Where 'throwing like a girl' is encouraged

Located in Tanasbourne, Aries Apparel specializes in fitness clothing for female athletes

By David Holley

The Times, Jan 19, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jaime Valdez / The Beaverton Valley Times

Tigard resident Diana Marsden, owner of Aries Apparel located in Tanasbourne, opened an athletic clothing shop for female athletes, a market she believes is underserved.

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Like many soccer moms, Diana Marsden struggled to find athletic clothing for her two daughters.

And she wasn’t alone. Almost every parent Marsden met had trouble finding sports clothing for their female athletes to wear.

“Girls don’t like to wear boys’ clothes,” said Marsden, 50. “I really found a hole you could drive a truck though.”

But it gave Marsden an idea.

After more than a year of preparation, Marsden opened Aries Apparel in the spring of 2008. The store is geared specifically toward female athletes, and sells fitness clothing for nearly every sport, from basketball to lacrosse.

Aries Apparel is an expansive 6,200-square-foot store in a building on the corner of Northwest 188th Avenue and Northwest Cornell Road near Tanasbourne Village. Purple drapes that hang like cylinders down the center of the store are the dressing rooms, one of the many warm, modern aspects of the interior design.

“I tried to create a store that was girl friendly,” said Marsden, adding that many athletic department stores are geared toward male shoppers.

Benches dotted throughout have words written on them, each stemming from the Aries zodiac sign, one of Marsden’s inspirations for the store.

Powerful, courageous, passionate – “all examples of female athletes,” she said.

Marsden said she thinks one of the biggest draws to the store is the variety of clothing and equipment Aries Apparel sells for each sport. She said she sees customers come in and stare at the merchandise from the more than 100 vendors Marsden buys from.

“We call it ‘the look,’ now,” said Marsden, a Tigard resident.

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