In a big, multi-reporter venture from the New York Times, two Portland shops were named among the 50 best clothing stores in the country.
Stand Up Comedy and Shop Boswell made the list, alongside some of the most bougie boutiques on New York’s Upper East Side.
NYT said each of the brick-and-mortar businesses on its list is “distinctive and inspirational,” with most of them being small businesses. The criteria were four broad categories: menswear, womenswear, vintage and specialty.
Shop Boswell, located at 729 SE Morrison Street, has blossomed from handmade straw and felt hats to “everyday clothes from ‘it’ brands,” according to NYT.
Brookes Boswell opened the shop in 2016. While you can still get one of Boswell’s hats, you’ll also see her keen eye for “fine materials and traditional construction techniques” in the clothes and items curated in the storefront for purchase.
Shop Boswell’s “About the Shop” section on their website touts Boswell’s talent for “pairing daily essentials with complimentary vintage gems that have stood the test of time and statement pieces by independent designers.”
NYT reporter Misty White Sidell praised the boutique for sourcing its items from brands across the globe that are en vogue at the moment.
Shop Boswell is open Wednesday-Monday from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
A NYT reporter went into Stand Up Comedy, located at 511 SW Broadway, bought clothes and liked the experience.
Sounds like a punchline, but Portland’s Stand Up Comedy is a unique shop that sells clothes, among other things, “— clothing, print, objects. Content as a form of inquiry, method as de-centering, output is relational,” according to its website.
NYT’s Sidell praised Stand Up Comedy’s owner, Diana Kim, for her selection of clothes that “reflect brands at the forefront of fashion.”
The juxtaposition between Stand Up Comedy’s late 80s jewelry store aesthetic, complete with heavy carpeting and wood-finish cabinets, and the high-fashion items it sells seemed to delight NYT.
But the reporter made it clear, even in a small blurb, that the aesthetic of the store should not take away from its seriousness as an avant-garde fashion stop.
A peek at their website shows editorial-style photos of high-fashion pieces that even a layperson can recognize, like the viral Tabi shoes (the two-toed shoes based on traditional Japanese footwear), to unique pieces from up-and-coming fashion icons.
Stand Up Comedy is open Wednesday-Monday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. or by private appointment.
The essence of the article is trying to capture the charm and unique experience you can only find inside a store.
This perspective stands opposite to many articles written by just about every news agency about the bleak outlook of small businesses post-pandemic.
“It’s never been harder to operate a clothing store,” said Sidell in a NYT social media video about the article.
Sidell and other reporters who worked on the project described their firsthand accounts in these strange but reportedly wonderful stores across the country.
“People always ask me where do I go shopping? And now I can just send them a link.”
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