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Ooh-la-la: A special feature written by Peggy Laemle

March 15th, 2010 in Shopping

Highland Park resident Lisa Farrell sells hats. But more than hats, she sells dreams. Just step inside her tiny shop at 441 Central Avenue – next to the Highland Park Theater - and you can imagine the occasion for which you must wear that sculptured hat, embellished with decorative touches of feathers or hand made flowers and a ribbon or two. Or how about the elegant cloche with the tiny design embedded in it? Perhaps you’d like to buy your child or grandchild a winter hat with a lamb design, or polka dots?

Though she sells hats designed by several other milliners – note the children’s hats - her specialties include hats created from hand-blocked felt (90% comes from the Czech Republic; the rest from Italy), straw (from Asia), or fabric. She discovered her love and aptitude for hat design after studying at Ray Vogue School of Design, working on costume design for the theater, and attending the North Carolina School of the Arts. Lisa’s customers come from all over the country, for they know she can design a hat in a style that best suits one’s face and shape, not to mention the occasion. This past summer, a bride and her mother flew in from Las Vegas for wedding chapeaus to wear to the nuptials in Rome, Italy.

Lisa told me that there is no typical customer. Years ago I bought a gardening hat for my daughter at Ooh-La-La. You may think a gardening hat is a baseball cap with a long brim. But not the one I bought. It was made of straw, easily folded for travel – my daughter lives in Oregon - and now stylishly protects both her face and neck while she gardens.

Though small, Ooh-La-La has enough display room for a variety of hats and an array of hat blocks, which line the walls. These hat blocks came from a very well known St. Louis millinery business owned by Sam Schneider. When he died, his heirs put his entire factory up for auction. Lisa, who found out about the auction from Sam’s daughter, a fellow Highland Park resident, won a bidding war for the contents of this factory by including sweat equity in her offer. She and her husband drove a truck down and, during the course of one week, boxed and sold, donated or kept items in the factory, including machines (kept several), hat blocks (kept all those!), fabrics, and a tall safe, which someone, thankfully, purchased from her. In all, it took over six truckloads to clear out the factory. 

One of several Chicago area milliners, Lisa is the only one with a storefront with regular hours. She was very busy last November getting ready for the fifteenth annual La Fete des Catherinettes Celebration of the Millinery Arts Alliance, whose opening night was at Perennial on North Lincoln Avenue, followed by a weekend display at The Peninsula Chicago. Wish I could have been there!

Interesting fact:  Ooh-La-La is not the first hat shop to be located at 441 Central.  In the 30’s and 40’s, Etienne Millinery was there!

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Bett's: A special feature written by Peggy Laemle

January 18th, 2010 in Shopping

Bett Barnett of Bett's and B2 Contemporary has the artist’s eye of a clothing designer. In her first Highland Park store, opened in 1976 and which she called Bett's Leathers, she sold primarily clothing she designed herself.  By the time she moved to her third and current location on the corner of Green Bay Road and Central Avenue, her store was named Bett's and she was shopping at designer trade shows nationally and internationally for clothing in the latest styles and easy travel fabrics that would most suit her customer base.

She has been a U.S. Delegate to the Southeast Asia Fashion Week in Singapore and to Montreal's Fashion Week. Her interest in championing young designers has led her to attend and judge fashion shows at Chicago's School of the Art Institute and Columbia College.

Two years ago she opened B2 Contemporary next door to Bett’s.  She refers to this as her “younger trendy boutique [whose] mission is to pair fashion and philanthropy.” By hosting evening shopping events benefiting the charitable interests of her clients, she brings awareness, and donates a percentage of the profits, to these causes.  Her shopping evenings have benefited Breast Cancer Research; Friends for Steven: Pediatric Cancer; CURED – Campaign Urging Research for Eosinophilic disease; Gene Therapy research; the Oak Terrace School’s Computer Center; the Apple Tree Theater; and Highland Park’s Volunteer Pool.

