If you have a superb eye and a high tolerance for dust mites, vintage-store shopping can be a great experience. What's not to love about discovering hidden gems and one-of-a-kind pieces and creating a look that's completely your own? Also, there's just something about vintage clothes — tattered or not, you just don't know where they've been or, more importantly, who's been in them.

Cheryl Gorsuch has opened SAGE, a vintage store inside Sanford and Son Antiques in downtown Tacoma, which she co-owns with her husband, Alan.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: What’s up with SAGE?

CHERYL GORSUCH: SAGE is a result of my buying/collecting clothing over years. I started putting out racks of clothing items a couple of years ago for $3 to $10 bucks each item.  One rack, then two, three, four — then ‘poof’  — a store. 

Alan said he was going to "build me some walls" to hang some stuff and make me unpack my attic. Alan can do a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g., and he knows that I love Art Deco so he gave the 'walls' an Art Deco flare.

VOLCANO: Why did you wait so long?

GORSUCH: Alan wanted me to open my own clothing shop 20 years ago, but how the heck would I have done that when we were out of the country buying antiques every 10 weeks for two weeks for 15 years and having antique auctions every two weeks? Geesh. ...

VOLCANO: Yeah, dumb question. Why the name SAGE?

GORSUCH: I have always had the idea of a label with the name SAGE. SAGE means green, wisdom and taste — well,  buying clothing that is gently worn or vintage is 'being green' and smacks of wisdom to me.

VOLCANO: What about ‘Taste’?

GORSUCH: That's just apparent if you're shopping downtown.

VOLCANO: Tell me about the clothes.

GORSUCH: I have a lot of classics — plus some ’70s, ’80s funk.  I carry ’40s, ’50s elegant dresses, lots of vintage hats, a small section devoted to gentlemen — mostly ’70s and ’80s — and some ’60s Mad Men style, and of course contemporary fashion.

I hope that the client base will be anyone who is into fashion, saving money, and saving the planet by not filling up the local landfills with made in China Walmart crap.

[SAGE, 743 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.272.0334]