Monster Art & Clothing: Wearable art grows up at the new Ballard boutique

Wearable art for me used to consist of neon-colored puff paint on a hair bow, or an airbrushed T-shirt with my name on it, accompanied by the words, "Panama City Beach, Summer of '87." But new Ballard boutique Monster Art & Clothing lets those days fade to a distant memory.

The shop, open since Aug. 30, is focused on local, sustainable, wearable art at affordable prices. About half of the shop's wares are from Seattle artists, with the other half coming from Portland.

Owner Holly Gummelt, whose own Fairy Tale Fibers line of elfin-inspired wool hats is carried in the shop, started selling her own pieces by showing at markets in Portland and then Seattle. She wanted to create a store where she could sell the goods of artisans she had met and befriended along the way. "The reason I opened this shop is for them," she says.

Among the designs she carries are impeccably crafted hats ($35), skirts ($35) dresses ($49) and shirts ($43) made from recycled clothes by Flood Clothing; sweet vinyl bags ($98-$120) adorned with goldfish, seahorses, rain clouds, squids and scorpions by skullcat design; and evocative screen-printed T-shirts by Antic.

If you're looking to jazz up your underpinnings and give them an artsy slant, Monster Art & Clothing also has a wall of colorful socks and handmade undies. And Gummelt's self-designed, screen-printed Boogie Monster tees have been selling like hotcakes, so stop by and grab one before they disappear.

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