Gifts

No Malls Required

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 09:49:00 -0800

Image: Allie Spurlock

Blackbird Apothecary

For your bearded beau
5465 Leary Ave NW, blackbirdballard.com
Baxter of California shave set, $66

Image: Allie Spurlock

Curtis Steiner

For one-of-a-kinds
5349 Ballard Ave NW, curtissteiner.com
Handmade necklace with antique beads, $160

Image: Allie Spurlock

Clover Toys

For junior engineers
5333 Ballard Ave NW, clovertoys.com
Catamaran construction set by Haba, $35

Image: Allie Spurlock

Trouvaille

For the wannabe baker
5335 Ballard Ave NW, trouvailleluckyfind.com
Cinnamon– and honey-scented candle by Greenmarket Purveying Co., $22

Image: Allie Spurlock

Card Kingdom

For the big kids in your life
5105 Leary Ave NW, cardkingdom.com
Settlers of Catan board game, $38

Image: Allie Spurlock

Kavu

For snazzy outdoorsmen
5419 Ballard Ave NW, kavu.com
Colored canvas vest, $75

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

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

Slide Show: Give Me Some Sugar

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

IN YOUR KID’S dream world, there’s an apothecary that looks like this. The candy section of the Field House in Ballard is the epitome of that winsome Americana style that’s inspiring awe in young ones, and nostalgia in adults, around Seattle. (The same mom-and-pop sody-pop aesthetic ...

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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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The Nose Knows

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

THERE SHOULD BE a sign outside advising impulsive shoppers to just walk on by. When a young bohemian wearing knee-high boots and loads of scarves strolls into Knows Perfume (4536 California Ave, West Seattle, 206-397-3141; knowsperfume.com) looking for a new scent, Christen Cottam begins an investigative volley.

“Do you like lemon honey?” she lobs. “Try this tobacco honey.”

“Mmm, sophisticated.”

“How about horse-chestnut honey?”

“Too sweet.”

Cottam scores with mimosa and pineapple fizz, and she portions out sample vials from the couple hundred fragrances—irreverently indie, ultratraditional, French, local, and otherwise—that line her neatly ordered raw wood shelves. The shopper might savor a few exclusive and vintage bottles in the perfumery’s romantic reference library (it’s actually Cottam’s personal collection) or flip through The Secret of Chanel No. 5, but before she gets away, Cottam—a former junior high science teacher and biotech sales rep—will assign her some homework.

“Wear these on your skin for about a week, and notice: Do they get powdery? Does the scent leave after an hour?”

Cottam is just too passionate about perfume to let you buy L’Artisan’s citrus-spiked, clean notes when your soul mate scent is a rose-colored, noirish composition from Juliette Has a Gun.

If Valentine’s Day has you considering your significant other’s aromatic match, Cottam can dole out some homework for them, too. She assembles themed samples—“Best of the Boys,” “Femme Favorites,” “Knows Adores These”—to include with gift certificates. After the two of you investigate matters properly, you can come back together to claim your destiny.

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.

Natural History

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:00:00 -0800

Image: Charlie Schuck

Family ties  Harper Welch and Tessa Clements make themselves at home at Black Ball Line.

TESSA CLEMENTS didn’t grow up in a typical household. A taxidermic lion—up on its hind legs, arms outstretched, and not in a cuddly way—greeted guests at her family’s Greenwood home. Fashion buyers and boutique owners came over for lavish, Liberace-themed parties. And, in the era of Kurt and Courtney and Sleepless in Seattle, Clements had two fathers; her biological one was HIV-positive.

When Marc Clements passed away in 2003, Harper Welch, his partner in life and in Smash, the now-defunct but once-ubiquitous design-and-build retail and residential interiors firm, was working out the aesthetic of an ambitious vintage home furnishings store that just this month became Black Ball Line (1400 Alaskan Way, Downtown, 206-849-7953). Welch didn’t know it would be more than seven years in the making, but grief is difficult to hurry along. So is acquiring a 6,400-square-foot waterfront showroom and warehouse and filling it with highly collectible studio pottery, Northwest modernist fine art, and low-slung stretch sofas.

No, the younger Clements didn’t collaborate on any sumptuous Smash projects: the gorgeous women’s boutique Alhambra in the ’90s, Pacific Science Center’s Explore More gift shop (which beat out Niketown for the title International Store of the Year in ’98), or the “modern rustic” vacation home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for Seattle arts insiders Stan and Ingrid Savage. But Tessa grew up totally immersed in her fathers’ passions for transformative retail, and she’s spent the last six years selling luxury goods to collectors at Barneys New York downtown. As Welch amassed burl-wood coffee tables and World’s Fair–era lighting fixtures, the new partnership suggested itself.

