The Bedding Experts

One block north of the Red Line's Grand stop, State Street's traffic flows past the Tree Studio building, a cluster of former artists' workshops built between the late 1800s and early 1900s. After a remodel created retail space in the building in the early 2000s, specialty shops such as P.O.S.H. and Pops for Champagne swooped in to claim an address on the block. But so far, only Haberdash has claimed two: Haberdash Bespoke at 607 N. State St. and Haberdash EDC at 611 N. State St. Broadly speaking, the separate locations offer the same thing: men's clothing from high-end heritage brands. But the Bespoke location tends to stock more formal wear, including L.B.M. 1911 blazers and Gitman Bros. Vintage shirts and ties. On the other hand, EDC, which stands for everyday carry, sells Baldwin Denim jeans, Wolverine boots, and other casual wear. Men can even get their grooming done at the latter spot, since Haberdash EDC features an apothecary section and a barber’s chair in the back. The dressy and casual styles weren't always separated. When Haberdash opened in 2005, there was one store in Old Town to hold everything. This fall, when Haberdash's new store in the Roosevelt Collection opens, the two looks will be reunited. To mark the occasion and the eve of the fall fashion season, we asked Phillip Williams, Haberdash's director of sales, to select five must-have items from the stores. Here are his picks, from head to toe: 1. Drumohr Cashmere & Wool Cap ($158) A blend of cashmere and wool gives this Drumohr cap its warmth and durability. “With the cashmere in play,” Phillip says, “that uncomfortable feeling [from the wool] is removed and you get a more refined look versus the rugged fisherman's wharf cap.” 2. Filson Twill Backpack in Otter Green ($348) Phillip says this bag’s waxed canvas material is "perfect, because everybody gets caught in the rain in the fall so the water beads up and rolls off." The material also contributes to the bag’s longevity, a requirement of any Filson product. 3. L.B.M. 1911 Bob 2-Button Blazer in Navy ($658) Muted colors traditionally fill men's departments in the fall. Not here. "You can embrace color more," Phillip says. "You don't have to go with that humdrum palette of gray, khaki, and brown." Think maroon, forest green, or this navy instead, which features a basketweave pattern and slim non-binding fit that can accommodate a sweater and shirt comfortably. 4. Baldwin Denim The Samuel ($265) These slim, straight-leg jeans are made from dry selvage denim and sewn in the US. Phillip favors their dark blue hue over the lighter colors of distressed jeans, though he admits this is as much a practical concern as anything: if you shorten distressed jeans, you get lines in places they shouldn’t be. Phillip points to the folds on the calf of his recently shortened jean legs and laughs, "My leg doesn't bend right here." 5. Wolverine "1000 Mile" Whitepine Boot ($400) "People love the 1000 Mile boot," Phillip starts, "but a concern is that it has an oil-leather sole, so when you try to wear them in the winter, if it's wet outside, your foot gets cold." The Whitepine style addresses that concern with a Vibram sole, which is a heavy-duty Italian-made sole that supplies the traction and waterproofness needed to stroll around Chicago in the fall and winter. Photo: © Stephanie Bassos, Groupon

Gillian beer Goose Island | $35 Jessica Murphy of Girls Like Beer Too recommended Goose Island’s Gillian. “I sampled this Belgian-style farmhouse ale brewed with white pepper, strawberry, and honey and aged in wine barrels at Belgian Fest a few years ago and fell in love. The price for this beer is a little steep so I probably wouldn't buy it for myself,” she said. “It is an elegant beer that would pair well with a holiday meal or it can be aged for up to five years.” Ideal for: the person who thinks they might be ready for a beer in five years Brewery tour Chicago Brew Bus | $59.99 Murphy also suggested a trip on the Chicago Brew Bus. “You get transportation to three or more breweries, a tour guide that provides fun information about the breweries being visited, plus beer samples,” she said. Ideal for: the beer drinker who gathers no moss Randall Jr. beer infuser Dogfish Head | $19.99 Ryan, the editor of Guys Drinking Beer, recommended Dogfish Head’s Randall Jr. “A pint-sized version of the brewery's infamous hops-infusing device, this at-home version allows the curious craft-beer drinker to tinker with their favorite beers by adding coffee beans, jalapeño peppers, fruit, or anything else that may come to mind.” They also have a pretty great infomercial. Ideal for: the boozy mad scientist Penny bottle opener Uncommon Goods | $50–$60 Ryan also included a penny bottle opener on his wish list. “Hand-shaped, finished in a beeswax-lemon-oil blend and featuring a concealed magnet strong enough to hold the pried-off bottle cap, this puts the 17 other bottle openers I have in that drawer in my kitchen to shame.” Ideal for: the guy opening bottles with his teeth Beer soap Hills Natural Soap on Etsy | $4.99 Shower beers are the best. They’re also not an everyday thing. Each batch of this beer soap is made with a 12 pack of PBR, just so your special someone can feel like every morning is a lazy Sunday afternoon. Ideal for: the recent college graduate who can’t take a beer into the shower every day anymore

