Love & Aesthetics

Great store! Little Italy has a larger selection but the NoPa location is good too. I’d follow on social media for updates on items they’re currently carrying. Cheers!

Cute! cute! cute.
They have a lot of fun stuff in the store… tons of things to look at and some great items that make great gifts! I’ll definitely be back to shop for some of those friends that have everything!
The guys working in the store were so fun and nice to us as we walked around the store window shopping. I ended up buying these awesome cards that were at the register! A great find for sure!

I finally made it into this store. What a gem! Hip without being pretentiously hipster. Marcel, the gentleman who assisted me, was knowledgable and incredibly helpful. Strongly recommend it if searching for a gift for your intellectual friends. We don’t have many stores like this in San Diego. Feels a bit more like San Francisco had a bastard child with Portland then was adopted by Seattle. I’ll definitely be back!

Dave is always there and very helpful — I believe he owns the store. Lots of great clothes here and good prices. Theres a few sale racks that have competitive pricing for U.S. manufactured goods. Support your local stores and quit going to Macy’s.

I really love this shop! A great graphic tee destination, with some accessory, home goods and apothecary selections sprinkled in.
Dave has been there every time I’ve been in and he’s super attentive and knowledgeable.
I always find something I have to have. The one downside is I don’t know when they have new product. I’m a permanent customer and I’m happy to have a space in my neighborhood targeting men.
My favorite items are definitely the jewelry.

I think I just found the most amazing screen tee ever from Material. Material is a super cute boutique in north park that have a variety of man inspired novelties, clothes, and gifts. I do thinks the majority of the items are overpriced for what they are, but they truly have 1 of a kind items that will set you apart from the rest.

This shop is the coolest, Scott was super helpful and able to share so much info on the merchandise and various artists’ work displayed in the store. He made sure to pay special attn to wrapping up my purchase for my plane ride back to NYC.

This is a small store with a focused angle: fun, limited, unusual and small-​run printed t-​shirts and cool hipster wear, with a preppy shirt or two thrown in for good measure. The owner is very friendly and helpful and it’s fun to look at what he’s assembled, his point of view — and the store is small enough that you can.

Material is by far and away my favorite boutique out of all of North Park and Hillcrest and I’ve been to them all, believe me. The biggest reason is because they have an amazing assortment of BOTH mens’ and womens’ clothes. I enjoy cross dressing, because mens’ t-​shirts and jeans are a nice escape from panty hose and décolletage baring tops.
I have gotten some awesome mens’ sanuks (the shoe that’s really a sandal!), a boat load of amazing t shirts (one is a horse that is paint by numbers!), and some cool dresses and girly crap too.
The owner Dave loves Unilocalers so get up in his face and be like, «i heart Unilocal». It might get you somewhere… just sayin.
Anyway, make sure you rifle through the sale and clearance stuff because they definately will give you a good deal. I got a cool old timey looking vest for $ 20 insead of $ 40 :)

Most of you know that my addiction to retail therapy is borderline clinical, so it was a matter of time before I discovered Material.
(Full disclosure: It was a $ 40-​for-​$ 80-​worth-​of-​stuff Unilocal Deal from December 2010 that got me in the door.)
This boutique is small, but the inventory is fierce. Men’s stuff in front; women’s toward the back. A small but quality selection of shoes by the front door. Lots of jeans, button-​downs, and styley tees. I especially admired the belt buckles.
There seemed to be an emphasis on Ambiguous brand shirts on the day I popped in. I found 2 awesome plaid ones that fit me like a glove.
(Post pics? No way! I don’t want you buying the same shirt I did! ;)
And that leads me to why I *really* like Material — and why this boutique is an awesome North Park destination rather than just a place to buy stuff. It’s the customer service. Instead of leaving me to figure out the sizing for myself, the owner (Dave) helped me get just the right fit on some slim-​fitting shirts. (Most trendy stuff tends to run slim so getting the right brand for your shape is key.)
Next time I need some retail therapy, I’ll be sure to come here.
Heck, thanks to Material, House Boi in Hillcrest, and Off 5^th in Mission Valley (for their cheap jeans), dealing with the crowds in Fashion Valley might have just become a thing of the past.

The owners name is actually Dave. He followed up shortly after my review. Good to know he’s got his eye out for what his customers are saying.

I’ve hardly done any mainstream shopping since moving to NP because between Material, Mimi & Red, and HOME, I’ve found all the cute clothes I could ever want!
Material has a great selection of clothes, with fair range of prices, so that you can find cute clothes even if you’re in a budget. They also have a great sale rack — one that is usually worth sifting through! I hate it when sale racks only carry the crazy rejects. There are a bunch of different brands and styles to suit you, and it helps that the staff is friendly and helpful. Jenna helped me picked out a few cute things the other week, on sale, and I managed to stay under the priceline I wanted. I got a summery free people dress, a sleek long sleeve for the upcoming winter, and a cute tank top to get me through the rest of summer — came out to $ 80 for all 3. I also got an extra discount for mentioning the deal they posted on Unilocal,so keep an eye out for those!
Will be back when my wallet is replenished.

