clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

What's More Stylish: Bucktown or the Gold Coast?

New, 2 comments

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Welcome back to Neighborhood Style Showdown, our quest to determine Chicago's most stylish neighborhood.

This week we've witnessed the gloves come off in the Pilsen vs Andersonville match and slightly more civilized competition between River North and Wicker Park. Now, we're pitting The Gold Coast against Bucktown. The two neighborhoods have more in common than you'd think: the smells of Lush, antics of Marc Jacobs, Intermix, Bebe, Scoop, Lululemon, million dollar homes and most importantly an air of style. But which neighborhood is doing it better?

The Gold Coast is booming with higher-end tenants like Prada, Jil Sander, Chanel and Hermes which make trotting sidewalks unfathomable in peak tourist season. Yes, there are fancy pants parts to the Gold Coast, but there's also what happens in the Viagra Triangle, along Division Street late at night and what happens in Foodlife at the Water Tower... you know exactly what we mean. On the up-side, there's the ease of shopping fast for specific pieces at Topshop, Forever 21, Allsaints, Zara, Macy's, or H&M and there's also Barneys, Neiman's and Saks if you can swing it. The style is high here in the Gold Coast, where residents mix designer pieces and think of furs as layering pieces.

Bucktown, we know as the more sophisticated side of North Avenue boasts sweet boutiques Nanette Lepore, Cynthia Rowley, Alexis Bittar and fresh French sensation Diptyque. Continuing the high-style on the north end of the neighborhood we've got Robin Richman which plays the avant nicely with femme p.45 just a stone's throw from that Walgreens with the vitamin vault. Filling in the mix is recent Racked 38 member Edith Hart, Roslyn where the sushi slupers from Coast shop and Apartment Number 9 for the bratwurst munching diners at Bluebird. And perhaps the most progressive development in Bucktown's style sector, is the recent closure of Cans bar, where its rumored that a sports store will open. The style is high, more boutique driven, edgy and promising.

Poll results


· Neighborhood Style Showdown Posts [Racked]

Alexis Bittar

1710 N Damen Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60647 Visit Website

Apartment Number 9

1804 North Damen Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647 Visit Website

Cynthia Rowley

810 West Armitage Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614 Visit Website

Walgreens

1601 N Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60614 312 642 4008 Visit Website

Neiman Marcus

737 North Michigan Avenue, , IL 60611 (312) 642-5900 Visit Website

P.45

1643 North Damen Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622 Visit Website

Robin Richman

2108 North Damen Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647 Visit Website