Thread Show

Thread Show was fun. There’s a lot of interesting activities as well as all the jewelry and clothes… honestly, it was a little heavy on the jewelry (psst…some of the jewelry was extremely large and ugly!). The speech bubble photo booth was cute and clever. The nail bar had only white, neon yellow, and neon orange nailpolish, which cracked me up. The crafts table had some interesting ideas but not a lot of materials to go off of, unless you wanted to tear the Seattle Weekly Happy Hour guide into little pieces. The bar had a decent selection of beers and wine, but my favorite option there was a cranberry-​sparkling wine cocktail. The clothes varied greatly — everything from handmade goth to clothing with a cause to made in china mini-​up-​and-​coming chain store designs.
The live painting, cool local art, and nice-​to-​talk-​to painter were the highlights for me. Honestly, EtsyRain Seattle is a better overall show for finding neat screenprinted tees, handmade clothes, and awesomer jewelry.

Thank you to Unilocal and Katy H. for the passes! It was a nice event with enough vendors to pass about an hour or two of my time.
It was a little disorganized and some of the vendors were still setting up when we arrived at 11:15am (doors opened at 11am for VIP). The clothing swap is a cool idea but none of the fliers mentioned it was a 2-​for-​1 swap, meaning you bring 2 items and you get to take home 1 item. The «free» manicures were free b/​c it was a DIY station (which is cool, but a little misleading).
Regardless, I did walk away with a present for my hard to shop for father-​in-​law! But other than that I can’t say the event would qualify for «yay» I give it 4-​stars. It would have been nice to see a little more vendors and more umph to the event.

Damn good time. Thread Show was our gateway drug for the day. First it was a $ 4 Trumer Pils, then it was the free wine samples… then Svedka drinks. Dang!
The most important parts to a show like this are: activities, booze, and music and booze. And activities too. :)
I’d like to see the event much larger. And outside.
So many cool finds!

Not a bad way to check out the apparel from up and coming designers. There were a few things that I saw at this show that were different from the one I went to in SF last year. They had a full on makeover station, a DYI accessory area, a photo booth, on site silk screening from one of the vendors and an art gallery. There were also a few spots with food and drink samples. My friends and I often found ourselves going back and forth to the wine area, almost to the point that we were hovering over it. What can I say, I’m a sucker for free booze! Good times here. Almost convinced that I’ll trek back down to SoCal for the next one. Be sure to rsvp on the website for discounted admission. Definitely worth it.

This was my 3^rd visit to THREAD, I have always rsvp’d on their website or purchased a discounted ticket to come here.
I do not recommend you pay full price, which i think is 25.00!
NOT worth it for 25.00 bucks, unless you want to wait 40 minutes to have your hair curled for free, get a grab bag with junk mail and expired coupons, luna bar and a cool beverage.
I REPEAT, look for a discount on tickets!
The event does not seem to be well organized, people arrive early for VIP and there is no real line for VIP, some people dont have VIP tickets but still get in line, go figure.. .
This time I parked myself at the 5.00 table and grabbed some cute tops, this is the first time i find such a steal here.
Lots of jewelry, lots of hand bags, DJ plays good music.
Something cool to try, I keep going and see a lot of the same stuff:
Bags, same vendors, same salon, same jewelry but every now and then i spot a deal and TAKE IT.
Thank God for the 5.00 table!
TIP: Horton plaza validates first 3 hours!

This was my first Thread event. The fact that Unilocal comped my guest and I was fantastic. I had no problem checking in at the RSVP table. Kinda bummed that I wasn’t able to sneak one of those goodie bags, but, again, I did get in free. My first impression was that this event was a bit chaotic. Lots of people running around everywhere, many wanting to appear super important.
I loved the truly one of a kind pieces made by so many talented artists. My favorite was the woman who made the handbags with wristlet attachments made from vintage materials. And, IMO, her pieces were all appropriately priced. I was not in love with quite a few of the hefty price tags attached to some of the items: $ 350 for handbags; $ 199 for a blinged out leather bracelet (some were made of swarsovski crystals though). The list goes on. There were also a number of vendors selling articles of clothing for $ 10 or less. Some pieces were similar to those you would see in the LA Fashion District (The Alley). There were definitely price points for just about every budget.
I’m a bit of a shopaholic, especially when it comes to unique/​one of a kind articles of clothing, handbags, and especially jewelery. That said, I was prepared to purchase anything that «sparkled» and caught my eye. However, there were a few instances were the vendor seemed less then pleased with my interest in their pieces. Okay by me, I’ll take my business elsewhere.
Overall, it was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Definitely worth it to meet local artists and vendors.

