Shopping in Westmont

We scoured four continents to find unexpected styles worn by everyone from Danish anarchists to Botswana’s metalheads. America has definitely had its fair share of wacky style moments in recent years, with Lady Gaga hatching from an egg at the Grammys and a Miley Cyrus VMA performance that resembled some kind of nightmarish anime movie. But styles are equally strange overseas. Below, we dug up six surprising international trends, one of which—perhaps not surprisingly—can be traced back to the designer responsible for Miley’s Bangerz Tour costumes. 1. Thai teens are wearing braces. Voluntarily. Gwen Stefani and Katy Perry have both sported fake braces for fun, but in Southeast Asia the look has become seriously popular. Because of the high cost of orthodontia there, wearing braces is something of a status symbol, and some kids have resorted to having fake braces applied at beauty salons and street markets. This is also popular in Indonesia and Malaysia, but the trend hit especially hard in Thailand—after two teens allegedly died from them, the country made the sale of faux braces illegal. 2. Mexican club kids are dancing in pointy boots. If you’re thinking these curly-toed kicks would be hard to walk in, then you should definitely give props to the Matehualan youths dancing in them. They’re a fixture at club competitions, where troupes face off to tribal-house music mixed by popular local DJs including Latin Grammy–winner Erick Rincon. To make their boots truly unique, kids often customize them, extending the toes of regular cowboy boots up to 7 feet, and decorating them with everything from sequins and disco balls to leather and plaid. The look is so popular there’s even a mini documentary featuring Rincon and the dance crews, aptly titled Mexican Pointy Boots. 3. Scandinavian leftists are suiting up in Adidas. As satirized on this Danish style blog, the Danes have a reputation for embracing a pretty uniform, colorless style. Black also reigns as the color of choice among the country’s far leftist groups, who supposedly sport monochromatic Adidas track suits at protests and demonstrations to make it harder for police to track down individual activists. 4. The Japanese are wearing air-conditioned clothes. After the 2011 earthquake and tsunamis, Japan experienced a heat wave and locals were seen sporting clothes equipped with built-in cooling fans. The trend has lived on as a sustainability effort (click the down arrow on the right side of the page to see pictures), with leading brands such as Kuchofuku manufacturing everything from “A/C” jackets to undergarments. 5. Cowboys are going heavy-metal in Botswana. Piling on leather in sub-Saharan Africa might seem masochistic, but these badass metalhead cowboys revel in the trend—and look cool while doing so. Gaining notoriety through photographer Frank Marshall’s Renegades, these guys (and gals!) are about as far from the Mad Max–style anarchy they evoke as you can get. Local metaller Mosaka told Vice that when he and his peers head to a show, they “make a straight line, move at the same pace, same step, quietly and gently marching to the gig.” 6. The world is inspired by American fast food. Ever since American designer (and Miley Cyrus tour costumist) Jeremy Scott channeled McDonald’s for his debut Moschino collection at Milan Fashion Week, international fashionistas seem to be craving fast-food fashion. In London, men’s boutique End. partnered with Saucony for the Shadow 5000 “Burger” sneaker, and popular Tokyo blogger Ayumi Seto has posted a few pics of her and her pals hanging in burger joints while rocking stars and stripes. Find more of the latest fashion trends on ideeli. Illustrations: Jen Jackson, Groupon

