Month: June 2019

Pick up the unique style of Portland, Oregon by shopping where locals do. The 3 vintage shops below give a thrift shopping experience in South East Portland that will let you in on the city’s look.

In Real Life Shop

This second-hand boutique sells vintage clothing in a tiny shop on Martin Luther King Blvd. The shop features current trends, business casual and is always stocked with vintage Levis. In Real Life brings in clothing by doing the work of hunting through thrift stores and curates the best picks. Its style is a blend of retro and year-2000 inspiration. Don’t be alarmed if you can’t find In Real Life on Google Maps- it’s just that small of a business so you’ll need to look it up online or type in the address below to find it.

Instagram: @in_real_life_shop

Address: 1327 SE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR 97214

House of Vintage

Featuring multiple secondhand clothing vendors the thrift shop, or more of a thrift-mall is never-ending. When the weather is nice, the store pours racks of vintage dresses, jackets, blouses, shorts and more outside. Plan to dedicate a few hours to search through House of Vintage because it will take time to go through the racks and racks of apparel.

Instagram: @houseofvintagepdx

Address: 3315 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214

Red Light Clothing Exchange

Bring in your lightly used clothing to trade for another piece, you could get lucky and buy something better than you brought in. Red Light trading policy offers a way for people to recycle their clothing to be able to shop for a one-of-a-kind piece. The shop can get busy quickly so plan to shop earlier in the day rather than later to avoid the crowd. When it comes to thrift shopping, it’s always better to start as soon as the place opens to make sure your hands get to touch a fresh rack before anyone else’s hands do.

Instagram:@redlightclothingexchange

Address: 3590 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214

Whether you’re walking the sidewalks of Portland temporarily or every day, vintage shopping will help you find a unique sense of style to embody.

Michael Lee didn’t plan to sell his Supreme when he started to buy clothing and accessories in 2016. Every Thursday, at 7:30 a.m., Lee would wake up just in time to buy the Supremes’ drop of new clothing at 8 a.m. Each week the brand updates their online store with clothing, accessories and novelties ranging from $2 to $1,000 or more that can sell out within a few seconds after being released on the site.

“At one point I realized that this is wasting my money. I buy this stuff and don’t ever wear it so I stopped,” Lee said. “It’s cringey to be called a hypebeast.”

But Lee still had a lot of stuff, and he figured out that there was a potential profit within his collection. Lee started to resell through Facebook groups in his home country, Taiwan. He would ship merchandise after being wired money or meet up with customers at the Taipei Metro station to make exchanges. Since moving to the states, Lee uses StockX.com, an online market where people can buy verified merchandise, to resell his collection.

“I think the resale culture gives people the opportunity to start their own business,” said Lee. But he thinks of his reselling business as more of a side hustle to make some money while he’s in school.

Lee’s Supreme collection currently consists of 50 to 100 accessories, 100 to 150 shirts, and 40 to 50 hoodies. His Supreme is unused to lightly worn, and if he’s worn something he has it dry cleaned to maintain the quality. Lee has no problem pulling up his receipts when people ask him to verify his merchandise. He has built a reputation for consistently selling authenticity.

Lee’s style has changed since he started reselling. He strays away from wearing Supreme and focuses on buying products he knows he can profit from. “Back then I use to wear Supreme everything. I was really insecure and not as confident as I am now,” Lee said. “Now I’m more into how the fit looks and not how expensive it is.”

His current style is low-key with little-to-no branding and dresses to be comfortable. He’s dressed in light brown slacks and an olive green tee with a denim jacket draped around his shoulders. He prefers to lightly flex by paying extra for clothing that has quality.

“If you like it and you feel confident wearing them, just do it, wear what you want. Just make sure you don’t lose yourself in the process of buying that stuff,” Lee said.

Words and photos by Kimberly Harris

Majority of the students flee home for the summer, putting campus life on pause and making Eugene a little bit quieter. If you’re staying in Eugene for whatever reason, it can be easy to feel cooped up if you don’t know what to do. The list below will help give you a few ideas of day trips to take in the area — all you need is some gas money or your student ID for a bus pass.

Alton Baker Park

Just a 5-minute drive from campus, Alton Baker Park is perfect for either a quick outing or a day trip in the sun. The park offers bike trails, a dog park and secluded areas next to the water. Walk down the trail next to the river and keep a lookout for footpaths on the side that will lead you down to a spot to post up with a blanket and a cooler full of your favorite drinks and snacks right next to the water.

