Ten years ago, Susan Robbins decided it was time to clean out her closet. Turns out, she had enough great stuff to sell, so she took to Ebay and hasn’t looked back since. North Star Vintage is one of the hippest vintage boutiques in Portland - and you might not even know about it.

Susan, owner and vintage maven, greeted us on her front stoop before letting us sneak around her racks and racks and racks of vintage goods in her basement. We combed through retro housewife dresses from the 1950’s to tartan plaid suit jackets from the 1970’s. Fur coats, feathered coats, suede boots, polyester dresses, flowing silk skirts, Maine hunting shoes - if you’re looking for it, chances are Susan has it. She buys from auctions, estate sales and from other sellers like Diane and Material Objects. “We all look for different things so we buy and sell to each other, which is great!” she says. She also showed off her husband, photographer Matthew Robbins’, personal tie collection, but sorry fellas, it’s not for sale.

This one-woman enterprise runs everything out of her 1916 bungalow, a mid-century modernist’s dream. She ships to places as far away as Japan and half of her clientele are overseas. So is there anything Susan won’t sell? A 1940’s shirt (pictured) with a newsprint pattern and her ‘69 BMW R/50.

Check out the online store, ebay and etsy shop too!