Jessica Herman

The man in a beret, the foursome of grad students, the blonde in her trench coat and Halloween socks are all double-fisting full cups of alcohol in the regal Ruggles Hall at the Newberry Library. They swirl, sniff and sip past presidents' choice beverages in honor of this evening's lecture "Wine, Spirits and the Oval Office," hosted by The Wednesday Club.

"You know they're serving martinis over there," says one lady whose hair is secured in a tight bun. Peering over the rim of her spectacles at the wine being poured into her cup, she relishes the fact that she's drinking Jackie O.'s favorite white, Pouilly-Fuisse.

Taking advantage of the candlelit ambiance, a couple has poured a picnic of chips, grapes, wine and cheese onto one of the tables set up around the room's periphery. Two resident Wednesday clubbers attempt to recruit new members to the Newberry social group in a tongue-in-cheek frat-boy style, one bragging about the 125-proof bourbon he carries. After a good deal of meeting and greeting, the speaker, superstar sommelier Robert Bansberg, steps up to the podium. "Those colonists were heavy drinkers," he begins, the backdrop of PowerPoint slides flipping from a portrait of George Washington to glass tumblers that hold the same rye whiskey being served a few rows back. After Bansberg spouts off an hour's worth of insider information, the rows of cups still twinkle full of beer, wine and whiskey.

(2004-10-13)

Also by Jessica Herman

Material girls
Julie Laffin shuffles through a deck of photographs that evolve from a pure ivory wedding-type gown draped over her body into tarnished rags that seep off her skin, giving her the look of Ophelia, if not a sea creature
(2004-10-06)

Custom couture
Nestled in industrial flatlands between an auto-repair shop and the Goose Island Brewery, Dame Couture , a custom dressmakers' studio, is an anomaly in her neighborhood
(2004-09-29)

Ziggy lives
Acres of really happy people sell products and productivity at The Motivation Show at McCormick Place
(2004-09-29)

Dialogue by design
Two headless torsos cloaked in black apparel dangling from the ceiling are not what you might expect for a boutique's window display. Then again, hejfina is not your typical boutique.
(2004-09-23)

Spin Control
(2004-09-14)

To the Gill
(2004-09-08)

The art of the discount
(2004-08-31)

Boutiqueville
(2004-08-31)

Unabashedly cheesy
(2004-08-25)

Bird watching
(2004-08-25)

Pretty in pink
(2004-08-17)

Shopping around
(2004-08-10)

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