Best of '09: Shopping & Style

This round-up celebrates only the best--check out everything that captured our attention this year

Best New Vintage Shop
Funky new pop-up corner shop the Vintage Closet (from Susan Jarvis, owner of the now closed Suzy Q’s Closet) is only open Thursdays through Sundays, but it's worth the wait. We love the well-edited dress rack, organized by color with vintage offerings sourced from Los Angeles and Vancouver, B.C. Come on Thursdays for first pick of the new boots. Ballard/Phinney, 6256 Third Ave. NW; 206.369.7628

Best organized effort to shop locally
As if you really needed another excuse to shop and eat in this white-hot burg, this summer, the In Ballard Merchants Association, led by longtime Ballard merchant and Habitude founder Inez Gray, rallied 73 merchants to offer special sales and longer shopping hours for their Tuesdays in Ballard campaign. Their holiday follow-up, Holidays in Ballard, hopes to do the same—and add a tree-lighting ceremony. Everyone’s talking local, but the trendsetters in Ballard have made it happen, which is why it remains one of the coolest neighborhoods in Seattle.

Best place to buy Popsicle-stick lamps and other cool stuff
Owner and collector Kirk Albert of Great Stuff Vintage Furnishings (Georgetown, 5517 Airport Way S; 206.762.3899) is notorious for his love of the large. Yet his lamps—made of Popsicle sticks and not particularly oversized—still meet his criteria of vintage folk art worthy of his shop: arcane, interesting and adeptly crafted by hand. But once they’re gone—as with everything at this Georgetown shop—you’ll never see them again.

Best purse if you want to attract a vampire
Twilight fans were abuzz last year, wondering where to find the chic handbag Bella sported in the first movie. Come to find out, it’s from local handbag designer Angie Bowlds of Stitch and Swash who rocketed to Twihard fame after a prop manager picked up the bag in Ballard boutique Velouria. She now spends her time creating that accessory, perfect for a New Moon date. Find it at her Web site, stitchandswash.com.

Best merger of two stylish boutiques
In a move to simplify, Jill Wenger recently combined her two boutiques, Totokaelo and Impulse (Pioneer Square, 913 Western Ave.; 206.623.3582), both beloved for their avant-garde collections of women’s wear, under one roof. Six-year-old Impulse, formerly of Fremont, moved in with little sister store, Totokaelo (opened November 2008), on the edge of Pioneer Square. So who gets the bigger bedroom?

Best Barcelonan discount shop
Look out, Ballard, Bellevue, Portland and beyond. You may soon be under the spell of the latest incarnations of Encanto Barcelona (Downtown, 1406 First Ave.; 206.621.1941), which will bedazzle the value-oriented shopper with boutique brands like Spain’s Skunkfunk and Desigual, and offer deep discounts on denim. If all goes as planned, new owner James Hasson will be counting more than 200 stores (wow!) over the next 36 months.

Most unexpectedly fabulous gift shop
At what other health club can you buy plastic pumps, a chicken purse and other eclectic offerings (sourced abroad by David Barton’s wife, Susanne Bartsch) alongside a health club T-shirt than the swank new David Barton Gym at The Bravern (11111 NE Eighth St.; 425.453.7887) in Bellevue.

and last but not least, it's Hip to Be Square
We know we can learn from our elders, and this year Seattle men took a cue from Gramps, putting a new twist on his style and creating our favorite fashion trend of the year by pairing classic trousers with button-up cardigans and slightly rumpled flannel shirts (more lumberjack than grunge). The geriatric-hipster look popped up in bars and on band members, including our muse, bass player and vocalist Kevin Large of local orchestral pop band Grand Hallway, who brings Grandpa chic into modern view with an edgy sophistication of layered plaid, cheeky headwear and naturally quirky suspenders.

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Best local iPhone apps
It’s Saturday night. You have no plans for the evening, but, being a chill Seattleite, you’re not worried. You have your iPhone—and what’s more, it’s filled with a slew of the best locally created apps to help you make the most of your days and nights on the town.

1:14 p.m. Hankering for a late but local lunch, you open the Locavore app designed by Buster Benson to find the closest open farmers’ market, as well as which produce is fresh and in season.

6:02 p.m. Back home, you plan to meet friends for dinner. But where to go? You open Urbanspoon, peruse restaurants by ethnicities, price ranges, reviews and neighborhoods, and pick the perfect spot.

8:36 p.m. In the car, a rockin’ song comes on the radio. Opening Playlister for KEXP (uh, after pulling over, of course), you find out the titles of the last five songs played and use the app to download them from iTunes.

8:39 p.m. In the mood for live music, you buy tickets online and get directions to a nearby show using iLike's local concerts.

9:47 p.m. In the middle of the concert you find yourself particularly moved by the groove, so you open iLightr’s virtual lighter with flickering flame, flip-top sound effects and even your choice of case.

10:56 p.m. Your friends decide it’s time for a late night happy hour. Using the Stranger’s Cocktail Compass, you find the nearest bars and details on each.

12:42 a.m. Having had one too many margaritas to drive, you open One Bus Away, created by UW students Brian Ferris and Kari Watkins, to find the closest bus route, nearby stops and exactly what time it will arrive to whisk you safely home.

There’s much more Best of ’09 where this came from – click here!

By: Kate Calamusa, Brangien Davis, Karen Johnson, Deanna Duff, Rachel Hart, Allison Austin Scheff, Lei Ann Shiramizu and Virginia Smyth
With: Amelia Apfel, Madeline Boardman, Thea Chard, Amy Minor and Jacquie Perez