In what looks to be a mediocre imitation the Sun-Times' Hottest Fans photo contest, the Trib has been featuring a photo slideshow of Cubs and Sox fans wearing out of date jerseys this week. We'd have to believe they'll soon open the floodgates for fan submissions, no? But old jersey scorn is not even a unique idea... StraightCashHomey has been making a mockery of those who wear them for a couple years now. We've even......

Sears announced yesterday that it will begin selling official U.S. Army-licensed clothing. The All American Army Brand's First Infantry Division collection will offer "vintage inspired design, intricate attention to detail, and supreme quality standards, inspired by Army technology," according to Sears's press release. The clothes, ranging in price from $12 for a t-shirt to $120 for coats, will be in stores in October. [Sears]......

While nothing tops the gravity-defying vertical runway show Marshall Fields busted out five years ago, the Fall fashion event Macy's is throwing this year is getting us almost as jazzed up. The historic department store, now celebrating its 150th year in business, will host an 80s-themed “Pop Candy Arcade” fashion extravaganza this Friday that will feature the store’s new looks, as well as allow us to revel in retro-mania. The event kicks off at the......

Those Tyra-Banks-as-Michelle-Obama photos are finally online. They're not very fierce.......

Our love of Chicago paraphernalia continues. This handmade cuff bracelet, $32, dresses up or down. Here's a true story: For years, I thought the term "risk management" was "wrist management." I think I once asked a teacher or something what it meant, and she said it had to do with making sure no one got hurt, "no broken wrists or anything." I don't think I realized it had nothing to do with wrists until...oh,......

Bah, what a great bag. And only $35.......

Chicagoans Michelle Obama and Kanye West both made Vanity Fair's 2008 International Best-Dressed List. Why the recognition? "Because she's our commander in sheath" and "[b]ecause, yes, he Kanye."......

Call us contrarians. One of summer's most delicious pleasures is to be esconced in a cool, darkened theater as we lose ourselves in a movie for a few hours. Or for more than a few hours. The Leopard, screening twice as part of the Siskel's Visconti retrospective, is 185 minutes long, and it's worth every single minute. The experience is especially overwhelming when seen on a big screen. This Italian film from 1963 adapts......

El stops are looking pretty snazzy these days, which is all the more reason to be jazzed up about the one you call home. That’s My Stop sells t-shirts that proudly display the name of your El station in all its block letter signage and grid-coordinate glory. Just pick your train line, stop, and the color and size t-shirt you want from the dropdown menus and for a mere $15 (plus $5 for shipping), you’ll......

Now that Pete Wentz has called Chicago a "global city," it is officially true. [WBBM]......

Etsy lingerie shop GartersByKristi sells, among other things, sports-themed garters. Above are the Bulls and Sox garter sets ($29.99 and $28.99 respectively), but there are sets for the Cubs and Bears, too. Suck it, Blackhawks!......

LL Cool J is designing a hip-hop clothing line for Sears, called "LL Cool J for Sears". (Really LL, that's all ya got?) The LL Cool J for Sears line will be available for purchase in most Sears stores by September. Mr. Cool J is said to have an emotional connection with Sears as he used to beg his grandfather to take him shopping there when he was a child growing up in Queens, which......

Oak Forest police officers discovered 15,000 pairs of counterfeit Nike sneakers in storage units last week. The shoes were in boxes and on pallets, apparently ready to be shipped, and police say they have a street value of $750,000. So far, no arrests have been made, but it's the largest sneaker bust ever in the Midwest. [Southtown Star]......

Last Friday we mentioned that Chicago Fashion Week would be taking place this week, starting on Monday and running through Saturday. At that point, since we had not encountered any advertising for the event or heard any type of buzz at all, we wondered how many even knew about Chicago Fashion Week, or cared. But tickets were selling at $125 apiece, so that must have been what people were willing to pay, right? Well, wrong.......

Monday kicks off Chicago Fashion Week, previewing the Fall 2008 collections of national and international designers in a series of shows, fashion seminars, and networking events. With the New Generation fashion show, local fashion students are also being given the chance to showcase their work. According to the event calendar, tickets are still available to the week’s receptions and shows, taking place at the River East Art Center. Chicago Fashion Week will be launched this......

Next time you're at Walgreens, you can stock up on more than deodes and condoms, aka Saturday supplies. You can also buy clothes. And apparently not just those crappy looking Chicago t-shirts and weirdly tight gloves. Regular clothes! Walgreen's is debuting its new line Casual Gear next week, and from what we can see, it's extremely casual gear. As in pajama casual. But $14.99 for a quilty vest is crazy cheap. T-shirts will cost......

