Wear What When

New: In Commune on Capitol Hill

Sara Hoffman’s new new-to-you vintage store works for your whole family, and maybe even your larger community, too.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jan 27, 2012 at 09:25AM 0 Comments

SLIDESHOW: The new vintage (and more) shop on Capitol Hill, In Commune.

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SLIDESHOW: The new vintage (and more) shop on Capitol Hill, In Commune.

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Owner Sara Hoffman studied apparel at Seattle Central before opening her 12th Avenue shop. If you didn’t know, you might guess she had studied fine arts, minimalist merchandising, Japanese textiles, or studio pottery. But don’t think that means the wardrobe are without a distinct point of view.

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Among the vintage and slightly used wardrobe options for men, women, and children: hand-knit sweaters, Pendleton wool shirts, wide-wale corduroys, ’60s shift dresses, linen trousers, tweed skirts, railroad-striped overalls, winter-white silk shirts, and plaids of every stripe.

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Some stores that deal vintage clothes and housewares have a magpie approach: get all you can get and crowd a small space with it. Hoffman’s version of presentation is much more minimal and spare. All her pieces are meticulously cleaned and pressed, and each one is given it’s due space for appreciation and contemplation. It’s a way of living, and of doing business, that will suit her well when she eventually expands and offers not just used items but new, local and up-and-coming designers and crafts.

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Hoffman’s aesthetic is recommended for Seattle shoppers who frequent Totokaelo, Blackbird, Les Amis, Bitters Co. and like-minded outlets. Here, a funny little made-in-Germany ’80s blouse for her, and …

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…it’s on-trend Americana mini-me.

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As a working mother, Hoffman’s on-task in terms of responding to the world we live in. She was ready for the recent snowstorm. Were you?

Inside a storefront that used to be an apartment, Sara Hofmann makes the ultimate peace with the space’s charmingly offbeat not-quite-this-not-quite-that nature with In Commune, a study of textures, textiles, and reused goods.

Hoffman collects vintage and gently used clothing for women, men, and small kids (figure on size 4T and under for the most part) as well as beautiful used and useful pottery, artful textiles, and the odd poetry book or letterpressed moon cycle calendar or two.

A table in the Danish modern tradition sits smack dab in the middle of the joint; you’re likely to find Hoffman’s son Asa there, quietly spooning after-school soup from a hand-thrown bowl, or just hanging out.

Ferns and fiber art hangs around, too. If all this new-to-you, handmade, nature-focused, richly tactile stuff weren’t such a growing trend—no, more like a spiritual need—within a certain design/lifestyle/fashion zeitgeist (the loosely configured community who regards the text Handcrafted Modern as a sort of bible, shops and sells at Object and, you know, makes their own kombucha), you’d feel like you had stepped into the ’60s.

Which is not to say all the vintage wardrobe pieces are ‘60s throwbacks. Or that the shop is a one-note nostalgia hut. They aren’t; it isn’t. Check out the slideshow here for more on the aesthetic and the offerings In Commune.

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Tags: Seattle Vintage, Capitol Hill, Sustainable Such and Such

Adrienne Antonson’s Bugs

The NuBe Green designer makes insects out of human hair. Yeah. Insects, human hair.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Nov 18, 2011 at 07:00AM 1 Comments

Photo: All images courtesy the artist

SLIDESHOW: Fashion designer Adrienne Antonson told me recently of her hair insects, “They’re so different from my clothing, but they also relate in many ways.” I had to find out what she meant.

View Slideshow » Photo: All images courtesy the artist

SLIDESHOW: Fashion designer Adrienne Antonson told me recently of her hair insects, “They’re so different from my clothing, but they also relate in many ways.” I had to find out what she meant.

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“No matter the form I’m working in,” says Antonson, the designer of State, NuBe Green’s newly renamed and relaunched line of remade vintage clothing, “my material choices share many common threads. I am attracted to cast-offs, underdogs, and undervalued items. To revive a material into something new and unexpected is thrilling to me and is the main motivation of my work.”

