Wear What When

Where to Find It: Here Comes the Rain Again

Jackets for the next six months of your life, or longer

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Oct 26, 2009 at 06:00AM 2 Comments

A selection of rain jackets at Tuuli

Hear that sound? Rain on your rooftop, rain on your head. That’s the sound of the next six months of your life. You’re soaking in it. You can’t beat it, and joining it means, what? going gray? Nah. Deal with it—which requires a rain jacket you love, one that cheers you up and keeps you dry. I’ve got just the place. Tuuli on First Ave.

Home of all things colorful, graphic, and bold, sure, but the Finnish brands that Ulla Freeman brings to her shop also have a lot of integrity. They’re made well and built to last, and that’s essential when you’re talking about rain gear.

If you’re not going to go with something from NW-based outdoor outfitters like REI or Outdoor Research, you need to be extra cautious that the slicker you’re getting into will actually keep you dry. Nothing like a leaky overcoat.

At Tuuli, the raincoats and ponchos are by Marimekko and Nanso, two of the leading manufacturers in Scandinavia—where, let’s be smart here—they know a thing or two about inclement weather. And, of course, bold, graphic colors.

Right now, a raincoat or two from last season hangs on the sale rack. Considering the weather report, I wouldn’t expect them to be there for too long.

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Going Outside? Go check out the Outdoor Galore section of our Great Deals feature

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Where to Find It: Gothic Spookery

Where to Find It: Eternal Flame

where to Find It: Art-minded Style

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Where to Find It: Gothic Spookery

What Would Edgar Allan Poe Do?

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Oct 19, 2009 at 07:00AM 0 Comments

Slideshow: Trick or treating at Liberty 123 in Kirkland

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Slideshow: Trick or treating at Liberty 123 in Kirkland

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“In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore…” Poe inspires the upscale Gothic decor at Liberty 123

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Love the quill pen, magnifying glass, and sand-filled hour glasses (right hand corner)… creepy yet literary

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Even these bar implements seem portentous

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Mirrored furniture and ornate chandeliers, against of-the-moment colors, are always inspiring

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A fresh take on fall colors

Should you wish to skip bad plastic gravestones, tiny skulls strung on Christmas lights, and cheesy Welcome to the Boneyard signage and instead (highly recommended) observe All Hallows’ Eve in Victorian Gothic style, you’ll need to visit Liberty 123.

Liberty Hanson’s gift, registry, and decor showroom is always full of ideas; she picks the best wall colors and layers country mouse/city mouse furniture, opulent beach house lighting options, best friend sweet nothings, and small but meaningful home ornaments in front of them. Polished seashells, coffee table monographs, mirrored cabinets, European serving pieces, and pillows with stories to tell evoke a generations-old, antique-filled cabin on the peninsula dismantled and rebuilt inside Kelly Wearstler’s Hollywood mansion.

And right now grandma’s cabin is looking pretty Goth. Like Edgar Allan Poe is stopping by for a reading of The Raven. (In fact, Hanson has a verse or two written out on her wall-sized chalk board.)

If throwaway, made-you-know-where junk decor is not your thing — and I happen to know it’s not — but you do like the idea of ghost stories, Medieval shabby chic, gilded mad scientist implements, and ominous black birds, check the slideshow here, and then make your way to Park Lane in Kirkland.

And if you get really, really inspired (it’s very possible), consider this: Hanson recently let leak the news that she’s moving to Santa Barbara to pursue interior design and open a vintage and antique shop there.

Liberty 123, and all its tricks and treats, could be yours.

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More shopping Finds:

High quality, well-priced candles

Art-minded style

Cake pedestals

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Where to Find It: Cake Pedestals

Posted by: Laura Cassidy on Jul 27, 2009 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

A reader we’ll call T wrote in to ask where she could find the cake pedestals supporting the elegantly simple fondant cakes on the cover of the Summer 08 issue of Seattle Metropolitan Bride & Groom (seen here). Those belong in the private stash of a certain Steven Moore, a wedding and event designer – and sometime cake baker, gown maker, and set designer – based in Bellingham.

Wedding and party rental houses have these things in spades, but if you’re putting together a birthday party or a smaller wedding and you’re looking for some cake pedestals of your own, the first Seattle resource I’d point you toward is Clara French Ceramics. They’ll custom make uncommonly pretty cake stands and plates according to your colors; it’s worth saying that some of their work is available for rent as well.

Clara French’s artisan pieces don’t come cheap, so if you might also try City Kitchens. I’ve noticed they keep a really interesting and diverse selection of sweet stands in store.

Finally, a word of both encouragement and warning: I’ve decided to make blog posts out of all questions of this manner. After almost ten years in the game of city publications, friends and relations naturally drift my way with queries regarding brunch spots and Bakelite jewelry and everything in between, and it only now dawned on me that it makes sense to share the information here.

Be sure and let me know what it is that you’re looking for next time you find yourself out there looking for it.

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