Big Vintage, Little City
By: Sarah Brown, Guest Blogger & Founder of I Wanna Wear That
We are all familiar with the fun, trendy boutiques that line the streets of the Old Port. But what about the hidden gems throughout Portland that don’t always get the attention they deserve from the locals or tourists? Unless you’re a hardcore vintage enthusiast, Encore Vintage at 521 Congress Street is one of those places.
Rita Prout-Farley has owned this amazing store for over 20 years and has amassed an incredible collection of vintage. I stopped in there last Saturday for the first time and literally spent an hour looking only at the clothes. Never mind the insane amount of hats, shoes, bags and jewelry. I’m pretty sure you could spend the entire day there and not see everything.
I had so much fun looking at her collection. I mean, she has dresses from the 20′s; it’s nuts. It really is like a time warp because you can find something from every time period and every trend in the last 90 years. Among many other things, I saw huge wide leg yellow pants, a polyester brown striped dress from the 70′s, and a pretty floral & lace dress from the 50′s. And I could not believe the costume jewelry. So many options, so much to look at.
Because of this collection, Rita has been voted one of the top ten vintage stores in the world by Travel & Leisure Magazine and has been voted best vintage store in New England by Boston Magazine. She even helped with costume design on the Mel Gibson movie “Man without a Face.”
On to my finds. For $10 I found this really cool green dress from the 30′s that has such a fun silhouette. It has that cinch at the waist and tight fitting skirt you relate to that decade.
Believe it or not, it’s not all about the ladies. Rita has some really sleek men’s jackets in the back and a huge collection of ties. My husband found a wool tie with an owl face on it which seems like it’s the only one in existence.
If you’re just starting to get into vintage like me, or are a long time collector, I would run to Encore. If nothing else you’ll have a really great time looking around. Who knew Portland had such awesome variety?
