Arlene and I were tooling around the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago today and were reminded of one of the main reasons we love our town: the neighborhoods! Broadway on the North side is a very unassuming, off-the-radar, socially neglected, adorable location with a thriving retail scene. We drove in to get soup from one of our all-time favorite lunch joints,Soupbox. (Delish. If you’re ever in town, stop by for a bowl.)

As we were driving down Broadway, we noticed the Threadless store and were ashamed to admit to one another that we had never been in. It’s a pretty fabulous Chicago success story and we love to support our local entrepreneurs. Sooo, after picking up soup to take back to the studio, we decided to head back up the street and check it out. But…

 

 

…we got sidetracked by the serious cuteness of Spare Parts. I was gobsmacked by a leather elephant in the window and we just had to go in. So glad we did! After more than 20 years, this fantastic little shop is better than ever, featuring a variety of goodies in a variety of price points for a variety of customers. Arlene got a piece of artwork and a great tie for her husband, all for under $50! And I am definitely going back for the elephant! 

    

         artwork by Adam Kaplan                                   Flying Fish necktie by Josh Bach  

 

So, back on our quest to visit Threadless. The quick 411 on them: it’s a t-shirt company that started as an online competition — the winner had their shirt produced and sold. And now… it’s HUGE.

                            

The first floor is all t-shirts, each with its own video screen displaying a close-up of the shirt’s design as well as shots of it on both men and women. Super cute. And as if that wasn’t enough, we ventured up to the 2nd level expecting more of the same, but instead what did we find? An ART GALLERY. Seriously? Those guys are insane. And some very cool stuff, as well…

             

So, back to the car, to soup, to work.

Passed this along the way…

 

I’m sure I’d appreciate it even more if I actually did anything physical, like biking. 

Also passed this along the way…

Well not exactly, but we did indeed get flashed. That’s right. A lovely homeless man wearing an old-school plain grey sweatsuit lumbered uncomfortably close to us and then proceeded to lower his pants and show us his penis. Never thought I would utter that sentence in my life!

All in all, a pretty interesting day.

On a side note, I’d like to give a big THANK YOU to Crystal of Plush Palate for featuring us on her blog. She did a lovely story, so please be sure to check it out here. Thanks, Crystal!! We’re so flattered!!!

Tags: Chicago boutiques, Chicago shopping, Spare Parts Chicago, Threadless

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Boutiques, Wardrobe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.