The words "sample sale" are enough to perk up the ears of any budget fashionista, but sadly for our hometown, we don't see them around Chicago very often. With its abundance of designer showrooms, NYC is the epicenter of the hallowed designer sample sale, and the ritual goes something like this:

1. Make your way to an obscure loft location, usually unmarked or otherwise befuddling to find.

2. Pat yourself on the back for remembering to wear a tank and leggings under your clothes -- there's no dressing rooms in sight here. Either tug on clothes over your own or chuck your modesty out the window and disrobe on the spot. Or guess your size. Did we mention it's cash only, no returns?

3. Dig through boxes. Theorize about questionable items: Tube top, mini-skirt or turban? Elbow that girl with the Louis Vuitton bag who's invading your personal shopping space.

4. Remember you're not a model, and that sample sizes are usually 0, 2 and the errant 4. Dejectedly proceed to the hats and shoes.

All things considered, we like our town's more accessible take on the sample sale much better. There's Beta Boutique/Savvy Shopper Approved, a year-round Bucktown boutique and event company offering not only samples, but also designer overruns (leftovers from past seasons, in a range of sizes instead of just teensy ones).

This weekend, a new event called High Gloss  debuts (click for details). It's run by Tamara Chaponot, owner of local boutique Clever Alice, and her hubby Christophe, who also works in the fashion industry. They're extracting some of the chaos from the traditional sample sale concept with separate sections for each designer, both communal and private dressing rooms and staff to return your cast-offs to the proper racks. And they're adding a bit of a party vibe with cupcakes and a sparkling water bar. Expect to find women's clothing (sizes 2 to 12, hooray!) like jackets from Paris-based Ave Montaigne for $75-$100 ($250-$300 originally) and dresses by Los Angeles' Frenzii for $45-$65 (usually $110-$150), plus a $25-$35 clearance rack from Clever Alice, too. Can we appoint this the new sample sale standard?
 
High Gloss starts tomorrow and runs through Saturday. Click here for details.

Looks like Greek Islands will be taking a little spring cleaning vacation:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/dining/chi-greek-islands-closeapr03,0,552338.story

Manuel, we hardly knew ye.

 

This week’s episode of "Top Chef" was all about trimming the proverbial fat, and Manuel was headed for the butcher's block before the show even started. Of course, by that logic, one could also argue that Lisa was predestined to get cut this week—but she drew a great partner in Stephanie and that saved her.

 

It’s clear that Stephanie is not among the forgettable chefs who tend to get “trimmed” in episodes No. 4-6. (After Manuel, our money’s on Lisa and Nikki.) Again this week, we saw Stephanie finish in the top four. At the dining table with Richard Roeper and Aisha Tyler (what, Michael Phillips wasn’t available?) and again at the judge’s table, everyone seemed to agree that the flavors in her dish were spot on.

 

Whew. We were worried that a too-literal representation of the “Top Secret” cow scene would do Stephanie and Lisa in—Val Kilmer in a cow suit is not really the image you want in your mind while eating a lovely New York strip, with or without savory caramel sauce. (Also, we’re just not sure guest judge Daniel Boulud has seen “Top Secret.” Then again, you never know.) So we give Stephanie bonus points not only for executing a great dish, but also for gracefully humoring Lisa’s bizarre movie selection.

 

Other observations:

 

Most unsettling quote of the night: “… the people that will be eating this food will culinarily crap in their pants when we see what they have for them.” Ah, another gem from Andrew. But he might want to reconsider the imagery before reusing this one.

 

Most incongruous movie/food pairing: “Good morning Vietnam” as interpreted by Manuel and Spike. Yeah, we love Vietnamese cuisine too. But if we remember this flick correctly Robin Williams didn’t spend a lot of time shopping for fresh produce at the Hanoi market.

 

Most avoidable error: Doesn’t everyone know by now that Tom’s pet peeves include non-functional garnishes and ill-composed plates? The random garnish-like Swiss chard creation on Manuel and Spike’s plate may have violated both Colicchio commandments at once.

 

Biggest suck-up: Richard. Tell us he didn’t actually say, “Restraint is one of the things that Daniel taught me.” Oh, but he did—and while Daniel was in the room.

 

And now, we’re off to the store to stock up on Glad ForceFlex products. There’s just this nagging, uncontrollable urge all of the sudden ...