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I don’t mind insects at all, but I’m guilty of not always seeing the beauty that Antonson sees when she looks at the bug world. With pieces like this, however, I come around to her point of view.

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“My end products are quite different—a summer dress, or a stick Insect—the inspiration, process, and goals are the same,” reports the artist. “Both acts are meticulous and result in detailed pieces that encourage consideration of the materials. I enjoy balancing these different creative modes and find that taking a break from fashion to study moth evolution only inspires the next season’s collection.”

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Antonson isn’t an undiscovered hair bug artist, that’s for sure. A wide and globe-spanning variety of media sources has picked up on her work, and pretty much everyone takes the opportunity to use two or more bad puns. (Check out this example from the Huffington Post, who can sort of always be relied upon for bad puns.)

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You hear a lot about sustainable materials these days—typically bamboo, cork, recycled rubber. What about hair though? Hair? Yeah, hair.

Along with salvaged worn-in silk, soft thrift store denim, and vintage cashmere wool, it’s a favored medium of Adrienne Antonson, the until-just-recently Vashon-based artist and designer known for her collection of vaguely 80s Japanese-feeling repurposed and rebuilt clothing at NuBe Green. She uses it (the hair) to craft—get this—highly accurate models of bugs.

Of course, working with hair isn’t new. Many an upright and proper Victorian lady crocheted it into mourning jewelry; they wove it into bracelets and coiled it under glass.

But Antonson has always liked bugs, see. They’re tiny and miraculous and curious, so she collects hair (her own, that of friends and maybe family) and meticulously winds, shapes, twists, and otherwise coaxes it into spot-on replicas of her favorite insects.

Recently, Ripley’s Believe It or Not bought up her collection. Hair being about as replenishable as any resource you can imagine (which is totally the point), she made more.

(And yeah, believe it or not, Ripley’s is still around, and apparently buying stuff from artists.)

Check out the slideshow here to see some of Antonson’s recent work and learn how she relates silk shirts to silkworms and so forth.

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Tags: Sustainable Such and Such, Seattle Designer, Seattle Designer, Nube Green, Adrienne Antonson

Field House Garage Sale

An urban scavenger’s dream: Rummaging through vintage clothes and house items tagged by staff of Ballard’s Blackbird and Field House.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jul 14, 2011 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

They’ve cleaned house at the Field House, and their vintage clothing, earthy ceramics, funky old lamps, and gently used Pendleton blankets have been tagged for an urban yard sale beginning on Friday July 15.

What is it about the third weekend in July that makes people want to stage giant junk sales? There’s this one, down near Olympia which hints at a “world’s largest” claims, and there’s one in my hometown, which consists of several blocks of stuff from antique dealers, record collectors, and charity groups and a concurrent music fest—but I can’t tell you about that one because I don’t want you to get there before me and find the good stuff.

Besides, you’ll probably want to stay in town and check out the Field House, where vintage clothing, accessories, and housewares, will be rummaged along with books, records, and more. Look for brands like Filson and Pendleton and don’t leave your inner urban horticulturist at home: I hear a chicken coup is in the mix.

The sale starts on Friday (also known as tomorrow) July 15 from 8 to 7 and continues on Saturday and Sunday during the same time frame. Experienced hunter/gatherers know it’s totally uncouth to show up before the start time. Don’t do it.

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Tags: Ballard, Sustainable Such and Such, Blackbird

DIY Wedding Session at RE Store

Get crafty with fellow brides- and grooms-to-be and some of the most resourceful folks in town.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jul 13, 2011 at 07:30AM 0 Comments

Inspiring salvaged materials and hands-on advice about what to do with them at RE Store on July 16.

Where: RE Store in Ballard

What: A day of DIYing with folks who really know how to repurpose and reuse, and swing a hammer and turn a screw. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or someone who can help you put your inspiration to good use, this even should be carefully considered. The folks at Ballard’s salvage mart held an similar meeting of the decor-obsessed minds in their light-filled, stained glass window-strewn upstairs workroom a year or so ago; a good friend of mine who, engaged at the time and open to all manner of ideas, attended, said she learned a lot and had a really great time.

