Red Light Vintage & Costume

My last visit to one of my favorite vintage clothing stores! While visiting Seattle for the week I hit up the red light and they were having a closing out sale. I scored as usual but it was bitter sweet knowing that it would be the last time. I got a mod two-​tone zip up dress, a flannel with corduroy trim, a sequin top a couple of kids things for my etsy shop and 3 small housewares for $ 55. Luckily the one in the U district is still open.

Red Light is the reason you can find such cool stuff at Goodwill. I went in THREE times trying to sell a jacket. Time #1 — «Yes, this is great, but we don’t buy jackets until the fall. Come back then.» Time #2 — «Sorry, it’s Halloween and we’re too busy to buy anything.» (while they stood around doing NOTHING) «Come back in November.» Time #3 (yes, it’s November…) «We’re being really picky right now. Can’t help you.» FORGET IT! I went to Goodwill and donated the jacket. At least the money goes towards helping people who need it, not the jerks working here.

It’s hard not to stop in and browse their consignment collection in hopes of finding that super cute dress, purse, shirt or skirt. Every time I’m on the hill I tend to find myself here.
However, I’ve never been treated so poorly. It seems the staff always find me or my outfit not up to their standards and just choose to write me off as another basic nobody. Um… I have a wallet too ya know!!! It really wouldn’t hurt to smile and maybe ask how my day is going when your ringing me up, especially when I’ve extended the same courtesy to you.
In my opinion, people like this staff are one of the main reasons why out of towners give us the «seattle freeze» label. As someone who has been in the customer service industry for over seven years, it really isn’t hard to be nice to your customers.

The most expensive consignment store I have ever stepped foot in!
They were trying to sell a costume for $ 70 that I saw at two costume stores for $ 30. And charging $ 20 for a 20 year old t-​shirt?! Why people shop here is honestly beyond me.

They want over $ 40 for used. mostly soiled. Halloween costumes. Better off getting them online brand new. Nothing cheap about this place.

Perfect place to go if you need some clothing from another era. With only a weeks notice this fit the bill. The 4^th star is because my cashier was super nice.
I went looking for something from the 60’s. I found my dress on sight. Now I needed to find shoes, I have big feet so I wasn’t optimistic BUT there they were white Gogo boots… ooh and they have multiple sizes to boot (no pun intended).
Some of the staff could be friendlier but overall great stuff.

Really cool vintage, and antique clothes! They have crazy awesome shoes too! They do thrift, and some overstock. They also have great costumes, so great for Halloween. A lot of accessories too. A bit pricy for some things though

I’ve been going here for 13 years. I buy vintage at local shops, Etsy, eBay, estate sales, thrift stores, you name it. I find that Red Light’s prices are consistently fair, and sometimes even on the low side.
I see that others have commented about bad customer service, but I’ve never experienced that.
The only negative for me is that the beautiful pre-​1940s dresses are hanging up so high that it’s impossible to just browse through them. (I’m talking about the rack in the back right, and not about the stuff hanging up on the walls.) I’m sure it’s to stave off damage, but each time I gaze up, decide it’s not worth the effort, and move on. I’m sure they could sell more of these old dresses if they were easier to access or at least to see.
But all in all, I always enjoy shopping here.

The Red Light’s got lots of vintage costumes, clothes, and vintage costumes, but they don’t come cheap. Almost everything is used (hence the «vintage» part of their tagline), but don’t expect Goodwill prices here.
I will say the goods are good though. Just come with a full wallet.

Great place for high quality vintage clothing and costume pieces. They have INCREDIBLE stuff around Halloween, as well as extended hours for the busy costume time.
Costume area has tons of sequined stuff, actual costumes, headpieces, hats, blazers, dresses, accessories, tons and tons of burlesque/​circus style clothing… it’s incredible.
All costume sales are final… and I think that they have a pretty small return window for regular items as well. You will pay more than at Good Will or Value Village, but it’s really incredible stuff and so much fun to check out.
The regular items range from heavy flannels to leather jackets, jewelry, dresses, sweaters, cow boy boots, hipster paradise outfits and more. It’s not dirt cheap but they screen what they bring in so they don’t sell crap.
Not a lot of staff there to help you out, but it’s a really cool place.

This place is okay at best, which is why I’m giving it three stars in the first place.
There is a LOT of vintage clothing here, which isn’t necessarily my style but I’m sure this is a hipster’s heaven. There is a large selection, which is really cool, but damn it’s out of mine (and most college student’s) price range.
I also felt like, although they have a TON of costumes… why are they pricing used ones like they’re new? I found the exact same style and make of a costume I wore last year for Halloween, it wasn’t even marked down at all! But it’d clearly been worn and washed several times. It was far from new. I don’t know if that’s the case for all their costumes, but you’d be better off buying a brand new one at full price.
There is nothing here that’s really motivating me to come back. It might be good for all your Halloween/​Costume needs, but otherwise there isn’t really a whole lot going on.