I never heard of the Thread Show until I saw some on-​line deal for $ 10 admission to get in an hour earlier than the Noon start time. I didn’t go this route since I didn’t care to really get there an hour early and the line just to check in would probably dip into the one hour window anyway.
I did, however, RSVP on the Thread Show official website to get 50% off the $ 10 general admission. One thing that threw me off was when I received my email confirmation, it said «Now that you have RSVP’d for SAN DIEGO on September 26, 2010, your entry price for the show will be $ 5 at the door and your name will be on the RSVP list at the front door upon your arrival. Don’t forget to invite your friends!»
My thoughts… September 26^th, 2010? Oh well, I did my part. Decided to show up at 3:00, walked over to the RSVP table to be told my name was NOT on the list. Great.
I can tell the girl was tempted to charge me the full ten bucks. I simply told the girl that I wasn’t trying to make it up to get 50% off admission and after she fidgeted for a while, I paid my five bucks and wandered around.
Cool spot for this type of event, I love going to these types of gatherings, but one of the three rooms was incredibly hot in there. The lighting, the crowds and all the flat irons at the hair booth was a bad combo for what felt like 90° in there.
The selection of vendors was diverse, some had marked down their prices toward the end just so they can get rid of the stuff. I didn’t have to wait too long to check out the merchandise at some spots that had limited display space. I did buy my teen, artsy-​fartsy nephew a funny $ 10 black t-​shirt that said «End Hunger, support starving artists»…lol!
Overall I had an okay time. I didn’t load up at the bar with Svedka beverages or the sushi booth that was there, but the set up was cool. I might go back if they updated their RSVP link so it would have those that truly RSVP’D on the dang list.

I so love when the Thread Show comes to town. I always invite my friend Cynthia to go with me. This show was not a good as the previous one we attended, but we still had lots of fun and I even found a really cute top for $ 5. Can’t beat that. Soo lets get down to the details…
1) So stoked I won free tickets worth $ 50 for VIP access for me and a guest through Unilocal.
2) Parking was located at Horton Plaza mall, very convenient. Pros: very close and if you want to pop in and out, parking is close to free. Cons: We stayed for quite a while and ended up paying $ 16. A little pricey.
3) We got there early and waiting in line patiently. I was confused about the whole VIP access thing and asked 3 different people and got 3 different answers.
4) The worst part of this experience was getting through the front entrance. The security guard was not only a little unpleasant, but gave me completely the wrong info, there was 2 lines and basically everyone was to use the VIP/​prepaid ticket line, but there was another line that was not marked and confused alot of people. Come to find out it was for the Groupon ticket holders. Then there was a lady who tried to play off cutting in line, but got busted by another person in line as well as I threw my 2 cents in. Come on just wait in line like everyone else. Seriously.
5) Finally in with my goodie bag, I decide to get a drink early since I have to drive, well, I was charged $ 6 for this amazing drink that I find out was suppose to be free, not cool.
6) Other than that, we had fun. Cynthia got her nails done for free, I got my brows done and nails for free, but since the girl who did my brows did such an amazing job-​I left her a tip. There were some awesome freebies like chip and wine samples. I forgot to bring my clothes in for the clothes swap, but no biggie. I did actually buy something this time, but we did notice this event was not only smaller than the previous one we attended and more disorganized. So we ended up wondering the mall looking for real food to eat.
Even with all the craziness I totally suggest attending at least 1 Thread Show to see what’s new and up and coming, plus the goodie bag you receive at the front door :) it’s my favorite part.

This was definitely a cool show summed up in one word… interesting.
There was a lot of interesting stuff to see, the art was greatly interesting, and the clothes or should I say tees were interesting as well.
I got in with very little problems, I did stand in the wrong line but that was about it. Thanks to Unilocal for the free access.
My favorite of the booths was the subeco booth, the designer was really cool and his designs were also. I noticed that most of the designers shared their profits with some type of cause.
There was a bit of hipster attitude from some booths, and the crowd thats really the only downside, nothing against hipsters.
I would be totally down to go to the next one, even if I have to pay.