Go see Dave and his selection of both mens and womens clothing. There’s always a boutique selection of jackets, tees, denim, and dresses (my favorite) and I always find several items that I want. Unfortunately, I can’t always have them all or I’d have to use the clothes as a makeshift tent/​home. They are too good for that.
There’s a good variety of different brands; Ambiguous, Free People, Gentle Fawn, etc and all pretty affordable. You can usually score a good find in the sale rack, too.
Dave is super cool, friendly, and is always down to help if you need it. Sometimes he pulls stuff that I’ve taken a pass at, but actually looks fanstastic on me.
Thanks for making me hotter than I already am, Material.

Alright! Finally a store that I can sit and wait while my husband shops!
Dave is the cool owner of this hip joint, and what a find. My husband found pants and a top — one of those great finds that can to the park AND out to dinner, and fit both occasions nicely.
I wasn’t as lucky on the women’s side, but they had a good selection for you gals too.
It’s true! Mention Unilocal!and Dave will give you 20% off any non-​sale item :-)
Decent prices, and a cool vibe. Very clean and organized, and comfortable to be in. Easy street parking, and close enough to West Coast Tavern to grab a cocktail after an intense shopping day :-)

I don’t know why, but every time I passed this place I thought it was a men’s clothing store so I never bothered to go in. Well, I saw that it wasn’t on Unilocal and walked over there.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. I love Free People and it’s rare to find it at an actual store. Their sale rack is amazing and the customer service was stellar.
They have just the right amount of variety I think. Definitely, my kind of shop. I like supporting local businesses. Besides I think it means more when you know the owner and the staff.

I don’t know why I waited so long to check this jewel out?!? I’ve driven past it for about 2 yrs now and I just recently stopped in to discover my favorite boutique in SD!
They carry a great selection of Gentle Fawn is a new line to me but I love that it’s all made well and very reasonably priced. Sometimes I find that boutique can be cute but the clothes is made poorly… not the case with anything this place carries.
Free People is another line they carry which is what originally brought me to this spot. It’s hard to find but all there stuff is very original and very well made.
They owner Dave was there and he was really nice and laid back which I appreciate while shopping. I hate being followed around or being asked every minute is I’m finding everything OK.
LOVE love LoVe this place!

I was pacing outside of Claire de Lune’s a few nights ago sipping on peppermint tea and sucking on the seventh and probably last cigarette I’ve ever smoked in my entire life (true story) when my glance was captured, in a similar fashion as occurs between those who experience love at first sight, by a flirty, figure flattering frock that beckoned me to stimulate the ever-​faltering economy.
There are no words to describe the emotions that steeped and brimmed within this girlish body – I burned. I pined. I perished. for embarking upon this call to action to encourage positive GDP growth, support local businesses AND concurrently contribute to the fabulousness that comprises my collection of undeniably fashionable earth wear was, to say the least, truly humbling.
Yes, comrades, I am really that patriotic and self-​effacing to boot.
But really. Material will unfailingly conjure your material girl (or boy if you’re too macho to acknowledge that extra X chromosome you wish you had). I have never wanted to donate the entirety of my savings to a single location [that wasn’t a bar]. Friendly service, a face-​shredding collection, hassle-​free frolicking… I really cannot say enough good about the place.
An aside: If you happen to buy the same dress (es) as me, send me a personal message so we can work out a schedule indicating the days when you wish to wear said dress and potential routes where we may intersect. I get dibs on priority days because it’s my brilliant idea, not yours. I really don’t want to be that girl who’s wearing the same cute dress as the other yuppie who happens to be similarly stylish. Nobody steals baby’s thunder!

I ran into one of the owners tonight who recognized me and thanked me for my review. This reminded me of how much I like Material and how bad I need to swing by. For any small, local business it is important to connect with your community, so simply by recognizing me and thanking me for talking about his business I have to add a star.
Now, can someone please get me a better job so I can start buying everything I want here?

Adorable Free People dresses, great owners with a cute baby and snacks and wine during Ray at Night.
Yes, I love this store! I found it one day with a little over a year ago while coming out of Claire de Lune. I have been back several times since. I mostly go for the girly dresses and usually get a ton of compliments whenever I wear them. I don’t know how many times people have asked me where I got my dresses.
Oh, the owners are so nice and even the guy seems to know a lot about women’s clothing. They always try to find me different sizes and make suggestions about how to wear things.
The only thing that keeps me from leaving five stars is that sometimes they are a bit light on the women’s clothes section… such a great place I wish they had one more rack of dresses and I wish they would more often have my size.

One of my favorite boutiques in town. Definitely on the rotation of shopping destinations, along with Neighbourhood, Flashbacks, and numerous thrift stores.
What I like about this Material, is that you can walk away from there with some fresh threads, without having to throw down a couple of C notes. You can find quality, hip clothes for a fraction of the price you’d see at other comparable places around town. To date, I haven’t seen cheaper designer jeans anywhere else in San Diego.
I think they must have an affiliation with Paul Frank, because they seem to have a ton of their stuff hanging on the walls.
Cool people working behind the counter, great deals and an awesome location right next to Off The Record. Ch ch check it out!