On July 13, the 6200 block of South May Street was closed to traffic, but not to possibility.
Beneath a wide canopy set up right down the middle of the street, neighbors gather for Dare to Be Bold, the annual free fashion show organized by Nanette Tucker, owner of Englewood’s Marie | Wesley boutique. Teen servers weave through the crowd with trays of food and bottled water, making sure everyone is fed and hydrated. Then the music kicks in—pulsing sounds from a live DJ’s turntables—and fourteen models take to the pavement, wearing designs from three creators (among them, Tucker’s brother, JWes Streeter).
It’s not just a fashion show. It’s a summer afternoon where style, community, and fellowship all meet under one roof—even if that roof is made of canvas stretched over the street.
Fashion is usually a noun. We think of it as something on a hanger or a mannequin in a clothing store display window, a thing you can hold, try on, or buy. But as a verb, it’s more interesting—it means to shape, to invent, to make something where there was nothing before. For the past four years, Tucker has been doing exactly that on the South Side of Chicago.
The tent becomes the runway. Not the polished, high-gloss kind you see in Milan or Paris, but one with cracks in the pavement beneath it and the smell of barbecue drifting in from a neighbor’s yard. The audience isn’t a collection of fashion editors with notepads, but everyday people in folding chairs, kids chasing each other up and down the runway, elders nodding their approval when a model passes in something sharp. It felt less like an industry event than a block party with a runway at its center.
Tucker understands something more profound than the fact that style is personal. She sees it as communal. Clothes can make you feel good, but seeing someone you know—a neighbor, a friend, a relative, someone who looks like you, or even someone you’d like to know—walking a runway in your neighborhood changes how you see both fashion and yourself.
Her show also brings together people who might never cross paths. Tucker was part of Tonika Johnson’s ongoing Folded Map Project, which connects Chicagoans from opposite ends of the city who share the same street address. Every year, her “map twin,” Wade Wilson, travels from Edgewater to attend. In the very first year, 16th Ward Alderwoman Stephanie Coleman and 48th Ward Alderman Harry Osterman even walked the runway together. How’s that for togetherness?
Marie | Wesley grew from Tucker’s two loves: resale and sewing. “The store was open three years ago and it was about my love for resale and my love for making clothes because I’m a seamstress,” she said. “We reimagine clothing here. We don’t want stuff to end up in landfills. We upcycle.”
Sometimes that means turning a torn sleeve into a statement cuff, or giving a denim jacket a patchwork back. This year’s runway even featured garments made from street blankets. “When I see something that’s individual and I’m the only person that got it—that’s what I like,” she said.
The idea for a fashion show came during a regular meeting with her small, dedicated team. “I said, ‘Man, I should do a fashion show in Englewood.’ Folks here don’t get a chance to go to a fashion show and sit down and enjoy this type of thing—it’s just not heard of. I wanted to give to my community. I wanted them to see what they look like in a real fashion show.”
Her motto for Marie | Wesley is to ‘dare to be bold.’ “Wear whatever you want to wear. Jazz it up, jazz it down—that’s your look. You don’t have to go with the norms. Be yourself. Sometimes we’re afraid to do that.” She invites all body types, genders, and identities to participate. “I don’t care what your body style is—if you’re straight, gay, trans, whatever you are. Bring it. We’re going to work with it. We’re going to show people this is who you are. Dare to be bold, be who you are.”
In a city where the narrative about neighborhoods like Englewood is too often written by people who don’t live there, Tucker is fashioning her own story. One outfit, one walk, and one cheer at a time.