Rachel Levien led that workshop, and she’s returning for this one. She and the RE Store folks tell me would-be DIYers will learn how to “transform previously used materials into everything from cake stands to candelabras, whether you are going for vintage, rustic, or modern decor.”

Tea and cake will be served.

When: Saturday July 16 from 10 to noon. Cost is $10 which gets you a $5 coupon to use at The RE Store anytime. Contact brayh @ re-store.org to ask questions or reserve your spot.

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Tags: Sustainable Such and Such, Seattle Wedding Details, DIY Projects, Seattle DIY

Just Landed: NuBe Seattle’s Summer Collection

Take a look at Vashon designer Adrienne Antonson’s summer line.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jun 07, 2011 at 07:00AM 1 Comments

Photo: Nubegreen.blogspot.com

Looks from NuBe Seattle’s summer collection.

Where: SoDo loft of local design duo Graypants, 3220 First Ave S, #400, Seattle

What: When it comes to demonstrating that all you need is right here at home, NuBe Green is doing what it came here to do. Sure enough. Dispensing all American- and Seattle-made, often recycled or repurposed goods, the Cap Hill shop shows off innovative ideas and thoughtful, spirited approaches to sourcing and resourcing.

A fine example is the store’s in-house line of women’s clothing, NuBe Seattle. This week’s party celebrates Vashon Island designer Adrienne Antonson’s summer collection. Sneak peeks give me a summer-camp-meets-grandma’s-cabin-attic kinda feeling; plaids, textured linens, earthy leather straps, and shapes you can wear while chasing boys, girls, wild horses, and rare birds. Antonson is doing really good work with local fibers, found materials, and Northwest-meet-global trends in silhouettes and overall style.

The fact that Graypants is hosting means another layer of modernism-by-way-of-Old-World-sensibilities. Reuse, reduce, radicalize.

Sources tell me owner Ruth True “loves a party” so don’t be shy. A chronic underestimater recently asked me if anyone actually goes to the trunk shows and in-store fashion events that happen around town. I’ll tell you what I told that Ms. Tragically Low Expectations: You’ll have to go to find out.

When: Thursday, June 9 from 6 to 9

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Tags: Sustainable Such and Such, Just Landed, New in Stores, Seattle Designer, Nube Green, Adrienne Antonson

Sale: Repurposed Materials at NuBe Green

Picture saying this to guests, “Please, make yourself comfortable in what used to be cardboard box.”

Posted by: Katie Ormsby on May 19, 2011 at 02:00PM 2 Comments

SLIDESHOW: NuBe Green is taking 30 percent off all recycled cardboard merchandise, which includes chairs, tables, toys, and home accessories.

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SLIDESHOW: NuBe Green is taking 30 percent off all recycled cardboard merchandise, which includes chairs, tables, toys, and home accessories.

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The cardboard shuttle doubles as a playhouse and coloring surface.

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The possibilities for this bit of recycled cardboard include: candle votive, napkin ring, and candy dish.

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The table works both in the office and dining room.

Where: NuBe Green

What: In the market for some sustainable furniture and home decor? Check out Ruth True’s truly green shop as she highlights the creative ways that designers have repurposed recycled cardboard. Dining tables, chairs, candle votives, and, yes, a rocket ship (okay, a playhouse shaped like a rocket ship)—all of which used to be some sort of blah brown box—are 30 percent off.

Take a spin through the slideshow here to preview the possibilities.

