Five Fashion Morsels / History of Marshall Fields in Evanston, Jumpsuits + Suzanne Somers
Welcome to your
Five Fashion Morsels for May!
1. The Curated Store: How Marshall Field’s Changed the Way Evanston Shopped - an exhibition at the Evanston History Center honors this landmark. By the time I was a teen who was taking the bus from Skokie to its more "cool" neighbor suburb, the store was in closing mode. At least I can say I was "there". The original building remains, with the corner unit being sadly vacant for the last handful of years. Photo below is from 1932. The Evanston location was one of the first few Marshall Fields stores built outside downtown Chicago.
2. The Evolution of the modern day, ladies, jumpsuit is an incredible metaphor for the changing role of women in the Western world. From their contributions to WWII to the disco craze, to the 90s version in my shop, in a velvet chocolate brown (below), a vintage jumpsuit continues to be the #1 most asked for item by my clientele!
3. Here is a loving tribute to the darling style of Suzanne Somers who passed this last fall. When I first arrived in America in the early 80s, watching Suzanne Somers play Chrissy Snow on the TV show Three's Company was a dazzling crash course in the golden gorgeousness of 1970s California (though I always disliked that couch!).
4. What's on repeat lately while I am shooting and shipping? Khraungbin! Their sound is mesmerizing, as is their vision (I would love to be their Wardrobe Mistress!). And they are coming to Chicago next month!
5. What I'm reading that is not about fashion/style but that is totally relevant to vintage clothing, my business, and the relationship I have to clothes: Could AI Make Us Wise? An Alternative to the Internet Making Us Stupid. Here's the crux of it for me, though the entire essay is worth reading: What if we could similarly affect Google shopping? Right now, if I type in “black sweater,” Google Shopping gives me cheap, fast fashion items from Amazon and Temu that I am morally against purchasing. I have to use filters like price to try to find something more ethical, when what I would prefer is to fine-tune those settings with ethical clothing companies like M.M. LaFleur, artisans on Garmentory and Etsy, and second-hand clothing companies and thrift shops. It could match me with things I value such as craftsmanship, artisanal products, repurposed items, and ethical sourcing.