Interview: Dema Grim
If you haven't ever checked out Dema on Valencia we'd like to suggest you make it a stop on the way home from work. Noted for her use of vintage textiles and designs, Dema Grim has been helping folks in San Francisco be more stylish for the last 7 years. As Dema's own website puts it, she designs "twisted classics for independently minded women." Twisted classics? What could possible be more SF than that?
So how did Dema qualify for the rarefied crew that makes the SFist interview list? Well it wasn't just because we love her clothes. It's because Dema is a one woman encapsulation of what all the college grads who move out here aim to be: she has her own business, she lived in Bernal Heights before it was cool, she has dogs (sorry to the catsters out there), and, well, she just has more style than the rest of us. Plus, as you'll discover, she seems to know where all the cool stuff is.
Name: Dema Grim
Introduce yourself in one sentence:
I'm Dema. I have owned a women's clothing shop in the Mission for seven
years and have designed clothing for almost 20, and I'm really attached
to my dogs.
Age and occupation:
Almost 40; clothing designer/traveler/guilt-free drinker
Hometown:
I was born in Huntsville, Alabama but grew up in Seattle and its
suburbs.
How long have you lived in the Bay Area and where?
I moved to SF in '94 and have lived the entire time in Bernal Heights. Why? Because it was this cool
unaffiliated-with-any-demographic kind of neighborhood and the houses were still affordable. Now it's an up-and-coming Noe Valley. Not that that's really a bad thing. I just miss the old Charlie's and the unimproved Holly Park.
Favorite website:
(Besides my own, godemago.com) I'm quite addicted to popbitch.com at the moment.
Favorite local business:
Doc's Clock on Mission at 22nd
What I'm currently reading:
I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife and cried at the end.
Best Deal in San Francisco:
Alemany Farmer's Market
Favorite mode of transportation:
My feet
Best band or musician to come out of the Bay Area:
Drunk Horse, The Gris Gris, Green Day, Devendra Banhart, Vetiver, Tom Heyman, Mark Eitzel, The Avengers -- there are so many!
Favorite local hangout:
Besides Doc's? 12 Galaxies is a great newish venue. And the Latin American Club, of course. It's the Bermuda Triangle of the Mission.
SF has the BEST:
Liberal attitude
You've never lived in SF until:
You've been to the Folsom St. Fair.
Best view in the area:
Top of Bernal Hill
Favorite walk or hike:
Fort Funston dog beach
Favorite Bay Area politician of past or present:
Matt Gonzalez
You can tell someone is a local here if:
They've never been to Alcatraz or Coit Tower
SF would be soooo much better if only:
We had hot summer nights.
Best Burrito:
I love my Papalote!
Best Restaurant:
Blue Plate is fantastic. Straits Cafe for the coconut margaritas, Slanted Door, Burma Super Star...it's impossible to choose.
Best movie scene filmed in or about SF:
Chase scene in Bullitt
Favorite artist to come out of the Bay Area:
Chris Johansen, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen
Favorite author to come out of the Bay Area:
JT Leroy
Place you always tell visitors to check out:
The Mission
Favorite bridge in the area:
Golden Gate
You have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in SF, what are you going to do?
Ride the ferry to Sausalito and back
I have found/sold/bought the following on Craig's List:
Giants tickets
I want all the SFists out there to know:
It's cool to be nice!
Tell us a San Francisco Story:
I think it's uniquely San Francisco that Gavin Newsom would be considered conservative here!