Portland Oregon is the home of grunge and it has a bit of a warmer, rainier winter climate. The result is a hodge-podge of styles on the street. This town, like Seattle, absolutely loves its vintage clothing stores and that often reflects in what you see on the street.
One winter trend that is evident is women buying larger men’s blazers and wearing them as a winter coat over a heavy blazer. Some women go as far to have the blazer lined so it can be worn as a coat. This, in turn is worn with a very large silk or cotton scarf. The longer and silkier the scarf is the more elegant it is considered to be. The scarf is usually tied so that it looks like a cowl neck.
Long sloppy shirts, particularly denim ones are worn over black denim straight leg pants. It is very common to see a fishermen’s sweater in beige worn over a shirt that has the tails of the shirt peeking beneath.
Purples and greys are seen on a lot of people, which are colors that match the cloudy skies. Very few women in Portland are seen in anything else but black opaque tights if they decide to wear a dress or a skirt. Punks and Goths in Portland are still wearing laddered lacy tights, even in the winter. Another punk look still worn is cotton shorts with black tights and a white shirt. This makes you look like a circus lion tamer’s assistant.
A color combination that is often seen in street fashion is canary yellow paired with black. The little yellow wool vintage coat is a much-coveted item. This is worn with black accessories, preferably of an eighties vintages. Ruched belts with large circular fastenings and slouchy bags with many ripples are a popular look. It is also quite common to see women wearing boots with rounded toes and a high waist, which is the exact opposite of the pointy toes you would see worn in New York or Toronto. Most boots worn here are big, sloppy and brown in color. Boots with natural wrinkling around the ankle or cuff are also popular. This is also one of the few cities in North America where people still wear brown Frye boots with a flannel granny dress. This is a look that was popular in the early seventies and still has survived here in Portland, Oregon.