When: Now through May 31

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Home Decor, Sustainable Such and Such, Nube Green

NuBe Green Trunk Show for NuBe Seattle

The eco-shop celebrates Seattle (okay, Vashon Island) designer Adrienne Antonson and a new in-house line on March 9.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Mar 03, 2011 at 07:40AM 0 Comments

Ikat poncho from Nube Seattle, new at Nube Green

Where: NuBe Green on Capitol Hill

What: The All-American lifestyle store in the Oddfellows Building celebrates the new spring collection from the in-house all-Seattle line, NuBe Seattle. Artist Adrienne Antonson designs on Vashon Island with fabrics made from locally grown fibers as well as vintage or otherwise repurposed materials. The pieces are hand-sewn in the area — hence (let’s just get this out of the way), the price tags.

And while the ikat poncho and felted wool vest shown here, from the collection that’s available online and in person at the trunk show and launch party next week, do convey a very Seattle (circa 1972, circa 1986, circa now) artful islander vibe, they’d also fit beautifully into a closet filled with Dries Van Noten, Maria Cornejo, and similar lines. Which, now that I think about it, is another way of saying I’d like them in mine.

Felted wool and linen vest by designer Adrienne Antonson for Nube Seattle and Nube Green

When: Wednesday, March 9 from 6 to 8. Local wines and cheeses will be served.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Seattle Trunk Show, Sustainable Such and Such, Seattle Designer, Nube Green, Adrienne Antonson

Gift Map III: Kids’ Stuff

Because shopping for quality playthings isn’t always fun and games.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Dec 16, 2010 at 06:30AM 0 Comments

Photo: Flora and Henri online shop

Mohair rabbits where adorable is defined, Flora and Henri on Capitol Hill.

If the kids on your shopping list are your own, you have enough to do without plotting out where to find the worthwhile, classic stuff of childhood. If the tiny people on your agenda do not belong to you, you may not be totally familiar with the lay of the fun-and-games landscape. Either way, our kids stuff shopping map makes it easy to navigate an entire city’s worth of educational objects of enjoyment, timeless toys, and apparel and accessories that appeal to both of you.

Some things to think about before you begin: At Izilla, they’re loving a board game called Dixit because it does the impossible: makes fun times for kids and adults. At Tottini, there are two options (at two budget levels) for those considering a modern take on the generations-old winter holiday dream gift, the dollhouse. (I will never forget the year my dad built me one and put it, if not exactly under the tree, at least nearby.) At Planet Happy, they’re into the timeless idea of packable, go-anywhere animal play sets; they’ve got ’em farm- and sea-themed.

That oughtta get you started. Go now among the world of math-is-fun gaming and miniature tea seats and make someone small hugely happy.

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Tags: Seattle Toys, Gift Guide, Gifts, Sustainable Such and Such, Seattle Kids' Style, Gift Maps 2010

Classic Gifts III: Use Your Head

Keep their ears warm and foster worldwide community for about 30 bucks.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Dec 14, 2010 at 07:00AM 1 Comments

Photo: Krochet Kids

Put this on someone’s head and make the world a better place.

Once upon a time, a guy named Kohl Crecelius learned to crochet. This was, you know, not totally bizarre or anything, but also not completely common. Crecelius was a UW student, and a snowboarder. Snowboarding and needlecraft are only rarely found in the same sentence. Perhaps because he was already more than halfway to being an interesting story, Crecelius actually became an interesting story by turning his hobby into a fair-trade business that helps African women help themselves. The Seattle native founded Krochet Kids and now, more than 100 women get together in Uganda every day to make their lives better through community and work. And college kids from all over the country do battle to intern and/or work for the brand.

The products of that labor make really special and exceedingly practical gifts. The models known as Betty and The Helm are fresh for the holidays — in fact, a little retailer called Nordstrom just hosted a trunk show for them. Sorry we missed it.

You know the mantra, right? Don’t overthink this. Our heads get cold around here. These hats — and the native Seattleite who dreamt them — make the world a better place.

And, you can shop for them online quite easily via the Krochet Kids site. Alternately, you may purchase them at area Nordstrom stores and at Zebra Club.

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Tags: Seattle Menswear, Sustainable Such and Such, Classic Gifts 2010

Online Sale: Plaid Doctrine

Take 15 percent off a local company’s smart travel totes when you shop online.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Dec 13, 2010 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

Smart totes by Kirkland’s Plaid Doctrine are on sale online.

