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+ Luxury Garage Sale: costume jewelery & the coolest vintage finds!

  Luxury Garage Sale is co-founded by partners Brielle Buchberg and Lindsay Segal. Childhood friends, Brielle and Lindsay always had a love of collecting; beginning with stickers and erasers, evolving to shoes and handbags. However, over the years their assorted collections soon overwhelmed their available storage space. Utilizing their backgrounds in fashion and sales, Brielle and Lindsay began selling their unwanted items. After realizing that their friends had the same predicament as well, a light flashed and voila... Luxury Garage Sale was born! Luxury Garage Sale is an upscale consignment service that specializes in selling new and gently used contemporary, designer and vintage clothing and accessories. Visit luxurygaragesale.com for more information.

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+ Timeless dresses, alluring belts & everlasting style at Atelier Azza!

Emerging luxury womenswear label Atelier Azza strives for timeless yet modern opulence with its signature Swarovski laden hand-embellishments and voluminous cuts. Launched by designer Azeeza Khan in 2012, Azza swiftly established a recognizable aesthetic with distinct motif hand embroideries on vivid pure silk fabrics. The Azza Ready-to-Wear and Couture showroom is located in the heart of Chicago's luxury shopping mile at 520 N. Michigan Avenue. The nearly 1,000 square foot boutique is located on Level 3, adjacent to the women's department of Nordstrom Michigan Avenue. This retail effort brings mainstream access to Azza's statement garments that have garnered a cult following amongst Chicago's fashion set and continues to attract attention globally. Click here for more information.

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+ Comfort Me

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+ Wolfbait & B-girls

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+ Carhartt moves into Wicker Park

Carhartt opened in mid-April 2011 at 1518 N. Milwaukee Avenue, launching only its third American storefront. Like the Salt Lake City and Portland locations, the iconic store features classic work wear gear popular with everyone from construction workers to BMX bikers. By offering bib overalls as well as rough-and-ready clothing designs for both men and women, Carhartt seamlessly bridges the gap between fashion and utilitarian consumers. The company’s style fills every inch of this Wicker Park store, from the tinted concrete floor to the re-purposed local antiques. Carhartt may have a rugged sensibility, but that doesn’t mean it’s not becoming a trend.

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+ Una Mae’s Freak Boutique: More than just vintage

Una Mae’s Freak Boutique isn’t just about the vintage in great condition, although that’s how the store got it’s start. It also has a contemporary vibe to everything it sells, from men and women’s branded clothing, to books about pictures, to jewelery and accessories, to home decorations like a bike parking metal sign. Una Mae’s fits right into the Wicker Park neighborhood, yet still manages to stand out with it’s eclectic and unique combination of gently used to brand-spanking new items. Can’t make it to the store and share in the ambiance? Everything they sell can now be bought online, too.

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+ Every Akira boutique different, depending on the neighborhood

After Akira opened in 2002, the trendy clothing/shoe/accessories store exploded across Chicagoland, now boasting 14 stores with plans for more. While some Akira stores focus only on clothing, others focus only on shoes. Even then, shoppers will encounter different styles depending on the store; for one, the downtown location is more urban and offers sneakers, while the North Avenue shop doesn’t. Akira knows its market, no matter where it sets up shop. It also knows trendy and mostly affordable fashion, which isn’t any more obvious than at the fashion shows Akira sponsors and organizes to showcase its more than 200 designer brands. Find out when these shows are happening on Akira’s Facebook page. [caption id="attachment_51805" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The inside of Akira's downtown shoe store."][/caption] Akira Spring Runway 2011

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+ Julia Allison Shops Re. Stock

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+ Penelope’s: Shop Like a Star

Located at the border of Wicker Park and the Ukranian Village, Penelope's is a hip boutique that celebs love to peruse when they're in town. It's low profile but full of sweet finds for both sexes. Around since 2002 --  which for this 'hood and the average life span of a trendy boutique, means it's practically a dynasty; the brands they love that you're sure to find here include:

• Our Legacy
• Sessún
• Gitman Vintage
• Shades of Grey
• Spiewak

They don't stock up on enormous amounts of size runs which means little risk of seeing your look mirrored back to you on Michigan Avenue - collections change frequently so shop often!

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+ Hermes: Scarve Yourself French

Perhaps the arrival of an Hermes store in Chicago means the Windy City has really made it in the fashion world. The French phenom brand is the brains behind the all-elusive Birkin bag which has a waiting list of up to two years in some cases and of course a whole slew of amazing scarves that will make anyone look instantaneously French.

Its location couldn't be more than ideal, across the street from a supersized Barney's and Prada, Hermes brings the level of chic to this carrefour to a level only this line could. Alas visit the store of the line rumored to have Oprah banging down its doors during off hours for an emergency purchase (the Paris location) and scarve yourself fabulous.

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+ Luxurious Lester Lampert

Lester Lampert, located on Oak Street in the Gold Coast lives amongst neighbors such as Harry Winston, Hermes and Bvlgari to name a few. But yet it's possible you've not heard the name before -- if you're not a jewelry connoisseur or a Chi-town native. Well, Lester Lampert is both. One visit to his retail space of dreams, which doubled its original size in 2005, is enough to make anyone weak in the knees. The sparkles, the baubles, the diamonds! But it's Lester's unique designs that have gotten him where he is today. Chosen as the designer of the Field Museum's most noteworthy gems, Loyola University's stained glass windows and more Chicago icons, one look and you'll understand why. Word of the wise: This is not a store to skip. It is a must visit when in the Windy City...if you like gorgeous things that is.

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+ Little Threads