Garb Gathering - Springtime Portland

Welcome to a new casual series of posts here! In these posts I will be going into the details of some of my favorite outfits and the pieces that make them up. Earlier this year I got to travel to Portland Oregon for my anniversary with my partner. 

Day One

For the first full day of our trip, we rented a car to go venture to the coast to do some sight seeing. It was going to be chilly and I knew I would have to throw on some layers for hanging out by the ocean. First we drove down to cannon beach, just a couple hours from Portland, and then up to Astoria. I needed something that was cute enough to walk around town in and take photos, but also be comfy enough to wear sitting the car for some time.

Sunglasses- Derek Cardigan
Rain Jacket - Borrowed
Teal Collared Dress - Hell Bunny
Bee Cardigan - Dancing Days
Black Tights - Dynamite
Not Pictures - White Keds Shoes


Day Two

We had to wake up early to drop off the car that we had rented the day before to drive to the coast. Afterwards our plans were to bike down to the science museum to go check out the submarine tours they had. This called for comfy black stretch denim to bike around in, and Doc Martens to walk around in. Throw on a pull over a collared shirt and call it an outfit. When it got chilly in the evening I threw over my grey blazer and big scarf to keep me warm

Rock Star Jeggings - Old Navy
Hawaiian Shirt - Thrifted
Black Pullover - Thrifted
Aimilita Doc Marten Boots
Grey Wool Blazer - Simons Canada
Plaid Blanket Scarf



Day Three

Anniversary Day! We had reservations at a nice restaurant in downtown Portland. After spending the day wandering around where we were staying, we went back to our Airbnb to change (and nap). I had brought one of my favorite dresses along with us. I had earlier in our trip bought a pair of navy eyelet gloves and cropped black 50s jacket from a vintage shop. The hat I wore was also bought for a steal of a deal just the day before. With black netting and feather I feel like it pulled the entire outfit together.

40s Hat - Magpie Vintage (Portland)
Floral Dress - Pretty Dress Co
50s Embossed Floral Crop Jacket - Hattie’s Vintage (Portland)
Navy Eyelet Gloves - Hattie’s Vintage (Portland)
Black Tights - Dynamite
Leather Shoes - Naturalizer


Day Four

It was our last full day in Portland. We had very little plans for our day, other than going for breakfast at Mckennins School and then a swim in their heated salt water pool. The day before I bought a lovely mustard yellow wool shirt, that went perfectly with the bee cardigan that I had brought along with me. As someone who hates throwing on clothes while wet, I made sure that I wore a skirt so I didn’t need to deal with the stickiness of pants on wet legs after our swim. I threw on my fedora to hide away my not so clean hair.

Black Wool Fedora - Lids
Yellow Wool Shirt - True Vintage from House of Vintage (Portland)
Bee Cardigan - Dancing Days
Pleated Black Skirt - Vintage from Velour (Calgary)

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Vintage and Retro Portland

Portland Oregon is just full of really rad vintage stuff. From their old building, to mid century furniture stores, and so many vintage clothing shops. There are so many vintage shops that it is impossible to do all of them on one trip to the city. Here are 8 stores I got to check out on my 4 day trip to Portland back in March.

Classic Collection Hats. So this isn’t specifically a store that has to do with vintage. This Classic Collection Hats has so many styles of hats for a lot of different budgets. I loved that they carried a lot of styles that came in multiple sizes. Both my partner and I suffer from having larger than average heads. I walked out buying myself an olive green beret, and my partner a matching newsboy cap. They also had so many different sort of straw sun hats that I wanted to take home. Check this place out no matter the style of hats you enjoy, there will probably be something there you would like.

House of Vintage. One of the least curated shops on this list, you want to come in with a lot of patience and time. I came into House of Vintage with neither. We had gotten coffee at Tov just down the street and stopped in quickly on our walk back to our Airbnb. I can say that if you have the time though, I can see this store paying off. It’s set up in a mall style, with different vendors, so they have a vast range of really neat things, to shrug worthy stuff. Things seem to be organized within individual vendors and not eras, or type of clothing. So hence the need for patience and time to find the gems. With my 20-30 minutes in the store, I did walk out with a lovely mustard yellow wool blouse circa 1950 for I think about 13 dollars. It was missing the button, but nothing that I couldn’t fix. Just be prepared that if you are on the hunt for a specific era, they do have the whole range of stuff from the 20s right up to the 90s.

Red Light Clothing. A little more curated than House of Vintage, but expect there to be a little bit of everything at Red Light Clothing, and to do some hunting to find something neat. Things here are at least organized by pieces of clothing and size. So if you are only on the hunt for dresses, it’s a bit easier to work with than House of Vintage. I tried on a couple of pieces, and nothing either fit nicely or were super my style. Truth be told I could take it or leave it. A lot of their stuff is way more 80s-90s which personally isn’t my jam, if it’s yours go check it out. Just don’t expect to be swimming in mid century clothing.

Hollywood Vintage. I saw online that Hollywood Vintage was praised for having this huge collection of vintage eyewear. Seeing that I was considering picking up some new glasses myself, I figured this was a place I would have to check out and threw it on my to-do list. Unfortunately when I visited, a couple weeks beforehand they had a break in occur, which resulted most of their eyewear stock stolen or destroyed. Besides the very empty room that once held the collection of glasses, they still carried a variety of hats and a very small selection of vintage clothing. The rest of their store was a mix between thrifted house wear and knick-knacks, and old costume stock. Go if you want to see some neat things, not on the top of the list for some true vintage clothing items.

Hattie’s. One of the smaller stores that I visited, but it was pack full of really neat things. Hattie's had vintage ranging from the 30s to the 70s for both menswear and womenswear. Prices here varied from very reasonable to way out of my budget. I would especially suggest checking out this store if you are on the hunt for some gloves. I found myself a pair that fit my hands which never seems to happen. There was also a 50s crop jacket with embossed flowers in black that screamed my name while there, that I got to wear a couple days later for my anniversary dinner.

Simply Vintage Co. This is a store that I wished so very dearly was where I lived. I visited Simply Vintage after a sweaty bike ride (and getting lost) from OMSI. I am so glad I did. The person who ran the store was so sweet, and loved giving me suggestions of things to look at. It didn’t really take her all that long to figure out what stuff would look good on me. This is a person who obviously has a passion for what she does. The store itself is wonderfully curated with a mix of true vintage and newer reproduction stock. If you have any interest in 40s or 50s era of women’s clothing, you must go to this place. I walked out of there spending roughly $200 CAD for two vintage pieces. Probably more than I was intended to spend, but I wouldn’t even be able to get two repro pieces where I live for that price.

Magpie. I feel like Magpie is what I think of when I think of vintage stores. This place carries products ranging from the 20s to the 70s. Both quality and price points are seen on lower and higher scales. I walked out personally with a short sleeve green wool cardigan that very quickly made its way in my everyday wardrobe. I got a steal of a deal also on a 1940s felted hat with netting and feathers, albeit the deal was probably due to the fact it not being in the greatest condition. No matter what you are on the hunt for Magpie is a pretty safe bet on checking out if you are traveling through Portland.

Red Fox Vintage. We visited Red Fox’s Woodstock store on our walk around the neighborhood after checking out a pool nearby. One of those places that does a bit of everything, and seemed to work off of consignment, don’t expect this place to be stuffed with clothing. Most of the store had knick-knacks and housewares. A neat place to check out if you are in the area, but I wouldn’t say make the trip out of your way for it. I can’t speak to their other location though as I only checked out the one.

Are there some really rad places that I missed out while in Portland? Let me know and I will check it out on my next trip out there!

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