The Dressing Room
- January 2006There's a play on a famous saying: "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping." Before opening Lincoln Square's The Dressing Room, that's exactly what co-owners Barbara Ruiz and Sarah Sanchez did. What they found was that many of Chicago's boutiques made shopping surprisingly difficult for women, especially moms with kids. And that's not all: sky-high prices, a limited variety, rude salespeople, narrow aisles inaccessible to strollers and too-small sizes turned looking for new clothes into a chore rather than a fun day out. The purpose of their experiment? Research that would lead to building a better shopping experience. They took their investigation to another level by working inside the retail world, each at a small boutique, for about a year before they opened The Dressing Room. "Every Saturday morning, I went to work at a store in Evanston," explains Barbara. "It was an unbelievably eye-opening and helpful experience—not so much because we learned what we wanted to do, but what we didn't want to do."
The result of all their research fills a long-awaited need in Lincoln Square for a women's clothing boutique that caters to a younger audience while carrying on the neighborhood's friendly vibe. The Dressing Room is the antidote to the snooty boutique. It's the kind of shop that makes you want to stop in to see what's new every time you walk by. Dynamic window displays designed by Barbara speak to the shop's 50-50 division between casual and more fancy clothes. "On one hand our clothes are totally casual," says Barbara. "But they're casual in a Paul Frank sort of way, not a Hanes Beefy T sort of way. The other half is going out clothes, like something dressy you could wear out to dinner or maybe creative daytime wear for some people. We consciously didn't want to carry 'work' clothes. There are no suits, no wool gabardine anything." Casual at The Dressing Room means irreverent t-shirts (one reads "Not the nanny"), sweaters and a great selection of jeans. Flirty tops, skirts and dresses loaded with feminine details make up the "going out" clothes. A world of accessories including belts, hats, scarves, wallets and handbags, and a ton of jewelry are there to accompany your new outfits. On any given visit, the inventory seems to have revolved completely.
Part of what makes shopping at The Dressing Room so great is its gorgeous, yet completely relaxed atmosphere. It's every bit as beautiful as any shop on Armitage or Oak Street, but as welcoming as many exclusive boutiques aren't. Bright, cheerful walls plus a loft-like ceiling and plenty of room to move around the clothes gives the space an airy feel. "We wanted the shop to look like we could sell a $400 tank top here, even though we never would," explains Barbara. Dressing rooms are large enough for a woman to bring in a stroller and still have plenty of room to see how great her clothes look. "Before we opened, we made sure that the store was completely stroller-friendly," explains Sarah. "Barbara brought in her stroller from home and tested the layout by rolling it all around." Clever signs are handwritten on white boards outside the dressing rooms that say things like, "Your husband called. He said buy everything." And speaking of husbands, The Dressing Room keeps issues of Sports Illustrated handy for them to take the boredom out of waiting for their wives. There's also a play area in the corner stocked with toys to keep kids occupied and well behaved while their moms shop. Even dogs are welcomed by a water bowl out in front of the store during the warmer months, and can come in while their owners shop as long as they can be carried.
Five years ago, Barbara moved to Lincoln Square with her family. She's currently married with three boys who are now two, three and eight. As a stay at home mom, she spent a lot of time around the neighborhood and was watching it change. She and Sarah always had dreamed of opening a boutique together, and could only imagine opening in Lincoln Square. "The target customer was us—the woman with kids who doesn't really feel comfortable shopping in most stores," says Barbara. When they thought of the types of clothes they'd sell, Barbara and Sarah envisioned fashionable lines at reasonable prices. "People don't think you can have a lucrative business unless you sell expensive things," says Barbara. "All moms shop at Target, even the ones who live in million dollar homes. We wanted to reach the Target moms." Sarah agrees, "We think it's so much more fun to go shopping when you can leave with a bag full of stuff."
There couldn't be two people who complement each other better than Sarah and Barbara, and they couldn't have chosen a better business to pursue. Both go way back to their days growing up in Holland, Michigan, where they met while working in the same restaurant during high school. Each chose to go her own way for a while, but ended up on a path that eventually brought them together again. "We both took the path less traveled," recalls Barbara. "We spent a lot of time having fun and trying to find ourselves during our early 20s." After living in Austin, Texas for a few years, Barbara moved to Chicago and studied fashion design at Columbia College. "I thought forever that I would have my own clothing line someday," says Barbara. "She's great at sewing," agrees Sarah. On the first day she arrived in Chicago, Barbara met her future husband, who happened to be a roommate of the only friend she knew in the city. After graduation, Sarah lived in Lima, Peru for a few years. Eventually, she decided to go to school for interior design. "It was like throwing darts at a map," recalls Sarah. "I randomly picked the Harrington Institute of Interior Design, which was in Chicago." That led to a job designing the interiors of opulent homes along the North Shore. "I made coffee tables and custom TV wall units that are all over the North Shore," says Sarah. For some projects, she enlisted Barbara to help her sew custom-made cushions and pillows, among other items. Their lives took a more serious turn when Sarah got married and got a new job working for Herman Miller, while Barbara got married and started her family.
Plans for the store really started to gel when the two hit a period of transition a few years ago. Barbara felt ready to go back to work and began to ask for advice from her friends who had written business plans. "I had just quit my job at Herman Miller," says Sarah. "I asked Barb, 'Are you ready? Can we really do this?' She had a newborn at the time." After all the discussion, it was time for Barb and Sarah to make the store happen. The Dressing Room started with a retreat. Barbara's in-laws had invited her to spend the summer at their home in Italy. She saw the opportunity and asked Sarah to come along so that they could work out their business plans in a relaxed setting. "We actually did research while we were there," says Barbara. "It was a much needed break that gave us the time to really think about what we were doing." They both came back energized and ready to go. Their next step was finding the right location.
