The Enchanted Florist

Just before midnight on October 25, the last Friday before Halloween, Fantasy Costumes (4065 N. Milwaukee Ave.) in Portage Park is still swarming with customers. Wandering a store that’s more than a city block long, they shuttle past walls of hanging masks, shelves of superhero spandex, and model heads sporting fantastically colored wigs. Some pause occasionally to duck into the black spaceship escape pods that are the store’s pop-up changing rooms. The store is open 24 hours a day from October 24 through 31, and the late shift is by no means the quiet one. Still, manager Cathy Bunger considers the crowd more than manageable. “It’s quieted down,” she says. “It was like a madhouse.” To learn more about the midnight demographic, we spoke to shoppers about their costume choices and the movies that give them chills. Mark Davis, owner of Git Boned Dog Treats Why he’s here around midnight: Last-minute shopping for a costume to wear in the Halloween parade at his daughter’s school. Costume of choice: “[My daughter] wanted me to be a bug … so I’m going to be a cockroach.” Favorite scary movie: The Shining. “That’s an old favorite.” Ray Lechuga and Carla Ferreiras Why they’re here around midnight: They’re trying to find costumes for the following night. “Maybe tonight if we’re feeling really spontaneous,” Ray says. Ray’s costume of choice: Robin, though he’s keeping an eye out for an old-school Batman costume. Carla’s costume of choice: Catwoman. Favorite scary movie: Ray enjoys The Exorcist, which he recently saw for the first time. “It was ridiculous, kinda scary, and the effects were hilarious.” Carla just saw The Devil Inside. “I’ve been trying to get him to watch it, but he’s too scared.” Navi Cathey and Jerika Whitfield Why they’re here around midnight: Both need a costume for a Halloween bar crawl the next night. Navi adds, “I always like coming later!” Navi’s costume of choice: A french maid for the bar crawl, but she’s still looking for a second costume for the day of Halloween. Jerika’s costume of choice: Undecided. Favorite scary movie: Navi: “I would say Saw.” Jerika: “The Strangers. That movie still scares me.” Navi: “My eyes were closed. [During] Saw I actually kept my eyes open.” Jerika: “There’s too many of those to be scary!” Duebwa Loving, costume-shop clerk Why he’s here around midnight: “I work here.” Costume of choice: “I’m just wearing this [army jacket] because it’s my uncle’s. I saw the hat, so I put it on and got into character. … I’m probably going to be a zombie high priestess [on Halloween].” Favorite scary movie: A Nightmare on Elm Street. Heather Blazek, employee at a wholesale wig company (“They sell some of our wigs here”), and Patrick Neal, cook Why they’re here around midnight: They came after a work party of Patrick’s, knowing the shop was open 24 hours. Heather’s costume of choice: She has two—a vampire for a Vampires vs. Zombies pub crawl, and a bird-attack victim from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds for going out with friends. Patrick’s costume of choice: He hasn’t figured his out yet, so he plans to “thrift it up real quick.” Favorite scary movie: Heather watches Halloween every year, and says that they like to watch Insidious, too. Patrick says, “The only movie I can think of that ever scared me was Candyman. I watched it as a kid, and I swear, I never wanted to go to the bathroom again.” Giovanni Lopez, Menards employee Why he’s here around midnight: He has party plans with his friends the next night, and “it’s the only one open this late. And they have a variety, it’s huge.” Costume of choice: Classic Batman. “We have one friend going as Joker, another one going as Harley Quinn, another one as Bane, might as well complete the theme.” Favorite scary movie: The new and the original Evil Dead. “The original one’s a little better, [but] the new one’s caught up with the graphics.” Photo: © Stephanie Bassos, Groupon

