Best Shopping/Stores in Chicago

[Bona Drag]

ldrs on milwaukee doesn't really have too much exciting stuff - mostly alot of gimmicky denimz and streetwear brands that (rightfully) get hated on here

however, i was suprised to see two pairs of edwins left as of today

i straight noobd it and forgot to check the model type

meant to try on the 32 but just didn't have time

and i'm drowning in denimz newaze

also, they sell sb clothes but no shoes - is this a common arrangement?

i thought it was weird

belmont army, just east of ldrs, and uprise farther up milwaukee both have sbs, so i guess it's a moot point

no hypebeast-exclusive type shit, at least to my untrained eye

[Lab]

active has a brick and mortar?

It probably wouldn't hurt to hit the usual suspects, since Barney's in Chicago is likely to be less picked over than the coastal stores. I didn't get to go recently, but I bet they have a lot of nice stuff since they have the same lines but less of the buying crowd.

Hejfina might be picked over by the time it reaches 60%, I was in there a couple weeks ago when it was at 30% and asked for all the S's and XS's in the store and it wasn't much. Not really sure what you're looking for, but generally the only stuff they don't have online is A.P.C. and that was pretty sparse. Co-ops around town had more A.P.C....

Gamma Player might be a better option, depending. and they carry ERIC LEBON (!!!) Kop dat ERIC LEBON. But seriously they might carry smaller sizes, they did have Lad many moons ago.

The mens shoes outpost of Akira has common projects and tons of crap, the CP's are limited sizewise and in color but you might find what you want.

Apt. no. 9 had a lot of Dries Van Noten, UNIS, and Margiela on sale, some in smaller sizes. The markdown may have increased since, so some stuff may be a good deal there.

Erm...the Barney's in Chicago selection-wise is not that great. Right now, the only Ann D they stock is women's shoes. No sale on Diors, no sale on Margiela, most shoes are out (due to messed-up sale which was supposed to happen after Christmas, not before.). Lanvin = gone. It's not crowded, but that's cause pickings are slim.

On the otehr hand, Hejfina's got good stuff. Their fall CDG shit is on sale (tees are marked to ~$50). Unfortunately, none of the jeans are on sale...APC, Acne, R&B, S2A are all still retail. Some shoes are off. No bag selection.

I'll prolly check out Apt #9 tmw...and *shudder* Akira, I just want CPs...I dun wanna go to that hole tho.

[Bona Drag]

^^

yeah, akira is fuckin grim

last time i was in (about a month ago, maybe) they only had the patent cps

i would just try stuff on to figure out your size at hejfina and then use the denim bar discount if you're interested in apc, r&b or acne (db carries some s2a too)

and i know he's not a sufu all star, but is the marc by marc store on damen open or not?

it doesn't look like it is, but then again i've never been by there during normal business hours

googling only turns up a bunch of press releases from early this year saying the store should be open by 'late summer'

:confused:

[Lab]

Other items on sale at Hejfina: Nice Collective, R&B shirts, BoO? maybe, and I saw this great CDG peacoat that was marked down by at least 30%,

No clue on the Marc store. Best bet would be calling another Marc store in the area and asking? Not my steez, but good luck with that.

Some sale items at Chicago Barneys:

Bunch of Raf shit (mainly blazers), Alexander McQueen shirts, Y3 kicks ($109 for the sprint shoes atm). As I said before, not a whole lot.

Note about SAKs:

Most Dior shit, except shoes and jeans, on sale. They do not stock those silver hi-tops. They've got the arm-warmers, too. Cords,bomber on sale.

[Bona Drag]

No clue on the Marc store. Best bet would be calling another Marc store in the area and asking? Not my steez, but good luck with that.

not really mine either, but it's some decent/interesting stuff for that price point

however, i have a funny feeling that store will exist solely to sell $1K bags to rich northside bitches

[twistedtrees]

Went down to WP today & hit up a lot of the shops listed above just to see what they were like.

Apt. #9 had some stuff that was 20-30% off, actually a lot of their stuff was.

Again at Hejfina, a lot of stuff on sale. S2A t's for $50, Kim Jones stuff on sale. But they don't have the Umbro by Kim Jones shoes:( I like them and have no idea where to kop.

St. Alfred's- Sneakers. Decent selection, mostly hypebeasty. They had about 4 pair of Visvm's that were pretty nice.

Belmont Army was alright, a lot of skate & snowboard brands, but they had some decent WESC & Ben Sherman stuff, also not a bad selection of Gravis shoes.

