Clothing

Slide Show: 77 Elements of a Practical and Stylish Seattle Life

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:00:00 -0700

Destination: Madrona

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:00:00 -0700

YOU MIGHT TAKE the name literally. Guesthouse (1135 34th Ave, 206-462-1351; guesthouseseattle.com), the decor studio in Madrona, would make a stylish home base ...

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World Beat

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:00:00 -0700

GROWING UP IN the North End, Emeka Alams gravitated toward the hip-hop and indie rock music that had the best visual components. After developing a design language based, in part, on time spent in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and New York, he came home and began creating album artwork, T-shirts, and tour merchandise for local bands. Eventually international acts took notice, too—Big Time international acts such as legendary Nigerian Afrobeat inventor Fela Kuti, and M.I.A., the electropop-rap megastar from the UK. Now, the sometime Seattleite, sometime New Yorker translates musical culture and African history to the graphic sportswear and accessories in his clothing line, Gold Coast Trading Company.

Personal style in three words Simple, textured, lumberjack.

The designer’s uniform I actually never wear my own line. This jacket is vintage, from an old Northwest brand, and I got the button-up in Madrid. It breathes really nicely and is great year-round. Simple suits me best.

Musical muses I play the same few songs over and over and over when I’m working on a collection. For this current season’s looks I listened to old Ghanaian and Nigerian guitar music, Brooklyn rapper and producer Theophilus London, and a crazy amount of Vampire Weekend. I had avoided that band for so long, but their blend of New York and West African indie pop is so smartly crafted. It definitely helped set the tone for that project.

Graphic change With the spring release, the graphics on my prints reference the Soweto Youth Riots of 1976—not to display the horror or the negativity, but to highlight the change it helped effect in South Africa. My summer release is a collaboration with the Malawian band the Very Best. They really embody the beauty, kindness, love, and fun of Africa, so the colors are bright and warm.

Dream clients I’d love the South African band BLK JKS to rock some of my stuff, and I’m a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain. He might be the coolest dude ever! This season’s collection will be at Opening Ceremony in New York and some small shops in Spain and France. So far, no one here in Seattle has picked it up.

High Rise Sublime

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 05:00:00 -0700

Neutral tones pair with the season’s brights; piled-on accessories achieve earthy extravagance. Bell-shaped sleeves, wide-brim hats, and glossy lips recall the liberated lush life.

Silk zip-front top by Marni ($500), Neiman Marcus. Alpaca and wool belted swing jacket by Tucker ($442), Les Amis. Maison Martin Margiela suede shorts ($1,465) and leather and faux-wood belt ($360), organic vegetable-dyed cotton cord necklace by Erin Considine ($226), Totokaelo. Haskell semi-precious multistone necklace ($425), Butch Blum. Vintage amazonite necklace ($28) and vintage wool hat ($22), Indian Summer. Handmade sterling silver earrings by Seattle artist Dorothy Cheng ($82), handmade glass rings by Seattle artist Armelle Bouchet O’Neill (worn throughout; $50 each), Far 4. Two thousand-square-foot LEED silver–certified penthouse at Mosler Lofts ($2,195,000), Sean Nielsen/Windermere Real Estate.

Image: Ryan McVay

Store Directory

Adventure Store
theadventureschool.com/store

Barneys New York
600 Pine St, Downtown
206-622-6300
barneys.com

Butch Blum
1408 Fifth Ave, Downtown
206-622-5760
butchblum.com

Far 4
1020 First Ave, Downtown
206-621-8831
far4.net

Hermès
11111 NE Eighth Ave, Ste 5, Bellevue
425-467-0500
hermes.com

Indian Summer
534 Summit Ave E, Capitol Hill
206-588-0717

Lamb’s Ear Shoes
617 N 35th St, Fremont
206-632-2626
lambsearshoes.com

Les Amis
3420 Evanston Ave N, Fremont
206-632-2877
lesamis-inc.com

Mario’s
1513 Sixth Ave, Downtown
206-622-6161
marios.com

Neiman Marcus
11111 NE Eighth Ave, Bellevue
425-452-3300
neimanmarcus.com

Piazza Sempione
700 110th Ave NE, Ste 170, Bellevue
425-646-4200
piazzasempione.com