What does Liz Salcedo, CEO of Everpurse, keep in her purse? Pretty traditional stuff, actually. “I keep my phone, my ID, credit card, keys. I keep an EpiPen because I have a peanut allergy and some chapstick,” she says. Oh, and enough power to keep her phone charged over a long weekend. Everpurse is a Chicago startup with a brilliant idea: a line of purses that can wirelessly charge a cell phone. There are no cords or cables—just a special pocket inside each purse that carries enough juice to fully charge an iPhone twice over. Once the pocket battery runs out of power, you simply set the whole bag on a wireless mat to recharge. The purses even come with an interchangeable sleeve that you can switch out to fit various phones. As if that idea wasn’t smart enough, the company recently announced its newest product, Mini by Everpurse, a hard-shell wallet that also serves as both a phone case and charger. On one side, the Mini looks like a regular wallet. The other side holds a secure slot for your phone. Pop the phone into the slot, and it will charge while you continue using it. Inside, in addition to credit-card pockets, there’s a hidden USB port that you can use to charge the wallet anywhere you go. Another fascinating fact about Everpurse: the company consists of just seven employees, all working out of a one-room office in River North. To better understand what it takes to build a business from the ground up, we spoke with Liz about her idea and the future of wearable tech. GROUPON: I think almost everyone can relate to that feeling of worry when you're out and your battery suddenly alerts you it's low. Tell me about how you decided to actually do something about it. LIZ SALCEDO: I was having trouble keeping my phone charged. I thought it would be awesome to find a way to charge it in my bag because I always have a bag with me, but I never remember to carry chargers or cords or things like that. Two and a half years ago we made our first one. We found some off-the-shelf parts, took it apart, jerry-rigged it, and then found a way to put it in a bag. G: Does the phone ever come loose inside the bag? LS: Part of our patent is around how we formed that dock so that it slides in and automatically connects with the lightning cable at the bottom with no fiddling around or pulling out cables or anything. It fits perfectly to the phone. Even if you turn it upside down, [the phone] doesn’t fall out. G: How did you figure out how to keep everything secure? LS: [I built a prototype using a] material called InstaMorph moldable plastic. When the beads are put in hot water they melt and become like silly putty—think stretchy plastic—that I wrapped around my phone. (I wrapped my phone in tinfoil first). I probably left it in the freezer [to cool and harden] for 15 minutes. G: From there, how did you refine the design to what it is today? LS: Over the next couple of months…we figured out how to make it work better. Then people started asking me to buy them, so they would pay me to cut apart their bags and put tech inside. That was a lot of fun because I learned a lot. By the time we realized [we] could make a business out of this, we had made 50 different versions just making them for people. After that, we launched on Kickstarter, built a team, and scaled it. G: Do you still make the purses in-house? LS: We made them all in the beginning, which was a huge learning experience because everyone knew how our product worked. From there we taught the manufacturers how you put it together because nobody knew how to put together textiles and electronics. When we build new products, we print out all of our prototypes on our 3D printer, which is incredible because then every time we make a small change we can print out a new one. G: Why did you choose a clutch style? LS: We wanted something that was versatile…Our purses are big enough to carry your essentials but small enough to put in a larger bag if you wanted a pouch…Even if tech is really cool, people aren’t going to want to use it if it doesn’t fit their personal style. I think there’s a lot of growth for wearable tech if things look good. G: So far you have tech-savvy purses and wallets. What’s next? LS: Our long-term goal is to start working with brands. We know we’ll never be able to create every single product in every color that everyone wants. We’d much rather partner with all these different brands that are already making these incredible products, and teach them how to integrate the tech into their products, so that people can purchase their favorite bag with tech inside. We’ve also been talking about being able to locate your accessory if it goes missing or being able to tag things. For instance, if you forget your keys. We’re coming up with a lot of practical applications, but making sure the design comes first. Accessories are a part of people’s personal identity. You shouldn’t have to think about your tech. It just works and empowers you and makes your life a little easier. Photos courtesy of Everpurse

Yes, black is chic, but day after day it can be draining. Instead, try winter fashions in florals and bold colors. Once the charm of a white Christmas has passed, many people in temperate climates grow tired of the cold and snow. And while it’s easy to just throw on whatever feels warmest on biting January mornings, there’s no reason why dead-of-winter fashion has to be thoughtless, boring, or all black. Perk up your wardrobe (and your day) by introducing winter-appropriate clothing in bright, summery shades. The Look  Although the black-and-white color palette of this dress is appropriate for winter, everything else about it feels vernal: the playful skater silhouette, the floral print, and the subtle splashes of color. An azure beret conjures thoughts of springtime in Paris and boldly contrasts the tangerine overcoat. Knee-high riding boots keep feet dry on slushy sidewalks that seem a far cry from summer’s alfresco dinners. 1. Floral dress; Brown’s London ($1,145) 2. Orange wool crombie coat; Psyche ($164.45) 3. Riding boots; Click Shoes ($229) 4. Pewter clutch; Francesca’s ($24.98) 5. Herringbone tights; Francesca’s ($12) 6. Beret; Goorin Bros. ($42) Since many of us are a bit strapped for cash after the holidays, we’ve rounded up some similar looks for the dress, coat, boots, and hat to keep your look fresh, but still on-budget.