There's a cool vintage denim, leather jacket & boot store on the same side of the street & same block as the Levis store. I think it's called US 1 or something. A lot of boots in the window, you can't miss it.

And had to hit up Sultan's Mkt because of the rec's on here. The chicken schwarma was really good, and decently priced. I ate at Piece Pizza last week. Not the traditional "Chicago" style, more of a thinner crust, but really good. The Italian was good and surprisingly the clam pizza was good too. They have microbrew, but wasn't too impressed with it, I wouldn't have known just from tasting.

[Lab]

Went to Apt #9 today, no size 44-46 in Margiela. Some small stuff in DVN. Most Margiela kicks are on sale for 30%; some Paul Smith and Etro stuff was also marked down. SA says they don't normally order small sizes in Margiela.

Went to St. Alfreds. Sufu section really needs to be updated, since they don't stock Y3 anymore. Like twisted said, modest selection of nikes. Few Visvim, some Stussy tees. Pretty hypebeasty.

Went back to Barneys, and it seems like they added some stuff. If I was a size 46 in Raf, I'd kopp those ~$120 dress shirts. Bought some Lanvin (missed those low-tops the other day).

[RobZ]

Does anyone have a good friend/relation with somebody who works at Barneys? I live in a suburb of Chicago so driving to the city isn't out of the question (only an hour) but I don't want to do it if I don't have to.

I would have grabbed some of the Lanvin hi-tops when they went down to $349. Somebody said they had them at Barneys Chicago and in my size and if I would have known somebody was going to be going there I definitely would have got them.

Lab do you do pickups if the time comes again for a good deal on Lanvins? Or anyone else for that matter...let me know.

Also, Uprise does have an SB account and get most of the releases. I heard they sell out pretty quickly because everyone knows about their shop but they are pretty nice there and pretty close to St. Alfreds/ Leaders.

[twistedtrees]

Belmont Army (the one on Milwaukee) had Nike SB stuff, both shoes and clothes. I was surprised because they don't sell skateboard gear, but they had SB stuff.

Also, I went to a couple places last week down on Rush St. I had posted this in the sales thread, but maybe I should here. Jake had a couple racks of stuff that was 60% off including some raw Even Stevens and NDG jeans, Rag & Bone stuff and their footwear was on sales, but they only have a few things. AA has some skinny jeans & cords. I think the jeans were only acid wash though. But they're also $75 for skinny pants. I don't think I went anywhere else that anybody would care about.

[Lab]

Does anyone have a good friend/relation with somebody who works at Barneys? I live in a suburb of Chicago so driving to the city isn't out of the question (only an hour) but I don't want to do it if I don't have to.

I would have grabbed some of the Lanvin hi-tops when they went down to $349. Somebody said they had them at Barneys Chicago and in my size and if I would have known somebody was going to be going there I definitely would have got them.

Lab do you do pickups if the time comes again for a good deal on Lanvins? Or anyone else for that matter...let me know.

Also, Uprise does have an SB account and get most of the releases. I heard they sell out pretty quickly because everyone knows about their shop but they are pretty nice there and pretty close to St. Alfreds/ Leaders.

I'm only in Chicago a few times a year, man, sorry. I don't think I'm there often enough to run a pick-up/proxy service. I'd check the Soofooo Lanvin shoe thread for sales and updates; although, prices are gonna be a little steeper this coming spring.

[pete mcstunna]

i was definitely impressed by the marc jacobs store. great selection of belts, casualwear, and womens accessories.

also, i believe stayhandsome works there -- or his identical twin...

[Guest umhaha84]

is there Seven New York type of store in Chicago?

[dismalfuture]

Gamma Player in Wicker Park has ERIC LEBON. Some other interesting stuff as well.

[Quattroporte]

I think Marc is now open in Chicago.

It's about time.

[thorough]

does Hejfina or anywhere else carry A.P.C new standards or cures?

[twistedtrees]

does Hejfina or anywhere else carry A.P.C new standards or cures?

They did back in December. Barney's over on Rush St. does too.

[thorough]

Penelope's has both new standards and cures in a few sizes. hefina only had large sizes on the standards but says they restock frequently.

i would second gamma player http://www.gammaplayer.com/ lots of very interesting pieces thier especially if your into the ninja goth steez.

i was suprised to find some raw womens acne at loemans for like 40 bucks. i may edit this post if i think of more.