Remember when we talked about how recycled water bottles could come back to life as baby-blue houndstooth patterned laptop bags? Those locally designed, made-in-the-USA Plaid Doctrine totes are marked down by 15 percent through December 24 on the Kirkland company’s website, www.plaiddoctrine.com Since we first intro’ed the line here, new styles have emerged. You’ll see them all online.

To access the savings, just enter jolly15 at checkout. Shop on.

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Tags: Locally Made, Gift Guide, Locally Designed, Sustainable Such and Such, Online Sale

Classic Gifts II: Go Green (No, Really)

Go green the old-school way; give a plant. And a plant hanger.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Dec 13, 2010 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

Photo: Yo Angela

Give life: a plant holder from Yo Angela.

I’m pretty sure we don’t have to get into the specifics of oxygen and all that. You’re pretty well-versed in the idea that we humans need green stuff around to make the air we breath. That alone is reason enough to buy a plant for someone you love, but should you need another reason, here we go: They’re pretty.

Say it with me now, Don’t overthink it.

Who couldn’t use a nice Peperomia obtusifolia or a life-giving Sansevieria trifasciata. Since we’re getting classic this year, why not a Rhapis Excelsa? Among my favorite sources for these types of things are City People’s in Madison, the almighty Palm Room in Ballard, and Envy on Capitol Hill.

And should you feel that you want to give more, I have just the thing.

A while back, some friends and I walked in to Oliver’s Twist for some truffled popcorn off the happy hour menu, and I was immediately drawn to some hanging objects on the opposite wall.

Turns out they are the work of Angela Johnson — who, not entirely coincidentally, used to own Twig — and they hold plants. She was there that night, and when I went and introduced myself she told me she had been considering doing an Etsy site. I’m afraid I might have bullied her into it, but I wasn’t kidding when I told her how irked I am by the giant lack of anything other than bad acrylic, faux-macrame plant holders.

Johnson’s Etsy shop, Yo Angela, is right here; Wrapped around something from one of the aforementioned vendors of botanicals, her smart leather plant holsters would make earthy-arty, homey-design-y, Dwell reader types really happy. I’m sure of it.

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Tags: Locally Made, Locally Designed, Sustainable Such and Such, Classic Gifts 2010

Gift Map II: Made in Seattle

Send something locally made to someone woefully far away by accessing our handy map.

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Dec 10, 2010 at 08:00AM 0 Comments

The locally made gift of the season: The skipjack scarf, for sale at Far 4. Find other things that were blown, built, sewn, and crafted with our Made in Seattle map.

Time was, if you wanted a Seattle-y gift, you settled yourself with those Space Needle-shaped pastas from the landmark’s gift shop. Hey, I remember.

But these days, the city is a veritable artist’s studio; the best boutiques carry gorgeous goods by local makers, and it’s super easy to send your best friend in New York some stitched, blown, built, or otherwise crafted object that’ll make him/her feel like a real jerk for living so far away from all this awesomeness.

Top on my list of locally produced giftables is the skipjack scarf from a line called Victory Garden Yarn. The woman behind this line happens to have worked at Polite Society before that lovely little place shut down, and I can you for certain that she’s a great gal — which only makes her scarves more special.

I’ve seen the convertible cowl/scarf live on Jenny Klimenkoff a number of times this season, and I watched her field multiple compliments about it on each occasion. Now, watch it all come together here: Klimenkoff sells the skipjack at her store, Far 4, and Far 4 is one of the seventeen stores on this week’s shopping map.

At Fancy, they’re having trunk shows on Sundays for the rest of the month; at Nube Green, whatever isn’t local is at least from the U.S.; and at the new Urban House you have access to goods that weren’t just built here, they were grown here hundreds and hundreds of years ago. And that’s just a rambling random sampled. Check the map for more.

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Tags: Locally Made, Gift Guide, Locally Designed, Sustainable Such and Such, Gift Maps 2010