Chicago: Shopping Secret...Shhhh

So in communicating with a GS friend, I have been given some insight from an anti-shopper's shopper:

I'm not a big shopper myself but definitely love a good bargain and get very proud of them. One thing that I discovered in the past year: Chicago is a great city for shopping. I visited a friend there and we shopped for a weekend; Chicago is a big enough city to have a lot of good clothes but Chicagoans are far too practical to spend ridiculous amounts of money. I feel compelled to tell you about my biggest score in Chicago: jeans are a rough area for me (for everyone over 25, I imagine...) There is a dangerously fine line between flatteringly low-waisted and my a** hanging out when I sit down, and I try on a LOT of jeans without buying many. In Chicago I bought a cute pair of True Religion jeans that I can sit in for $50! They were originally $320, but nobody in Chicago is going to pay that much because it's stupid. Even with the flight to Chicago ($200) they were cheaper than retail!My other new thing: for sports equipment, www.steepandcheap.com. They sell only one thing at a time but they sell it REALLY cheap--usually more than 60% off-- and then move on to the next. My sister has actually bought a ton of stuff on there (she's the sporty sister). I check it a lot, though. It's totally worth it. Wow. I totally feel like talking about shopping. I totally agree with you about Old Navy, Macy's and Lord and Taylor.