In the August 14, 2002 issue of the Riverfront Times, Jill Posey-Smith declared, “Neckties have become emblems of pathos, to be tolerated only on bridegrooms, female waiters and the recently deceased.” One can’t help but wonder: How did such a great accessory—the last classic accessory men could truly utilize to show off their personality—find itself so quickly heading the way of the dodo bird?

The trouble first started after the dot-com boom of the late nineties; slackers who had become Internet CEOs overnight had no use for the archaic accessory. But not everyone is convinced that ties are dying out—some would argue that they’re simply evolving. Fatima Mohiuddin, manager of Bucktown men’s boutique Apartment Number 9, says that men are just finding other ways to get their tie fix. “They have so many new options now,” she says. “Things like skinny ties and bow ties.” Bow ties? Surly, she must be kidding. “The best-selling bowties we have are from ‘Band of Brothers,’” she says, “and there are those people who love whatever they put out. So they’re wearing bowties.” But the lack of seeing these new tie styles out on the street can only lead one to assume that ties have subverted to the same position that wine slunk into a few years ago, i.e. “Sure, I’d love to wear it, but what if people realize that I don’t know what I’m doing?”

Men, wearing a tie is like eating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup: There’s no wrong way to do it. Rock a skinny tie with a slim-fit button-down and a sexy Justin Timberlake-style hat. Or wear a pink or purple tie with a suit to your next interview, showing that you’re not afraid of being different. Even on a dinner date, a tie is a great way to have your clothes speak for you in a deep Barry White voice, exclaiming, “Girl, I’d cut off my neck circulation for you.” Men, I can think of no greater reason for bringing back the tie than the same reason why we do everything else in life: to impress women. (Josh Eisenberg)

Check out ties—skinny, wide and bowed—at Apartment Number 9, 1804 North Damen, (773)395-2999.

Susan Maxwell dives headfirst into wardrobes

By Molly Each

Susan Maxwell enters my small walk-in closet. I am embarrassed. This means that someone (aside from myself) is witnessing my overflowing hamper of dirty clothes, my makeshift shelves, my unorganized heap of purses and my old/outdated/just plain awful clothing that I haven’t yet brought over to the Brown Elephant.

But Maxwell doesn’t even flinch. She’s a consummate pro, even complimenting me on my casual-to-dressy clothes organization and the fact that I keep my laundry in my closet. She notices that I’m cringing, and she tells me not to worry. “I’ve seen much worse.”

I un-cringe slightly, pleased that someone who lives and breathes style semi-approves of my closet. Maxwell is the woman behind design co-op Suz Maxwell, a group of designers with various backgrounds who come together under the philosophy, “life-style-space.” It’s a concept that they’re spreading through the entire city of Chicago by offering style services in all areas of urban life: interior design, art advice, event planning, wedding registry services and closest consultations.

Maxwell, donning a black dress, black tights and tall black flat boots, looking like she just stepped out of In Style, begins by recommending organizational tools.

“The more you see, the more you’ll wear,” she says, advising that I pull my fancy shoes out of the boxes and display them on a shelf. As for the heap of purses, she notes that I’m not using all of the vertical space in my closet, and that adding a shelf or two (or even a pegboard) would prevent the smaller clutches from getting lost in the pile.

I’m starting to think things aren’t so bad, but then: The Purge. Step two involves an examination of every piece of clothing and accessories, determining what needs to go. I’m not ready for this. What if she determines my wardrobe to be a big ol’ unstylish failure? Am I about to find out that my credit card debts were all for nothing?

She explains the purging method. “First, I make three piles: fix, garbage and donate. Then with each item I ask questions. Does it still look crisp? Are there holes, tears, stains or underarm marks? It is outdated? How often do you wear it? Is it versatile?” She rifles through my wardrobe as she talks. The first few pieces, mostly cute tees, pass the test. But she grabs a plaid button-down shirt and holds it out.

“No,” she says. I protest. “But that’s my favorite shirt!” I tell her that I wear it with jeans and Converse All-Stars, when I am running to Target or hanging out at home. She allows me to keep it, as long as I promise not to wear it out to dinner or parties or bars. I promise.

My lime green J. Crew pants aren’t as lucky. “No,” she says, handing them over for the “donate” pile. “But I wear them in the summer with a white tank top and…”

“No.” Her tone is kind and positive but she’s not messing around. I don’t argue; I just put the pants in the pile reluctantly. “I’m honest in my recommendations,” she says. “Because if I’m not, what’s the point of being here?” She has a point.

The rest of the consultation goes smoothly. More items are pulled and donated, interspersed with several “cute” and “this is great” comments about the clothes that get to stay, making me feel good about my collection. I’ll pay my Visa bill confidently this month. After the purge we plan outfits together down to the accessory. Maxwell recommends sitting down on Sunday nights and planning a weekly wardrobe, which saves time. She advises me on how to don pieces that never make it out of the closet because I have no idea how to wear them, and shows me how a few old bridesmaid dresses could be turned into cute summer cocktail dresses, which is a talent unto itself.

