FROCK OFF! Six months ago, Shop Talk announced the opening of Community Thrift & Vintage (41 W. Cordova), a second-hand clothing store that straddled the ill-defined but utterly recognizable border between tony Gastown and the DTES. The boutique, as envisioned by founder Jenni Nelson (and parent company, the Portland Hotel Society), would be a social enterprise giving on-the-job retail training to women transitioning from addiction and, eventually, donating any and all profits to area charities. In the intervening months, the well-edited finds on the floor have made it an unqualified success. So much so that it has spawned a sister store: Community Thrift & Vintage Frock Shoppe. While the original location has been converted into a Mens Den (still brimming with cheap and cheerful finds from Wrangler and Pendleton), the Community Thrift & Vintage Frock Shoppe (311 Carrall) plays host to girlier goodies perfect for cheap and cheerful holiday looks. So far weve seen treasures such as a Ceil Chapman silk chiffon gown from the early 1950s, an embroidered navy dress from the 1920s, a tailored 1940s emerald-green blazer with pick-stitched lapel and petal-shaped pocket plackets, a winter-white wool party skirt with silver snowflake embroidery, an expanded selection of the silk blouses (for which the store has become justifiably known) and a carefully curated collection of costume jewelry.
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