Prism

Absolutely loved this store when I visited. Stocked with cool vintage and new items, hard to find brands, and stylish finds. Love their collection of books and magazines as well. Eclectic and well curated. Smaller shop, but quality over quantity. The people who work here are so nice, and have some great recommendations and are knowledgeable about what's in store. Found some great perfumes, a tabletop book, and some awesome decor pieces. Will be back!

Thank god this shop exists here. Ballard does not need any more “vintage” stores full of marked up goodwill finds. New clothes from cool, small labels, some good reading materials and housewares, and a surprisingly strong selection of unisex fragrances for all the folks on their smell maxxxing journeys. Looking forward to whatever they turn over for next season.

Barely carries anything past a size large. Which is just sad. Cute earrings though.

Nice store , clothes for woman and men ! Nothing to special but still cute place

Don’t support this store—non-existent return policy. I purchased a very pricy skincare product here and it gave me chemical burns on my face. It’s now the norm to be able to return such products if they don’t work for you, but Prism refused, as “the product could not be sold again.” I’ve purchased hundreds of dollars worth of beautiful items from this shop in the past but won’t be doing so again. Selling skincare with actives in it and not allowing returns (or exchanges) is insanity. If you do decide to buy anything from this store tread very carefully and make sure you love what you’re getting

This is a very cute store if you're in the ballard area and looking for neat items. The boutique is very quaint and has diverse selection of clothing, books, home decor, jewelry, and other items to choose from. I bought I beautiful gold-filled pendant necklace that was inspired by the Greek Goddess Diana

I love prism, always has the coolest stuff and some of my favorite random items were purchased here. My go-to spot for unique gifts and accessories. I moved out of state a few years ago but continue to shop online - the shipping is always super fast and prism has great customer service :)

I ordered some pants from Prism during quarantine. The shipping was so speedy- they were shipped to me the same day I ordered! Sadly, they didn't fit (no fault of Prisms- the maker's sizing guides were a bit off). Working with Prism and Aimee in particular was such a great experience I am really looking forward to ordering in the future and hopefully visiting the store in person.

Favorite shop I've ever set foot in. Truly. I (relatively) recently moved to California and miss this place like crazy, nothing in LA comes close to Prism in terms of selection and service. Thank goodness for their website! Beautifully curated catalogue with a wonderful in-store and online vibe. Sales associates are so sweet! I miss them. All in all, a fantastic one-stop-shop for anyone who loves beautiful things. Could not recommend more highly.

Really cool items here and they have lots of Korean clothes or unique goods like jewelry but I didn't find the staff to be super friendly or ask if we needed help.

I've never shopped here IRL, but I shop on online on garmentory often and I have bought so many items from this little shop. Amazing curation because it's not even on purpose they just source really cute stuff! I've always had my things shipped promptly, with sweet packaging and often a little handwritten note. Everything has always been great quality and the one time I had to exchange it was pretty seamless. I've been to Seattle twice and if I ever go back I will definitely pay yall a visit!

I wandered in just to check it out. Did not buy anything or interact with the sales staff, who thankfully, did not bug me in a cloying "can I help you?" sort of way. Things that caught my eye included: Clothing, candles, incense, random gifts, CBD and CBG joints, nail polish, jewelry, planners, storage bins, and gua sha tools.

This place is alright if you need inspo but lame for poor customer service and bad atmosphere. Every time I come into this store, the women working there are not friendly or complain about something - including their customers. Not sure if the owners actually want business or not with who they chose to hire. I have given 2 stars because I may pop in for inspiration of things I can buy somewhere else but that's about it.

Normally I do not post negative reviews but I had such a bad taste in my mouth after leaving this store I felt like I had to share. The employees are so rude and extremely entitled, they do not interact with customers at all and it is obvious they judge the customers who walk in. The items in the store are quality and the brands they carry are amazing but there are other boutiques that sell the same exact items and brands that care about their customers so I suggest going somewhere else. I wanted to message their Instagram because I was so shocked by my experience but seeing the past reviews on Yelp shows that a negative customer experience is a regular occurrence.