We make a list of items that I need to purchase, both for my wardrobe and for my closet organization, and my homework is to create a buying budget for these new, wardrobe-completing pieces. We’ll reconvene in a few weeks for our joint shopping trip and then for another closet organization, where she’ll see if I’ve actually ditched the “donate” items. Smiling, she tells me she’ll likely be harsher the second time around.

Taking a deep breath, I nod. I’m excited that it’s not even 2008 yet and I’ve already conquered one of my resolutions: To clean out my closet.

Service rates vary between members of the Suz Maxwell team. Find out more by calling (312)409-8565 or checking out suzmaxwell.com.

You don’t often hear the phrase haute hemp. Yet as the rash of enviro-conscious ads scattered around Chicago hint, planet-friendly living now resonates with a new set of consumers. Locally, the city is officially green-leaning, joyously bridging various demographics in time for the most blatantly wasteful, err, merriest time of year. Ensuring that “giving back” takes on a whole new meaning, local eco and fair-trade advocates Jessa Brinkmeyer of Pivot and Katherine Bissell Córdova of Greenheart share their ideas for a holiday Mother Earth would love.

With a savvy selection of local and international avant-eco designers, Pivot is the best game in town for fashion-forward, Earth-friendly style. Gifts like Norman Design’s vibrant, citrus-colored clocks, made from recycled HDPE ($45), will add spark to office cubicles, while Nahui Ollin’s quirky coasters, fashioned from factory reject candy wrappers, are gender neutral and affordable ($25 for a set of four). Finally, Brooklyn-based designer Mociun’s bronze, hemp and silk-blend tie dress ($395) proves that dressing “conservatively” can still be provocative. Meanwhile, Greenheart—which recently opened in the Center for Cultural InterChange—carries a mixture of conscientious eco-fair trade gift items from around the globe; every one with its own riveting back-story. A Cambodian rice-bag tote, made from recycled rice bags, supports women rescued from brothels ($40), while a sleek leather wallet is fashioned from discarded landfill truck tubes. The shop’s essential oil-scented Lumia candle line ($2.75 per votive) is the only organic soy product of its kind.

As for those treasured traditions? Both women cite gift-wrap as a major waste culprit. As a creative alternative, Brinkmeyer suggests ditching the tube for old maps and magazines, using the black ribbon from old VHS tapes as the bow for an offbeat touch. Bissell Córdova suggests Greenheart’s eco-fair trade sheet paper ($2-$3 a sheet), made from jute and water hyacinth, and collected by Bangladeshi women to clear out the local waterways. Consider kicking the tannenbaum tradition: Brinkmeyer jury-rigged a holiday tree from a found birch branch, strung L.E.D. lights (they use ninety percent less energy) and adorned it with antique chandelier crystals. If an evergreen-less holiday is out of the question, make sure to take advantage of the citywide drop-off sites on January 12. Bissell Córdova, who warns against the concept of occasion-specific bulk spending, encourages shoppers to “buy sustainable materials and buy to last a while.”

And she adds, “Why not buy good products to last all year?” (Libby Ramer)

Pivot is located at 1101 West Fulton Market, (312)243-4754; Greenheart is at 746 North LaSalle, (312)944-2544.

Hejfina’s Heiji Choy Black raps on what’s to come

By Elizabeth Seeskin

“I don’t know if it’s just a matter of me being jaded, but it seemed like people were just bored,” explains Heiji Choy Black of the spring shows in New York. As the owner of Wicker Park boutique Hejfina, Black has received national recognition for showcasing up-and-coming designers and for her dedication to innovative clothing. Unlike many boutiques (especially in the Midwest, which are often motivated primarily by profit), Black wants to (also) be inspired by the vision of the artists she carries. In order to maintain the store’s reputation for cutting-edge design by French, Swedish and Japanese designers not carried anywhere else in the Midwest, Black travels to New York and Paris twice a year to view the spring and fall lines. But like many critics, Black was disappointed with the collections for spring and summer 2008, finding revamped trends rather than true creativity. “It’s unfortunate but there was kind of a lack of newness,” Black says. “It’s nice to see a new color, but it’s still more eighties-inspired looks.”

For those outside of the industry, the cycles of fashion trends and the variable success from season to season appear as a mystery, proof that fashion is ultimately arbitrary and superfluous. But to Black the cycle is organic, a natural effect of cultural changes and artistic collaboration. In the failure of the spring collections she sees a symptom of larger problems plaguing the fashion community.