Suction-covered tentacles. Tube-like fungi. Bisected human lungs. Judging by the creepy-crawly subject matter that inspires Peggy Skemp’s jewelry, I half expected her workspace to resemble a mad scientist’s lab, complete with mummified organs in jars. Instead, the sole specimen I found in the sunny apartment was a tiny puffer fish hanging from a string. “Don’t touch it because the spines are poisonous,” Peggy warns, explaining that her great grandmother had preserved it alongside all kinds of naturalistic specimens, including the tiny octopus used as the model for her tentacle jewelry. Peggy credits her obsession with nature to her upbringing in the woods of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, her “environmentalist” parents, and her grandparents, whose passions included medical science, nature photography, and chemistry. Peggy’s own passions wavered between art and science, leading her to dabble in pre-med classes as she finished her degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After a brief stint as a butcher, Peggy began to pursue jewelry-making full time—though with a biological bent. “My first collection was based on parasites, and it was a difficult sell,” she laughed. “But I found enough places to sell it right away that I could pay my rent, and the next season I transitioned to something a little more palatable.” I visited her home studio to chat about her current work—which features snake bracelets with rattling tails and intricate fish mobiles—as well as the now-classic human-anatomy pieces that can be found on the likes of actress Missi Pyle, comedian Sarah Silverman, and musician Jerry Only of the Misfits. The following interview has been condensed and edited. GROUPON: Your most successful piece has been the anatomical heart locket. What did you use as a model for the original design? PEGGY SKEMP: I just used a bunch of different textbooks, and then I have a friend who specialized in fetal-heart anatomy as her doctorate, so I showed it to her and she critiqued it, and I modified my design based on her criticisms. G: How do you ensure each heart is anatomically correct? PS: Each one is hand-carved from wax, and then [my assistant Joe and I] cast it by hand. They all come from a mold, so the original mold had to be correct first, but they’re not all the same because we customize them if a customer has a particular anomaly. I did one with an LAD stent—a piece of mesh inside the heart to enlarge the artery so blood can pass through if there is a blockage—but mostly they’re just carved from wax and then they’re cast in silver or gold or whatever, and then we hand-fabricate the hinge and the aorta to act as the snap. G: Why do you think this piece has been so successful? PS: I think that it has emotional appeal, and jewelry has traditionally been a special-occasion gift. I guess my jewelry is used for the special occasion of...not dying, or graduating college, [or] maybe occasions just marked by a hug before because the appropriate jewelry didn’t exist…I want to make something that’s going to last forever. I’ve made some s--t that aliens are gonna dig up in 2,000 years and be like, “Oh, this is how a heart works!” G: What are some specific special occasions your clients have celebrated? PS: Right now I have a lung patient who got her right lung removed, and she wants me to make a left lung locket with golden alveoli…I’ve [also] got kidney lockets for a donor and recipients. Three different sets of donors have asked, “Could you make me a kidney friendship locket so I can keep one and give one to the recipient?” G: Have you ever seen human organs up close? PS: I haven’t been to the cadaver lab. I skipped that day in anatomy class, and I wish I hadn’t. The closest I’ve seen is the Bodyworlds exhibit, or the La Specola exhibit in Florence. They’re actually hand modeled—they’re not real people. They’re anatomical waxes from the 1700s. The Specola waxes really inspired me. G: You’ve also made jewelry modeled after brains and eyeballs. Are there any other organs on your to-do list? Gallbladders? Large intestines? PS: I have gotten some requests for bladders and uteri and ovaries. One time on the internet I drunkenly purchased a 5-foot anatomical model of a uterus, and then I decided it would make me a very creepy friend or neighbor if anyone ever came into my house and saw [it]. So I’m feeling the same way about making a uterus necklace. Are ladies going to be ostracized? G: So where do you draw the line on organ requests? PS: I draw the line at “Why is this jewelry?” What does it mean that it’s jewelry? Some things don’t need to be necklaces. Like in some of my early work—I’m not sure if there ever needed to be a mating earthworm necklace. [Laughs]. G: Besides worms, you’ve also produced anatomical jewelry modeled on octopus tentacles, serpents, and other things one might find in an avant-garde horror film. What draws you to creatures with an ick factor? PS: I mostly just pick things that I think navigate the world in an interesting way, creatures that I empathize with. Snakes are really amazing and sensual because of the way they move and because of the way they see [and] taste things…I’ve always wanted to wear snakes. Literally when I was a little girl, I would dress up with snakes. G: Wait—are we talking stuffed-animal snakes? PS: No. There was a bush by my house, and I would reach into the bush and pull out some snakes, and I would wrap them around my arms and legs. I dressed as Cleopatra every day for a solid six months. There’s a picture of me sitting on Santa’s lap with a snake [and wearing] a golden dress. G: Do you find that your work appeals mainly to scientists, or is it also appreciated by those outside scientific fields? PS: I think that pretty much everyone is interested in biology. If you’re not interested in biology, that’s very questionable—maybe even grounds for communist-level suspicion…Lots of people are into fungus and snakes, and maybe if they’re not into it, it’s because they don’t know how cool it is. Photo: © R Hanel Photography