This designer adds flair to fall
Chicago Tribune, United States
Ellen Warren | Shopping Adviser
September 13, 2007
We all know someone who fits this description: Stylish, fashionable, totally put together. Someone whose flair and savvy we wish we could miraculously acquire. Someone like Chicago jewelry designer Erin Gallagher.
Gallagher, 28, turns up in outfits that always look … just right. She’s no slave to fashion, yet she manages to look as current as this month’s Vogue. And she doesn’t spend a fortune in the process.
In short, she is the ideal person to act as a guide to fall trends. She agreed to share her fashion wish list and show us some of her favorite spots for items that will perk up wardrobes now that summer (sob) is coming to an end.
Naturally, we started with jewelry, checking out her new store — called, simply, Erin Gallagher. Her grand opening is set for Sept. 26 under the “L” tracks at 1017 W. Lake St. (312-492-7548, egjewelry.com).
“Jewelry trends are either real dainty or super bold,” she said as she gave me a tour of the shop where you can choose your stones, your style, your price. Then her artisans will fashion a custom necklace, earrings, ring or bracelet for your wedding, special event — or just for fun. (You also will find her designs at Chicago-area Nordstrom stores.)
In the dainty category, Gallagher showed off colored sto nes set on delicate gold or gold-filled chains. As for bold, think no further than a showy cocktail ring (starting at $20). And, for the budget minded, hooray: “Silver is back.”
Our next stop had to be shoes. Gallagher was in the hunt for short boots that show off the ankle in a jewel color and preferably patent leather (the better to repel Chicago’s inevitable slush). She found exactly what she wanted at a great price at PS: Accessories (1127 N. State St.; 312-932-0077, ps-accessories.com). She says the burgundy boots by Carlos Santana ($119) will look fabulous “with dark gray pants, a white shirt — and a great red necklace.”
Then she spotted a pair of hard-to-ignore sexy Mary Jane stilettos with a black-and-white striped heel (Oh Deer, $113). Holding the left shoe at eye level she pronounced it, “The cutest shoe ever. Your little black dress, fishnets, hello!”
Now it was time to complete the trifecta of accessories. Onward, to purses . At Shebang (1616 N. Damen Ave.; 773-486-3800, shopshebang.com), Gallagher tore through the place (“I’m a fast shopper”) and snagged a half-dozen favorites in the time it took for me to say hello to owner Jennifer Tang.
“How do I pick?” asked Gallagher, surrounded by her choices, weighing the virtues of a deep-green messenger bag (Tano, $198) ample enough to hold her laptop and her jewelry samples and a saturated purple suede Hayden-Harnett clutch ($256) for after-work events. Gallagher had really wanted a bag in fall’s hot color — gray — but she fell hard for a black patent one instead, the “Exeter” by Tylie Malibu ($432) that owner Tang had chosen for her day bag. Even though it was filled with Tang’s stuff, Gallagher had to sling it over her shoulder and admire herself in the mirror. Then it was my turn. Yum.
With all our accessory needs (well, most of them) attended to, it was time to look at clothes. “It’s all about juxtaposition,” said Gallagher, offering her fall fashion forecast, “Super feminine, very glamorous, ’40s and ’50s but also male dressing, clean-lined tailored.”
We found it all at a new boutique that just opened in June, Bonnie&Clyde’s (1751 W. Division St.; 773-235-2680, bonnie-clydes.net). Gallagher instantly spotted a shirt that embodied two of her favorite trends, close-to-the-body glam and menswear. The European Culture top has a corset-like front superimposed on a long-sleeve man’s classic ($162). “It mixes the two. Pretty streamlined and masculine and ultra feminine.”
The same could be said of the suspendered, high-waisted black stretch cotton Angela Johnson jumper that Gallagher said was “really well priced” at $80. She’d wear it with a simple white T-shirt now and something heavier (and gray?) when the temperature plummets.
We had covered a lot of territory by the time we made it back to Gallagher’s still-under-construction jewelry store, where she warned me not to brush up against the walls (wet paint!) and not everything has price tags yet. But that hasn’t stopped her fans from dropping by.
Diane Galleher of Rogers Park stopped in with her husband, Ian, and son, Declan, 10, just for a fast browse and to wish the young designer luck on the new venture.
Then I did what I’d been hankering to do all day. I asked Gallagher to take off some of the lust-worthy jewelry she’d been wearing so I could try it on and start my own wish list for fall.
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shopellen@tribune.com
