Portland is known for a lot of things; bridges, coffeehouses, hipsters, outdoor market places and nudity, are just a few. Porlanders love to be naked. So I wasn't surprised when I heard what happened last weekend at the Red Light Clothing Exchange on Southeast Hawthorn. It's called the Naked Co-Ed Shopping Spree, where 4 lucky contestants strutted their stuff in hopes to win some free clothes and a $100 gift certificate.
The gig was that contestants must start out completely naked and when the whistle is blown they have 3 minutes to dress themselves with as many articles of clothing possible. There is an option to wear underwear, however you get docked 1 article of clothing from your total at the end.
To deal with the anxiety of being naked in front of a store-full of people, Felisha Ledsma, a 22 year-old musician, said she played Chopin and Satie on her piano all day before the competition.
All the contestants dressed furiously, hands flashed in a crazed blur as each grappled for shirts, shorts, robes and shoes. The winner, a 37 year-old writer named Rich Vailmackin won with 20 pieces of clothing, which he counted while doing a strip tease to "Foxy Lady".
This just goes to show that the motto "Keep Portland Weird" has been taken to heart. These Portlanders pride themselves on having Naked Shopping Sprees and being liberated from the taboos of Public Nudity. It defines them. It's who they are and nothing, not even the law, will stand in their way.
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