Pepper

Some wonderful creativity going on here, but the customer service was deplorable. It was very unclear that the back part of the shop was off limits (looked just like the rest of the shop), and I was scolded and insulted. I was followed around the store and when Pepper decided it didn’t seem like I was going to buy anything (I made no such indication, I had money to spend), she made it clear I wasn’t welcome. Pepper was wearing all-​black and sunglasses indoors and seemed bitter and like she was just waiting for me to do something wrong (I was just browsing normally and carefully with a friendly attitude and complimenting her designs). Some of the clothes were beautiful and unique, others seemed tacky and over-​priced. Pretentious and attitude galore, let the clothes speak for themselves. I have no desire to return here, it was very uncomfortable to a laughable degree.

Pepper is full of thrift store crap hastily tacked to other thrift store crap: Old prom dresses with the skirt bunched up randomly with extra scraps tacked in, cut up t-​shirts, sweaters with the sleeves cut off and shoved down over a pair of boots…
I don’t have a problem with cool funky upcycling when it’s well done or reasonably priced, but this place is neither. To someone who knows how to sew, the modifications are obviously very sloppy and poorly done.
It also REEKS of pot, which because of my medications, gives me really bad vertigo. Not fun.

Wow.
That pretty much sums up my reaction the first time I walked past this store and the first time I walked into Pepper. Pepper herself seems really sweet and puts a lot of work into her clothes and her designs but do be forewarned that these clothes are not for everyone. In fact, that’s a bit of an understatement. These clothes are virtually catered to nobody except those who are both rich and eclectic. By «rich and eclectic», I don’t mean some trust-​fund baby who’s willing to drop some cash on some couture design that’s a bit out there because the colors clash fashionably or because the hem’s asymmetrical. I’m talking about someone who has upwards of $ 100 to spend on a plain sweater that literally has a boot sewn onto the front. Or how about the rainbow romper that has a stuffed-​animal parrot head sewn onto the hood? This is the kind of stuff that I’d love to find at Goodwill for $ 5 and buy for laughs but at prices ranging from $ 100-​$ 300+, I’ll pass.

Hidden behind a shop that sold goggles and Billabong dresses and swimsuits for babies, a friend and I came across a «Pepper» one day while walking along the Alki streets.
Now, If you have ever walked into a boutique (… Juicy Couture) and whipped out your camera to take photos then you know, they’ll just tell you «Sorry, hun, that’s a no-​no.» We walked into the place, and I thought it was a vintage store at first. I didn’t realize they were her original designs. I saw something resembling a flapper dress, an «I love San Fran» tee, and something that might have been a hot pink rain jacket. And it had that smell, the vintage store smell. But, it was apparently a real Boutique. At least, that’s what the employee invading my personal space bubble was trying to tell me.
Her name, or really silly alias, is Pepper. And according to her website, the corporate world was simply not for her. Bye-​bye, Nordstrom’s Production team, hello sandy beach and no customers! Wait, what? By the look of what was on the racks, it didn’t seem to me she really had a choice. I’m no fashion designer, but, sweet jesus, it was terrible. There were blue tunics belted with plastic farm animals, for god’s sake. And, bonus! you couldn’t see the clothes on the racks because clothes had been hung sideways, placed on top of the racks
But back to where I started, I snapped photo of the entrance, and she came right up to me and said, «In Boutiques, you’re not allowed to take pictures of any clothing, you know. You’re not allowed. Cameras are not allowed in here, so you need to take out your camera right now and delete the pictures. Take out your camera, show me you deleted that picture. Can you show me you’ve deleted it? SHOW me you’ve deleted all your pictures!» I know it is silly, but I seriously thought she was going to steal my camera and never give it back. She acted like a total lunatic. She says: «You’ll notice that a lot of the clothing is ripping. A lot of people come in and touch the clothing and pull it out, and they don’t keep in mind that it is all really delicate, and so, you can only touch it by grabbing it from the hanger.» But «delicate» didn’t mean dresses made from tissue paper-​thin slips from the early 1920s. And as for «ripping», people weren’t digging their claws into her deconstructed flannel jackets and chewing on the sleeves. These pieces were actually falling apart at the seams.
«Everything in the back is $ 2000 or more [It all looks the same, just so you know]. Are you looking for anything for an event? Because I will schedule an appointment right away and then we can discuss and I can help you and… are you just looking? Well I have to get back to pressing and steaming and whatnot, so if your not going to buy anything [We had been browsing for only about 5 minutes] then I need to get back to work.» She essentially kicked us out of her store. Even though I know that one is perfectly capable of running a boutique and making clothing too. Just look at Anna of The Pretty Parlour. She can work on her clothes, and still run her store, a store frequented by people like… oh, I don’t know, Zooey Deschanel?!!
I’m not going to take the way she treated me personally. I totally understand her asking me to put the Nikon away. And maybe it should be up to the customer to decide if she is supah cool and hip and trendy and funky and spicy and an artistic genius. But aside from perhaps perusing her decent selection of vintage boots, you’re without a doubt wasting your time and money when you shop here. Don’t bother.

