard-to-find collectibles, like a double-stacked Japanese claw machine.

Unfortunately, like many adults in Silicon Valley who don’t work in tech, Tran recently had to move out of the area due to the high cost of living.

“It became unlivable,” she said. “I tried getting apartments out there, but it’s an arm and a leg to live in a box.”

That hasn’t stopped Tran from running her speciality shop. If anything, being away from Silicon Valley makes her appreciate the region’s culture more than ever (she especially misses the area’s vibrant Vietnamese food circuit).

While juggling many roles and holding down her shop, Tran reflected on what she most enjoys about thrifting in the Valley.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

ALAN CHAZARO: Tell us about your clothing shop, Classic Loot.

TAM TRAN: Classic Loot is a whole lot of everything. We’re an actual team now, but I started off doing pop-up events, table events, just selling vintage jewelry. That was back in 2012 when vintage wasn’t a major thing like it is today. I remember getting comments from people freaking out that everything [we sold] was used and worn. But now we’re a shop in Japantown, and we’ve been here for seven years. Everything blossomed from selling vintage clothing to handmade goods and art, to brand new stuff. It’s just a collection of everything I think is dope. And I’m honored to have a great team, girls who are a lot younger and know all the trends and cool things happening. They recommend what we should have, and then we get it. That’s the joy and freedom of having a small business.

What’s your connection to Silicon Valley? You were born in San Francisco, but moved to San Jose at a young age. Where do you feel most rooted, especially in terms of fashion?

I definitely spend more of my time in San Jose, but most of my adult life has also been inspired by San Francisco. I attended the San Francisco Art Institute for graphic design. Over there, people talk down on [Silicon Valley], like our fashion is lame, or whatever. During that period, there wasn’t social media quite yet, so people [outside of San Francisco] didn’t always get the same recognition. But because of social media nowadays, you can really be anywhere and be the dopest kid. It doesn’t matter where you’re from.

I moved back to San Jose after graduating. I became a graphic designer for a while, freelancing and doing commercial real estate. It was boring and terrible, but it paid the bills. Actually, I would never change it for anything, because what I learned professionally, I apply it to Classic Loot to this day. But I didn’t like to work for “the man.” So I went to a garage sale and started buying stuff and selling it on Instagram. I quit the day job I had and moved into my mom’s house and started hustling.

There’s a popular opinion that Silicon Valley is fashion-less. People always joke about tech workers wearing Patagonia vests. But what does local style look like to you as an insider?

From an outsider’s perspective I can see how it might not seem like we have much going on down here besides the tech world. But we have the coolest kids who come here and we get to see how they express their fashion sense. Because of the markets and events we go to, we get to see that type of crowd all over this area. The scene is small and niche, but once you’re tapped in, you really appreciate everyone’s way of expressing themselves differently through clothes.

The girls who work [at Classic Loot], they’re really an inspiration for me and the customers. I’m in my late 30s, so to see the younger generation experimenting every day is really cool. They like to mix new trends with things that I wore when I was growing up, and I love that.

Where do you find your inspiration in Silicon Valley as a thrifter?

There are tons of Savers, Goodwills, those kinds of places around here. But those are hit or miss, because it’s thrifting. Japantown has a few small businesses with a local feel. There are lots of young entrepreneurs here with cool brands. JUBO. Cukui. Headliners. We all support each other. Another heavy hitter is Black and Brown. They have a solid curation of secondhand stuff like us, but with a different feel.

Also, one of our friends at Pop Up SJ has vendors come to The Garden at the [Berryessa] Flea [Market]. That’s a cool vintage market event. Everyone is dressed to impress there. It’s an event to go thrifting there, but it’s also like a runway for our little area. They have some of the coolest vintage clothing finds there, and it’s close to BART.

But don’t sleep on the [West Wind] Flea Market on Capitol. That’s the best one. It’s the smaller flea market, but it’s where the good stuff is for the cheapest prices. We do team bonding there and thrift together sometimes. It used to be our hidden place, but that changed after TikTok blew up the spot.

San Jose seems to have a thing for expensive brands, which you can find at Santana Row and Valley Fair — the high-end stuff that gives more of an L.A. vibe, as opposed to the grungy and artistic ethos often associated with San Francisco or Oakland. 

Yeah, I feel like San Jose gets the reputation of being more bougie. Personally, I don’t set foot into a mall anymore. I try to shop small and stay within the thrift shops here. And I don’t really support the big box stuff online either.

You showcase your local vendors very prominently on your website. How do you go about finding these vendors and what are you generally looking for in a potential vendor or thrifter to work with?

Sometimes we just go out to markets and see booths and tables whose aesthetic would match what we have going on. But most times they contact us through Instagram. We have a vendor manager and she goes out scouting for people, or people come in and apply to be with us. It’s not just thrifting, we deal with artists, too. I was in their shoes at one point, making stuff to sell at other stores. Starting off on eBay or Etsy, you sometimes just end up with 5 cents after paying all the fees. I wish I had a mentor back then. So we want to provide that opportunity, and to help newcomers with the process. A lot of artisans are great but don’t necessarily know the business side of things. Price points, materials, marketing. We like to exchange tips and help them get started.

Silicon Valley has a reputation as a male-dominated space. In contrast, your shop has a very strong, feminine energy. I’ve also heard you use the word “woman-powered.” What does that represent for you?

When you walk into our store, it’s super pink and glittery. Guys come in and kind of creep back out and we’re like “no, no, no, we have a little section for you in the back, we promise!” We have a very small curation of masculine items, because girls can dress masculine, too. We’re predominantly all women here. It’s a sisterhood. It’s not just about the skills or the knowledge, but matching the energy. My whole thing as a designer is that you spend a lot of time at work, so if you fucking hate the people there, it won’t last. I really appreciate taking care of your people, because they will take care of you. Having this small business, we can create a space for each other. That’s the beauty of it.

Classic Loot (570 N. 6th St., San Jose) is open Monday–Friday from 12 to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.