Shopping Around: June’s Shopping Finds
This month's shopping finds.
By Seattle Mag December 31, 1969
This article originally appeared in the June 2010 issue of Seattle magazine.
Category: Shopping + Fashion Articles
This month’s shopping finds.
Poolside Pin-Up
Petite and blonde, Angela Holstrom (right), 30, may at first look out of place rummaging through muumuus at a thrift shop on Aurora Avenue. But the Bitter Lake resident isn’t looking for fit—she’s searching for vibrantly colored fabrics to repurpose for her vintage-style Angel Eyes Designs (angeleyesdesigns.net) swimwear line. The former theater costume designer first went solo in 2005, designing funky, hand-sewn men’s ties ($34–$38) for non-corporate 20-somethings, and breezy dresses ($68) and tops ($38) before adding ’50s throwback suits last year. “I design for the pin-up body, the Marilyn Monroe of today,” she says of her one- and two-piece suits ($88) with halter necklines and tummy-concealing waists for curvy women. Holstrom, who hand-stitches pieces in her home studio, puts her brightly patterned spandex-and-poly selections to chlorine tests to ensure that each retro suit stays looking fresh and fashion forward (all over again). Available at Velouria (Ballard, 2205 NW Market St.; 206.788.0330; shopvelouria.tripod.com).
Glass Menagerie
A fall from the counter usually means untimely death for a delicate bauble, but for artist Genevieve Church, an accidentally broken blown-glass ball was the beginning of the ultimate recycling project: her Loot! necklace and earring line made from otherwise non-recyclable glass art shards. Melded with torch heat and then sculpted by hand, each design—for example, a pastel ring on recycled silver box chain with hand-forged clasps—colorfully fits together with puzzle-like intricacy. $95 at recycledloot.com.
Form of Identification
While some people believe business isn’t personal, Sacha Maxwell’s quaint, 6-month-old Sasquatch Studios boutique stands as a virtual bricks-and-mortar autobiography. Maxwell, 31, is a former environmental consultant whose landscape photographs dot the walls of the shop, which caters to both adults and kids. Her mother’s handmade children’s quilts ($150) and vintage chenille pillows (with eco-friendly bamboo filling; $45–$75) sit against weathered wooden racks. “I don’t buy anything I don’t like,” says the devoted Phinney resident. “I go with my instincts.” What’s for sale here ultimately pleases both sides of her nature: the preservationist drawn to reclaimed wooden photo frames ($18–$50) and reusable vintage clothing, and the art major inspired by local, forward-thinking jewelry designers, such as Linda Gets of Chatoyant Design and Glass (starting at $18). The store’s offbeat moniker is also personal: Sasquatch was Maxwell’s childhood nickname.
Sasquatch Studios
[ phinney ridge ]
6108 Phinney Ave. N
206.784.5661
sasquatchstudios.net
WELCOME BACK, OLIVINE!
After opening (and later, selling) Show Pony, Julie Merriman Wray has reinvented her former Ballard boutique Olivine online, stocking it with faves Prairie Underground, Suzabelle and chic baby gear. Best perk for Seattleites? Free, same-day delivery (with $50 purchase) for those what-to-wear-tonight emergencies. shopolivine.com
Originally published in June 2010