“Everyone is just guessing, ‘What does the consumer want?’ And they’re looking at their collection and they’re like, ‘What are the safest things to sell at Barney’s? Let’s just do more of that.’” Not that Black hopes to eliminate the commercial element from fashion (she is a boutique owner after all). But she points to the critical enthusiasm for a designer like Philip Lim, who is recognized everywhere outside the pages of Vogue for being adept at copying other designs and bringing in a huge profit. “There’s no line of authenticity,” she says. “I feel like everyone is focused—and I think this is to some degree a fault of Vogue and the CFDA—everyone is focused on commercial viability.”

Little problems, like smaller trends, become overwhelming and unavoidable in a community as small and dependent on inner-circle knowledge as fashion designers. “Everyone knows each other,” she says of the designers, editors and buyers in New York who dominate the industry. “Everyone is acquainted with what’s being designed, and that’s how we get to these cycles. People go to the same movies. They go to the same rock shows. It becomes this groupthink, where they’re all doing something that’s either sexy or good-looking, but not necessarily terribly interesting.”

However, Black is also dependent on her connections to this exclusive group of fashion insiders. Having lived in New York for several years, she is tuned into the industry gossip that circulates among designers and editors. “So much of the industry is about that underground talk,” she says, explaining that without New York connections she would be at a great disadvantage living in Chicago.

Despite the fact that Black is buying for our Chicago market, this season, like all the rest, will be focused on the lines that are popular or will be popular in New York. The Big Apple continues to be the center of the fashion world and bringing New York lines to Chicago is part of what has made Hejfina the go-to shop for fashionable third-coasters. Given the dull spring lines, and assuming that the changes in the economy have made her shoppers more “conservative,” Black says she’ll be buying less for the next season. But instead of viewing it as a problem, Black sees an opportunity to be more selective, choosing only the pieces that truly inspire her. “Because the ultimate goal is to sell. And if you don’t believe in it you can’t really sell it.”

Hejfina, 1529 North Milwaukee, (773)772-0002

Tim Gunn is on a mission. Between mentoring duties on “Project Runway,” makeover miracles on Bravo’s “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style,” a new book and his duties as Chief Creative Officer for Liz Claiborne, the fashion guru is single-handedly bringing style back to the masses. Gunn recently made an appearance at Yorktown Shopping Center in Lombard as part of the Liz Claiborne Denim Tour. We caught up with him for priceless fashion advice.

What is the most common mistake women make with denim?
Fit, period. Most women think they shouldn’t be wearing a jean that is snug, that follows their own natural curves. But in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it’s the most flattering thing you can do.
With so many denim trends this fall—skinny, wide leg, high-waisted—how do women know which style is right for them?
It really depends on what the rest of their figure is like. I’m a huge advocate of fit, meaning an outfit should follow your silhouette top to bottom. With jeans, they need to follow your silhouette from your waist to the middle of your thigh, and from that point down it’s a matter of taste and what looks good on you.
How have people been responding to the Denim Tour?
People are excited. I think there’s a sense of relief and a kind of epiphany that, “Wow, I can get this right.” I’ve seen so many women come in wearing slouchy pants and leaving in sharp, chic, stunning-looking denim. And no matter what size and shape you are, there’s something for you out there.
As Chief Creative Officer, what direction will you be taking Liz Claiborne?
We are in a process of simultaneous reflection, looking forward and critical analysis. For the most part we are not looking back, we’re only looking straight ahead. And we’re seeing where it will take us. What we do know is that we will not at all compromise our goal of the highest quality, taste and style and irresistible product in all that we do.
(Sharon Pye)

Find Tim Gunn on Bravo, in bookstores and changing denim lives all over the country. Check out his bio at .

With long blonde hair, quick wit and casual style, Detroit-based Erin Norton resembles PJ Franklin, the tomboy-ish character from the TBS series “My Boys.” So it makes sense that a recent episode featured PJ sporting a top from Retro Rags, Norton’s collection of modern vintage tees emblazoned with historical bars, restaurants and clubs.

The idea came three years ago after a happy-hour conversation with fellow school teachers. Norton was intrigued by their tales of old bars during the Detroit heyday. The next day she went to the library to research the defunct hangouts, and the idea sparked.

“I thought it would be great to commemorate these places,” Norton says. “Tons of t-shirts were coming out, and I knew that those images would be better than anything else out there.” After hitting the books for former hotspot info, she churned out a few shirts featuring old Detroit blues and jazz clubs. The response was stellar, and she quickly added New York, L.A. and Chicago to her repertoire. Her singled-out Second City joints? Tequila Mockingbird, Gold Star Sardine Bar, Red Wine Room, Bucket of Blood, Gas Light Corner Bar and Kerouac Jack’s.

