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Ladies (and Scottish men) walking in Pilsen…beware! Someone may be looking up your skirt!
On 18th Street in Pilsen, I walked by and saw the above image spray painted on the sidewalk. As I started to pass, I realised that there was writing under the image and stopped to take a closer look.
I think we can all agree that this is, next to amazing graffiti that portrays a dinosaur flossing, this work of defacing art is pretty damn awesome!
Dev xx
Today I went back to the zoo to enjoy the beautiful weather and took some pretty incredible photos. The animals must have been in a good mood as well because if I didn’t know any better, I’d think they were posing! (Except for all the big kitty cat naps.) Take a look and be sure to check the zoo/park out when you have a chance.. if nothing else, it’s a wonderful opportunity to admire the new foliage and blossoms! Ah, spring.
"I know exactly what I'm doing."
Here’s the perfect reason to get excited for the coming season!
From 2-4 p.m. today, Stella McCartney will be making an appearance at Barneys to promote her new 2009/2010 fall/winter fashion line. This rare appearance will surely be enough to excite even the biggest cynic who is still reeling from this past winter.
The trunk show in Chicago is the second installment of Stella’s two-part Barneys’ tour today–first stop NYC, second the Windy City.
Be sure to check out this FREE, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and maybe even score some swag.
15 E Oak St, Chicago
312/587-1700
-Ileana
via Medill Reports.
Chicago fashion designers say the economy is making it difficult to sell their products. Florodora, a boutique in the loop, features items created by local designers.
Keeping on top of next season’s trends is the least of the worries for local fashion designers. As the economy continues to founder, designers and retailers are being forced to change their business models to stay competitive.
Kate Boggiano, an independent blouse designer whose studio is in Pilsen, says the economy has affected her business in surprising ways.
At the beginning of each season, fall and spring, Boggiano’s design team reflects on top-selling products and set goals for the next season. Style are cut in-house and then sent to a factory that creates the samples. Once a garment is inspected, re-fitted, and ready for distribution, Boggiano attempts to sell it to retailers.
“Unfortunately we’ve had five stores that carry our products go out of business,” Boggiano said. “In theory wholesale is good, but in practice it’s risky.”
If there aren’t enough orders for a particular style, Boggiano says, she may have to cancel it. A successful season, Boggiano said, means selling at least 50 items of each style. In the past, she has sold hundreds of shirts to retailers and directly to consumers through her web site.
“We’ve been seeing a pretty significant pick up over the past two weeks,” Boggiano said. “Once there is news that the economy is coming out, people will start spending.”
But maintaining the designer-retailer relationship has been difficult as the economic recession is stressing many designers. Business with retailers has changed as retail business has slowed down, and cash transactions have turned into credit-card purchases.
“It’s always nice for me as a designer to hear back from retailers,” Boggiano said. “Wholesale is really the way to expand your line and gives me instant access to customers across the country.”
Kathy Frey, a jewelry designer whose studio is in Lincoln Square, says that going back to the basics of good customer service is key to waiting out the economic storm.
“I feel pretty fortunate because although my business is down, it didn’t stop,” Frey said. “It teaches me to run my business more efficiently. When economy bounces back, I’ll be very much ready for it.”
One of the few women’s’ boutiques in the loop, Florodora is putting on an eight-week event to raise awareness of local designers featured at the store. It, too, buys products from designers at wholesale prices, then selling at retail prices for profit.
“We like to support local designers,” Michael Blossom, owner of Florodora, said. “We put out designers who I know customers will like.”
Blossom says he focuses on what will sell, not necessarily what would make his shop seem cutting-edge, when he buys products. With styles changing every season, Blossom creates categories such as sweaters, dresses, jewelry, and allots a certain amount of money to buy groups of each.
But Blossom said though he bases his model on what has been successful in the past he was still left with unsold items. Last season was challenging, Blossom said, but he remains optimistic that business will pick up.
Florodora’s event will run through May 29, with Frey featured on May 8 and Boggiano on May 15.
-Ileana
A shot of downtown in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
As a welcome change from our monotonous routine of Friday lecture, our class was taken on a pseudo-field trip to the Back of the Yards– a community on the southwestern side of the city. The dreary weather and quiet streets did little to hide the hard life of many of the community’s residents.
Upon arrival we were greeted by Father Bruce. A veritable denizen in the town, Father Bruce is a priest at the Holy Cross church and a community leader. He told us, in extraordinary detail, about the town’s issues with gangs, violence, and poverty. But the walking tour, and the locals we spoke with, did more explaining than I could have imagined.
Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” is based on the stock yards there. A predominantly Mexican-immigrant community, Back of the Yards has the attitude of a town that is an arguable world of its own. The town is made up of quick and cheap manufacturing of tenement housing, the sidewalks, Father Bruce included, used to be make of wood planks. Everything appears clean and new, and only is maintained due to burgeoning relations with local gangs and the church.
A cross on display in the Catholic Charities food bank.
Holy Cross church may be unlike anything I have ever seen in the U.S. The widest church in Chicago without column support, the dome is 60 ft. high and ornately designed. Sunday mass brings over 1,000 attendees and I got the sense that the town really was more of a compound: The church at the center and the town surrounding.
Father Bruce explained that though “hard-core” gangs only make up about 3-4% of the population, local teens feel very different. Within the first five minutes of us walking into the church, he received a phone-call from a gang member, asking who the Northwestern van belonged to–what we were doing there. He was on his way to Harold Washington University to enroll in college courses, a great success story.
We were taken on a tour of second-chance schools and homes, and explained the work the church and others were doing to prevent future generations from falling prey to gangs. Entering one classroom, our group got the chance to speak with some students. Father Bruce asked the newest student what he hoped to accomplish in 2012–the boy incredulously expressed that he did not think he would be alive by then. He said he was 16. Another made mention that wearing certain colors of clothing is enough to get you shot. Only wear dark blue and black, he said.
It was all hard to hear, the stories kids told. Next we were taken out to the courtyard and met a group of young men who were employed by the church for four months, the sand and varnish the pews. The work was keeping them out of gangs– one young man’s brother was recently shot and killed on a nearby street by a rival gang.
As we walked, Father Bruce pointed out landmarks where someone was beaten up the night before, shot a couple of days earlier, etc. At one point I cursed myself for being a little uneasy–I was only in town a few hours, the residents were forced to deal with the unease every day.
The food bank is raising awareness of the 24th Annual Hunger Walk on Saturday, June 20 in Montrose Harbor. All procreeds go to supporting food programs in greater Chicago.
We were taken to a food bank, where a Sister explained that each week the bank gives groceries to over 300 families. Much of the food was donated for free by the USDA, but specialty goods like peanut butter had to be paid at retail price. With the majority of the neighborhood living below the poverty level, she said the bank has seen an enormous jump in people requiring assistance in the past year.
Last quarter I spent some time at the South Side bureau in Chinatown. Many of my classmates and I spent time in Woodlawn, Bronzeville, Pilsen..and I was shocked to hear that people were dissuaded from visiting these communities because of the old stigmas of South Side neighborhoods. The Back of the Yards is in need of help. We were told that police are apprehensive of patrolling and the community has become almost lawless. There are approximately 150 children on each street and they all live with a cautionary look over their shoulders. Though I am not one to promote religion as a solution to societal issues, but Father Bruce is doing good work. From what I witnessed, he had a wonderful report with residents and an ongoing dialogue with many gang members. He is trusted and respected, and gives the community a lot of hope.
If you have the opportunity, Back of the Yards is worth a visit–why not look beyond Pilsen for “authentic” Mexican food, at the very least.
-Ileana