Report
2042 Bellevue Square, Bellevue
425-990-1234
reportshoes.com

Sean Nielsen/Windermere Real Estate
206-909-0622
seattlepremierpenthouse.com

Totokaelo
913 Western Ave, Downtown
206-623-3582
totokaelo.com

Mother of Reinvention

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 07:00:00 -0800

TRACI SCHLOSSER had worked in retail pretty much all her life. But it took leaving her post as district manager for Anthropologie to discover what she was born to do. After a three-year “retirement” at home with her son, she returned to the University Village women’s store, this time in the role of personal shopper. She now spends her days helping lawyers, grad students, new moms, and wayward style-seekers of every stripe find their way with current trends.

Personal style in three words Vintage, refined, feminine.

Spring forward The ’70s aesthetic is going to be big this coming season. Lots of vibrant orange, yellow, and purple, and long skirts and wide-leg pants. I’m getting a jump start with these jeans, which I’ve actually had for several years now. The blouse is from our new winter-to-spring transition collection at the store, and the bracelet was my mom’s 40 years ago.

Soft rock and feathered hair That era had a big influence on my early ideas about style, which were a mix of Fleetwood Mac, Cher, Dorothy Hamill, and Farrah Fawcett. My mom played a big part in it all, too; way out in rural western New York she threw these very chic parties for fancy French winemakers connected to my dad’s business.

Older, better If anything I’ve tried to kick my style up a notch since becoming a mom, perhaps to prove that I’m not going to slow down.

Kids’ kicks My husband and I were shopping for Henry before he was ever conceived. Our influence is certainly evident in how Henry dresses, but he knows what he likes and he loves these vintage cowboy boots. We found them for him at the Vintage Closet in Ballard/Phinney. The owner keeps a nice little stock of children’s stuff.

Style exchange I love talking fashion with regular women, but it would be so great to chat with Chloë Sevigny, Sienna Miller, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and princess-to-be Kate Middleton.

Slide Show: Outstanding in the Field

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 12:00:00 -0800

STROLL SODO as baseball fever builds and you’ll see hawkers unloading pink Mariners visors. Ebbets Field Flannels (408 Occidental Ave S, SoDo, 206-382-7249; ebbets.com), just a half a block north of Qwest F...

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Hot Spot: La Bijou

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:00:00 -0800

VALENTINE’S DAY SHOPPING is way sexier and a lot less stressful when you do it together. At her new boutique La Bijou (10311 Main St, Bellevue, 425-453-0311; la-bijou.com), Stephanie Percy spends her days among men’s and women’s unmentionables. Ask her to show you both to La Perla’s silk georgette babydoll in plum, and while one of you contemplates the Leavers lace and tiny bow details, the other can size up slippery soft, Swarovski crystal-studded boxers by Bend the Rules.

Street Scene

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:15:00 -0800

Image: Ryan McVay

FOR TWO YEARS, photographer Adam Katz Sinding has been stopping sophisticated Seattleites and great-looking out-of-towners on our city streets and posting gorgeously moody style images to his blog, Le 21ème Arrondissement. The Tacoma native has been called Seattle’s Sartorialist, but this month we’re losing him to New York.

Personal style in three words Autonomous, artisan, anti.

Inside the look The jacket, shirts, pants, and sneakers are Rick Owens. Some of his stuff is really pretty simple, but even when it’s fleece or jersey—these are basically sweatpants—the fabrics are superhigh quality. Only you get to know how great they feel against your skin. He’s really intimate that way.

High-art high-tops There’s a concept there, but they’re basically a pair of Dunks. I like taking something that’s sort of ugly and making it look cool.

Support system With fine materials and design, you have to have really good repair and custom work. I go to John at Northwest Tailors downtown, Emerald City Shoe Repair near Benaroya, and Phillip’s Cleaners on Madison. Todd at Sassoon cuts my hair, and I consult with Leo when I’m at Blackbird.

