Categories: Shopping
How to Shop: Wicker Park & Bucktown
Author: Lauren Besser
A cool take on the independent-store-blessed neighborhoods of Wicker Park and Bucktown. Trendy has never been so much fun.
In the mid-1990s, Chicago’s artistic and counter-culture communities migrated to the the neighborhoods of Wicker Park and Bucktown. Since, a flood of hippy-yuppie parents have followed, living in Chicago’s urban bohemian quarter amidst underground cultures that take their cues from the late-night clubbing that goes on in this neighborhood to the profusion of high-end graffiti.
At the same time, stores like p.45 and the recently-opened Marc by Marc Jacobs serve elegance and world-class shopping block after block in this neighborhood; and some of the city’s top restaurant call it home, as well. Independently owned is the rule here. When Starbucks took a space on one side of the legendary “Six Corners” intersection (Milwaukee Ave., North Ave. and Damen Ave., including the Damen blue line L stop), the windows were shattered steadily for more than a year. These days, the windows survive, for the most part. Rumors of Banana Republic taking the space of the famed--and still operating--Double Door music club spawned protests.
The development of the neighborhood continues, but with the alternative nature of the place intact, a unique haven for underground culture, high fashion and design. Graffiti art pops up on every corner and concert flyers plastered the temporary plywood walls covering construction sites. The main avenues are still gritty, and the hippest (and most tattooed) load band equipment into one club or another, and hip-hop artists sell CDs on the streets.
With an easy turn, visitors find quiet, tree-canopied side streets speckled with flowering gardens and chalked hopscotch boards. Wicker Park proper hosts a farmer‘s market in the summer and decorations sparkle on front porches during the winter. All the high fashion, punk grime and neat flowerboxes provide a neighborhood vibe that’s decidedly Chicago, where storied communities meet mass urban culture and find a way to work together.
These two neighborhoods are like sisters. Bucktown has long hair and gets highlights, Wicker Park dyes and cuts her hair differently every week. Bucktown is the sister who wears lace underwear and Chloe boots with a vintage bag. Wicker Park wears boy shorts and vans and Ray-Bans. Bucktown practices yoga and takes the L. Wicker Park is a vegan and rides a bike.
The shopping in these two style hubs reflects all the twisted and turns you can expect with two sisters living so close. It all fits together but it it’s all so different.
Vintage shops like Lenny and Me and Silver Moon reside next to groundbreaking Hejfina and trendy Chicago staple, Akira. Reasonably-priced crafts (and we’re not talking doilies and fake-flower wreaths) are available at Renegade Handmade and modern baby furniture and accessories are shown at Grow. This shopping district, more than any other in Chicago, satisfies deep and shallow pockets alike, and boasts access to all things of desire (comic books and skeins of yarn included).
High-end lines otherwise unavailable in the city are found at Helen Yi and Gamma Player, and Marc by Marc Jacobs opened his first store in the Midwest on Damen Ave in early 2008. Cynthia Rowley, Nanette Lepore and BCBG followed suit.
Even with the arrival of national names in recent years, a stronghold of locally-owned shops and restaurants remain. Tangerine and p.45 reign on Damen as go-to shops for small, independent labels and hard-to-find, must-have pieces. Una Mae’s Freak Boutique on Milwaukee defines the union of shabby and chic with reasonably-priced men’s and women’s collections; and Penelope’s has long been Division’s quirky must-visit clothing and cool-stuff shop.
City Soles/Niche, a unique shoe and accessories shop, thrives on “Six Corners”, which remains the center of these destination neighborhoods regardless of the recent tremendous change (read, more and more banks).
The exceptional selections in these sister neighborhoods are not exclusive to fashion. The avenues are loaded with off-beat shops and galleries with mouthwatering selections of everything from hand-pressed stationary to Asian antiques, lingerie to exotic truffles, children’s costumes to LPs at Reckless Records.
All the goods keep shoppers coming back. Gold Coast-living mothers and daughters, The Art Institute of Chicago hipsters, suburban teenagers, yuppies and rockers alike, visit Wicker Park and Bucktown in search of something unexpected, something to wear to the big event that no one else will have on, something to mark a little underground cred. They all have favorite shops, but just might walk into a never-before-visited neighborhood boutique to find something that reinvents an outfit, or an entire lifestyle!
Check out places of interest near How to Shop: Wicker Park & Bucktown:
Bloomingdale's
900 N. Michigan Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60611
Six floors of designer clothing, cosmetics, shoes and more.
Cans Bar and Canteen
1640 N. Damen Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60647
Bucktown favorite Cans Bar and Canteen serves 34 different canned beers as well as premium liquor, wine, and various bottled beer. The locals crowd mixes with high-end tourists looking to get a taste of one of Chicago's coolest neighborhoods.
Salud Tequila Lounge
1471 N. Milwaukee Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60622
This Bucktown nightspot is all about Mexican fare and all kinds of premium tequilas. Go early and relax; go late and be crowded in with a 30-ish crowd of Bucktown residents and party scene adherents.
Sweet Thang
1921 W. North Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60622
This Chicago bakery offers a variety of traditional French and American pastries for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon coffee break. Be sure to check out their specialty cakes for any occasion.
Bloomingdale's
4963 Old Orchard Center,
Skokie, IL 60077
The high-end retail outlet brings its trends to Skokie, with name-brand products for men, women and kids.
Cans Bar and Canteen
1640 N. Damen Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60647
Bucktown favorite Cans Bar and Canteen serves 34 different canned beers as well as premium liquor, wine, and various bottled beer. The locals crowd mixes with high-end tourists looking to get a taste of one of Chicago's coolest neighborhoods.
Salud Tequila Lounge
1471 N. Milwaukee Ave.,
Chicago, IL 60622
This Bucktown nightspot is all about Mexican fare and all kinds of premium tequilas. Go early and relax; go late and be crowded in with a 30-ish crowd of Bucktown residents and party scene adherents.