[readytoignite]

clarke's???

yeah that's the place. is tbp 2 still around the corner? i always wondered if that place would go out of business once lounge ax closed.

i went to alinea about 2 months after it opened and it was pretty great. it's probably not the place you want to go to for full on id indulgence but it was pretty fascinating. trotter's affinity towards jazz is pretty well known but this was actually pretty close - an overarching theme (transformation) with multiple variations extending to the desserts.

at the time you only had to call ahead a week or two for weekend reservations but i assume that's changed by now. chicago is a great food city, sort of the best parts of nyc and la.

and also slightly off topic but to answer a previously posed question there are nike sb accounts that only get the stuff with an associated clothing range (mafia pack, strange brew, etc). examples are reed space and recon in nyc

[jilla82]

besides Barney's what stores in Chicago carry raw denim?

Ive run both pairs of my jeans into the ground and I need to buy a new pair ASAP...any help?

[mojinho]

the Barney's Co-op in Chevy Chase, Maryland carries some raw denim. in Chicago, there's a Co-op on Halsted just south of Lincoln/Fullerton/Halsted in Lincoln Park.

[jake431]

Well, I am a Chicagoan, and I'll be damned if I can find someone who will chainstich jeans they hem.

Rep to anyone who can give me a name/address and phone number to a place that does cause I haven't found shit (and none of the stores Akira, Jake, Hejfina etc have a place that does).

-Jake

[pete mcstunna]

chainstitching is not an available service in chicago. trust me. your best bet would be to contact gordon heffner, of blue in green in new york. the service itself costs $15 -- you would have to cover shipping both ways as well. well worth the cost...

http://blueingreensoho.com/site/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=3

[jake431]

Oh well. +Rep at ya Pete for answers anyway. I appreciate it. I had my PBJ-005's chain stitched at BiG, so I knew their work is tight.

-Jake

chainstitching is not an available service in chicago. trust me. your best bet would be to contact gordon heffner, of blue in green in new york. the service itself costs $15 -- you would have to cover shipping both ways as well. well worth the cost...

http://blueingreensoho.com/site/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=3

[raddy]

torneau's doing their anual get-rid-of-preowneds this weekend if anybody cares. don't snipe that reversible jaeger or I'll hate you forever.

anyone know if any of the nicholas k S/S08 stuff has made it to george green yet? not that the NK website is even updated with it...

[twistedtrees]

has anybody been to the Nau store on Halsted? It's kinda a Patagonia/Burton hybrid type of clothes with "go Green" theme. I haven't been there, but heard they have a weird concept where if you go there & try the stuff on, they'll let you order it online at the store for cheaper, but if you try to buy online by yourself it's normal retail. It's supposed to help them keep low stock or something.

As far as the clothes, it looks ok, haven't seen any of their spring stuff.

[pete mcstunna]

nau is a good spot -- never heard of its sales philosophy -- as you described it. and i'd say the patagonia comparison is quite accurate.

[denimfan45]

I have lived in Chicago for over 25 years. Chicago has GREAT shopping, if you like the big name super stores. If you are looking for your cool little shops like there are in NY or LA you will not really find them. In regards to food, Chicago has the best food in the country, HANDS DOWN. Sol De Mexico on the Northwest side is Amazing. If you want to go old school pizza, Lou Malnati's is the KING.

[pete mcstunna]

malnati's is the shit.

[twistedtrees]

I don't know about Malnati's, not a fan of their sausage. I really like Chicago's (the chain, not the city). But don't get me wrong, I'd eat Malnati's if it's there.

I got a chance to go to Nau, really cool little store and the people are nice. They said apparently the head designer of Patagonia left a year or so ago to start nau, along with what would be an all-star team of designers and execs from North Face, Nike & Adidas.

I ended up buying a trench coat/jacket that I'll post pics in the Recent Purchases thread when I get it. But yeah, there is a weird thing when you buy something there. You can either take it home with you, or have it shipped to you (free) for a 10% discount. Plus, they were running a special that if I signed up for their e-newsletter they gave me another 20% off, and they let me combine the discounts. So I got 30% off & it happend to be handy to have them ship it because I had to run some more erands that day & didn't feel like carrying it around.

But the Active Endevours store was closed when I went by there. I mean out of business closed. Barney's Co-Op was cool, the SA's were nice, but they didn't have APC denim, so I ended up going to the flagship store where they did have a couple pairs of NS's & New Cures. They also seemed to have a bunch of DH 19cm for $330 which is what I was sorta interested in, but the SA's there were kinda "snatchy" when I hesitated about trying them on. So I just left & am now contemplating buying a SExI04 off supermarket in sz 30.

[dismalfuture]

I don't think Chicago is up there in terms of food cities; it's ok, but not great. Lacking in proper Asian food, Midwestern locale means stuff gets toned down a bit... I will admit that Chicago has Mexican on lock though...