As maybe the only person in the world who can smile as patiently as her late father would have when Welch decides to rivet giant white steel panels to the space’s 21-foot interior walls to mimic the fleet of vessels in the store’s namesake Northwest shipping line, Clements is well-poised to carry on in the family business.

HOT SPOT

What has 7,000 square feet, 16 dressing rooms, two antique Turkish looms, hundreds of antique sewing machines, and stacks of reasonably priced tough-chic motorcycle boots and drop-crotch harem pants for men, women, and four-year-olds? AllSaints Spitalfields (1511 Fifth Ave, Downtown, 206-508-0018; us.allsaints.com), the British trend-peddler whose takeover of the two-story space on Fifth and Pine suggests that you’re never too young, too masculine, too feminine, or too broke to go for the smartly slouchy, impeccably tattered, so-wrong-it’s-right military-meets-boho vibe.

Bright Ideas

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 05:00:00 -0700

Laser-cut acrylic candelabra ($245) and glass vase with chalkboard coating ($90), Liave. Hand-stitched felt octopus by Seattle’s Devout Dolls ($18), Schmancy. Locally made oak and powder-coated steel bench ($475), Iacoli and McAllister. Ralph Lauren shearling-lined slippers ($195), Neiman Marcus.

Image: Ryan McVay

Store Directory

Butter London butterlondon.com | Chartreuse International 2609 First Ave, Belltown, 206-328-4844; modchartreuse.com | Chukar Cherries chukar.com | David Lawrence 11111 NE Eighth St, Bellevue, 425-688-1669; david-lawrence.com | Etta Bloom etsy.com/shop/ettabloom | Evo 122 NW 36th St, Fremont, 206-973-4470; evo.com | Far 4 1020 First Ave, Downtown, 206-621-8831;far4.net | The Field House 5465 Leary Ave NW, Ballard, 206-297-6093 | Great Jones Home 1921 Second Ave, Belltown, 206-448-9405; greatjoneshome.com | Helen Sharp Knitwearhelensharpknitwear.com | Hermès 11111 NE Eighth St, Bellevue, 425-467-0500; hermes.com |Iacoli and McAllister iacolimcallister.com | Izilla Toys Multiple locations, izillatoys.com | Liave1205 Western Ave, Downtown, 206-364-0748; liave-home.com | Mario’s 1513 Sixth Ave, Downtown, 206-223-1461; marios.com | Metsker Maps 1511 First Ave, Downtown, 206-623-8747;metskers.com | Neiman Marcus 11111 NE Eighth St, Bellevue, 425-452-3300; neimanmarcus.com| Peter Miller Books 1930 First Ave, Belltown, 206-441-4114; petermiller.com | River Song 2816 E Madison St, Madison Valley, 206-829-9089; riversongjewelry.com | Roche-Bobois 1015 Western Ave, Downtown, 206-332-9744; roche-bobois.com | Schmancy 1932 Second Ave, Belltown, 206-728-8008; schmancytoys.com | Tiffany and Co. Multiple locations, tiffany.com | Totokaelo 913 Western Ave, Downtown, 206-623-3582; totokaelo.com | Tuuli 1407 First Ave, Downtown, 206-223-1112; pirkko.com | Tune Hi-Fi 2121 First Ave, Belltown, 206-283-8863; tunehifi.com | Urban Hardwoods 4755C Colorado Ave S, SoDo, 206-766-8199 and 1924 First Ave, Belltown, 206-443-8099; urbanhardwoods.com | Useful Vintage Goods 5531 Airport Way S, Georgetown, 206-403-3240.

Reproduction vintage lightbulbs courtesy Rejuvenation, 2910 First Ave, SoDo, 206-382-1901;rejuvenation.com.

City Blocks

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 05:00:00 -0700

POWER SUITS YOURed returns in brick, ruby, and raspberry; worn together they’re the most modern way to take on head-to-toe color blocking.

Alberta Ferretti wool jacket ($1,555) and skirt ($625), Butch Blum. Zac Posen silk blouse ($750), Neiman Marcus. DKNY tights ($15) and Tarnish wool hat ($38), Nordstrom. Leather booties ($1,995), Jimmy Choo. Leather tote ($2,150), Louis Vuitton. Handmade ruby, smoky quartz, and 14-karat gold fill earrings ($315), Seattle jeweler Maria Carter. Rings by Sequin ($16–$36), Nordstrom Rack (worn throughout). Nail lacquer in “January” ($8), Julep Nail Parlor (worn throughout).

