Defining Millinery with Local Chicago Artist Tonya Gross

Darling digital image, funsherpa.

Awesome. Will let Tonya know!

Question for Tonya,

How did working at a hedge fund help you get your business started? Did you have some heavy-duty contacts and sales leads out the door?

What's the story with NY fashion week? That has to be quite a thrill?

Best Chicago corner to see some good fashion during the day?

Hi adelle77. Thanks for your interest. I worked on a trading desk and in project management for a hedge fund. It helped me prepare to become a small business order in a number of ways. Organizing vendors, the ability to multi-task, project life cycle...it's all important to managing a business. It helped me develop a thick skin and take challenges head on (no pun intended).

NYC Fashion Week. I have a lot of work to do before I am ready for the big show. I am working with the emerging designer component of Fashion Week, Nolcha. Great people at Nolcha that want to help small designers like me get the exposure that Fashion Week affords. In all honesty, millinery probably won't have its own runway show (not in the US anyway) and I am totally cool with collaborating with the designers and their collections for the runway and staying behind the scenes.

Best corner in Chicago to see good fashion. I suppose "good" is relative! I enjoy the people watching around Rush and Oak. Grab some breakfast on a Saturday afternoon at one of the cafes and enjoy yourself. Follow my blog. I can't keep my snark to myself!

My next collection will be dedicated to my group of friends, dubbed the Chicago 7. Sipsters, the older, more worldly sisters of hipsters. Bawdy and brilliant ladies, each and every one. They are my inspiration and my family. Each hat will be based on a personality. Sure to be over the top. Naughty and delicious.

I want to hear more about these awesome-sounding women. They need a blog!

Hey lana4d, Thanks for your post! These lovelies come from all corners of the US and are incredibly successful in their respective fields. Yes, yes, they blog. It took me a long time to find such great friends and hope everyone is as fortunate as I am. You'll have to watch for the collection...