Wearing vintage clothing invites a very different experience than most other clothing. By wearing something that may be older than yourself, you invite a sense of wonder that is unique and exciting. These clothes have lived full and storied lives of their own that exist completely outside of the wearer, and to wear and buy vintage further grows the story of whichever garment you choose to steward.

The vintage sphere has fostered a loyal following in the fashion world, and Founded Vintage, a Eugene-based vintage store, has become a favorite for local vintage enthusiasts.

“The thing I love most about my job is getting to talk to people in here,” Peter Michaels, the owner and founder of Founded Vintage, said. “I think we fostered a lot of cool people who come in and I think that vintage itself has a cool built in audience.”

Michaels, who’s been running the show since the store’s inception in 2022, is no stranger to the vintage community himself. A Eugene native, Michaels said he was brought up around the sights and sounds of the 70s thanks to his parents, and he’s been hooked on old clothing and culture ever since.

The store itself reflects this interest, and if the faded jeans and worn flannels don’t interest you, the hung up records or the boxy old television in the corner may. The clothes themselves generally range from around the 60s to the 90s, and the Founded Vintage team hand picks and chooses their inventory to have something for everyone.

This can be a difficult balancing act though when trends move as fast as they do these days, and it would be hard to retain an identity as a shop if the inventory was to change personalities every few weeks.

“There’s always been different aesthetics that we’ve leaned towards, but I think that keeping it open ended has been nice so we can evolve with the market,” Michaels said. “For example, camo is super big right now, and we can sell that stuff, but we’re not trying to become the camo store.”

He said that if you always try to follow what’s in at the moment, you’ll inevitably fall behind. To Michaels, the key is to stay true to your personal tastes, but to sprinkle in other bits of style flavor to help keep things fresh.

Founded Vintage is well established these days, but Michaels said its origins were less concrete. When he was younger, Michaels and his friends were regulars at many thrift stores, but he never considered approaching the market from the other side of the counter.

Later, he attended Portland State to study business and graphic design, and during his time in Portland, he started selling clothes on Depop, an online clothing marketplace. He had quick success, and soon dropped out from Portland State to pursue his new business full time. Then, in 2022, Founded Vintage was born as the brick and mortar manifestation of his online business.

Michaels said he was thankful to have an online business experience before opening the physical store, where the consequences of growing pains weren’t as harmful as they could be otherwise.

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” Michaels said. He’s learned to always have a wide range of sources for clothing inventory. This way, if one source dries up, you can always count on the others to fill the empty space.

Beyond his business goals, Michaels also wants to help foster the fashion community in Eugene. Last spring, Founded Vintage hosted a runway show that showcased some of their inventory and other local creations as a way to bring Eugene’s clothing enthusiasts together. Michaels hopes the store itself can be more than a shop too.

“I’m from here, I was born and raised in Eugene…especially in the age of the internet, I think we’re losing some of our community spaces,” Michaels said. He explained the sociological concept of third spaces to help illustrate his point.

The first space is your home, somewhere that’s all about you, created by yourself and for yourself. The second space would be some place like school or your place of work where you go usually more out of necessity than desire. Then, the third space is somewhere outside the home that you go to out of desire for social connections or to exercise interests. In a big city, third spaces are everywhere — coffee shops, libraries, museums, parks, theaters and so on. However in smaller towns like Eugene, the number of these third spaces is proportionally smaller. Combine this with the transformation of many of our third spaces into the digital realm through things like social media and forums, and it can feel like we’re losing these third spaces.

Michaels wants Founded Vintage to serve as one of these third spaces for vintage enthusiasts and casual shoppers alike, and maybe the best way to reach that goal is to lead by example.

“People come in when they’re in a good mood (and) people come in when they want to treat themselves,” Michaels said, and because of that, it’s easy to socialize. “Getting to talk to all these people, that’s what I love most about my job.”