Michael Maker is the proprietor of Savoy Special Vintage on Broadway in Tacoma.
When it comes to style, nothing is more important to Michael Maker than individuality.
Maker is a musician and the owner of Savoy Special Vintage on Broadway in downtown Tacoma. A dealer of one-of-a-kind items and Americana, his store is filled wall to wall with decades’ worth of Levi’s, dresses from the ’60s, sturdy and thick wool cardigans, and garments that generally represent the country’s many eras.
To Maker, “vintage” isn’t a word one should passively or offhandedly label an item. To him, vintage connotes substance and quality — clothes that were created before the onset of mass production. The lives of those who once wore the garments make pieces special, too.
“I don’t believe in ghosts, but I believe in spirits,” Maker said. “I believe things can (have) a certain essence of somebody (that) can be contained. What’s more intimate than a pair of boots or a leather jacket that somebody wore for 40 years of their life?”
When I visited Maker, he was wearing a horsehair leather jacket from the 1940s. There were creases in the jacket that illustrated its years of use, but it was still in beautiful condition. He often can be found in his signature Stetson cowboy hat, a well-worn jacket, jeans, and cowboy boots. It’s the kind of outfit that is simple enough in theory, but up close, one can see the effort and intention that went into it.
Maker thinks a lot about how fashion can be a form of rebellion against the mainstream and a statement of one’s own power. Amid trends that come and go, mass-manufactured products, and the overuse of AI, a closet of carefully sourced clothes creates a statement of its own. Maker hopes others find a sense of power and belonging within his store.