Chicago Shopping, Chicago Stores

Apartment Number 9

If there's anything you'll learn from Apartment Number 9, it's that laid-back, casual clothing doesn't have to look messy. For shirts, pick from a multitude of patterned button-downs that look good whether tucked in our out, with or without a tie, and T-shirts that'll look comfortable dressed up with a blazer. Taking...

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Arte Moderne

Reader Suggested: We are the owners of Arte Moderne, and a first in the Chicago burbs! Our unique offering in fine mid-century furniture, European and US pottery, lighting, art and objects is hand-picked by us to reflect and satisfy the tastes of our growing audience. Our unique setting in an underground shopping passage in Glen Ellyn,...

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Chicago Comics

Chicago Comics is a shop for comic lovers, be they superhero comic fans, European comic fans, zine fans or Manga fans. The peppy shop loves comics and the people who write and draw them. Not only do they wallpaper their shop with comics and comics memorabilia of all stripes, but they're regularly hosting events with comic creators and...

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Contacts and Specs

Reader Suggested: In business sings 1982, we take the eyewear shopping experience to a different level. We offer hand picked eyewear collections in our beautifully designed store in the heart of the Chicago Lakeview area. And all of are product available online store.

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Endo-Exo Apothecary

Endo-Exo is a modern apothecary carrying select brands. Instead of carrying every blush on the market, they pick the ones they think are best for their customers. Instead of carrying every "it" item, they carry items they know will last the test of time. If you're still not sure what to pick, Endo-Exo offers make-up lessons and...

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Epicene

There's one sure advantage to not opening shop in an uber-hip neighborhood: the cost of rent is not carried over to the product. In this case Epicene offers a quirky, yet impressive collection of mid-century modern furnishing and accessories. A large green loveseat with teak legs presides over the space, while a stack of Eames-style...

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Eskell

The clothing at Eskell is the best combination of vintage and modern clothing. The dresses, trousers and jackets don't look dated in the least but maintain the silhouettes, prints and detailing that keeps women scouring the racks of vintage shops. Next to Eskell's own sharp line are the clothing of like minded independent designers...

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Eye Spy Optical

Huge luxury labels treat their eyeglass business as an easy way to pad their profit margin based on their "brand identity". There are no such brands at Eye Spy. Instead they carry handmade glasses from a bevy of small eyewear designers whose whole business depends on the look and quality of their frames. The result is a lineup of...

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Flight 001

These days where every train station and airport have become bastions of legalized assault, it's nearly impossible to be a fashionable traveler. So, you have two options, you could travel in the back seat of your parents' car or you could begin an intensive regimen to re-program your mind. Our suggested starting point: pay a visit to...

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Gamma Player

Reader Suggested: Assortment of Men's and Women's clothing from obscure fashion brands. The interior is dark and polished which reflects the attitude of the clothes.

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Gem

The jewelry of Laura Kitsos can be a simple as a set of dangling pearl earrings or as exotic as a necklace made of a string of multi-colored, pencil-shaped watermelon tourmaline crystals. Her collection, displayed and sold at her boutique Gem alongside the work of a handful of other jewelry designers, changes or develops at her whim, no line...

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Greer

No matter how many "stationery" designs e-cards offer, they never, ever match the feel, the class and the style of paper. In Greer, we see pulp's full potential. The store has collected an extremely well informed collection of cards and stationery, picking up lines of the most talented designers around the country. There's...

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Haberdash

The name Haberdash hints at a bygone time, where distressed jeans and neon sneakers were not part of men's wardrobes. Instead the store offers a more clean-cut, refined presentation of casual men's clothing. Black and brown blazers and slacks, a bevy of striped and solid button-down shirts and a selection of polos and basic T-shirts...

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Habit

We're all for supporting independent designers and everything but there are so many of them and honestly for every one we love there are five that aren't really our style. That's why a space like Habit is so valuable. The shop is dedicated to independent designers (many local) but is expertly edited to include truly beautiful...

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Helen Yi

From the outside looking in, Helen Yi appears to be a Chicago boutique only a New Yorker could love--what with the white walls, the loft-like space and the racks of luxe designer clothing. But it's a best of both worlds kind of deal as you get to shop some of the smaller, but well-established high-end designers of New York and Europe and...

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I.D.

In a intriguing symbiotic retail relationship, ID carries beautiful, artful home accessories and one side of the store and a wall of eyeglasses to help, we suppose, see the objects clearly. Look for everything from sleek cufflinks to spare, minimal lighting to unique tableware. Opposite to these are an array of modern eyeglass from big name...

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Ikram

While you await for Chicago's first Yohji Yamamoto store (don't hold your breath), Ikram is the one and only place in the city where the world's most ambitious, avant-garde designer clothing can be found. The most revered names in Japanese, French, Belgian and American fashion find a fitting home in the artful, reverent setting....

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Isabella Fine Lingerie

Isabella Fine Lingerie may be a young store, but it feels as if it has been in Chicago forever. Perhaps this is because the store embodies the perfect boutique sensibility--smaller designers and a knowledgeable staff. Even in its expansive location, it offers enough lingerie to fill a store twice its size. The store is colorful and jumbled (in a...

