Meet Heather of Hallway of Fashion

Hi, I’m Heather aka Hallway of Fashion. Nice to meet you, and thanks for “trying on” my blog! I’m a small-town girl (5,000 people) who moved to Chicago in the early 90s for adventure, food, and Broadway musicals! Along the way, I furthered my love for Interior Design (I went back to school for it!), fashion, and antiquing.

The beginnings

I remember as a young girl loving to play with paper dolls and Barbies and dressing up in my grandmother’s clothes. There was one dress from the 50s with this great green, purple and I believe brown mottled print. I’ve seen similar colorways in that pattern “out in the wild”. What was even cooler was that she had matching shoes! I wish I knew now what a treasure trove of pieces these were. Back then, my family didn’t save things for posterity. They were donated (but don’t ask me where, I knew nothing about thrifting until the past few years (we’ll take a deep dive into that subject later) or played with until they disintegrated.

My grandmother and great-grandmother also made clothes for our dolls, especially Barbie (Copyright: Mattel). I still have a vast collection of Barbie clothes (and several in mint condition.) I feel fortunate as we have seen Barbie back in the media from the movie last year to the new “Black Barbie” documentary on Netflix. The conversations since then have been fascinating and enlightening. While many of the pieces are amazing, my favorite dress of all time is a black satin mermaid gown that has a black and gold brocade swing coat. I vividly remember my grandmother having the adult-size version of that swing coat in her closet. Oh, if only I had that in my possession too.

Dressing up Barbie and her friends was such a favorite pastime. I tried making dresses out of scrap fabric used for curtains in theater productions, but they were more rectangles with holes for the head and a belt than anything else. Maybe reminiscent of Halston draping fabric minus the elegance and genius – ha!

For my paper dolls, I was a little more successful. I would draw and color new outfits for them. Again, these were lost in my childhood. I’m sure some other child got to have hours of fun with the dolls. Recently, I bought a set of Dior Paper Dolls; and Dior of course, will be another subject to explore!

The middle part

Starting in high school and college, I remember scouring antique stores. At that time, I was looking at vintage jewelry and home goods. Clothes were not on my radar as I couldn’t find silhouettes that fit me or my style then. I loved my 80s fashions. As a child, I remember wearing 70s bell bottoms once, ONCE!! Short skirts of the 60s were not my thing (and still not). Now the 50s was another story. I love the snatched waist and full skirts. In high school (I can’t remember why) I wore a brooch and scarf daily, so I was always looking for new pins. I of course shopped at The Limited, but I also looked for vintage jewelry. It was fun and size inclusive. My weight has varied quite a bit since childhood, so jewelry would fit no matter what!! Plus, I loved sparkly things!

When I became a full-time pharmacist, wearing the well-known white jacket, I had to jazz it up with pins. Now I was finding themed jewelry. I would wear all dogs, Broadway musicals, slogan pins, and any other themes I loved. I wear fewer brooches now, but I hope to change that because I have a collection of beautiful and unique vintage ones – many of which I found foraging through the flea markets!

After

I had dreamed of being an interior designer when I was in junior high school. Even then, my life was a mixture of pharmacy and interior design. I remember helping my dad, a doctor, set up meds for his patients in little white pillboxes (think of sliding matchboxes). For an 8th-grade art project, I utilized those same pillboxes to create furniture for an interior design project. We had to create a floor plan to scale and then “build” the furniture. Mine turned out to be a minimalist modern dream. At that point, I was hooked!

The sensible part of me chose the “safe” route and went to pharmacy school, but the idea of interior design always lingered in the background. I had all of the design magazines, frequented furniture stores, and hit all the antique markets. After getting into my 30s, I realized I would always regret not going back to school for design. So, I took the plunge and went back to school full-time.

Learning about proportions, color theory, and creating vignettes played into how I style myself now. I love to coordinate pieces even if they aren’t from the same era. I love monochromatic, color mixing, asymmetry, symmetry, and layering: all facets of good design. I will say that mixing patterns for me is still a work in progress, but in a space, NO PROBLEM!

I will intertwine stories of design, architecture, and art along with the discussions around fashion. Good/great design is good/great design no matter what form it takes!!

The Paris Effect

At some point in my life, I fell in love with Paris. Maybe it was when I was little and received Babar the Elephant book or singing “Frère Jacques”. Or was it in high school while learning French? Alas, my memory fails me about the inception. However, I do remember that I needed to go there. And I’ll never forget the feeling of receiving my first passport to go to Europe, which included visiting Paris. (I was in a car listening to “Hello” wearing a red blouse!!!) In 1984, I got my first chance and even though we were there only 2-3 days, I knew it was “home”. Going back over the years has further solidified that feeling and the goal is to live there for at least one year.

While at Interior Design school, I had the wonderful opportunity to study for a month in Paris in 2001. I had my highest and lowest fashion moments! I distinctly remember wearing the infamous white gym shoes with a denim skirt because we were going to Versailles and knew we were walking everywhere.

Well, let’s say I felt frumpier than frumpy and never wore that combo again!!! On the other hand, I had some great matte jersey separates that I layered to wear to Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye, and many commented on how “chic” I looked.

I’m a vain person and enjoyed the positive feeling way more than the negative frumpy feeling. What I do find hilarious is now, 20 odd years later, the grandad white tennis shoes are totally in fashion and EVERYWHERE!!! My, how times have changed, yet I still have a hard time wearing gym shoes with a skirt. Not all trends are for everyone and that’s one I haven’t embraced!

Chicago

The Windy City fulfilled a wish list of the things I wanted in a city. It had Broadway musicals, museums, great food, and a lot of great shopping! I truly have never been bored living here as there is always something to do. I loved discovering antique stores, flea markets, and vintage shows. I began collecting hats, vintage wedding photos, and McCoy pottery along with jewelry.

The first piece of clothing I bought was in the early 90s at an auction house. It was a black velvet opera coat. It was so luxurious, and I would wear it to musicals (remember the days when everyone dressed up!!!). That led to another purchase of a hot pink velvet swing coat (which I still have!).

I brought a few family pieces with me from MO, my grandfather’s trench coat and a selection of his suit jackets. I wore his trench coat until it literally fell apart. That was a very sad day!!

Over time, my body changed, and I was able to experiment more with my vintage, secondhand clothing and skinny jeans (no, I’m never giving them up!). Randolph Street Market in Chicago became a regular event on my calendar. I loved seeing all the variety of vendors and objects. Seeing things that I’ve never seen before always excited me. Even if I didn’t buy it, or it was out of my budget, knowing that such a thing existed was enough for me. And of course, the thrill of the hunt has always been a part of the experience!

What I didn’t expect was getting to know the vendors and even becoming friends with a lot of them. I would make sure to visit and get to know more about them personally and their businesses. Becoming a regular also allowed me to know more about what I did and didn’t like to wear. I got to know more about the history of certain items I was drawn to.

New Frontier

I can’t believe I have been posting on Instagram for over 6 years (you can check out my fashion challenges here). During that time, I’ve met the most wonderful people virtually and sometimes in real life. I’ve been able to connect with people all over the world too (and then it’s really fun meeting them IRL – we will discuss my Parisian wedding soon, where many of my new friends gathered in a fashionable life moment, so I hope you will subscribe to join us back here!). What a great group to be associated with and to learn from.

Now, I’m embarking on this new frontier of creating this website and blog. I want to be able to share the information I gather from new experiences, learning about designs and designers, and shopping tips and tricks I’ve obtained over the years, plus some miscellaneous items, as I’ve got to be true to my eclectic self! I hope you join me for the adventure!!!

Bienvenue!!