The Flavorhood: Pilsen Street Style

By Emma Batia Arnold

Greetings fellow fashionistas and welcome to “The Flavorhood”, a new feature on Gozamos where I take you on a sartorial journey to a different community each month. There’s no better place to kick things off than Pilsen, the “Heart of Chicago” located in the city’s lower west side.

I spent several bone-chilling weekends walking up, down, and around 18th street. The frigid temperatures stood in high relief to the cultural warmth of the neighborhood and its inhabitants. Norteño music blasted from Discoteca Navarros while street vendors peddled sweets and children’s toys along streets lined with an abundance of bright murals.

Pilsen’s mixture of young artists and traditional Latino style is the kind of cultural fusion that defines great Chicago street fashion. The neighborhood’s newly-arrived and longtime residents offered up stylistic juxtapositions that I gleefully captured with my camera. It will continue to be a regular destination on my adventures in street fashion.

See more sweet street style photos at Emma’s Chicago street style fashion blog Trés Awesome.

See slideshow on Flickr