A couple weeks ago, we directed you to a site selling the most awesome t-shirts in the world. When we saw our love for Obama combined with our love of the White Sox combined into one and printed on 100% cotton, our credit card came right out. After waiting two agonizing weeks, we got the goods in the mail last week -- a few days ahead of the March 15 expected ship date. Obama of......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music It's cliché, to be certain, but it truly wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day weekend in Chicago without the Tossers. Tony Duggins and company have been taking the comparisons to the Pogues in stride for over fifteen years now, and for us they pack way more punk energy in their tunes than MacGowan, Spider Stacy......

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Chicagoist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla. Music Gypsy jazz guitarist Alfonso Ponticelli and his band, Swing Gitan, are one of the go-to acts to fill in at the Green Mill whenever Kurt Elling is out of town for his regular Wednesday engagement. Ponticelli's faithful recreations of old Hot Club of Paris numbers, complemented with original compositions, are fresh and accessible without......

What could the impending line on Michigan Ave. possibly be for if not the latest Apple product? Why, for some clothes designed by Michael Jordan and Levi Strauss of course! Starting this Saturday you can purchase a limited edition Air Jordan/Levi clothing package at select Niketown and Levi Strauss stores. For $395 you get a pair of Levi’s 23-501 jeans, a pair of Air Jordan 1 shoes and a t-shirt all in a fancy......

This t-shirt is going to be popular among the Chicagoist staff. So far, both Benjy and myself (briefly dropping the third person) have ordered this sweet Obama t-shirt using the old school 80's White Sox logo. Fret not, north siders, there's an version with the vintage Cubs logo for sale, as well. Even you downstate Cardinals fans can get in on the action. They're all available here. The shirt doesn't ship until March 15, but......

While the Field’s Fans are too busy protesting poor customer service at Macy’s as they long for the days of Marshall Field’s, customer satisfaction for shopping scabs has increased. An annual University of Michigan Study ranking shopper satisfaction among discount and department stores and supermarkets reported Macy’s saw a 5.6% increase in customer satisfaction, ending with a score of 75 out of 100 points. Nordstrom tops the list with a score of 80, only five......

Think reaaaaal carefully about what fashion mistakes you're going to make on bank-robbing day. Because those choices? Well, those choices become who we are. Take the case of the "Kangol Bandit." Chicago's branch of the FBI is asking for all our help IDding the gentleman pictured above, who they say is responsible for at least four bank robberies in Chicagoland since November. He's at least guilty of one crime of fashion. That hat is fugs.......

A 14-year-old Illinois girl was on a cruise off the coast of California with her family when her appendix burst. The USS Ronald Reagan was dispatched to rescue her, and they did--including a helicopter transport between the ships. [Trib] Mayor Daley says he had no idea his son Patrick had invested in a sewer company that did work for the City. Reading from a prepared statement, the Mayor said "I did not know about......

While some grumps were complaining about all the snow this weekend, other people were using the icy stuff to fashion random acts of kindness. Our friend Danielle found this little guy on top of her car and decided to name him Steve. How about you? Did any of you find any unique surprises built out of this weekend's accumulation of flakes and drifts?......

It may be too cold for 70's gym shorts (a la the Pitchfork Music Festival), but you can bet that tonight's Vampire Weekend show at Schubas will double as a winter fashion show/breeding ground for Chicago's hipsterati. The NYC quartet's kinda creepy, kinda awesome take on indie rock "world music" has earned them plenty of blog love, packed houses, and a contract for their first full length release with powerhouse XL Recordings. Eighteen months of......

WXRT just announced this morning that Wilco will be playing a five-day residency at the Riviera Theatre in February. And the most exciting part is the band promises to explore its entire catalog, creating a unique set list for each show and playing songs they haven't played in quite some time. Needless to say, we're excited. (Summerteeth, anyone?) Each show will also be all Wilco, all the time, as the band is playing unsupported......

When you think of stylish, modern fashion, don't the terms "neon," "flares," "fringe" and "overalls" pop into your mind? Oh, wait, they don't? Well, on Wednesday's fashion designer throw down, the challengers were faced with modernizing such dreaded fashion trends that we all hoped were relegated to the design graveyard in the sky. As if designing a chic outfit with shoulder pads wasn't hard enough, Nina Garcia also bore the bad news that they would......

'Tis the season for free champagne tastings. Get started tonight at the Artisan Cellar (located on the first floor of the Merchandise Mart) with a sample of some rare bubblies from 4-6 p.m. Learn all about the history of smothered foods from author Wilbert Jones, the author of Smothered Southern Foods. Jones' lecture, "Smothered - Southern Style" is being held Saturday at the Chicago History Museum, sponsored by the Culinary Historians of Chicago. The lecture......

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