For students looking to update their wardrobes, a cool look from the past just might be the next hot tip.
Vintage clothing stores that peddle affordable, stylish and durable used clothes are plentiful around campus, and with so many options, there’s sure to be a store catering to the perfect style or era. Here’s a rundown of just a few stores and their special niches.
Nobody’s Baby

Employee Amy Clancy-Cox said Nobody’s Baby caters to both men and women with a wide range of styles.
“This store is very eclectic,” she said. “We have everything from all different ages. Some really wild stuff from the ’80s back to the 1880s.”
The store serves the local community, but buyers from other states have come to Nobody’s Baby to fill their own shops with finds, Clancy-Cox said.
Fashions at Nobody’s Baby come from estate sales, dealers and trades brought in by the public. The general policy with trades is 30 percent cash or 50 percent store credit.
Clancy-Cox said her personal fashion philosophy is “go with your mood and don’t try too hard.”
Wearing vintage clothing can sometimes be tricky because people’s body shapes have changed over the years, so an easy way to start wearing vintage is to accessorize, she said.
Vintage, despite some drawbacks, has many more advantages, Clancy-Cox said.
“I think vintage clothing holds up way better than modern clothing,” she said. “A lot of modern clothing is meant to fall apart. The earlier eras, their mission was durability.”
Location: 365 E. 13th Ave. Phone: 343-6842
Eugene Jeans

Eugene Jeans owner Tom Long prides himself in creating a vintage store that fills the needs that other stores neglect. Before he opened his shop, Long said he took note of what other stores were doing and then purposely did the opposite. While scouting, he realized most shops featured more women’s than men’s clothing.
“We didn’t copy anybody when we opened,” he said. “More than half the stores is men’s (clothing).”
Long also said he has always focused on more contemporary vintage clothing with a special emphasis on the 1970s.
“A lot of stores do the hoity-toity vintage: ‘We’re not going to do anything newer than 1962.’ That’s not us,” Long said. “I’m always having fun, talking to people.”
The store also sells vintage lunchboxes and records, and Long recently started selling musical instruments. The clothes that he buys need to be in good condition and fit in with the personality of the store, he said.
“Usually, it’s at least two to three decades old. Even stuff that I though was poorer or lesser quality back then has turned out” to be better than modern quality, Long said. These are tried and true styles.”
Location: 132 E. 13th Ave. Phone: 338-4395
Puttin’ On the Ritz
Co-owner Helen Tipton doesn’t think of Puttin’ On the Ritz as just a vintage clothing store. The shop stocks vintage jewelry, eyeglasses, hats, pictures, buttons, lamps, furniture and even kitchen appliances between its racks of handsome vintage vestments.
“It’s like a vintage emporium,” Tipton said.
Everything in the shop is at least 30 years old, going back to the Victorian era.
“A lot of stores are vintage, but they also deal with retro,” she said. “We have mostly things from the ’60s, ’50s, ’40s and ’30s. You can get real high-end vintage – something the rich might have worn, and real low-end too – something the poor might have worn. Some of that poorer vintage, like rayon, is now worth more than furs.”
The shop has snappy styles for men, women and children.
Tipton said vintage clothing is always special.
“I always thought it was because of the vibes of the clothing, but also because you get something unique,” she said.
Location: 350 E. 11th Ave. Phone: 686-9240.
Deluxe
The store Deluxe buys and trades with their customers for their inventory. With an inventory evenly split between men’s and women’s clothing, the store has a boutique feel. There are also pieces from local artists for sale. The majority of the store’s customers are students at the University and local Eugene middle and high schools.
Employee Teeva Willis said that her style is dictated by weather, especially living in a place like Eugene. She also said she thinks it’s important to buy recycled clothes. She suggested that shoppers interested in starting a vintage or recycled fashion collection should shop around, buy what things that they like and are in good condition, and look for familiar brands.
Location: 1331 Willamette St. Phone: 686-0205.