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Isabella Fine Lingerie

Isabella Fine Lingerie may be a young store, but it feels as if it has been in Chicago forever. Perhaps this is because the store embodies the perfect boutique sensibility--smaller designers and a knowledgeable staff. Even in its expansive location, it offers enough lingerie to fill a store twice its size. The store is colorful and jumbled (in a...

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Jake

There are surely some who will sneer at the prices Jake asks for it's selection of casuals--denim, T-shirts, button-downs and sweaters. But if you're looking for that T-shirt in GQ or those jeans in Lucky this is where to go. Hip, sought after denim, the T-shirt brands those pesky New York boutiques like to carry, the better casuals...

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Jake

There are surely some who will sneer at the prices Jake asks for it's selection of casuals--denim, T-shirts, button-downs and sweaters. But if you're looking for that T-shirt in GQ or those jeans in Lucky this is where to go. Hip, sought after denim, the T-shirt brands those pesky New York boutiques like to carry, the better casuals...

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Jake

There are surely some who will sneer at the prices Jake asks for it's selection of casuals--denim, T-shirts, button-downs and sweaters. But if you're looking for that T-shirt in GQ or those jeans in Lucky this is where to go. Hip, sought after denim, the T-shirt brands those pesky New York boutiques like to carry, the better casuals...

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Josephine

Shoes as architecture, shoes as art, shoes as weapons--Josephine is a celebration of the women's shoe and all the forms it can take. A sleek black wedge looks dangerous, a whimsical heel with a corkscrew-like protrusion defies gravity, a blue round-toe heel is the picture of elegance. You'll pay handsomely for the pleasure, but look...

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Lenny & Me

Reader Suggested: I like your two picks in chicago (Silver Moon and Una Mae's) Lenny and Me is also amazing! Great selection of vintage clothes and accessories (for guys too), hope you love it too!

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Modern Times

Modern Times: because someone has to fill all the posh lofts and condos being built in Chicago. The vintage furnishings store is rife with top-notch examples of mid-century modern furnishings from the masters of the era. These are iconic pieces that are in better condition than we are and worthy of the most audacious loft spaces. The store...

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Myopic Books

There's something lovingly old-school about how Myopic Books keeps its space. The several floors of used books. The people reading and drinking coffee on the upper floors. The obligatory store cat.

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Orange Skin

In other modern furniture stores we seen shelves lined with miniatures of classic modern chairs. At Orange Skin we saw the same thing, only in the full size variety. Such is the scale at which the store operates. Opened by two architects, expect to see the most audacious versions of beds, lights, and bathroom fixtures around. Most products are...

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Pagoda Red

The thin long passage into Pagoda Red is a coy introduction into what is a rather grand showcase of Chinese and Asian antiques and artifacts. The two-floored showroom holds objects of all sizes, from long, heavy tables commanding attention to charming artifacts. There's furniture for every room, from beds to benches to giant stone pots for...

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Penelope's

A shop that looks a bit folksy at first glance turns out to be quite the stylish outpost. Whether browsing women's clothing, men's clothing or home stuff expect to find a expertly edited selection of stylish, if low key, finds from The States and Europe.

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P.O.S.H.

Think back to all the once grand hotels in America and Europe that have been mothballed or even demolished. Wouldn't it be fun to bring a bit this history into our homes? P.O.S.H. helps customers do just that. We're not exactly sure how they find the stuff but the one of the kind store stocks its shelves with vintage ceramics and...

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Powder Room

If the baby blue and the pink doesn't make it clear enough, Powder Room is indeed a girly haven of cosmetics. The airy boutique leaves widely distributed brands to the department stores and instead focuses on small, often foreign lines--the type that celebrities fawn about every month in the various fashion magazines.

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Quimby's

Before every high school and college student had a blog, zines were a favored form of expression for young people. At Quimby's, the zine gets its due credit and is honored for all that it can be. The alternative book retailer seeks out everything from the DIY photocopied zines of yore, to college literature and design journals to indie...

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Raizy

Sought after cosmetics and bath products, boutique lingerie brands and an in house make-up artist: it doesn't get much more girly than this folks. Raizy is a woman's wonderland. Soft chandelier lighting and boudoir furniture set the stage. A formidable collection of cosmetics and bath products fill the shelves, heavy on tiny lines...

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Robin Richman

Other than a giant hanging ball of tumbleweed, Robin Richman looks like any other boutique in the boutique-laden neighborhood. So how are you supposed to know that inside are some of the most interesting and artful clothes in all of Chicago. Robin Richman collects avant-garde designers like they're commemorative plates, bringing...

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Room Service Chicago

Reader Suggested: I'm not sure I love or hate coming to furniture stores that are infinitely cooler than my real house will ever be. If I was a real grown up and not spiraling down the endless, impoverished abyss of academia, I would shop here all the time. Not only would I have stylish end tables and one of a kind churchkeys, but I...

