Frugal Fashion

CLOTHES OPTIONAL
Wooden owls peek out between members-only jackets and cowboy hats at this Lincoln Park vintage boutique; the bird statues go well with the retro, homey feel. The highly edited first floor has a funky, psychedelic vibe, with mustard yellow walls that scream ‘70s flashback. Ancient couches and mod chairs give the space a relaxed, lived-in feel amid vintage luggage filled with metallic scarves and beanie hats. Below the polyester and plaid of the first floor, the basement is crowded with cheaper, but less fashion-forward, clothing. A plaid, acid-wash tuxedo blazer goes for $14. “We’re very neighborhood,” owner and buyer Jamie Issler says. “We get a lot of regulars.”

UNA MAE
Walking into Una Mae’s Freak Boutique is like walking into the living room of a weird aunt who hasn’t been out in a few decades and maybe is going a little stir crazy. Tables are covered with tees from brands like Lifetime and Boxfresh, as mannequins in Pulp Fiction wigs and a chandelier made out of bullets loom above. In the back, past a warped dresser stocked with the Reader’s Digest books, you can find a small collection of well-priced vintage (flannel shirt-dresses cost around $20), though the store used to exclusively deal in second-hand clothing. Mellow, alternative music and a staff that is “not down your throat trying to sell you stuff you don’t want,” give the space a laidback ambiance, buyer Nick Johnson says. He describes the inventory as “affordable with awareness;” items are more than $150 only when the brand is known, and rarely cost more than $300. Una Mae’s is also full of “freakish” items, from a shoulder length single earring with a bullet charm to a cookie jar bearing the Andy Warhol quote, “In the future everybody will be famous for 15 minutes.”

LENNIE AND ME
Lennie and Me is a Wicker Park fixture, split in half between upscale vintage finds and funky furniture. The store has a large selection of dresses and evening wear, such as a houndstooth cocktail dress that costs $35, as well as a men’s section full of vintage ties and hats. Designer resale is also sold from brands like Marc Jacobs. The furniture side offers items as diverse as a thermos from a bygone era to an old school candy dispenser.

GAMMA PLAYER
Not for the frugal, Gamma Player is inspiration for the thrift shopper. Black walls and floors make a stark canvas for unattainable clothing-as-art: Jackets made of rope brocade sheathed in tulle are wedged next to hot pink-and-yellow leather motorcycle jackets thick with gold hardware. Shopkeeper Christopher Pelletier admits that other than the international clientele who frequent the destination shop, the store attracts, “an artsy crowd just there to look at the artistry of the clothing.”

The staff puts up rotating installations in the gallery-like space: The back wall is completely covered in hair, from Morticia wigs to Shirley Temple mops, offset by a line of hairspray cans below.

Internationally known techno DJ Jeff Mills and wife Yoko Uozumi opened the store in March 2007 and showcase a worldly variety of designers coming from places as far as South America and Africa. The four-figure pieces may be strictly for the store’s European jetsetter clientele, but Gamma Player still makes for a good stop on the Damen retail stretch.

PENELOPE'S
With candy-colored art decorating the walls and desks lovingly adorned with candles, it is no surprise that this sunny spot was named for owners Joe Lauer and Gina Frey’s pet pug, Penelope.

The boutique brings in everyone from moms with strollers to college students, who come to find clothing with “clean, simple lines that is understated, but playful,” shopkeeper Jessica Paulson says. Penelope’s is the only store in the country that carries French line Sessun, and prides itself on its selection of other French designers such as APC and American Retro. Opened six years ago, Penelope’s goal was to introduce Chicago to underrepresented homegrown lines as well as foreign labels like Swedish brand Dunderon. The store also carries a variety of accessories that are less budget-busting, like fuzzy hunter hats and felt fedoras, as well as very giftable items like $4 pens and notebooks and $10 polaroid albums.

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