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Seattleites are sometimes scorned for their fashion sense (polar fleece, sport sandals, and socks—oh my!), but as the city has grown and enough money has percolated through the ranks of retail, the city's style barometer has made a steady creep upward. Bibliophiles, foodies, wine aficionados, and design-centrists will also find plenty of shopping opportunities—Seattle is a hotbed of unique, independent shops stocking one-of-a-kind treasures.
Shopping in Seattle is something best done gradually. Don't expect to find it all in one or two days worth of blitz shopping tours. Downtown is the only area that allows for easy daylong shopping excursions. Within a few blocks along 4th and 5th Avenues, you'll find the standard chains (The Gap, Urban Outfitters, H&M, Anthropologie, Sephora, Old Navy), along with Nike's flagship store, and a few more glamorous high-end stores, some featuring well-known designers like Gucci . Downtown is also where you'll find department stores like Nordstrom, Macy's, and Barneys New York. Belltown and Pioneer Square are also easy areas to patrol—most stores of note are within a few blocks.
To find many of the stores that are truly special to Seattle—such as boutiques featuring handmade frocks from local designers, independent record stores run by encyclopedic-minded music geeks, cozy used-book shops that smell of paper and worn wood shelves—you'll have to branch out to Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, and northern neighborhoods like Ballard. Shopping these areas will give you a better feel for the character of the city and its quirky inhabitants, all while you score that new dress or nab gifts for your friends.
And don’t forget about Seattle’s culinary bounty, which includes the stalls at Pike Place Market; the flagship Sur La Table, which stocks every kitchen gadget known to man; and the city’s various weekly farmers' markets, where you’ll find enough locally made, artisanal offerings to fill a suitcase or two.
This independent studio makes some of the most stunning, yet affordable, jewelry you can find. Impressively simple, each design manages to be unique, giving them an elegant and modern edge. While the business has outgrown using the same space as both production and store, you can still stop by to shop all the hand-crafted, locally made necklaces, earrings, and bracelets in the light-filled corner shop.
Vintage shopping meets modern style in this consignment shop. Mixing used women's clothing with a collection of jewelry and art from local designers and other miscellaneous items, the store winds up with just the kind of eclectic collection that feels curated enough not to be slogging through junk, but haphazard enough to feel like your next treasure could be right in front of you.
Offering an art-forward take on gems and jewelry in a spacious contemporary gallery, Turgeon Raine employs only staff with a design background—you can work with them to create a one-of-a-kind piece, or pick from house-made items on display. It's also Washington's exclusive representative for Patek Philippe watches.
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