Create A Handbag at 1154 LILL Studio
If you love handbags as much as I do, then 1154 LILL Studio is a Chicago-based business you won't want to miss. The idea: you pick the style of bag and the fabrics you want from a wide selection, and the folks at 1154 LILL put together your new purse for you. If you're lucky you've been to a girls' night 1154 LILL party where a representative brings fabrics and samples to your house. But 1154 LILL happens to have three actual stores where you can go in, browse, buy a bag off the displays or take the time to create your own. Naturally, one of them is in Chicago. So is their factory, so we have home field advantage here.
The fun part of creating a cloth bag at 1154 LILL is going through all the beautiful fabrics. The company actually retires them once they become too popular, because it defeats the purpose of customers coming in to create one-of-a-kind custom products. They're always adding new fabrics. You can get faux suede, velveteen, a satin finish, and tons of different colors and patterns. It's easy to spend hours in this store coming up with new combinations. And you also have to decide if you want a messenger bag, a ruffled clutch, a reversible bag, a makeup bag or one of a variety of other shapes. All the styles are named after friends of the owners.
Just in case you're wondering, celebrities have embraced the line wholeheartedly. Drew Barrymore, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Garner and Mariska Hargitay are among the famous people who've been seen sporting 1154 LILL products. We understand that many people come here to buy reversible bags as gifts for bridesmaids--one side of the bag matches the bridesmaid's dresses, and the other side is customized by the bridesmaid herself. Now that's a smart idea.
The store itself is like the line of handbags--bright, colorful and pretty. The fabrics are hung up along the wall, but there's plenty of table space to lay everything out. 1154 LILL salespeople aren't happy until they see a messy pile of fabrics, since it shows people are really getting into the designing of their handbags. It's great fun for a group or for any discriminating fashionista.
Personally, it took me a full two hours to decide on my choice--a suede-like black zippered Kimberly with tiny white polka dots and a satin-finish pocket, lined in a pink flowered pattern (my 1154 LILL representative Alyssa says that you can tell a lot about a person by their fabric choices, so psychoanalyze away). And many of my friends from my mom's group are planning to go back in the fall to pick something suitable for the colder months. If you're visiting Chicago and love to shop, don't miss this one!
Chicago is a great city for style, and the presence of a store likes this proves it. 1154 LILL bags range in price from $25 for a cute coin purse to $160 for the Tara, an oversized bag with an adorable silver clasp. It takes weeks to customize and create each bag, so expect to wait for it to be delivered to you. 1154 LILL Studio is located at 904 W. Armitage in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. You can get directions or buy online at www.1154lill.com, but trust us--it's better to come to the store, since you can get a sense of the weight and feel of the fabrics.