For far too many years and far too many times I compliment someone’s clothes or an accessory and ask them where they got it and they say they got it at a vintage store. Then I go there only to find absolutely nothing similar to what they had and leave disappointed.
But not at Red Light Vintage & Costume! All the cool stuff that you hope to find that your buddy referred you to is here! There is no specific time to go here to catch snazzy looking vintage threads because they always have them in stock here!
Prices are a little high but I have seen places similar to Red Light far higher.
If you poke around enough you can find some really reasonably priced items!
There is a downstairs and a upstairs. The downstairs has lots of coats and such but most of the bottom floor is made up of costumes. The variety is amazing here! So many costumes to pick from and fairly reasonable in price!
The upstairs is split. One side is for ladies clothes and the other mens. They have some really nice pieces of merchandise here! There is so much here it would take days to see everything it seems! Hours at the very least.
I bought an Army jacket here for twenty bucks. The buttons were missing but I will replace them with some customized magic.
Steve got an adorable bow tie here that he wanted for his niece’s wedding back in Minnesota. He rocked with that tie at the reception!
Red Light has converted me into being one of their regular customers for vintage clothes, I will only go here for my vintage! If only all vintage stores were like this!

Went in for Halloween costumes last year and they had a good selection of costumes and accessories. Friendly staff, and large layout make it a nice place to shop.

BAD CUSTOMER SEVICE. It’s my pet peeve, and I’ve never had a good customer service experience here. And I’m not gonna be all «aw they’re hipsters and too cool to deal with anyone» either. I think that’s a lazy way to critique people. And I don’t have a high standard for customer service either. I really just want the bare minimum, which to me is having someone around to let me into a fitting room if I’m not allowed to do that myself, having basic questions answered, and being checked out in a prompt and attentive way.
It’s always been a pain in the ass for me to get a fitting room. Either the employees are off somewhere talking with each other, just not around, or make me wait so they can finish texting (yes, texting! It’s happened to me like three times now!). I really feel like you shouldn’t make your customers feel like they’re a burden, and that’s how I feel here.
The clothes are pretty okay, and I’ve fallen in love with a thing or two, but really, I avoid going because I’d rather go somewhere that seems like it cares about its customers and doesn’t come across as so incredibly indifferent.

Don’t shop here to save money. As long as you follow that one rule, you’ll do just fine at Red Light.
Halloween? Come here.
Ugly sweater party? Come here.
Need strange furry-​esque outfits? Sadly, yes, come here. (ick!)
Broke? Go to Goodwill or similar. Not here.

Come here for all your costume needs! I had just a day left to put the extra oomph my costume for a masquerade ball and luckily Red Light had the exact bustle that I needed, as well as the gloves. This place is so huge and stocked with stuff that it can definitely be overwhelming. Take a deep breath (outside, because the inside is kind of smelly), and dive in. This place also has used clothes galore. From that cowboy vest you never knew you needed to the go go boots and 80s hair band getup.
Also upstairs is a giant treasure trove of event flyers and cards. Downstairs is all the costumes. This is definitely a fun place to shop around in.

Red Light is okay.
They have a large selection, especially at Halloween but I find most of their costume items to be pretty expensive for used costumes.
They have lots of employees but many times they aren’t able to show you where anything is. They just tell you «it might be somewhere over there». I’ve gotten that response quite a bit.
I shop at Red Light on the off chance that I might find something good. Usually I walk out empty-​handed. It is a fun place to look around though.

I came here to get some temporary hair dye for Halloween. I got what I needed, and got out.
The prices here are somewhat absurd. They had basic Halloween masks for $ 20 and up. I ended up paying $ 9 for the hair dye, which also felt excessive.
Service was severely lacking. The staff seemed overwhelmed by the rush of people looking for Halloween supplies and responded poorly. I went up to the front desk to ask a question, and the salesperson in front of me seriously just stood there for like five minutes, doing some administrative stuff and ringing up a customer before even acknowledging my presence. At the very least she could have said «could you wait a few minutes? I’ll be right with you.» Train your staff!

I love this place.
I got my Halloween costumes here two years in a roll (different locations)
They have good collections.
Though, be cautious about picking up your choice. Sometimes, it can be broken or there are defects

Such a fun store. I found an awesome document clutch for $ 10. If i lived here and didn’t have to stuff everything or ship it to CA, I would raid this place.
While I was looking around, we stumbled on a giant box of wings, feathered boas, and amazing pimp jackets.
We tried everything on and took pics. It was sooo fun.
The velvet couch and lamps are great as well.