Mount Pisgah Arboretum

Pack a lunch, your swimsuit and wear a good pair of hiking shoes to be ready for a day outdoors. The Willamette River runs through Mt. Pisgah and offers a place to chill next to the water on a hot day. If you need to stay dry, there is also a hiking trail that takes you around a forest and wetlands. With Mt. Pisgah being a 15-minute drive from campus it’s an easy way to escape the city for a natural landscape.

Armitage Park Campground

For anyone looking to camp, but wants to stay close to home, Armitage Park Campground is a 15-minute drive from campus. The campground sits next to the Mackenzie River, offers tent sites, facilities, recreation parks and trails for day use or an easy camping experience.

Fern Ridge Reservoir

A place I’m checking out this summer is Fern Ridge Reservoir. The lake spot offers a place for water recreation such as swimming, fishing and boating – if you’ve got one or feel lucky enough to make friends with people there who have one. The reservoir being a 30-minute drive from campus offers another body of water to touch if you get sick of the Willamette or Mckenzie as well as a place to camp or hike.

Florence Beach

Being one of the closest trips to the beach, Florence is an hour and 15-minute drive from campus. Make a day trip out of chilling on the beach, splashing in the freezing Pacific Ocean and visiting coastal shops.

There are actually many places in the Eugene area that can help take care of anyone feeling cabin fever. The list I provide is just a sliver of places to visit. Use the website https://www.eugenecascadescoast.org/ as a resource to find more things to do to keep yourself busy this summer.

Words and photos by Kimberly Harris

Our lifestyles consistently produce waste. Feeling inclined to live sustainably comes from how easy it is to ignore the damage our waste is causing. Anxiety fills me as I listen to the noise about how our environment is declining. It leaves me questioning if I have a future to look forward to. I’m tired of brushing off the fact that we are poisoning our environment.

To start taking initiative I’m recognizing the waste I use and produce every day. Starting with the trash I produce in my morning routine. The products I use for my hygiene are vital. I’ve found that practicing an earth-friendlier routine doesn’t have to mean sacrificing any part of my routine. Choosing to shop consciously by using products that contribute less waste is a simple place to start. The tips below provide ideas about how to switch out regularly used products for an earth-friendly version.

Single-use cotton

Count how many cotton products that are being used in an everyday hygiene routine. Q-tips, cotton balls and makeup remover wipes are popular in my bathroom. Substituting single-use cotton with a washcloth that can be washed and used again is an earth-friendlier alternative.
Some products are inevitable to substitute, like toilet paper. There are brands that use organic cotton and recyclable materials to make cotton products more eco-friendly.

Feminine Hygiene

People who menstruate are limited to how sustainable they can be. One-time-use cottons like tampons and pads are necessary. Alternative products like menstrual cups are reusable and eliminate having to dispose of single-use cottons. Menstrual cups can have more benefits than tampons, like being able to wear it for up to 12 hours and one cup can hold all flow sizes. While menstruating, wear it like a tampon. The instructions are to empty it 2-3 times per 24 hours, rinse out and reinsert.
If changing to a menstrual cup isn’t convenient, try buying applicator-less tampons. Since there’s less packaging, applicator-less tampons are cheaper, easier to carry around and contribute less waste.
The work falls onto your fingers to place menstrual cups and applicator-less tampons, so make sure to wash your hands before inserting the products.

Shaving

Reducing the number of disposable razors that you use is possible by saving the handle and disposing of the razor head. Consciously shop for razors that are made of sustainable materials and can be used over and over again with a disposable razor head.

Oral hygiene

Just like the razors, there are toothbrushes that are made of sustainable materials and disposable heads. It’s good practice to toss out your toothbrush every few months, but the plastic adds up over time. Brush heads that click in and out are a lower impact way of tossing out your toothbrush.

Shampoo, Conditioner and Soap

At Sundance Natural Grocer, off of 24th and Hilyard in Eugene, customers can bring in their own containers to fill up on 12 varieties of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. Among the bulk section, there are also 6 different bulk options of liquid soap along with 15 varieties of bar soap in bulk.
Another alternative is bar shampoo and conditioner- the traditional liquid product in a bar soap form. Using bar shampoo and conditioner cuts down on plastic bottle and packaging waste.

Ingredients for D.I.Y products

Making and using homemade products can cut down on packaging waste and production pollution. Products like jojoba oil, vegetable glycerin, witch hazel, castor oil, and almond oil can be used as ingredients to make products.
Herbs and ingredients can found at Mountain Rose Herbs Mercantile. Located in the 5th street market hub of Eugene, Mountain Rose Herbs offers dried and liquid ingredients for any herbal concoction whether it’s for hygiene or medicine. The shop also sells tools, containers and offers free recipes to help create products.

Words and photos by Kimberly Harris