Bett’s customers come from the greater Chicago metropolitan area as well as the surrounding states for fashion - forward or classic attire. Bett has scoured the markets for the best looks to offer the customers great value in response to the economic climate. The bargain conscious mark their calendars for her once-yearly 6 a.m. sale in January and for Highland Park’s end of July Sidewalk Sale.

Though Bett moved from Highland Park seven years ago, she remains passionate about her shop’s location and clientele. She was instrumental in starting Highland Park’s own Fashion Week four years ago, enjoys her membership in the Chamber of Commerce, and is active in the Chamber's Women’s Networking Group.

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The Bar Method Celebrates One Year Anniversary in Downtown Highland Park

October 1st, 2009 in General Interest

Catherine Wendel, Co-owner, The Bar Method Highland Park

On October 2nd we will celebrate our one year anniversary in Highland Park  by rewarding our most loyal clients with a free unlimited 30-day package.  As always, we offer new clients the chance to try The Bar Method for 30 days unlimited for only $100.   If you come 3-5 times a week you will see a dramatic change in your body.

We chose Highland Park for our second location in the Chicago area because we wanted to be in the North Shore and Highland Park was the prime demographic and size.   The women and men in this area are active and passionate about the latest effective body sculpting techniques.  The Bar Method thrives in this type of area because clients are both health conscious and body aware.

As we celebrate our one year anniversary in Highland Park, we are pleased to hear our clients say that they’ve never seen such body changes (and they have tried everything else).  The truth about The Bar Method is that it works!

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Eco-Friendly Style on the North Shore

September 18th, 2009 in Shopping

Becky Barnes Jackson, Store Manager/Buyer, Notice: Accessories for Living

Notice: Accessories for Living has been a Downtown Highland Park shopping destination for over two years. We carry everything from jewelry to home décor items and we focus especially on eco-friendly products. Buying green is very important to us, but being fashionable is equally so. We do not compromise style or quality to be green. There are a lot of poorly made products out there claiming to be green but we comb through them and only carry what we feel is best. We also strive to sell products that you can’t find anywhere else on the North Shore. We want to be really different, to set ourselves apart and I think our customers appreciate that. In addition to eco-friendly items, we are particularly drawn to small family-run companies and women-owned businesses.

One really unique product line that we carry and are very excited about is Cardboard Design. They are a fairly new company, based out of New York and they produce a line of furniture and home décor accessories that is constructed of 100% recycled and 100% recyclable cardboard. We will be featuring their products in a trunk show as part of the ‘Shop Home for the Holidays’ events weekend in October. The trunk show open house will be held Oct. 15-17 and will include refreshments and a gift with purchase.

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A New Vibe in Downtown Highland Park

August 21st, 2009 in Restaurants

Lisa Norcia, Owner, Vibe at 1935

Vibe at 1935 has been open a month in Downtown Highland Park and already the local response has been great. When I began scouting restaurant locations, I was deciding between Highland Park and another community but it soon became clear that Downtown Highland Park was the place to be. The City of Highland Park is very accommodating to new businesses and, in general, businesses seem to do better here than in many of the neighboring communities. The people are wonderful, too. We already have regulars! They love the food and the atmosphere. Locals are thrilled to have a place in Downtown Highland Park because we bring a big city feel to the suburbs. When I was developing the concept for Vibe, I knew exactly how I wanted it to be: a place where people can stop in for drinks after work, grab dinner before a movie, or enjoy dessert and cocktails on a night out. We are all about the small plates. You can come in for a quick bite or make a full meal of it. And in addition to our fantastic wine list, we have a full-service bar with an excellent cocktail menu. We will be open on Sundays for football season, so you can sit and watch the game with friends while enjoying a good beer and homemade potato chips. We are planning a number of events for the next year, including a tailgating party for the first Sunday of football and a crawfish boil in the spring. We would love to also do an Oktoberfest celebration this fall.

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