Determined to buy the best holiday gifts of their lives, Groupon's Style & Beauty writers sought shopping advice from local experts. Click here for guides to buying presents for the fitness lover, foodie, or coffee addict in your life. Logan Hardware (2532 W. Fullerton Ave.) co-owner John Ciba isn’t one of those people who rolls his eyes when Christmas music comes on. In fact, he has a passion for holiday tunes that runs deeper than Santa Claus’s bottomless gift sack. “As I get older, it’s one of the only things that can really put me in the Christmas spirit,” John says. “Playing Atlantic’s Soul Christmas LP, Donny Hathaway’s ‘This Christmas,’ or Charles Brown ‘Baby Please Come Home for Christmas,’ alongside rewatching Home Alone, will always put me in the mood to decorate the tree.” He recalls listening to the Atlantic compilation as a child and how the welcome smell of furniture polish hung in the air as he and his family cleaned the house for Christmas Day gatherings. John’s relationship with the holiday genre seems overwhelmingly positive, but when pressed, he does admit disdain for one album: “My Dad has always played the Mighty Blue Kings’ [The] Christmas Album, and if nobody ever heard it again the world would be a better place.” In the interest of helping people avoid such duds, John shared his advice on finding the best gifts for fellow music lovers. How to Shop Venture beyond your go-to record store: John swears his trips to far-flung shops are totally worthwhile. “The Record Dugout [6055 W. 63rd St.] by Midway Airport is a goldmine for record collectors of any kind. They don’t make stores like this anymore. Trust me—we tried.” He’s also a fan of Squeezebox (1235 Chicago Ave.) in Evanston, which he says is one of the best-curated record stores in the country. Trust your gut: John considers buying someone music a personal process. “You know your own folks better than they do,” he says. “Go with classic. Go with something that means something to you and maybe [to] both of you together.” If you’re really stuck, though, he recommends talking to record-store owners. “It’s in their best interest to give you creative options and put you on the right path.” When in doubt, head to Lincoln Square: “I feel like you could bang out everything you need in one afternoon in Lincoln Square,” John says. “Laurie’s Planet of Sound, Merz Apothecary, Old Town School of Folk Music, The Chopping Block, The Book Cellar, Quake ... and wash it all down with some schnitzel and German beer.” What to Buy For someone who actually enjoys Christmas music: John suggests this year’s Further Adventures in Holiday Obscura, a compilation put together by music-industry icon Andy Cirzan that’s often previewed on (and hosted online by) WXRT. Each year’s collection has a different genre theme (e.g. soul or cool jazz) and features obscure holiday songs from decades past. For someone who is just starting to build a record collection: The staff at Logan Hardware has a shortlist of must-have albums that covers a lot of musical ground: Junior Wells’s Hoodoo Man Blues for Chicago blues fans; the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds for classic pop-rock fans; Phil Cohran’s On the Beach for jazz fans; Toots and the Maytals' Funky Kingston for reggae and rock-steady fans; and Nas’s Illmatic and Wu Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers for hip-hop fans. For someone who gets gloomy in winter: John made a rather unexpected suggestion—vintage Chicago house music. “Lots of folks don’t consider how soulful and healing these stripped-down, raw analog gems [are] … but this stuff is the real thing. Unfinished Business’ ‘Out of My Hands’ can cure the winter blues, promise.” He also swears by three house collections just reissued by local label Still Music: 122 BPM: The Birth of House Music, Bang the Box!: The (Lost) Story of AKA Dance Music – Chicago 1987–88, and Kill Yourself Dancing: The Story of Sunset Records Inc. Chicago 1985–89. For collectors of pop-culture paraphernalia: John and his team are stocking up on plenty of niche items, including the Doctors Only series of Doctor Who blind-box mini figures and art prints inspired by R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet hip-hopera. For someone who already has too many records: John reminds shoppers not to overlook the supplies necessary to maintain a working collection. “Record-cleaning kits, record sleeves, and headphones are a safe bet,” John says. He also recommends the book The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream, a historical account he calls “sort of a local cultural primer.” As for a gift he plans to give? “I know at least five people who will be getting Dusty Groove Intelligentsia coffee from me this year.” For someone interested in music history: Instead of albums, John recommends a pair of documentaries. The first, The Legend of Cool "Disco" Dan, chronicles an infamous Washington, DC, graffiti artist whose career overlapped with the city’s go-go scene (a subgenre of funk). The second, Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together, captures a chance meeting between three generations of storied New Orleans piano players: Tuts Washington, Professor Longhair, and Allen Toussaint. For parents who want to raise cool kids: “You can’t go wrong with the classic Fisher Price record player we all had when we were coming up,” John says. “This is always one of our biggest holiday items.” Photo: Kelly MacDowell, Groupon

It’s fitting that Hallie Borden chose a storefront in Andersonville when she opened Milk Handmade, the 100% handcrafted women’s boutique deemed one of 2012’s best by Time Out Chicago. The North Side neighborhood is notorious for its near lack of chain stores and fervent support of local shops and restaurants. The result is a charming enclave of thriving small businesses situated up and down Clark Street, including Milk, the Women & Children First bookstore, and some of the city's best antique and home stores. Here, Hallie shares her take on why the local-first movement matters.   Q: What’s your reasoning behind selling strictly handmade goods? A: Handmade clothing is really underrepresented in brick-and-mortar shops, and I wanted to make it easy for people to support independent designers rather than giant corporations. The fast-fashion industry isn't good for the environment, the economy, or your closet, and more people are trying to pare down their wardrobes and buy only high-quality, ethically made pieces. I agree with that philosophy, and wanted Milk to reflect it.   Q: Do you make a point of featuring Chicago designers in the store?  A: I always start local and then spread out. The Chicago handmade fashion scene is flush with amazing jewelry designers like Dallas Maynard, Michelle Starbuck, and Nicki Jean, and everyone's favorite dresses in the store are from Squasht by Les, a local clothing label.   Q: How do you feel about the Chicago fashion scene in general? A: Chicago is a really safe, nonjudgemental place to experiment with your personal style. I love that I feel comfortable wearing jeans or a cocktail dress to almost any restaurant—there are fewer fashion rules to play by here.   Q: What advice do you have for someone looking to support the local business community? A: Buy from your neighborhood businesses! You might pay $0.50 more for that bottle of Advil at your local pharmacy, but that money cycles right back into your community. For every $100 in consumer spending at small businesses, $68 goes back into the local economy, compared to $43 when shopping at chains.