I second other reviews calling out their insane markups (for example, a bag from Ssense that's $66 on their own website but $156 at Prism) and their rude and disengaged staff. The second star is just because the stuff they have in there is typically cute, unique, and has a cohesive theme, but also like other reviewers, I only go in there now to take pics of stuff I want to buy from those companies directly. A shame :/

I wish I could leave a zero star review but I was forced to select at least 1 star.... I am an African American woman and I entered this store with my Japanese friend this past Wednesday (visiting from San Francisco). The 2 caucasian woman (younger ladies) were both standing at the register talking about which vaccine they received. We were in the store for at least 5 minutes and the entire time neither of them looked up at us, greeted us or acknowledged us. We were the only 2 customers in the store. The entire time they just stood there talking to each other. For such a small store and no customers you would think greeting someone would be a small task! Apparently good customer service is hard to come by. I would never shop here again when visiting the area. You should really hire people who can at least do the bare minimum of their job.

The shop is indeed cute, but prices are ridiculously high and I found the woman working to be snobby and rude. Would not recommend.

This is a very cute store if you're in the ballard area and looking for neat items. The boutique is very quaint and has diverse selection of clothing, books, home decor, jewelry, and other items to choose from. I bought I beautiful gold-filled pendant necklace that was inspired by the Greek Goddess Diana

Great store, they have nice menswear, not a huge selection but quality offerings including some American made goods. Employees are nice and friendly, prices are decent even though yes, the clothes are expensive, they are cheaper than larger business such as Nordstrom. I find something every time I go, check this place out.

Great quality pieces at good prices, sales associates were friendly and not in your face.

Prism is a lean, cleanly-designed art and fashion retailer on Ballard's main drag. Everything about it screams contemporary, from the spare fixtures to the simplicity of the displays, everything lined up, neatly, in straight little rows like the schoolgirls in the Austrian children's novel "Madeline." Prism calls itself a " retail and art experience," selling art, clothing, jewelry, accessories and boots. A friend of mine scored a gorgeous pair of ankle-high rocker boots for a song, so cheap we had to double check the price. I saw several things I hadn't seen before in Ballard, which is hard to do in a neighborhood inundated with innovative retail. Why then do I only give it 3 stars? The service, plain and simple. No greeting when we entered, short, curt answers to our questions, hardly looking up as we milled around the store, the sales associate's face glued to his tablet. I get it. You're cool, the shop is cool, everything you sell is cool. Why not be friendly? I want to buy things in my neighborhood, I want to keep it local and support my neighborhood businesses but I also like to shop where I feel welcomed and appreciated. If you can sort out this part of the shopping experience then you have the capacity to be great.

snobby sales associates. so incredibly rude i can't believe a small business like this can get away with treating customers the way they do. just goes to show you the importance of curation. i had an entire check-out experience with an employee who never once looked me in the eye. during this transaction silence he neglected to tell me about prism's exchange-only policy which is standard practice for retailers with this kind of business model. i used to have positive interactions with the sales associates at this place but lately i've only encountered pretentious, socially awkward and vacant personalities. prism seriously marks up their retail prices, you're better off trying on a piece in the store to see if it fits then ordering the product straight from the designer source. this shop used to be my favorite boutique in the city but i've had it with the markups and snobbery. i will be taking my business elsewhere if not directly from the designers from here on out.

Prism is a gorgeous store, curated with delightful gift ideas and personal treats. It's a joy just to visit and see what they have. If you can't make it in, they luckily have a web store too! https://prismseattle.com

Snobby sales associate & Bad business policies. I shopped at Prism on a Saturday and the woman with dark short hair was kind and helpful. I had a decent experience buying and purchased a large number of things. It wasn't the best customer service experience and they didn't have a large selection but it was the following day when I needed to return one of the many things I purchased the previous day and it was an awful experience. The blonde snobby female employee was fine to me until she realized I needed to return an item, at that point she switched and just kept repeating the same line over and over no matter what I said or asked "It's our policy, we don't do returns, we only do exchanges." I asked many different questions and she just enjoyed being snobby with the same line and wouldn't have a conversation. I'm a HUGE fan of small businesses, so I want them all to succeed, like Prism, but when your snobby staff represents poor business decisions like "no returns, only exchanges" then you deserve to shut down because that is how you kill repeat customers. Nothing I purchased was on sale so it wasn't because it was a final sale item. I hope they lose repeat customers so they can make some better choices. And get some nicer people to work there :)

