Upper Playground

Really sweet little shop! If you are at all into Jeremy Fish’s art or just looking for some cool new clothing then you’ll love Upper Playground. The atmosphere is very down to earth inside. It’s a small shop with two main rooms, but they cram a lot of different products (mostly clothing and hats) inside. The staff are just awesome people, plenty of friendly «hellos» when I walked in and they will help you find anything your looking for. I overheard a guy talking to one of the employees about how he was going to buy a specific hat, but he didn’t see it in stock. So the employee ordered more to be shipped in right then and there. Now that’s service!
What I like most about Upper Playground is that even if you aren’t going to buy anything it’s still sweet to walk around and check out a lot of the art they have on display. I treat it as a mini art gallery of sorts.
The only issue I have with this store is the price. There is no sugar coating it… it’s expensive. I was going to buy my boyfriend a really nice jacket I saw, but I could not bring myself to pay the $ 100+ dollar price tag. I never ended up buying anything, but I’m still VERY glad I discovered this store. Once I save up a little money I’ll be back for another browse.

I’ve been visiting this store for years just browsing because I never usually bought something until this past Friday. The cashier in the shop was way friendly and knew how to strike up a conversation. The ambiance was really dope and their selection of Sam Flores shirts were always nice. I would always recommend passing by here even just to look whenever you’re on Telegraph. Go-​to spot.

After a great lunch in Oakland, my cousin and I decided to go to Berkeley to walk off our food. We though, hey why not do some retail therapy! We were just a hop and a skip away from Berkeley!
Upper Playground is located on a strip with multiple shops. A boutique sized store with a lot of personality! This store carries urban street wear with some great concepts. Some of their clothing do deal with bay area sports teams. I did end up picking up a shirt, which the theme for me was nostalgic of my Niners.
This is a great shop to visit. The customer service was great! I’d defiantly come back and support this local business!

Loved it! Cool shop with awesome shirts and sweaters. The employees are awesome and extremely helpful. Wished they had shops on the east coast

Was very surprised to hear that one of my favorite clothing brands, Upper Playground out of SF, had opened a store in Berkeley that had been open for quite some time! I decided to visit the other day as some friends had told me it looked like the kind of store I’d like… I’ve visited the flagship store in Haight/​Fillmore area before so had somewhat high expectations going into this store in terms of selection and variety.
And boy, way I impressed — the selection may not be a huge or all-​encompassing as the SF store, but the availability of different shirt/​shoe/​jacket styles was very representative of the brand and included some of its best-​selling and hard-​to-​find products. I noticed a LOT of Sam Flores, Usugrow, Jeremy Fish & Alex Pardee in particular.
If you’re looking for a dope new snapback, especially, look no further than here: lots of old-​school, retro style 80s /​90s Bay Area sports branding for that throwback look. Another cool feature is that they have a pretty big gift selection, so if you don’t see a shirt you like you can always cop a pint glass, lighter, even wallet with your favorite U.P. branding on it. Cool stuff.
One drawback is pricing, which is to be expected for a pretty influential clothing brand based in the area. I was a little bummed to see a lot of the outerwear starting at $ 75+ and selling as much as $ 150… though the build quality seemed noticeably higher. Even so, wouldn’t hurt to have a sale every now and then (as does the Flagship store with their annual half off sale during thanksgiving). Overall a really cool store that sells clothing pretty unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere — check it out if you’re in the area.

Came here for the first time today and defin will be returning! Tons of tshirts and hoodies and sweaters. Designs are off the hook and even better with 50% off everything! Employees were very helpful and friendly. Quality of shirt and prints is top notch!

Cool shirts, great unique designs!
Upper Playground is a really cool boutique like apparel store located on Telegraph in downtown Berkeley. I’ve visited a few times and actually have purchased a couple tee shirts for my self and others. One with the bart map graphic on it & one with a Virgin de Guadalupe design. Tee’s are thick and good quality here… graphics are printed on nicely with no fade or peel issues.
They definitely cater to the bay clientele with their graphics and rightfully so!

5 stars because this place has a good vibe and dope prints. The Upper Playground walrus has been around for a really long time. I first got a shirt as a present about 5+ years ago and is one of the best shirts I own. Go here if you want some original stuff.

A lot of original clothes… Classic hip hop playing in the background, always check it out when I’m in Berkeley.
When you walk in though the workers don’t eye ball you from head to toe like every other urban boutique.
Really wanted these vans but were out of stock unfortunately but there was this tall black dude that worked there & really went out of his way to help me, didn’t just sit there on his laptop & tell me «they’re out of stock» he got up went to the back looked, brought out a size which was half smaller, told me to try give it a shot & really seemed caring towards my satisfaction. I can respect that & that’s rare in these small boutiques.

UP is one of those classic labels that will never lose it’s place in the streetwear market. I’ve been a fan since they started in the city many years ago. Since then, they’ve branched into housewares, created historic collabs with artists/​designers, and managed to stay solid with so much competition around. It’s common to see the cool owners around any of the stores. At this particular location, theres a little guy named Vic. He was very helpful, and with 10 people asking questions he held it down.

Upper Playground has the T-​shirt game on lock… Amazing shirts, great designs… beautiful drawings. I went here b4 I went on vacation. stocked up on some Bay Area shirts… and everywhere i went, people commented on the designs. I will continue to shop here and keep my T-​shirt SWAG up to par.

Still love this shop, and the customer service at this location is WAY better than their SF location.
I really wanted a particular shirt that they were out of, and they offered to backorder it for me!
Can’t wait till it comes in!

