Keep Em Flying

My favorite Vintage Shop since 2002 and maybe forever! The owner is cooky but beautiful in her spirit and incredibly intuitive in her suggestions. The other staff can be a little aloof but they make up for it in knowledge for clothing and their merchandise. This is the kind of store that literally make life more colorful and exciting.

Seeing yet another rack of clothes sitting outside on the sidewalk drew me to this place. I wonder in and am greeted by a woman at the counter he proceeds to tell me how its so nice outside and wishes she was out there enjoying it. I was informed that a sale was going on. 20% off certain dresses and 50% off winter coats and firs. Good to know.
Keep Em Flying is a small shop filled to the brim with clothing from all eras. If you are looking for reasonable prices, this is not the place but then again that advice is coming from a rather frugal person *points to self*.
Although Keep Em Flying does have high prices, the clothing they have is spectacular. I rater enjoyed the dresses from the 50’s and 80’s. There was a great collection of hats and the formal dresses were phenomenal. I found a fantastic black formal dress from the 80’s that had a bow and ruffles running down the side and had silver sparkles all over it. It would be perfect for my upcoming burlesque performance but I could not justify the $ 59 asking price especially since I could find something of equal or better style at a thrift store for a much much cheaper price.
This place is great for browsing and if you have the money to spend even better for shopping.

Super super vintage, I get it. Sure, the old hag who owns this place pulled a few cute things out of the bin to sell, but going to Keep Em Flying is not worth the TERRIBLY RUDE SERVICE that you will receive. If you wish to be talked down to, glared at, and practically accused of theft, this is probably the place for you, otherwise DON’T PATRONIZE THIS STORE!

Exceptional. At my wit’s end after trawling vintage shops on both sides of the Willamette on the quest for a 1920’s-era summer suit, I stopped in here and they had exactly what I wanted. A great range of men’s vintage suits, shirts, ties, and accessories, with an emphasis on the elegant. Friendly and knowledgeable service to boot. A real gem of a vintage store.

I’m convinced that hats are going to make a comeback. Really, they are. I do not mean women in baseball caps, my dears. I mean posh women in Sunday hats. Church hats, if you will. Except without the church. I can just see myself walking my cute little dog down the street in one of my «day dresses» with a fabulous hat on my head a la Audrey Hepburn. This store is going to help me accomplish that. They have a fabulous array of vintage hats. Big hats to those hats that you have to pin on, or else they will fall right off your head.
This store is chock full. It’s like a museum and sometimes I treat it as such. They owner and the other adorable lady who work there do not seem to mind a bit. I think they can tell that I’m just fantasizing a bit. Most of the clothes are too small for me. At a size 12 – 14, vintage and I don’t really get along. Cause I’m a high fructose corn syrup era size 12 – 14. Not a Marlyn Monroe size 12 – 14. My, «I’m finally a size 8» shopping spree will occur at Keep Em Flying. Oh, I can hardly wait. But the hats will ALWAYS fit.

They have really cute stuff! I bought a cute Austrian hat and wore it to my friend’s wedding. Everyone thought it was cute and I got compliments from few of the elders. Like a good vintage store they keep their warddrob changed every once in a while. I live close by so I go in there check out the store every once in a while. Some things are expensive and some are inexpensive. So take your time and enjoy trying everything on.

Damn (And I mean that in the best way possible!!)
So here’s the dealio. I came to Portland for work this week. I came here to help my Portland counterpart kick some major north western ass. I came here to feast and because I am me, I came here to drink. I also came here to socialize with the Portland scene and after all of the above was successfully accomplished, who am I kidding, I came here to shop! And since I am a vintage huuuuwuuur, that was the goal at hand after we worked our minds to the bone all week.
So after a few solid days of brainstorming and field work, we decided to hit the vintage route today and Keep ‘Em Flying made the list. My vintage snoop (Laura N) had compiled a one-​sheet of awesome vintage boutiques thanks to some local Unilocaler lists and this was the first stop! We almost walked by it, but something shiny in the window caught our attention and in we went.
As soon as I walked in my heart did the little flutter dance. It has been known to do this when a phenomenal score is near and today was no exception. Now to give you a picture of what my normal vintage assault is like, I usually break down a store in the following order…
1. purses
2. coats
3. shoes
Today, however, was all about the vintage jacket scores and that is the section I b-​lined for. I saw some adorable stuff and all of it was definitely fondle-​worthy, but then I saw IT…
Wow, wow, wow is that the silver and light crème incarnation of Elizabeth Taylor hanging on the rack in front of me??? Why yes, Stephy, I think it is? And what’s that? It’s a two piece set that includes a total 40’s movie star dress in addition to one of the coolest jackets you’ve ever seen? Yep, I do believe that is what we have here!!!
I then grabbed it from the rack and tried the coat on. It was an immediate quiet moment in the store in the form of awe. SOLD! I then peeped the little dress and knowing the diameter of my thighs, um, no. BUT, luckily my CM partner in crime Laura N is a petite little thing and so I gave it to her.
We then started chatting up the girl working here and she quickly picked up on my search for the funky and pulled out this turquoise green jacket with brown rhinestone buttons. Granted, reading this you may think, um, have you lost your mind… but you have to see this thing on, it’s fantasticalbulous. (wow, can i coin that word?) Oh my god, just the cutest jacket ever!!!
And so I purchased my fab finds and it was off to get started with our productive day. I’m now back at the hotel at 2:20am and staring at these two jackets hanging in my hotel room and I am like a kid in a candy store. Yay, please get cold in LA soon, please please please!!!
If you live in Portland and luuurrrhve vintage, go here! NOW!!! It’s one of those stores that if I lived here I would never tell a soul about since I would greedily hoard its scores, but since I don’t, have at it!

I combed the city looking for a cute vintage dress to wear to a wedding that didn’t break my bank. There are plenty of great vintage shops in town, but when shopping for old clothes the likelihood of finding something in the right size that is fancy enough and not to clowny can be slim.
I was graciously relieved to step into Keep Em Flying, an overflowing hole in the wall in Northwest Portland, where they helpfully guided me in my search for the perfect wedding dress.
The woman who owns this place is so familiar with her inventory (I imagine she carefully picked it all out herself), that she was able to instantly size me up and pick out ONLY the dresses that would fit me, eliminating tons of wasted time in the dressing room. She offered up tons of advice and helped me pick out shoes to match.
Imagine my relief when the pricetag on the beautiful vintage dress was only 30 bucks.

I’ve only been in here once so far and it was to buy one of the awesome hats they have displayed in the window. They make beanies out of vintage sweaters, complete with appliqué animals/​designs on the front, some using vintage buttons as well. They are a little on the expensive side (for me) at $ 29, but I bought two for xmas gifts and one for myself. I see others that I want every time I walk by. Each one is unique.
They also have quite a bit of costume jewelry and other vintage clothes.