9/11/07

Threadless, Now In Store

Fit to a Tee
The viral-marketing geniuses at online T-shirt purveyor threadless.com opened the doors yesterday, Sept. 10th, at their new Lake View bricks-and-mortar location, Threadless (3011 N. Broadway; 773-525-8640, threadless.com). The Ravenswood-based company has created a unique business model: Threadless.com runs an ongoing T-shirt design competition—designers submit and consumers vote. Seven new styles and two reprints, on average, are released every week and printed in limited quantities of 1,500. (More than 750,000 votes are cast every week, and  around 100,000 T-shirts are sold each month, according to Threadless.) The site grew slowly by word of mouth, and the store has followed suit by putting a Threadless logo in the...

9/4/07

Greener and Cleaner in the West Loop

Ms. Green Jeans
The West Loop boutique Pivot (1101 W. Fulton Market; 312-243-4754, pivotboutique.com) has merged eco-friendliness and high fashion. “I want people to see nothing has to be sacrificed in terms of fashion,” says owner Jessa Brinkmeyer, 24. Everything in the store—from the clothing to the recycled fixtures—is made using environmentally friendly materials and processes. The merchandise is surprisingly stylish; we found a sexy tank made from bamboo from Brooklyn-based Sans ($197) and an organic cotton shirt dress by Nature vs. Future with a modern asymmetrical button front. Dressier options include the metallic hemp silk tank ($246) from U.K. brand Ciel and Linda...

8/28/07

A Collector’s Sneaker Boutique

Encore, Encore
Sneakerphiles, you have a new mecca. The owners of West Loop lifestyle-and-footwear shop Self Conscious have opened Encore (3941 N. Sheridan Rd.; 773-477-4007), which co-owner LaVelle “V-Dot” Sykes says is more sneaker driven than the other store. Sykes, who has designed shoes for Nike for 13 years, says the store cultivates exclusivity with its stock of hard-to-find sneakers. “Almost everything in the store is one of a limited run,’” he says. “If you miss it, you miss it.” For example, his stock of the Adidas Consortium consists of one pair per size (8 through 13) of only 100 pairs made, and Encore is one of five stores nationwide to carry them. You’ll also find the limited-edition Nike Air Force...

8/21/07

Baby Needs A New Pair of Shoes?

Kiddie Kicks
Seems kids aren’t excluded from the recent explosion of shoe stores in the city. Sole Babies (2033 W. Division St.; 773-342-7653) in Wicker Park carries cute and orthopedically correct shoes for kids from first walkers to youth size 5 (which fits an 8 to 10 year old). Baraka and Teresa Nevels, the husband-and-wife team who owns the store, saw a need for quality children’s shoes sold outside department stores. The mostly European brands provide proper orthopedic support for children; the Nevels says that a good portion of their sales is shoes for babies who have just learned to walk, such as Pediped shoes, which are recommended for infant feet ($31.95), or Richter, with its adorable baby Mary Janes ($62.95). The shop is also the...

8/14/07

Two Craft Mavens Open Shop

Exceptional Craftsmanship
Rejoice, fans of the popular Renegade Craft Fair. The fair, which happens next month on September 15th and 16th along Division Street, in conjunction with the Do Division Street Fest, has spawned a permanent extension-a new store called Renegade Handmade (1924 W. Division St.; 773-227-2707) that carries high-style, handmade items from 60 designers, with no macaroni art or tea cozies in sight. Co-owners Sue Blatt and Kathleen Habbley, who started the fest together in 2003, saw the need to create a year-round space for the D.I.Y. crafts. "There's nothing else like it in the city," Blatt says. The main draw here is gift-appropriate items that may not be necessities, but are really fun. (For...

8/7/07

New Shoes in Bucktown

Saving Grace
Bolstering the recent trend of independent shoe retailers in the city, Grace (1917 N. Damen Ave.; 773-384-7223) in Bucktown opens on August 10th. The beautiful new minimalist space will carry 15 shoe brands and handbag lines, from both established and emerging (mainly European) labels. Owner Kristi Ryan, who recently shuttered her own recruiting firm to open the boutique, says her strategy is to stock many styles of little known, high quality brands that are otherwise hard to find. "We have a lot of shoes that can be worn in several different places in your life-with jeans or a dress, to a wedding, or out with the girls," Ryan says. We liked the cute original wellie boots from Hunter ($98), in nine colors including lime green,...

7/31/07

Unchained

Fancy Free
Famous brands are taking the city by storm, the splashiest of which include Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, and Nanette Lepore, all planning to open boutiques in October. Free People (1464 N. Milwaukee Ave.; 773-227-4871), a brand of affordable, boho comfort clothing, joins the trend with a new Wicker Park shop. The brand splits the difference between the hipster street wear of Urban Outfitters and the ornate femininity of Anthropologie (the  three brands are owned by the same parent company). Flowy tops and tunics range from $68 to $88, tanks start at $24, and patterned summer dresses are $138. Fall items already in stock include a feminine, shearling-lined vest ($98) that manages to be warm and trendy; a wool, herringbone jacket...

7/24/07

Cerulean Dreams

Something New, Something Blue
A new shop-Cerulean 1 (3657 N. Southport Ave.; 773-525-6870)-has opened in the former Shane space in Lake View. Peddling a similar aesthetic as its predecessor in the space, the boutique carries casual wear for men and women. We found a cute V-neck tee hoodie from Laquette with a drawstring waist ($90), 7 Diamonds button-down shirts for men ($97), an easy fit black dress from Michael Stars ($152), and a white-on-white striped dress from Rebecca Beeson ($94). The owner, Jennifer Dulhanty, says she carries many of the same lines as Shane (Dulhanty took over the space from that store's owner, Shane Limbacher), but plans to expand into dressier options, particularly for women. The boutique also sells jeans from Big Star...

7/17/07

Sole of a New Store

A Good Sole
We understand that there are die-hard shoe fetishists out there who are willing to endure sky-high heels at any cost, financial or podiatric. We applaud your commitment. But for the rest of us shoe lovers who are less willing to suffer for fashion, check out the new South Loop boutique House of Sole (1237 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-834-0909), stocked with designer shoes that actually integrate comfort into the mix. And we're not talking about clunky orthopedics-the gorgeous stacked heels from Chie Mihara ($360) are upscale enough for a night out but created by a Spanish designer who incorporates years of orthopedic expertise into the line, and the fashiony heels from Corso Como have extra padding near the toe. Owner Tiffany Bullock, who...

7/10/07

Something New in Old Town

New Kids in Old Town

Newcomer Uri (1445 N. Wells St.; 312-475-9002) carries a selection of casual designer wear from old favorites such as Alvin Valley (look for the label's chocolate brown trouser short for $150), along with brands that are hard to find elsewhere in the city. These include Ardistia, a New York brand, which makes items such as a beautiful wide collared, cropped jacket with a pleated edge and puff sleeves ($424) and a skirt suit with a wool gabardine jacket adorned with decorative metal buttons. Dressier options, such as a rouched black dress from designer Heike Jarick ($330), are found alongside casual wear, such as a sweat pant with a three-button detail on the bottom cuff ($100) and a pale yellow hoodie tank with a front...