I had such an unpleasant experience I had to get on here and warn others. I went into the store and purchased a last minute item. Cute little store, lots of nice items that fit in with the Ballard neighborhood. When I ended up not needing the shirt I bought, I immediately went to return it. The customer service was the worst service I can recall. She informed me they will only do exchanges. As I explained no one made that clear when I purchased the item, she stated that was MY fault for not asking. In hindsight, I could have asked, but there are no signs or information explaining such an exchange policy, which is a more common practice if you do not accept returns. She also informed me no one had ever tried to return something there, it's just me. The condescending and impolite customer service really became my problem, more than the exchange policy. As a small boutique, I'd think you would want to encourage local shoppers to come back and become loyal patrons of your store. This not only discouraged me, but made me want to spread the word of such a bad experience.

I enjoy looking around Prism but always wish there were more to see. I've been in twice over the last 4 months. The shop is sparsely laid out in a clean, modern, minimalist layout (which I actually really like), but my complaint here is that there wasn't a lot of merchandise turnover between my visits. If I'm in the neighborhood I will definitely check it out again, but because of the slow turnover this is not a shop that I'm unlikely to drive out of the way to go visit. I do like the theme and the selection, and the jewelry (my main attraction) is definitely reasonably priced and well curated. Clothing is more low-key casual than I would wear, especially for the price point. Their non-clothing items (including geometric planters, golden playing cards, notecards) are all cute and match the geometric inspiration of the shop name. Both times I found the staff to be pleasant and non-obtrusive...made the gallery like setting and browsing experience that much better.

I walked into Prism and felt like Christmas hadn't ended yet. This was in part because they were burning that cone-shaped kind of incense, and it smelled so wonderful. It was also because everything in there was like a little gift, offered up simply and earnestly. It's kind of like an art gallery in Prism. Everything is very spare and clean. Each object has its own space and it seems tenderly set there. And if you want your home to look like you are constantly glamping ("glamorous camping"), Prism can help. I ended up with a pack of gold playing cards and a necklace made of multicolored quartz crystal. I also wanted a unique tarot card deck and a bunch of other things, but I held back because I was feeling poor. My boyfriend was looking for some last-minute holiday cards and he found some very nice typography-type options. A sweet little store. The only person working there had a calm and kind demeanor; she was more than happy to answer any questions I had.

This store is the definition of perfect. Simplicity and beauty all in one store that supports the local Seattle community and the people who live and work within it. High quality and reasonably priced for what you're buying.

If there were a museum of Northwest 60's and 70's psychedelia, Prism would be the gift shop. Locally made raw gemstone jewelry, elegant geometric shapes in necklaces and bracelets, leather and pony hair necklaces? Yes and for less than a hundred bucks! Space-y art and in house screen printed luxury fibers/sweatshirts/baby clothes? All of these. Where a lesser store might then verge into patchouli and peace signs, Prism's psychedelic allegiance is more Lewis Carroll, not the Grateful Dead. So you'll find kaleidoscope glasses, silver lame make up bags, tarot, incredible earthy housewares with strange faces and actual gold playing cards. The mix of earthy art objects, occultism and absurdist bling doesn't seem like it should work, but it's persuasive as can be - I have a wish list! Other reviewers! Exchanges only is a standard policy in boutiques. I don't feel like Prism's staff is snotty at all - they do choose not to pipe in music, which made me feel weirdly awkward there for a reason I couldn't place until I noticed the quiet. You have to ask for help - because the stuff is so lovingly selected, you'll get a lot of it.

This boutique is really cute and a lot of the merchandise is quite beautiful. I like that they sell ethically produced products. Most of these products can be bought online, and they sell big "indie" names like Paloma Wool and Side Party as well as some other "low key" designers. The staff has normally been fine, but I had the worst experience with this younger man who simply followed me and my two girls around the whole shop, bordering us as if we were trying to shoplift. As it was Earth Day the day we went, we were wearing more casual clothing because we had been biking the canal. But looking casual is not a warrant for the classism and ageism this man treated us with. Not a hello or goodbye, but plenty of suspicious looks. You can buy anything in this store from the designers website, who are also independent and non corporate. I would recommend doing that and not paying this awful man's salary. Will never purchase again!! (Stars are for the selection. The employee should be fired.)