Obviously, you’re paying for the brand when you buy a tshirt from here b/​c they’re $ 20+ but I like the store in general. I wouldn’t buy one because it’s just not my style, but the place is very organized and quiet.

ART– t-​shirt-​HATS– SOLID GEAR! Get in there if you never BEEN– your LIFE will be CHANGED! NOT the PRODUCTION gear from other random shops– UPPER PLAYGROUN (UP) offers artist quality SHIIII that hits the mark!
Staff (Victor) is as KEWL as it GETS! Know his stuff.. . artist.. . product.…and helps NARROW down the vast selection TO YOU. Yeah, he’s a sales person– but he’s NOT ALL SALES: SALES:SALES. He and the other staffer LET YOUFLOW with what IT IS. Some of the FUNNIEST graphic t’s I’ve SEEN in a WHILE! Venture IN– you’ll be HELLA GLAD you did!

Upper Playground premium t-​shirts are the softest shirts ever! Also tagless, means minus the itch in the back of your neck! And designed by the hottest local and global artists.
Their 10 year anniversary sale meant EVERYTHING was half off. What a great gift to the public! Super sweet of them.

I lucked out today because it was their 10 year anniversary sale and everything in the store was 50% off. Though that extra discount made everything in the store enticing the prices are actually not that bad for the originality of the work you are getting here. $ 22-​$ 24 tshirts and $ 80 jackets really isn’t THAT bad for clothing that stands out from the standard Diesel, True Religion, or Lucky Brand items.
Yes, you can find interesting shirts on Threadless for less, but too many of the shirts on Threadless look like tired novelties whereas many more shirts at Upper Playground look like you got them at a higher end store in Manhattan.
The service here was very cool too — no attitude, even when I changed my mind and asked for the black jacket just before I swiped my credit card at the register.
Best of all, they give you a really cool cloth tote bag to carry your merchandise around in.

This is a cute little boutique shop in the most perfect setting for it. The selection of t-​shirts is pretty varied, and caters more towards the hip hop/​skater crowd. However, the pricing is a bit on the high side, around the $ 22 – 24 range, which might be deemed rather exorbitant for many, especially for the college students in the area. If you like to support independent artists, and prefer not to sport some mega-​conglomerate corporation or some French bloke’s name on your chest, sites such as Threadless (
) offer the same sort of thing for as little as five bones a pop.
In addition, some of the designs here are not very creative, nor innovative, and no different than those comical shirts found at the Unilocal censored stores known as W**M*** and T*****. What I do like at Upper Playground not found elsewhere is the collection of East Bay themed apparel. My personal favorite is definitely the BART map, which is perfect for any fan of public transportation on your Christmas list. It is the first piece in my subway memorabilia collection, along with souvenirs from the MTA and Underground.
I do have two major complaints though, and they are biggies:
1. In this day and age, when the softer, thinner, American Apparel type material is the norm, Upper Playground still uses the rock hard, thick fabric that is not nearly as supple or comfortable.
2. Not only is there the super pokey tag behind the neck that everyone hates, but there is also one on the left arm with the store logo on it. Now, I know the little walrus symbol peeking out of your sleeve looks pretty darn cool, but this lil’ feller is PAINFUL! It feels like those two walrus teeth are constantly gnashing into my flesh. After my first day of wearing, my upper arm/​lower shoulder was completely red with scratch marks.
In the end, Upper Playground is cool in name only. The t-​shirts are okay, but for the most part, they are nothing I would shell out a dime over $ 14.99 for. Yes, it’s true. You DO pay more for originality. That is the sole reason why Upper Playground is overpriced.

Were you one of those people who had a «Gettin’ Lucky in Kentucky» shirt from Urban Outfitters? It was so funny and clever, but you were probably sad to see someone else wearing the same pseudo-​aged shirt just about everywhere you went.
I remember going to Coachella one year and seeing at least 7 – 8 people wearing it. Roffle.
Next time, skip Urban and head to Upper Playground. Sure, you might catch a couple people rocking your same shirt around the Bay, but probably few and far between. And at Coachella? You’ll be golden.
Let’s get the one negative out of the way: It’s a little expensive. And if you buy every piece you like, you’ll be broke or in the red.
Positive (K) time: Upper Playground’s gear is awesome. They have lots of cool and varied designs for shirts, hoodies, jackets hats and decorative pillows (?). None of it is fake vintage, and most of it is bad ass.
The people that work there are pretty cool too. I was unknowingly looking through the women’s stuff, and the guy working intervened before I made a fool out of myself and asking to try something on. Thanks, man.

Two of my friends had never been in here, so as we walked down Telegraph, I ushered them into one of the sickest t-​shirt/​hoodie stores EVAR.
They do a lot of East Bay shirts at this store — OAKLAND shirts with the Paramount Theater on the front, «Keep Merritt Green», and some obligatory Cal shirts. My favorite shirt at this location is the BART map shirt… I was kind of glad to see they were out of the one shirt that I have from the SF location, because I’m hoping that hardly anyone has it and I won’t have one of those moments where I run into someone else sporting the same shit.
Upper Playground isn’t for everyone — if you’re scared of big graphics and crazy printed hoodies, this may not be your steez… but it’s a pretty dope store nonetheless.

The staff was really helpful albeit obviously on commission, but they were friendly and sweet, and honest above all.
I came in here one evening (new years eve, in fact) and belted out «I NEED SOMETHING AWESOME TO WEAR TO DIPLO.»
And what did I leave with? Something awesome. Original designs, high quality, and frickin’ awesome. It can’t really get much better… Their womens’ large even fits my tiggol’ bitties, and that’s pretty amazing!