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Rotofugi

The toys at Rotofugi certainly wont propagate body image issues, unless little girls wishing they looked more like red troglodytes becomes a problem. The designer toys gallery collects some of wackiest, weirdest collection of plush and plastic around. But beyond this the shop does an admirable job of featuring relatively unknown names among the...

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Silver Moon

The era that begot unforgettable music and historical political movements didn't exactly have timeless fashions. Silver Moon is one vintage clothing shop that leaves the bell-bottoms and polyester blends to those ten thousand other vintage and instead focuses on the era where cotton and lace was queen. The collection of women's...

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Soutache

Go to Soutache for both the ingredients and the inspiration necessary for your art and craft projects. Whether sewing a new dress or putting together family albums, the shop presents unique options for giving a project that extra bit of style. Choose among innumerable ribbons, funky feathers, fabric flowers and delicate buttons. And the...

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Spare Parts

The world has long claimed that great leather goods can only be produced in Italy or Spain. So, we're glad to have found a store that focuses on American designers and manufacturers of leather goods. Spare Parts offers a charming (and sometimes overwhelming) collection of leather goods. While we love the handbags, we especially love their...

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Sprout Home

Sprout Home finds its inspiration in the garden. The shop carries unique plants as well as gardening supplies, including a great selection of items for container gardening. Going beyond its distinction in the garden, the necessarily light-filled space uses plants as the centerpieces of its inspiring home arrangements. Orbiting the greenery are...

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St. Alfred

A lot of sneaker shops are busy building out ambitious, almost avant-garde spaces to accompany their wares. While those are nice, at the end of the day it's the shoes that matter. St. Alfred gives us just that. One wall full of cool sneakers, an opposing rack lined with T-shirts and that's pretty much it.

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Stitch

In Stitch we find a style that seems uniquely well-fitted to Chicago. Furniture like a sleek, straight-forward platform beds and handsome leather ottoman is clean and simple, but not too-cool-for-school. Luggage is utilitarian, without being dowdy--think chic leather duffel bags and sturdy rollers. Bedding is modern, but not too loud. The...

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Svenska Möbler

In case you were wondering, Swedish furniture was just as cool way back when as it is now. Svenska Mobler displays a whole studio full of Swedish furniture of yore (mostly from 1840-1940). Most distinctive are the chairs and sofas: well cushioned affairs with whimsically curved arms. There are also deco lamps and lighting, mixed wood desks,...

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Symmetry

Asian and modern furniture stores usually occupy diametrically opposed areas of the home design landscape. Symmetry effortlessly marries the two aesthetics as if they were meant for each other all their lives. The decidedly grown-up store--we imagine a typical customer to be a doctor in her '40s with a thriving private practice and a...

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The Bookworks

In the shadow of historic Wrigley Field, The Bookwooks offers other forms of history. Foremost are tens of thousands of books of the used and often rare variety with a focus on, what else, sports. Also around are bins of vinyl records, used CDs and vintage photographs. If you can find what you're look for, chances are you'll get it...

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Tula

Reader Suggested: Located on the burgeoning Southport Avenue, Tula carries more obscure lines in comparison to its neighboring shops. Wood floors, stark white walls and custom wood fixtures make for a clean setting. Cashmere collections by Allure, Roberto Collina and Karoo filled the fall/winter racks. Denim by Imitation of Christ and...

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Uber Modern

Reader Suggested: A great vintage modern furniture store with fair prices and good selection.

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Una Mae's Freak Boutique

If you enter a vintage store and the music is blaring and one of the salespeople is wearing a boy scout uniform, that's usually a good sign that you've stumbled onto something good. Una Mae's has an eclectic mix of new and used clothing and accessories. Flip through the clothing racks jammed full of new and used shirts in funky...

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Wildflowers

Considering the shop sells elaborate, luxurious lingerie it's rather appropriate that wildflower is a pretty, gem of a store hidden behind a gate in a courtyard off of a main thoroughfare. The shop uses its limited space to display sensual, sexy lingerie--those seeking plain cotton intimates will need to go elsewhere--from a carefully...

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Willow

As the name suggests, there's a definite organic, natural vibe to the tableware, home accessories and jewelry at Willow. Candlesticks might take the shape of antlers, bowls are carved out of burl and glassware has floral adornments. But there's also that bit of edge that moves the shop from Martha Stewart, party hostess to Martha...

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Apartment Number 9

Arte Moderne

Chicago Comics

Contacts and Specs

Endo-Exo Apothecary

Epicene

Eskell

Eye Spy Optical

Flight 001

Gamma Player

Gem

Greer

Haberdash

Habit

Helen Yi

I.D.

Ikram

Isabella Fine Lingerie

Isabella Fine Lingerie

Jake

Jake

Jake

Josephine

Lenny & Me

Modern Times

Myopic Books

Orange Skin

Pagoda Red

Penelope's

P.O.S.H.

Powder Room

Quimby's

Raizy

Robin Richman

Room Service Chicago

Rotofugi

Silver Moon

Soutache

Spare Parts

Sprout Home

St. Alfred

Stitch

Svenska Möbler

Symmetry

The Bookworks

Tula

Uber Modern

Una Mae's Freak Boutique

Wildflowers

Willow

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