The Tailor’s New Clothes

When you throw a bash mixing visual glitterati with a visual cause, fashion must be fabulous. Balenciaga, Rochas, Posen, Prada and Chanel adorned the revelers at the Modern Ball given by the Art Institute’s Architecture & Design Society. But the best looks that evening were nameless and owed their sartorial verve to expert tailoring. Barbara Leland channeled the 1960s in a funky mini-sheath snagged at the Chicago Modernism Show three weeks earlier; Oak Street tailor Boguslaw reworked it into a long gown and Leland added a chic little bag she picked up at Wright’s Branded Luxury Auction. Paul Florian embraced a Mod vibe with a bold floral brocade tux vest, made by Golden Needle Tailoring on State Street; Victoria Lautman lugged the fabric home for him from a trip to India. And Shawna Rosenzweig flaunted Marilyn Monroe curves in a long shimmering lipstick-red beaded sheath she snapped up on eBay for $30 and altered at Sam’s Cleaners and Tailoring on Dearborn Street. “It’s really worth hundreds,” she revealed. eBay, here we come.