Dapper Ed

“A little piece of San Francisco” is how Ed Castro describes his vintage haberdashery, Ed’s Threads, at 1125 21st St. The 69-year-old Bay Area native has been doing business in the same location for 20 years; during the first 17 of those, he ran a record store there called Sounds Enjoyable. Now the compact space is occupied by racks and tables jammed with hanging or neatly folded men’s clothes—some from the 1940s, but most of them from the ’50s and ’60s, when Frank, Dino, Sammy, Peter and Joey set the tone. And how can you argue with, not one, but two racks of Hawaiian shirts, plus an overhead shrine to Frank with some photos, some records and a bottle of Jack?

You used to sell records?

I’ve been here 20 years. But for 17 years of that 20, I was doing music in here. I was doing used CDs, records, stereo components, things of that nature—everything related to music. So then, Sinatra died, and I figured it was over … music [laughs]. So this is kind of like a second love; I’ve always been somewhat of a clothes horse. I love clothing, vintage clothing. That’s how this came to be.

That’s how you got into the vintage clothing business?

Yeah. I just needed a change in my life, and it’s been good for me, in more ways than one.

Any particular era that you specialize in?

We try to specialize in ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. But, of course, the ‘40s are harder to come by: nice, clean, vintage clothing. So I’m not going to have much of that, but ‘50s and ‘60s we have quite a bit of. And I’ll occasionally throw in newer things, but they have to be of quality and in good condition. And it’s a thrift store, but it’s a cut above.

What’s your range in prices?

Depends upon what you’re talking about. But shirts, as low as $5, and they go up to $50. Suits, I’d say $25 to a hundred and a quarter. Sweaters, maybe $10 to $35.

What, right now, is the most popular era of clothing?

I’d say probably the ‘50s. The ‘60s are popular, too.

Not the ‘40s anymore?

No. I’d say one reason for that is that they’re so hard to obtain. So you can go to, like, Cheap Thrills, for example, right down the street, and they’ll probably have a few ‘40s items, but they don’t sell them; they just rent them out. Because it’s so hard to re-stock; once you sell it, it’s gone. You can’t just pick up a phone and say, “Bring me some’40s merchandise.” It doesn’t work that way.

What kind of ‘60s stuff do you carry?

Shirts. Suits. Sweaters. Shoes. Suede …

Is it more like the Beatle-ish stuff, or more like average-guy street clothes?

Here are some Beatles-type shoes, and some saddle shoes. But here again, in shoes, I get into many areas. Because, first of all, the same old problems: Things from the ‘40s are not that available, so you get what you can get. I try to stick with quality names, quality brands, when it comes to shoes. Like these Bruno Maglis—O.J. Simpson’s shoes? After the murder, I got these shoes [laughs]. I mean, uh, after the incident.

After the trial.

Yeah. After the trial.

How about these Hawaiian shirts?

Hawaiian shirts are always in style, year round. We have a good selection, and we sell a lot of them. It’s probably our best-selling item. And, here again, the older, the better, but you don’t always get the real old ones.

What about suits?

I guess I probably sell more ‘60s suits than anything else. And the reason for that is that they have those narrow lapels, and they have the fabrics that are iridescent, they’re kind of chromelike—they shine in the dark? That’s ‘50s stuff there: Elvis is a big influence for men’s clothing.

Sinatra and his gang were still active in the ‘60s, right?

Exactly. And that’s where I focus the most. First of all, because it’s more available, and it’s my period; I remember it well.

You’ve got some nice sweaters here, too.

Alpacas are the most desirable, of course. And cardigans. And, here again, I like to get into ‘50s stuff if I can. And things like this [holds up a nifty avocado wool and olive suede combination] don’t surface that often, but when they do, they’re just a pleasure to have, because they’re so unique. And the colors, and the materials they used back then—you know, there’s a world of difference between today’s clothing and the clothes back then.