When I moved here (almost 10 years ago) I’d often compare things in Portland to the city I once called home, San Francisco. So when my friend took me to Hawthorne and said, “It’s kinda like Haight Street,” I agreed. Haight Street, a once-mighty symbol of free love (and home to the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin), is now just a place to go shopping, with places like Amoeba Music and vintage shop Wasteland taking up valuable real estate. So when I arrived in Portland and walked into Red Light, I thought, “Well, this must be the Wasteland of Hawthorne.” But what does that make House of Vintage (3315 SE Hawthorne)? It’s like no other place I’ve ever stepped into, and I have to remind myself not to spend my entire paycheck there in one fell swoop. The place “is a collective of over 60 dealers within our 13,000-square-foot store”—in other words, it’s heaven to people who love vintage. But unlike soooo many places in Portland, HOV is really holding onto the idea of vintage having a reasonable price point. I mean, is anything cheap anymore? No! But at least I’m not paying $200 for my very ’90s Tommy Hil jeans that would make Aaliyah proud. xoxo, PP







