Jamie Murnane

People were always surprised when I said I lived in Lincoln Park. I couldn't blame them. With tattoos, outrageously dyed, purposely pomaded bed-head, and dressed in ironic T-shirts and ripped faded jeans, I was just never a Lincoln Park girl. It took me nearly three years to figure out where I really belonged--in Wicker Park, where I can walk down the street and see other women like me.

It was really only until I moved west that I noticed the unspoken fashion regulations that govern each Chicago neighborhood. Using these citywide shifts as inspiration, the stylists of Sine Qua Non Salon thought it'd be fun to highlight the `hood to `hood fashion variations in their first annual fashion show, "Streets of Chicago." Through the idealistic and creative interpretations of the salon (whose two locations are on Lincoln Avenue, and a third coming to Andersonville in November) and its designer friends, several Chicago neighborhoods were represented--all part tongue-in-cheek, part surprisingly accurate.

Of course, most Chicago neighborhoods do not have a single identifiable look. The more diverse the area in age, income and ethnicity, the less homogenous the style. For example, Howard Cohn of the Hyde Park retailer Cohn & Stern, says, "We're a fashion store in an area that doesn't really care about fashion. The neighborhood is racially and economically mixed, and when you have that combination, you're getting a diverse group of people who feel differently about fashion. It's not like being in an area with a whole group of young people who are into the bar scene and looking good, or in Streeterville, with a lot of wealthy people with expendable income."

Of course, not everyone in Lincoln Park is a Trixie, nor is every Wicker Parker a hipster. But with that caveat, and with the help of some Chicago boutiques along with the playful fashionistas at Sine Qua Non, here's our take on the geography of Chicago style.

THE HIPSTER CORRIDOR: Wicker Park, Bucktown, Ukrainian Village and Logan Square

The ironic, carefully constructed disheveled look thrives in these neighborhoods, where many of the city's fashion boutiques sit alongside a thriving nightlife and amidst soaring real estate prices, driven up by young professionals who want to live closer to "the edge."

The Boutique take: Melissa Shockley, manager of the Wicker Park boutique Penelope's, says, "I think the neighborhood definitely has a youthful, funky, `no boundaries' approach when it comes to fashion. People can get away with being more extreme and less mainstream than in any other area of the city."

For example, Shockley says that in Wicker Park, you are able to wear and do whatever you want without being gawked at. (Note to guy at Club Foot with faux hawk, sporting a gold see-through mesh top and tie-dyed stretch pants: perfectly acceptable.) "Sometimes if I go to Lincoln Park, I feel like an alien that's just landed," she says.

Sine Qua Non's take: Wicker Park was mismatched, yet sensibly coordinated--with one short male model with shiny slicked hair wearing extra tight (possibly women's) capris, and a tall one with spiked red hair, sporting a blazer and T-Shirt. They looked like they'd just left Rainbo.

The blazer-wearing model, Kyle Harter, is actually a Wicker Park resident and says everything he wore was straight from his own hipsterfied closet. "The stylists had me bring two of my favorite outfits that I'd wear out, and they picked from that," he says.

Suggested soundtrack: "Exile in Guyville," Liz Phair

TRIXIEVILLE: Lincoln Park and DePaul

"Yuppie" is praise, not pejorative, in this neighborhood. Although no one knows for sure, we suspect the legendary "Lincoln Park Trixie" web site (www.lptrixie.com), which mocked the Jetta-driving, Kate Spade-toting, social-climbing women of the neighborhood, was taken down after it proved to be more effective as a lifestyle manual than as social satire.

The Boutique take: Bridget Byrne, manager of the Lincoln Park/Old Town clothing store Etre, recognizes subtle changes throughout the different sections of the city. "Here, bordering Gold Coast, the style is slightly older--there's money everywhere--and everything's so expensive. Then there's the young, trendier DePaul kids who are really into the bar scene. And it is a little more artsy and upcoming in Wicker Park and Bucktown--but not much. We carry a lot of the same brands as boutiques there do, just a little different styles," she says.