Barbara and Sarah were determined to find a space in Lincoln Square for their boutique. "We contacted the chamber and joined before we even had a lease," explains Barbara. "Brad was the executive director at the time, and he took a walk with us all around the neighborhood looking for a space for us to rent." Every day, they scoured the streets, desperately looking for a "For Rent" sign. And then one day—there it was. "We were actually toying with the idea of going to another neighborhood," recalls Sarah. "But we really didn't want to. Then we spotted this tiny little sign in the window of an old doctor's office. I went home and called the number immediately. I think we were the first people to contact the landlord." Leasing the space was only the first step, though. It took a tremendous amount of vision to see a boutique in the former doctor's office. "The ceiling was very low and there were lots of little rooms with sinks," describes Barbara. "Plus there was the scariest x-ray machine you've ever seen in your life in the back room." Demolition started in May 2005 and continued for the next three months. (You can watch the amazing transition here.) "It took a whole month just to tear everything apart," says Sarah. Meanwhile, Sarah put her professional experience to use designing the space they always dreamed of, searching for the perfect details from the black and white filigree wallpaper to the precisely apple green paint for the walls. "Sarah and I both have the gift of being able to look at something and see its potential," says Barbara. "I'm so glad we held out. With the farmer's market right here, the square, the Davis Theater—this really is a dream location." The Dressing Room finally opened at the beginning of August 2005, right on target with their deadline.
As you browse around The Dressing Room, you'll notice that there's a big focus on local designers. That's no accident. It fits right in with the popular movement to "shop local" in Lincoln Square. Barbara and Sarah even sell a t-shirt that expresses this sentiment. Brighton Park Press, which is based in the neighborhood, makes a shirt that reads "Support your local____." You fill in the blank with a marker and change it as often as you like, since it washes right off. The local designs are perfect if you're looking for something a bit different and you don't want to wear something from a chain that thousands of other people are buying. Some of the designers with merchandise at The Dressing Room introduced themselves by coming in as shoppers first. Most either live or work in the neighborhood. Neesh, known as "clothing for the grown up girl," is a line of vintage-styled skirts, sweaters and tops with a showroom right on Ravenswood Avenue. "They're so close that we can run over really quickly if we need something," says Sarah.
Local jewelry designers with wears at The Dressing Room include Deana Rose whose beaded work is well known in New York. Laura Davis makes artsy earrings incorporating beads and other objects. Other local jewelry designers include Sara Teague and Eli Diaz. Sojourn is a fun line of bags from Jennifer Gordon, who left her corporate life to design inventive accessories like the sleek bracelet bags, which have handles that you can remove and wear as jewelry. One of the most popular Sojourn items for both men and women is a Chicago Messenger Bag that features the Chicago flag. "My husband carries one," says Barbara. "When he was traveling on business, he ran into Walter Payton's son, who begged my husband to send him one."
When they aren't visiting other Chicago showrooms, Barbara and Sarah love to go on buying trips to seek out new lines. "As different as we are, we have pretty similar tastes when it comes to what we like for the store," explains Barbara. "And we both have design backgrounds." Barbara's fashion degree comes in handy when the two are deciding whether to make a purchase. "Because of her sewing skills, I can always ask her to take a look at something to see if it will fall apart," says Sarah. The two love going on buying trips. "Buying for the store is ten times more fun than I thought it would be," says Barbara. "It's exciting because it's strategic." In addition to their Chicago focus, The Dressing Room also carries a number of Canadian lines including Kenzie, Tulle, Covet, Groggy and Gentle Fawn. Other accessory lines that they carry include Tano, a maker of cool leather bags, Tokyo Bay, which makes fun watches, and jewelry designer by boe. Jeans, a wardrobe staple, are available in styles that flatter a wide range of body types. Some of the denim brands represented include Joe's Jeans, Christopher Blue, Tag and IT!. "When we buy jeans, we want to make sure that we choose styles that fit different shapes," says Sarah. In the world of fashion, sometimes that's harder than you would think. Sarah once asked to try a pair of jeans on in a New York showroom and was told that they didn't have any sizes above a six. "I thought, 'I'm a trained spinning instructor! How could you not have jeans in my size?'" says Sarah.
In less than a year, business is booming at The Dressing Room. The shop has already gained national attention with a feature in the magazine dedicated to shopping, Lucky, as well as plenty of local press from Time Out Chicago, Chicago Magazine and the Chicago Tribune. But most importantly, it is successfully attracting customers who appreciate not only its merchandise, but how they are treated when they shop there. "We get a lot of thank yous from the moms who come in for the kids play area," says Barbara. "The kids actually love it so much that they run in here and straight to the back of the store, even when they are just passing by. The moms have to say 'Sorry honey, we're not going shopping today.'" It's obvious that there are plenty of women who feel similarly about shopping. "We have lots of moms who come in and they're definitely not wearing 'mom clothes,'" says Barbara. "We're here for women who really want to be stylish without spending everything they have."
The Dressing Room
4635 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
773.728.0088
www.thedressingroomchicago.com
Hours:
Monday through Friday - 10am to 7pm
Saturday - 10am to 6pm
Sunday - 10am to 5pm
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