Norton’s designs are getting her attention from everyone from teenagers to grandmothers. “Young people love the fit and the graphics,” Norton says, “but it strikes a chord with older people, too, as these are places they or their parents used to go.” Despite offers from major chain restaurants to produce tees, Norton remains committed to preserving history of both cities and venues. Each city has its own unique logo (Chicago’s is a guitar) and each shirt comes with a large tag, which tells establishment history.

Seeing your designs in a shop is one thing, but it’s another to see them on television. Yet it hardly fazed Norton, who remains excited about every aspect of her recent success. “Yeah, it was really exciting,” she says of spotting her tee on TBS. “But I get excited seeing a person wearing one on the street, or when someone sees a shirt and gets excited because their dad used to go there. That’s the coolest thing.” (Molly Each)

Find Norton’s tees at www.retroragscollection.com.

By Nicole Briese

Tucked into slots between the everyday Subway or bank, the boutiques of Old Town’s Wells Street are easy to miss. Keep your head down or lose yourself in a cell phone conversation, and you’ll pass them right by. You won’t be aware that upon entering these inconspicuous shops, you’ll suddenly find yourself on a Windy City Melrose Avenue filled with chic shops that the stars often flock to. Beyond the shops’ modest exteriors, you’ll find trendy, polka-dotted stools and shiny, ballroom-style staircases.

“It’s definitely here,” Kimonique Woodward, owner of one of Old Town’s newest additions, Uri Boutique, says. “[It’s] just about people knowing about it.”

With everything these stores have to offer and a growing economy for the area, it shouldn’t take long for the word to get out. On the clothing front alone, at least four boutiques have opened up here within the last nine months. Additions like Nicole Miller, One Yellow Shoe, Gray and, now, Uri, see the shopping taking off. “I see it being the next Bucktown [or] Gold Coast area,” Woodward says.

Anne Courtade, manager of Nicole Miller, shares a similar sentiment. She says that after spending ten years on Oak Street, the store is thriving in Old Town. “We’ve had a lot of success here so far,” she says. “I see it continuing, especially as [Old Town] grows into a retail area.” The rumored addition of more restaurants in the region and the consequential traffic definitely won’t hurt. “I think it’s going to become a big shopping destination,” Courtade says.

And the boutiques of Old Town are working together to make sure of it. Take their Third Thursdays event, for example. On July 19, a group of ten-plus stores offered complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to shoppers, along with joint discounts on merchandise. “We all kind of work together with making the money,” Woodward says. Courtade agrees. “Oh yeah,” she says. “It’s a group effort.”

That isn’t to say that each store doesn’t offer something unique. Open just a month and a half, Uri is the place to go when looking for something different. “With Uri, it’s very high end, yet elegant,” Woodward explains. Offering designers like the German Heikejarick and Ardistia (whom Woodward says is “known for her hardware”), the store is small, but what is there is exquisite. Also stocked with Chicago favorites like Mackage coats and Gustto handbags, the store is a tad pricey (a pair of Alvin Valley slacks will run you about $290), but if you have somewhere special to be, Woodward says Uri is your shopping destination. “[Uri is great] if you have a big event to go to and you want a unique piece.”

Laura Schoch’s Gray, open in Old Town since May, is an instant favorite, reminiscent of celebrity staple Kitson. The store’s open, airy layout offers everything from t-shirts and , Union jeans to sundresses and halters. With prices as varied as the designs, you can score a cute top for $46 or a more elegant one for $159.

Open since late October, the leader of the boutique newbies, Nicole Miller, offers glamazons runway-ready designs with dresses and tops and models flaunting the clothes on a TV overhead. The prices are high, but so is the fashion—and the status of the Miller label.

Need pumps? Old Town’s latest offers those too, with the March addition of basement-based One Yellow Shoe. Playing light oldies and boasting eclectic brands and styles, the shop offers pumps that are slightly more affordable than the upscale Miller and Uri. Shoes average $64-$89, and the service is warm and friendly, as demonstrated by store employee Kelly Hageman, who readily chats with a customer on the comfort of a specific pair.

She says her boss, owner Tammy Brody, actually lives in the neighborhood. “She was like, ‘I’m sick of the rat race, our neighborhood needs a shoe store,’” Hageman says.

These boutiques, combined with local vets like Josephine and Sara Jane, offer a fashion- forward future not only to Old Town, but for Chicago’s general shopping scene. Woodward, for one, laughs at the thought of scavenging through too-tightly packed racks in an attempt to find not only a likable item, but one in her size.

“Boutiques are taking over anyway,” she says. “Who really shops in department stores anymore?” (Nicole Briese)

Uri Boutique, 1445 North Wells, (312)475-9002; Gray, 1361 North Wells, (312)573–0750; One Yellow Shoe, 1543 North Wells, (312)337-7551; Nicole Miller, 1419 North Wells, (312)664-3532