Mobile Tailoring and 3-D Body Scans, the Future of Men’s Fashion
From the slim wool blazers that fit the Mad Men gentlemen like a glove, to the hem of Nate Reuss’ trousers being so high, it looks as though he’s always in immediate danger of a flash flood. It’s obvious that men are going to great lengths to express their style through the tailoring of their […]
Chicago’s Seapunked Digital Sea: Tales of Contemporary Chicago Nightlifers
Every Wednesday night the Chicago Beauty Bar hosts a party called Mainframe that flies under the banner of an internet movement known as seapunk. If one were to walk by the venue, located a stone’s throw from the city’s Blue Line Chicago stop, he or she might encounter a rogue group of oddly familiar cigarette […]
Rip the runway with Dime Child Foundation
Warnita Taylor uses the fashion runway to raise money for college students. Taylor started the Dime Child Foundation 12 years ago when she was a student at DePaul University. She gathered some of her friends together and coordinated a fashion show fundraiser and awarded scholarships to students. After Taylor graduated from college she helped develop […]
“I’M A MIDWESTERNER” Fashion Icon Dominates the Region
From the Midwest comes originality, creativity, and individuality in fashion from local designer, Rahphael Hunter . Hunter’s presence along with masculine demeanor dominates the small Chicago coffee shop upon entry, comes across casual, but confident. He began studying fashion in the heart of the city and as a student he was drawn to both fashion and graphic design. But […]
Chicago Men’s Style and Fashion Guide
Chicago, the third biggest city in the country, also has some of the wildest weather. While it certainly does make living in the city exciting, it also provides a recurring dilemma to its residents: “What am I going to wear today?” With spring here, the weather is going to be more random than ever. Spring-time […]
Hack Like a Woman
When you open the door of the Pumping Station 1 (PS1) at 3915 N. Elston you enter one of Chicago’s hackerspaces. Anything might be going on there, but on a recent Saturday, the work tables on the 2nd floor were shoulder to shoulder with members of Chicago Women Developers on hand for a session called “eTextiles using Arduino.” […]
ZAMRIE does fashion for (storm) relief
The cute ivory skirt with a blue, red, and gold plaid print and tempting “on sale” tag, could be dressed up or down, and Ashley Zygmunt, the creative mind behind the maker of the skirt, Chicago label ZAMRIE, exclaims, “nobody understands that skirt! Only an editor at Vogue really got it.” For her Fall 2012 […]
Fashion vloggers get their turn in the spotlight
Fashion bloggers are enjoying their moment in the spotlight, and bloggers like BryanBoy, The Sartorialist, and Rumi Neely of FashionToast aremaking major waves in the fashion world. But some fashionistas are pioneering a new style of fashion commentary, called ”vlogging,” which combines blogging and videos, mostly posted on YouTube. Many young women are now vlogging their outfits of the […]
Artist Turns Passion, Hobby into a Business
When Nora Nieves was a 13-year-old girl in Puerto Rico, she started making handmade jewelry with seeds. As she grew older, even though she continued to make necklaces, she considered her passion for jewelry to be just a hobby and not a profession. Nieves went to the Escuela de Artes Plásticas en Puerto Rico to […]
Fashion in Chicago: Checking In With Julie Hillery
When Julie Hillery was in college, many of her instructors had no real-world experience in the fashion industry, but as an instructor with one foot in the professional world and the other in teaching, Hillery does her best to help her own fashion students get ready for life after college. The opportunity to share her […]
Hairstylist leaves corporate America to open dream salon
On a chilly Monday in December, Jacinta Appleton unlocks the door to a chic, elegant parlor. Bright, crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling. Tea green colors one wall, while violet purple colors another. The place is sophisticated and tasteful. It’s Appleton’s hair salon – The Hot Comb Natural Hair Salon. Natural hair salons are a […]
Columbia College Chicago’s Fashion Studies Department
What is “Fashion Studies?” Students and faculty members on Columbia College Chicago’s Fashion Studies Department weigh in on this.
Stella Blue Designs Boutique
Angela Gianfrancesco, executive designer and owner of Stella Blue Designs, says she used to play with her grandmother’s jewelry tower while growing up in St. Louis. She recalls coming upon a box of jewelry a neighbor had thrown away and finding a spinning ballerina surrounded by piles of shiny jewelry. “One man’s trash is another […]
Haute Tech Brings Science Fiction into Fashion
Is there any room for fashion in technology and can technology be fashionable? Thanks to movies such as “Revenge of the Nerds,” a certain stigma is attached to the word technology that instantly evokes an image of flooded trousers, pocket protectors and intense glasses frames. The current “hipster” trend does a wonderful job recreating Robert […]
Sexy Sells Not the Message for Everyone Today
Five years ago, catching sight of chiseled naked men plastered on shopping bags carried by strutting adolescent girls was not an uncommon view in Chicago. Now, these once iconic Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F Co.) bags are being replaced by PINK ones instead. There was a time when A&F’s sexy advertisements and half-dressed models attracted endless lines […]
Can’t Keep a Lid on Custom Optimo Hats
Who’d pay $20,000 for a hat? You might be surprised. There are hats — ball caps, beanies and berets, worn without much thought. And then there are those carefully crafted with felt, fur and straw that take hours, if not days, to make. Those hats can sell for thousands of dollars, and some are being […]
Review: Sofa Chicago Brings Exquisite Work From Around the World
As I walked into Sofa Chicago early November at Navy Pier, passing through the isle of mosaic work from medieval era displayed by Tiffany Gallery, I got excited of what I was about to see this year. I waited in the line for a ticket, minding my own business by checking other attires. As soon as I […]
Fashion World: Hard Work, Long Hours and Great Style
Omar Villalobos discovered as a young boy that he could change his mood by changing his clothes. “I love the fact that you can convey your emotions through something physical,” said Villalobos. Majoring in fashion business at Columbia College Chicago, Villalobos says he has always had a passion for fashion. He also found it curious […]
