“I would love Chicago to be a fashion center like NYC,” says yoga teacher Bradshaw Wish, 32, who was doing his part while grocery shopping on a sunny Friday afternoon. Not styled for any special occasion, Wish says he simply “loves to dress up.” That day his styling process started with the dress, followed by the Jeffrey Campbell platform boots—which he “needed to have”—and finished with the electric-blue eyeliner. Wish says he often wears dresses, and considers them suitable to all genders.
Wish describes his style as “queer and fashion-forward” and inspired by “queer liberation.” “I like to wear dresses, sportswear, boots, makeup, jeans . . . I really like it all. I like to wear things that push people’s perception of what they think you can or should wear. In reality you can wear whatever you want,” he says. “Don’t live by the fashion rules of others,” he adds.