When it comes to secondhand clothing, Ames has a lot to offer. Goodwill and the Salvation Army are both kept well-stocked by the generosity of our wonderful citizens, and both stores offer a fine balance of clothing ranging from tastefully soiled to eccentric and gaudy. But for those who wish to truly test the limits of their wardrobe, only one option remains, a little pink store in the heart of campus called Ridiculous Rags. As the only vintage clothing shop in town, this store has occupied an interesting niche, catering to the needs of people from across the board: costume party-goers, late-blooming hippies, Nathan Kaloupek, or anyone else just looking to wear something with a bit more pizazz. More than all of this, it’s a happy place. It’s the kind of place you can just walk into and look around. It’s to know that so many colorful hats and ties and plaid pants all exist in one spot. The kind of place that doesn’t even have security sensors because what kind of a person would steal from a place like that? But sadly it’s all coming to an end. Terrible white sheets of 8×11 paper posted out front have announced that after nearly fifteen years, this wonderful store is soon to close. Not even the smiling frog on the right hand window can cheer up the hopeful customers who run gleefully up to the door, only to turn away in agony at the news. Ames high students have taken it particularly hard. It came as a shock to nearly everyone I spoke with. "Are you freaking kidding me! That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard," said Nickie Williams a sophomore who’s clearly led a very sheltered life. The aforementioned Nathan Kaloupek simply said, "I feel as though a piece of my soul is closing down with it." Some took the news even harder. When Coach Norris first heard, she let out a primal scream of anguish that echoed through the peaceful English hallway scaring Mr. Woolery’s freshman class. The biggest question on every one’s mind is of course, ‘what will the junior class do for the Gatsby Party?’ The Gatsby Party, which is held toward the end of every year for the juniors who read The Great Gatsby , is a costume party which involves all of the guests dressing up in 1920’s fashion. In past years, students could smuggle clothing from the auditorium costume cage or buy what they wanted from RR. But in the wake of a recent vandalism, the cage door has been locked. Now with RR closing down, it looks as though junior Gatsby-goers will be forced into raiding mothballed closets of grandparents or else to commit acts of petty thief, in order to scrape together an presentable outfit. "I never actually went to the party," Ames High alumnea Daniel Park said. "A lot of my friends who did go got some pretty classy stuff from that place. It’s a shame they’re closing it down."