In Store

Get your princess fix at this Capitol Hill boutique, where the feminine mystique is alive and well.

Photography by Greg Plumis

Pretty Parlor is a boudoir-like boutique on Capitol Hill. It sets the mood with Elvis and Audrey Hepburn posters, kimono-festooned walls, paper umbrellas afloat overhead like drifting blossoms, and reams of old and new apparel, all awash in an ambient, Pepto-Bismol-pink glow. And although there is a men’s section (Manland), everything about the Parlor spells g-i-r-l-y, all the way down to the phone number: 206.405.CUTE.

Owner Anna Lange, who also emcees fashion extravaganzas, describes her clientele as “fabulous, fun, flirty, fantastic” and, in a final alliterative burst, “fifteen to fifty!” Regulars include actress Zooey Deschanel, as well as a number of Seattle bands who favor the mix of indie designer labels and retro pickings. Lange showcases the talents of local designers in the DIY movement who “reuse and reinvest”: giving old garments, jewelry and accessories new life. A former Nordstrom art director who hightailed it from corporate life to open shop in 2001, Lange now designs her own in-house line with her tailor-trained mom, Barb.