Thread was a cool event to attend. The designers had several new ideas and used several different products that i had never seen before. some of these were, bamboo swimsuits, bikini’s made out of recycled plastic, and clothing made by struggling women of Africa. There were a lot of great stories from the designers.
The art was fantastic as well, unfortunately all of the artists acted like they were to cool for school, so i was unable to talk with them, and I decided not to purchase the «marla» painting due to the hipster attitude. oh well.
Event was a bit packed, but it was fitting to the event.

Fellow Unilocaler Teresa P. got comp tickets and invited me to go along with her to this show! :D
We were both looking forward to the event and excited to see new trends. While the event was from 12−6pm, we showed up around 2:30 and by then all of the Unilocal swag bags were out (BUMMER!!) but we were still able to sample some Honest Tea and walk away with a few Luna Bar samples and Pretzel Crisps (YAY!!).
As for the event itself, we saw many cool things (feathers seem to be a huge trend right now) and definitely noted that you could pick up some cool threads to wear that no one else will have (or at least not many others). The event was a little smaller than I had anticipated, but all we had done was walk around and we were out in probably what was 20 – 30 minutes.
Some of the notable things that I remember were feather hair extensions (I should’ve done it!), the nail and eyebrow waxing bar, and a guy that was selling bags that had interchangeable outer casings to alter its outward appearance. But I think the coolest thing I saw was the LIVE «mannequin» models in a window display! Check out the picture that I’ll upload!
Overall, the event was cool but probably not so much for us. We did see some cute pieces but were out of our price range :(. I’d definitely recommend this event to any shopaholics or fashionistas! :)

I felt like Ugly Betty at a big fashion show. People running around and racks of clothes everywhere and a lot of women who were a lot taller than me (and I’m 5’9). I wandered through with my husband and oldest daughter, who just followed me like my shadows.
There was quite a price range. One vendor had T-​shirts for only $ 5 or $ 10. One vendor had sort of ridiculously expensive items, a costume jewelry beaded necklace for $ 300. I picked it up and figured out how to make it, then put it back. Another vendor had unique recycled glass bottle jewelry that was pretty and environmentally friendly. It was fun to look at all the stuff on display, though I literally just walked through in about ten minutes. Everything looked sort of too hipster for me. And it was really hot inside the venue.
I had no problem getting inside; I just walked up to the table, stood in line, told them I was from Unilocal and my name, and that was that.
They also had a clothing swap, where you could bring in your old clothes and get new ones. I got there too late for that, but it seemed like a theoretically good idea.

Truly a FABULOUS 5 star event!!! vintage, edgy, organic, and the list of various finds available goes on!
i met so many GREAT boutique owners and ESPECIALLY loved (Nicole i think was her name) Killer Styles, she has an online boutique, definitely should check that out!
i scored a lacy vintage cardigan and a long tee with a rhinestoned out heel on the front… all for $ 22! amazing. I will def. be coming back next year, you should too if you missed it :)

Soo, I’m writing this as I’m still buzzed from that yummy Svedka Vodka Raspberry cocktail I got earlier… hehee ;)
Overall, what a delightful Sunday at the Thread Show. It really did feel like a crazy swap meet of some sort with clothes, samples, and SWARMS of people all over the place. I was pretty buzzed and got pretty afraid that I’d run over people because it was literally that packed.
Since there were so many people, the free services like threading, manicures, and hair styling had hour-​long waits. I waited about an hour for a 5 minute manicure (–_​_​-​) don’t know if that was worth it…
Also, the styles and selection of clothing offered weren’t too vast, which was a bit disappointing. But I guess the cheap drinks, sushi, and other samples made up for it? ;D The music was fun and upbeat, plus, the half naked models behind the glass was fun to watch as well. HAHA
THANKS TO Unilocal, I scored myself and a guest free tickets and had the opportunity to enjoy my first Unilocal elite event at such a chill venue!

LOVE, love, love THREAD insofar as it is a terrific venue for new artists, small businesses and larger sponsers to showcase their stuff in a very entertaining environment. Bring the kids, they treat them well here and its a lot of fun eye candy for everyone. My 3 year old got her hair curled and styled by the lovely ladies at DIESEL and we had a blast.
Bought a bunch of new, inexpensive wardrobe additions for myself and gifts for trendy friends. And a pink-​sparkly purse for my daughter which she adores — and for $ 12, I could care less what happens to it.
Get on the VIP list so you don’t have to stand in line and come early if you like SWAG bags — they always have some nice freebies.
$ 8 for a couple of hours of fun and a chance to discover a designer or artist before they hit it big!

