When I was in college in the mid-1990s, I shopped at I. Magnin on Union Square. I didn’t buy much – mostly makeup – but I had as good a time as anybody at this bay area institution. I was really thin then, so I could try on the Armani and Chanel and look good in it. More fun than anything, however, was the beautiful bones of the store.
![I. Magnin main hall](https://i0.wp.com/www.strangegirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/5017552629_92a92d896b_z.jpg?resize=525%2C446&ssl=1)
The sleek marble facade and remaining post-deco interiors from 1948 gave the place an air of sophistication that a brand-new build – no matter how opulent – just couldn’t match. The downstairs “main hall” had several gorgeous painted glass murals by artist Max Ingrand and bronze balustrades reminiscent of a trans-Atlantic ocean liner. In fact, the main floor reminded me an awful lot of the Queen Elizabeth‘s interiors, barely a decade older.
![Union Square](https://i0.wp.com/www.strangegirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/image13.jpeg?resize=525%2C394&ssl=1)
![I. Magnin marble exterior](https://i0.wp.com/www.strangegirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/image14.jpeg?resize=525%2C700&ssl=1)
When Macy’s – I. Magnin’s parent company – closed the store in 1994, I was gutted. I managed to happen upon the fixture sale in early 1995 and purchased the only remaining piece of I. Magnin I could afford or logically use – a large white flag with the I. Magnin logo (which I still have).
![I. Magnin bathroom](https://i0.wp.com/www.strangegirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/image7.jpeg?resize=525%2C700&ssl=1)
Years later, I found a beautiful 1940s vintage lace dress with I. Magnin labels and promptly fell on it. It got me thinking about the store and how much I missed it. Nowadays, everything from the original I. Magnin building, designed by Timothy Pflueger, has been overrun by the Macy’s next door and its boutique lessees downstairs. Well, almost everything. I did discover that one original 1948 interior space remains – a women’s bathroom.
Continue reading “The I. Magnin Bathroom LIVES: Department stores from San Francisco’s past”