Image: Ryan McVay

Stylist Assistants
Amanda LaPlante, Malika Ritchie

Hair and Makeup
Erin Skipley

Nails
Jennifer Federspiel for Julep Nail Parlor

Models
Stefanie Wood with TCM Models and Talent, Andrew Merrill with Heffner Management

Edited and styled by Laura Cassidy. Shot on location at the Bemis Building.

Store Directory

A Mano
1115 First Ave, Downtown
206-292-1767; shopamano.com

American Apparel
multiple locations, americanapparel.com

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

David Lawrence
11111 NE Eighth St, Bellevue
425-688-1669; david-lawrence.com

The Field House
5465 Leary Ave NW, Ballard
206-297-6093

Filson
1555 Fourth Ave S, SoDo
206-622-3147; filson.com

Indian Summer
1355 E Olive Way, Capitol Hill

Jack Straw
1117 First Ave, Downtown
206-462-6236; jstraw.com

Jimmy Choo
11111 NE Eighth St, Bellevue
425-646-1111; jimmychoo.com

Julep Nail Parlor
multiple locations, julep.com

Louis Vuitton
11111 NE Eighth St, Bellevue
425-453-6700
416 University St, Downtown
206-749-0711
louisvuitton.com

Maria Canada
mariacanada.com

Maria Carter
206-992-4532; mariasjewelrydesigns.etsy.com

Mario’s
1513 Sixth Ave, Downtown
206-223-1461; marios.com

Merge
611 N 35th St, Fremont
206-782-5335; mergeboutique.blogspot.com

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

Nordstrom
multiple locations, nordstrom.com

Nordstrom Rack
multiple locations, nordstrom.com

Veridis
1205 E Pike St, Capitol Hill
206-402-3789; veridisclothier.com

Parlez-Vous Vert?

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:00:00 -0700

Image: Lindsay Borden

WHERE ARE THOSE waterfall sounds coming from? Why is everything written in French? What’s a ximenia—and wait, wasabi? In deodorant? Questions will undoubtedly arise as you inspect organic antiaging fluids and sniff all-natural body scrubs inside Melvita (600 Pine St, Ste 135, Downtown, 206-623-5488; usa.melvita.com), the new first-floor occupant of Pacific Place mall. Ask an aproned staff member to enlighten you, but be patient; they’re new here, too. The EcoCert-stamped skin, beauty, and health care company from Ardèche, France, has been all-natural for all of its 27 years, but this is only its second stateside outpost.

America has typically sold its eco-products in rough-hewn beige enviroments, but Melvita’s aesthetic—like its ingredients—is all about the bright, gorgeous purity of nature. A paneled photograph of blue skies and pillow clouds overhead puts a layer of bliss between you and the fluorescents; vaguely erotic plant images on the walls seduce you into spritzing orange blossom water in your hair and rubbing carrot oil onto your forearm to try on the temporary golden tan imparted by the root’s beta-carotene.

You’re welcome to test everything, even the protein-rich flower pollen pellets meant to be sprinkled on yogurt or spooned into tea. A stone sink sits on a cabinet in the middle of the space so you can wash up with kumquat soap when you’re finished. The French aren’t all that stuffy after all.

Oh, and the nature soundtrack? It’s in lieu of looped soft rock. Ximenia is a fruit that grows in grasslands from Nambia to Zimbabwe, and at Melvita, antibacterial, oxygenating wasabi isn’t just for sushi anymore.

Hot Spot

Temperature-controlled malls are second only to movie theaters this time of year; the breezy, open byways and spare-no-expense occupants at the Bravern mean you get fresh air and a little full-volume AC. And they’ve got a new neighbor, too: Think of the dress-obsessed Australia-based Karen Millen (700 110th Ave NE, Ste 150, Bellevue, 425-454-8148; karenmillen.com) as Tory Burch’s racier, stays-out-later sidekick, and look for her—er, the shop—next door to her American mate.

Gifts

No Malls Required

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

Slide Show: Give Me Some Sugar

Slide Show: Outstanding in the Field

The Nose Knows

Hot Spot: La Bijou

Natural History

WELL RED

HOT SPOT

Bright Ideas

Store Directory

City Blocks

Store Directory

Parlez-Vous Vert?

Hot Spot