I have now been to the Thread Show twice here in San Diego, and I intend to keep returning. It is a great place to find unique, one of a kind pieces for every budget. I love supporting local artists and designers, and Thread is a great way to do it. The most recent Thread Show this past September, 2010 also featured samples from local San Diego restaurants. You can also get in for only $ 5 if you sign up online in advance, and there is no penalty if you decide not to attend. Thread Show is a great twist on the usual shopping experience.

It was awesome here. I love the vibe I get here, and how there’s always such new things I find. Where do I start?!
So we signed up for the VIP list, so we got in for $ 5, and the best thing is that kids are free. :) So this comes by every year (they ‘tour’ around Southern California). They have indie art and designs, shoes, clothes, and jewelry. My favorite part was the art gallery, where I met some very cool artists with their work on display!
I loved their jewelry. I’m big on indie pieces you cannot find anywhere, so I literally wanted to buy the entire display. They had one of a kind bags and shoes too, but very limited on sizes.
Part in Horton Plaza, and its right above Sam Goody. Parking is validated for 3 hours and then you can walk around Gaslamp for a bit afterwards.

There has got to be a better and more efficient way to do this show. I don’t know what the problem is with entry into this place. I have been to the last 5 shows here in San Diego, and it is like this event has many split personalities.
The price is never the same: with rsvp, or first 100, or buy this vip ticket, or parking or whatever the case maybe it is never consistent, which drives me nuts. $ 5 — $ 10 — $ 12… lets pick one price and stick to it, stop making us jump through hoops and buy «VIP» tickets or rsvp on such and such list. I even rsvp’d to one of the shows through their web site and for some reason my name was not on the list and they were such jerks about giving me the discounted price. I mean I know its $ 5 bucks off but come on.
Also, it is SUCH A HASSLE to just get in the doors. Yesterday the line was ridiculous, and I am not sure that this is due to actual popularity of the event or if they just cannot admit entrance properly. WTF is going on at the door, and why does the venue always change. I was so over the whole thing yesterday and didnt even go in. The concept is good but a frustrating process to actually get in the doors, I can only imagine what the vendors have to go through, uggh!

I have gone to THREAD shows both as a customer and as a vendor. The first time I went as a shopper it was when it was originally at the Wonderbread factory and I remember being very impressed with all the local talent and the art vibe the event had to offer.
I first exhibited about a year or so ago– the experience was good, there were a lot of shoppers– the event was in Balboa Park, so parking was free and I believe you could enter for under 10 dollars. The show organizers at that time were selective in who showed, as I knew other designers that did not get accepted.
The second time around was a disaster. My application was accepted immediately– which I found odd since normally they would let you know after a couple weeks if you were chosen. They seemed most interested in getting my cc #. They made promises about the lighting available in the tent (this time it was behind the Harbor Island Sheraton) and then the day of the show, said ‘sorry, there isnt anything we can do about the lack of lighting’. (a must for selling) It was poorly attended (maybe because it was $ 5 to park and $ 10 t0 enter?). There were obviously vendors that were NOT «emerging artists» (the guy behind me had shirts with tags from stores in the mall…) and to top it off they shut down the show an hour early (said it was ‘slow’…) even though we all paid for the full 8 hours and i know the vendors around me were not happy with this.
What was most disappointing was that after the fact, I sent an email with feedback and concerns to the organizer of the show and it was never responded to. I even checked in to see if they had received the email, but no response.
I used to recommend this show to up and coming artists but I no longer do. Its possible they have gone back to more emerging artists, I can’t say since I have not been to the last couple shows.

What a tiny show. It’s like the farmer’s market of San Diego fashion, but you have to pay an entrance fee of ten bills to wander around. For me, that was the cost for me to people watch and browse some merchandise.
At Thread there were only a few exhibitors, but it seemed to fill the space that was allotted for them. Men’s and women’s clothing selection was not as diverse as I expected it to be, also it seemed like the jewelry vendors heavily outnumbered the clothing vendors.
Most of the vendors for men where primarily t-​shirt vendors with extravagant print designs. Some shirts I can believe are still being sold, namely those exaggerated V-​neck t-​shirts. Weren’t they out of style last year or so? Perhaps the vendors were just trying to get rid of old inventory.
The only part of the show that I thought was cool was the outside venue dedicated for drinking, socializing, watching the runway shows and listening to local bands rip. It was like an afternoon party.