Sine Qua Non's take: "Streets of Chicago" showcased women with long, movie-star perfect blonde hair and glamorously over-the-top outfits. Essentially, they were Paris Hilton clones. The lone male was decked out in a gray suit, with a cell phone glued zealously to his ear. These were the young urban professionals of Lincoln Park--exaggerated, however slightly.

Suggested soundtrack: "Come Away with Me," Norah Jones

HIGH SOCIETY: The Gold Coast

Old money habitués of the "Viagra triangle" mingle with young socialites and social pretenders in Chicago's enclave of wealth, where The Mag Mile and Oak Street's tony boutiques sit a walking distance away from the public puking facilities on Division Street.

The Boutique take: Samantha Mittelman, owner of Gold Coast boutique Samantha, says, "There's such a variety on the Gold Coast, because you have the people who live at the Four Seasons and then you have the college girls. I'd say the style is very chic contemporary. People know how to mix the couture and contemporary. They can have a $5,000 purse and a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. You would see 20-to-70-year-olds in cute jeans and a cute T-shirt. It's very fashionable; they're very into luxury basics. They have pieces in their wardrobe that are fun and funky, but most is understated luxury. You definitely get your flashy people, but for the most part it's not that flashy. The area's very trendy. People walk into my store and they're like, 'Okay, what did you get in today.' They don't care what we got in, like, three weeks ago."

Sine Qua Non's take: For Gold Coast resident Christina Cotter, her ensemble of the evening was really no different from what she'd be seen wearing on a night out on Rush Street. She wore a sexy, low-cut black shirt and a tight-fitting gold skirt that reached her knees. Big blonde hair and intensely smoky eyes completed the outfit. "Everything I'm wearing is mine--except for the skirt," she says. "Sure, it's a little tongue-in-cheek, but if there were one stereotype, this would be it."

Suggested soundtrack: "No Way Out," Puff Daddy & the Family

FRAT BOYS & PRETTY BOYS: Lakeview

What happens when you mix together Cubs fans, drag queens and the street where mohawks--not faux hawks--never go out of style? You get Lakeview, where baseball caps should always be worn backwards, and six-packs stand equally for physique and for sustenance.

The Boutique take: Krista Kaur Meyers, owner of Krista K, says, "We have everything from the twentysomethings going out to the bars versus the moms and their strollers versus all the Cubs' fans. The style for Lakeview is really jeans and cute tops. The Cubs' women, the college girls, even the moms want jeans and cute tops."

Sine Qua Non's take: The gay-friendly North Halsted area, unsurprisingly, yielded the best-dressed men of the fashion show, with precisely blow-dried and gelled hair--urging the women in the audience to scream in appreciation, prompting the emcee to remind them "that screaming's not gonna get you anywhere."

Boystown model and Sine Qua Non regular Russ Calderwood says his clothes were pretty similar to what's typically found coming out of his closet. Tugging at the V-neck of his designer T-shirt, he says, "But honestly, it might be a little much. I feel like we're drag kings. We look more like lesbians than gay men."

Suggested soundtrack: "Immaculate Collection," Madonna

BOHEMIA: Andersonville and Rogers Park

The L Word meets Woodstock on the city's northern "frontier," while the remaining Swedes wonder what happened to the neighborhood.

The Boutique take: Claudia Lara, assistant manager of Andersonville boutique Presence, says, "I guess the boho-chic look is very big here. We definitely have people here who are very trendy, but it's hard to describe. Eclectic is another good word for the neighborhood. Kind of preppy, kind of hippie, trying to look like you don't really care."

Sine Qua Non's take: Rogers Park models showed the Far North Side as being an organic, eclectic hodgepodge of people and fashion. The Andersonville models were dressed in contemporary bohemian outfits--likely favored thrift-store finds. One of the less feminine, yet strikingly fashionable women sported a fifties-style pompadour while another had twisty strawberry blonde tresses. Of course, it wouldn't have been Andersonville without women holding hands as they exited stage left.

Suggested soundtrack: "Indigo Girls," Indigo Girls

With additional reporting by Andrea Fjeld

(2005-08-09)

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