Tuesday 29 January 2013

West Coast Wanderin' II



Here's the second in a series of picture posts about my time on the West Coast of the US last year. I spent a few days in Washington State and a few days in San Francisco (separate post coming up!) but most of my time was spent in Oregon: the south east district of Portland, to be precise. I felt very at home in the city - rain, old record shops, friendly people, deadpan humour - it was almost like being back in the North West of England! The local neighbourhood where I was staying had lots of good nooks and crannies to explore...









As well as wonderful record shops that reminded me of home, Portland had incredibly good vintage stores. There's definitely nice vintage clothing to be had in England but you have to hunt quite hard sometimes. Older items have become more difficult to get hold of so often shops are left with all the scratchy synthetic leftovers that people don't want or they're disappointingly over-priced (for me, at least!). The shops in Portland all had lots of nice quality, reasonably-priced clothing and I was very tempted to go crazy! Fortunately my budget didn't allow that but I did end up choosing two dresses that I really liked, which I'll take some photos of for a future post.

Vintage A Go Go!

The swing coat I'm wearing in this final photo is the other item I brought home with me. It's beautifully made and really warm too. It has a union tag inside and I keep meaning to work out its exact date on the Vintage Fasion Guild site. The coat came from a lovely shop called Lulu's Vintage in the Downtown area. The owner was really friendly and had lots of nice items for both men and women.
 

2 comments:

  1. The west coast of the US has been at the top of my list for ages!
    Your trip sounds like it was a great time! Isn't it always the hardest stopping yourself from buying great vintage? Sometimes not having the budget for it is sort of a good thing!!

    Can't wait to read about your stay in San Francisco!

    - Meaghan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Meaghan! The West Coast is definitely a great place to visit. And a great place to buy vintage! My budget definitely helped... If you ever visit Portland, let me know and I can send a list of some good vintage shops to you!

      Delete