If I could say something nice about this place, it would be that my fiance and I finally made it in during business hours. For some reason it seems the store tends to close before published times? As much as I can attribute that to our personal schedules, I will note that the posted hours of operation seem to conflict on different platforms of user interfaces. As you walk in you are greeted not by the people that work there, but the interesting array of "handcrafted" goods and items that are on par for your typical modern hipster crowd. Not to downplay the appointed grunts, low mumbles, and strangely fast body movements from what appeared to be the people employed here. We found a few well made soft n cozy blankets that even though were on sale seemed a bit pricey still, in fact the whole store was a bit overpriced. We did find a couple pieces that didn't break the bank, and really what can you expect from stores like these anymore. All disappointing first impressions aside, what made this entire experience one that will inevitably keep me from venturing in here again was the checkout process. Yes we did find things to buy in the - what the fuck is printed on these baby clothes?? my god at least there is a cute sweatshirt in here...who made this shit!? I'm so confused basket of clearanced goods. As I walk up to the counter clearly trying to purchase items and get out before closing which was clearly on the minds of the employees (and not much else) there were no words or indications that the person I was facing behind the counter was aware of what I was trying to do, or much less even awake. So I said hey how's it going? I don't think I even got a response, he then stood there for a good minute fiddling around with the scanner and buttons on the iPad, took my card, swiped it and handed me the iPad so I could sign, it of course wasn't reading my fingers at all, and after I finally get it to sign he's quickly helping the next person behind me who clearly did not know what personal space was, didn't offer me a bag or receipt and at this point I'm flustered and I try and get away from this strange vortex of unawareness not realizing he didn't give me my fucking card back so I'm standing in the store holding onto items I just purchased while frantically searching my purse for a good 3 minutes until the girl who worked there was like are you looking for this? And hands me my card.... Like where the fuck was it?! Did he just kind of set it down on the counter in hopes I'd see it? did I not realize that he did in fact give it back to me and I was so distracted by the guy beside me pushing me off into the forgotten customer service abyss that seems to be this store??? Now, as much as I was very frustrated with this entire shenanigan and am deterred from coming back, it provided extra insight on just how weird and vacant so many people are, not just in Seattle...although it seems to be in abundance here. I will treasure moments like these that allow me to share just how fucking strange interacting with people can be.

Just ran across this simply lovely shop! I love just about everything they carry--I'll be back here for sure! Service was mellow and awesome, as well.

Stopped in today after meeting the girls for brunch. Love the vibe in here! I bought a couple cards and the coolest little planter. Will definitely stop in for gifts whenever I'm in the neighborhood!

Love this shop. Prism has a great selection of affordable jewelry, unique gifts and interesting clothing. I love simply popping in to see what's new and half the time I walk out with something for myself. :) This is one of my go-to places to shop for gifts for friends and family.

Favorite store in the Ballard area! Interesting, cool, weird, beautiful. Great jewelry!!

This is a great place to shop for yourself or buy gifts. You will find a great assortment of jewelry, clothes, gift, and housewares -- a lot of it by local artists! And all displayed in a beautiful setting. This is a fun place to explore and get inspired. And maybe decide to upgrade your style ;)

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place. Best spot for jewelry, clothing and housewares! There's no better shop in Seattle.

I really like Prism! They have a lovely curated collection of goods, and I think it's a perfect place to hit for Christmas presents! I have gone in on my way to the gym and I have never experienced any snobbery, just some sweet gals willing to help me out! It's fun to browse, and while some items are pricier, they are also great quality and worth the splurge if it's just what you're looking for. They also have inexpensive nic nacs and patches that are great!

I saw a fantastic shirt in this shop but saw it was made in China so decided to (being a good Canadian) buy American and purchase a Topo Designs shirt out of Colorado. After only six months with minimal wear, the button snap mechanism ripped the rivet right off the shirt so that the "button" can no longer be done up. I called Prism to find out what could be done and the clerk first said she could not comment on it without seeing the shirt and when i offered to to send her a photo via text of the item (a seemingly foreign concept to the young lady) she then rambled about six months being a long time and outside any type of return or repair policy they may or may not have. Nice work Prism!

Love this store, their selections are great! I bought a ring here last year & have worn it often & get compliments all the time. A unique assortment of items that I love to sort through