Classic heritage brands bring enduring quality to local store shelves

While shops in this area are committed to supporting new smaller designers with less name recognition, many have begun to introduce (or reintroduce) classic lines to their inventory.

Well-known heritage brands such as Minnetonka Moccasins, Saint James and Tretorn, which have been around for more than 50 to 100 years, portray a sense of quality and staying power that shoppers are responding to these days.

Moccasins were worn by the inhabitants of this country long before Minnetonka started making them in 1946. Still owned and operated by the original family, this Minneapolis-based company has outfitted hippies in the 1960s, today's young celebrities and everyday people with knee-and ankle-length fringed boots for generations.

Locally, find Minnetonka products at Nordstrom, with prices ranging from $32.96 for the faux fur-lined Cally slipper to $97.95 for the Five-Layer Fringe tall boot.

In the film "Coco Before Chanel," the titular young designer is portrayed wearing a white-and-blue-striped French sailor shirt paired with a demure bow belt. Chances are the shirt was a Saint James, a French knitwear company that has been making French sailor shirts in Normandy since 1889.

Often imitated, this distinctive horizontally striped shirt was originally worn by the fishermen of Breton and eventually co-opted by yachtsmen and other seafarers. Pablo Picasso was photographed wearing a similar shirt, and Jean-Paul Sartre also wore one.

Momo in the ID sells Saint James French sailor shirts for $88. Also check out their selection of Pendleton menswear, another classic brand.

While rain boots have always been popular in the soggy Pacific Northwest, a recent resurgence of galoshes as fashion has spurred shop owners to look beyond traditional British Hunter Wellingtons. Swedish company Tretorn has been manufacturing rubber footwear since 1891.

The classic rain-busting Tretorn boot features a cozy faux fur lining and a lug sole for traction on hilly, slippery streets.

Find Tretorn boots at Edie's Capitol Hill location for $72.

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