EVEN THE MINIMALISTS among us find ourselves heading home from vacations with a tchotchke or two.
It’s human nature, this compulsion to acquire a few useless dust catchers from the markets of the world, designed to bring back fond memories of our travels.
How else to explain that tiny plaster Trevi Fountain, a plastic Florida back scratcher and the Munich beer stein refrigerator magnet?
Next time, you might consider some tasteful options like the item shown here.
Design pros Natalya Bagrova and her fiance, Tim Showalter, have journeyed the world taking photos. For the past five years, the couple has been editing their images onto artful clothing and accessories for their company, Suva Inc.
There are several Chicago pictures among the 100 plus they’ve produced so far, but the showstoppers for me are images of the restored, iconic Chicago Theatre sign on State Street and the Marshall Field clock down the street (barely peeking out from behind the word “Chicago” in the photo shown here).
They’re art. They’re memories. They’re scarves and dresses and pillows and T-shirts.
“We’re making sure that part of that history stays alive,” Bagrova told me. Every item they sell comes with a tag telling the story behind the pictures, where and when they were taken, and, in some cases, why. Bet you couldn’t come up with all that info about your own fuzzy vacation snapshots.
Owning these pretty things–Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art has a small selection–gives you permission to never again buy a souvenir shot glass or coffee cup. You can even grant yourself absolution from ever taking another bad vacation snapshot.
Chicago has a shameful history of leveling its landmarks (or selling them to Macy’s) so the scarf shown here ($45, suvawear.com) is a special treasure, a stylish embodiment of the burly City that Works.
Now passionate citizens can wear their hearts on their sleeves–and their favorite town on their torso.
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– The number of foreign visitors to the U.S. increased 4 percent to 51.1 million in 2006, the largest total since 9/11.
– California was the most-visited state by U.S. residents in 2003; Illinois was the 10th; in the middle was New York at 5th.
– Travel and tourism generates $1.3 trillion in economic activity in the U.S. every year, or $3.4 billion a day.
Sources: Office of Travel & Tourism Industries, Travel Industry of America,
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Read Ellen’s shopping adviser column every Thursday in the Tribune’s At Play section and join the conversation at chicagotribune.com/ellen.shopellen.com