Extremely rude proprietor!

I am so glad I finally went into this little gem of a store on Alki. During my previous frequent trips to Alki, I had passed it just figuring it was some über expensive boutique. However, on the contrary and to my delight, it is anything but.
The store is owned by a wonderful designer named Pepper. She is amazingly talented and improvises used clothing, in addition to having new items. Thus, her clothing is helping our Earth remain sustainable. I have always been a fan of consignment or used clothing, and how awesome is it to get stuff that has been further designed by a talented business owner?!
Although I am sure I could spend my entire savings here, I managed to leave with only 4 items: two pairs of Italian leather boots– one pair black and the other brown, some suspenders (Pepper suggested these and I have been wanting a pair for a couple years… Yay! Finally got some!), and a hat. All of the above cost me a mere $ 127.
Lastly, check out my posted pictures of a few pieces that are so original and cool– one being a hand-​knit sweather that says «Don’t be a Richard,» the other is a GORGEOUS white dress, and the last a shirt with literally a birthday teddy bear on it. I posted the last one in good faith that no one will buy it because I really want it and cannot wait to go indulge again!
Thanks so much Pepper for having a truly rad, one of a kind store. I wish you lots of success (and you have a patron in me without a doubt :)

The owner and creator of Pepper was so much fun to shop with. Her energy is upbeat, she’s funky, helpful, stylish, and inspiring. She described her clothes as vintage/​custom/​couture. We spent almost two hours there and I must come back because there is so much more to see. Lots of original gems here. She’s so much fun you feel like your with a friend going through her closet and she even treated us to a couple of accordion tunes that I got a kick out of.
It is a bit crowded, and the dressing room is in need of a mirror but well worth overlooking because trust me, you will find several pieces here that you’ll want to take home with you.
You can find less expensive things here to accessorize a Halloween costume or find that special dress that NO one will have that will knock everyones socks off when you wear it. Be prepared to come with some cash for those because the ones that I really loved were over $ 500. I wore a wonderful sexy white open back dress last night from Pepper and received tons of compliments.
I love that I found this place and West Seattle is lucky to have such a creative store and person here.

If I could give no stars I would. On our way to the beach, my friend and I stopped by to check out her store. She had many beautiful garments outside and we saw an outfit that totally was my friends style. We also saw a knit sweater with a fur collar. She came up immediately and let us know we could try it in if we wanted to. For one, in 95 degree weather I don’t care to try on a sweater. Another I was really admiring the collar and have been thinking of working with fur. I told her that I was thinking of working with mink and that I was a design student. She became very snooty and said «all apparel design students flock to steal my designs, these are trademarked designs» and was basically insinuating that I would steal her designs. I was dumbfounded by her remarks. Not only did she insult me by saying I have no talent but she also lost two customers. Something is very wrong with the lady and am very surprised she has been able to keep a business. I hope she will have better days.

I was dropping off my car on alki the other day and I stumbled upon this little vintage gift from heaven. I was amazed by the beauty and creativity of each and every piece of clothing, all designed by Pepper (the owner of the store as well). Every piece of clothing there is one of a kind.
if you are going to a themed party, trying to find a prom dress, or just looking for cute clothes you can find just about everything. I was in love with this store.
And to top it all off, Pepper was so helpful! She went out of her way to find things for me to try on. I am definitely going back there soon, and if you love vintage clothing&& unique fun outfits it is the perfect place to go to!

