Shopping - Chicago - page 129

It's well worth a stroll for people-watching: this is Main Street for
Chicago socialites. Most of Oak Street is closed on Sunday, except
during the holiday season.
Chicago's most high-profile clothing boutique, Ultimo, is right
around the corner from Michigan Avenue; upscale and exclusive, it
caters to the seriously fashionable (p. 138). Footwear fans can browse
Italian shoemaker To d 's , best known for its luxuriously soft (and
pricey) driving shoes. Shoes, stationery, and handbags are available at
kate spade, 101 E. Oak St. ( & 312/654-8853 ), along with the Jack
Spade line of men's accessories. The priciest accessories on this very
pricey block can likely be found at French luxury house Hermès of
Paris, 110 E. Oak St. ( & 312/787-8175 ). Thread-count fanatics
swear by the sheets from Pratesi, 67 E. Oak St. ( & 312/943-8422 ),
and Frette, 41 E. Oak St. ( & 312/649-3744 ), both of which sup-
ply linens to top hotels (and where sheet sets cost more than what
some people pay in rent).
Anchoring the western end of the block are two haute heavy-
weights, hip Italian designer Prada, 30 E. Oak St. ( & 312/951-
1113 ), which offers three floors of sleek, postmodern fashions for
men and women and plenty of the designer's signature handbags;
and equally style-conscious Barneys New York (p. 139).
2 More Shopping Neighborhoods
STATE STREET & THE LOOP
Shopping in the Loop is mostly concentrated along State Street,
from Randolph Street south to Congress Parkway (although there
are stores sprinkled elsewhere, they're mostly places that cater to
office workers: drugstores, sandwich shops, and chain clothing
stores). One grand old department store makes it worth a visit:
Macy's at State Street (formerly Marshall Field's), 111 N. State St.,
at Randolph Street ( & 312/781-1000 ). A city landmark and one of
the largest department stores in the world, it occupies an entire city
block and features the largest Tiffany glass mosaic dome in the U.S.
If you're in Chicago between Thanksgiving and New Year's, Macy's
has maintained a long-time Marshall Field's tradition: lavishly deco-
rated holiday windows and lunch under the Great Tree in the store's
restaurant, The Walnut Room.
RIVER NORTH
Since the 1960s, when the Chicago Imagists (painters Ed Paschke,
Jim Nutt, and Roger Brown among them) attracted international
attention with their shows at the Hyde Park Art Center, the city has