Style work I started caring about fashion when I got a job at the downtown W while I was in college. At first I was into the really heavily branded thing—Gucci and Louis Vuitton—but I realized that that look actually requires little thought, just the money to buy it, and that doesn’t necessarily make for a personal style. Then I started working at Ian when it first opened on Capitol Hill. They were carrying Surface to Air and Maison Martin Margiela, so that broadened my spectrum and I started to see the appeal in small, lesser-known brands.

Living online I look at StyleZeitgeist, which is like a forum, and Superfuture, where people post what they’re wearing and sell cult designer stuff that’s practically brand new. I check out other street-style blogs, mostly European ones. It’s like this other scene that you can be a part of no matter where you are.

Family Value

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:35:00 -0800

Image: Ryan McVay

IT’S AN APT specialty for a creative director: Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes serves as “refuse alchemist” of the Archive Vintage Redistribution Project, a new retail enterprise obsessed with enduring quality and Northwest brands. (It’s a sort of shop-in-shop at Punctuation, a mixed-use art and culture space on Capitol Hill.) As such, Alley-Barnes oversees the buying and selling of Pendleton jackets, facilitates custom-tailoring, and tracks down midcentury furniture.

Personal style in three words Fecundity, form, function.

Pass it on This coat was handed down to me by my father. It was made in the late ’50s by an English company called Martin’s Ltd; the only place their wares could be purchased in the United States was Littler’s, which was a Seattle menswear staple for decades.

Creative license My father and I are approximately the same size, but we tend to wear our garments differently. I had a foot and a half taken off the original length, and had the armholes and side seams taken in. I also had the original collar turned into a Nehru and added oversized tab closures. It’s become a sample for our in-house line at Punctuation and is available upon request.

Recent acquisitions Having grown up in Seattle, I have owned many rain boots. I purchased these Tretorns from Edie’s Shoes on Pine Street. The shirt was custom made by local tailor Matt Noren, who is launching a line of men’s shirts called Tarboo. When I buy new items, they are pieces I can reasonably see myself wearing 40 years from now.

Like father, like son I have a Peruvian shirt that was his when he was in his early 30s. When I put it on it makes me feel a few degrees smarter and infinitely more savvy.

Generations of Seattle style The abundant resources that have always surrounded the city and supplied much of its industry affect our aesthetic. Yet as a port city, we’re open to a wide range of influences, too. Everyone from original peoples to miners, sailors to pimps and milkmen have contributed to the visual milieu.

Applied Art

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:00:00 -0700

WHEN THE FRYE ART MUSEUM wanted to remake its ultratraditional, 50-year-old institution into a freethinking multidisciplinary exploration, they installed Robin Held as curator. Since 2005, she’s been finessing the task with characteristically singular and nuanced style.

Personal style in three words Dripping, dragging, dark.

Abstract influences My grandmother Beryl, who always wore Chanel sets in which the lining of the jacket matched the sleeveless shell; my mother Arlene, in a pink pouf; the designer Rick Owens—we grew up in the same small California town. We never met, but I still remember the first time I tried on one of his garments.

Choosing clothing vs. choosing art I like clothes that accelerate my imagination, and I would say the same for art, film, and loved ones. I like asymmetry. I like things that are wrong in the right ways. I like garments I don’t immediately know how to wear—like the Ann Demeulemeester fur gilet that inspired me to have this red rabbit one custom made.

New exhibits I like things that can be worn 10 ways—upside down, inside out, backwards. I’m lucky because in contemporary art it’s okay, even expected, to look dramatic. I can walk through the Frye galleries with the train of my skirt trailing behind me.

Master pieces I rely on a few select people whose tastes and personalities are as strong as my own: Betty Lin at Betty Lin; Lorali Downes at Ottica for eyeglasses that make you smarter, taller, thinner, sexier; Candice Young at Salon Voda (curly-haired women: Take note!); William at the Trish McEvoy counter at Nordstrom, who, with the patience of a monk, taught all-thumbs-me to make a cat eye. Next: red eye shadow a la the Korean film Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.

Off-duty Argentine tango! I wish I had discovered it when I was five so I could’ve had a whole lifetime to explore it. In terms of style, tango makes me pay at least as much attention to my back as my front—the view from outside the tango embrace. And I get to wear all my Marlies Dekkers lingerie that’s not safe for work.

READ MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE SHAPING SEATTLE STYLE.