I only give this one star because ZERO isn’t an option. Are you kidding me? This was the rudest service I have ever encountered in my life! Walking along the sidewalk with my mother and mother-​in-​law, we all spotted some vintage cowboy boots. We decided to peek in. The owner came right out and stood, almost as though she was guarding the door. We inquired about the price of a pair of boots, and a matching knit top. She wanted close to 300.00 dollars for the set, which she said she wouldn’t separate. Although we were shocked we held our composure, even commenting on how beautiful they were. My mother said to me, «we should try to crochet those type of leg warmers» as we are beginning crocheters. The woman took this the wrong way as though we were about to knock off her designs and open a store next door. She huffily explained the amount of workmanship that was involved, seemingly to dissuade us and to justify the ridiculous price. My mother spotted another pair of shoes, «Oh, I just love all these boots,» she exclaimed, commenting to my mother-​in-​law, «you know, Macy’s is having a sale on boots right now» and do you know what that crabby saleswoman said to us? «You should all just go to Macy’s, then.» Never has a salesperson offended me more than here. Your stuff is NOT that nice, you should never insult your customers, and we were just making small talk, learn to read your customer a bit better and maybe you won’t scare them off next time. Don’t go here unless you want some abuse.

We were surprised that this consignment shop’s space is MUCH larger than it would appear from Alki Ave. Pepper mixes current, deco, and vintage in her offerings and sews some of the clothing herself (she has an Etsy store but nothing was currently listed when I looked.) The items with photocard price tags are her items, the items with playing card price tags are consignment.
I recently started sewing and have a definite appreciation for garment design and wish her much success. The shop isn’t really «me» but I think a lot of people will like it and she’ll get a lot more traffic and exposure this summer. A High 5 for the entrepreneurial spirit!

I happened to catch the spring sun rays on Alki yesterday and while we were cruising by Coastal I noticed this place behind it. The flashy gold evening wear and exotic animal prints hanging up outside immediately caught the attention of this evening costuming/​Playa-​wear seeker. Queens will also find gold (and sequins!) here. Whatta great little fashion treasure chest!
Obviously Pepper has experience with commingling funky with design, as it shows with her store and with the outfits and accessories. She was also helpful with finding similar items that I was looking at and knew right where they were in her store, which is a lot to say when you see that she’s filled every nook and cranny (see the clothing bin in the bathtub in the bathroom!).
One thing I’ll note, however, is that she pins a lot of jackets and dresses in the back. I didn’t realize this at first, and since the items aren’t hanging in any size grouping, you have to take things off the rack, hold them up and eyeball the size. Then if it’s looks like it’s in your size ballpark, you dig for the label. I immediately assumed that it looked like everything was for the petite set (i.e. not me), and was about to give up. Pepper then came over to me and mentioned the pins and that she did it to help display the clothing better (dunno…guess this is a fashion merchandising trade secret?). After that, I was then pleased to find that I could find a number of things to fit my size ¹²⁄₁₄ frame.
I look forward to going back again!

It was a dark and chilly night out on Alki, and my friend and I had driven out to West Seattle for some fish and chips. As we left the restaurant closed and we were surprised how dead things seemed, even if it was a Tuesday night in January. Then something caught our eyes…
A burst of light and music and tons of fabulous clothes, pouring out onto the deck of a nearby building. So intrigued were we, that we had to circle back around, park, and explore. Outside, dozens of fabulously mixed outfits hung in the frosty air. Inside even more of the wonderful mashes, plus a bunch of creative hand made dresses, and best of all Pepper herself!
I’ve been in a ton of vintage stores, and never have I felt so welcomed, and received such great service. Pepper, owner/​designer/​sunshine incarnate was inside sitting on the floor in front of a open door and freezing breeze, all smiles, crafting one of her fun creations. But as soon as we asked questions, she jumped up to help us find just what we needed, and a bunch of stuff we didn’t know we needed. Unlike some vintage stores, where you get a feeling the buyer is just accumulating anything they think will sell, you get the sense Pepper loves every piece she has in stock, and she is excited to see how it can work both with other thing, and with you, her customers.
The prices were not cheap, but very reasonable none the less. Just seeing the brilliant mixes and accessorizing is worth the trip. And Pepper is very good about finding the right thing for all sorts of shapes and sizes, not just tiny fashionistas. This may be Alki’s best kept secret right now (she hasn’t done any advertising yet), but I want to get the word out so she stays in business, because I can’t wait to go back!