VIBE TALKING

The vibe starts before the clothes.

Before the denim bar. Before the designer labels. Before the mirrors, the racks, the styling sessions and the careful talk about hemlines, vacations, presentations, and parties.

It starts with the feeling.

The music is upbeat. The energy is warm. Employees greet customers the way hosts greet guests stepping into a home for dinner. Nothing stiff. Nothing intimidating. Nothing overly precious.

Just style with a pulse.

“One of the most important elements of our shops has to be the vibe—fun, upbeat,” says Lauren Peters. “My employees read our vibe guide. They treat customers as if they’re welcoming them to their home.”

That atmosphere—equal parts polished and personal—is at the center of Peters’ growing fashion world, one that expanded this week with the opening of her second boutique, Winterfield Hinsdale.

The Hinsdale shop officially opened May 13, giving Peters a second storefront to pair with Lillie Alexander Lake Forest, the longtime North Shore boutique she purchased in late 2024.

The two stores, Peters says, “will carry a similar brand matrix,” blending emerging designers with established luxury labels while emphasizing personalized styling and customer relationships.

It is exciting.

And busy. Very busy.

“I’m excited about the new shop in Hinsdale,” Peters says. “It’ll be a lot of juggling, but that’s OK.”

Busy has never really scared her. Not when she was a distance freestyler at Benet Academy. Not when she graduated from University of Notre Dame. Not when she spent five years working in public relations and fundraising for Catholic Charities of Chicago.

“I loved working there,” Peters says. “I started its Junior Board, aligning it with the organization’s mission.”

Even then, though, fashion had a pull on her. A strong one.

“I want to be a buyer,” she remembers thinking while growing up in Hinsdale. “I want to be a buyer for Abercrombie & Fitch.”

But Peters’ relationship with clothing and style goes deeper than trends or labels. For her, it is tied to memory.

To family.

To Lake Forest.

Long before she owned a boutique there, Peters visited the town as a child with her mother, Carolyn.

“She was an Olympic shopper when I was growing up,” Peters recalls with a laugh. “We’d shop four times a year at Hansen’s in Lake Forest, where I found jeans and gymnastics leotards and other clothes I loved.”

Years later, life produced a meaningful full-circle turn: Hansen’s once occupied the same space where Lillie Alexander now stands on Westminster Avenue.

Peters, whose maiden name is Winterfield, has now lived in Lake Forest for 26 years. Her parents, Ron and Carolyn, also live there. She and her husband, Jed, raised their three daughters there.

So, while the Hinsdale opening represents growth, the Lake Forest store carries something else.

Roots. History. Home.

Before purchasing Lillie Alexander, Peters briefly owned Lake Forest Shop in 2023. She also worked part-time at Lillie Alexander well before eventually buying the boutique herself.

Today, the store employs 14 people in Lake Forest and four in Hinsdale.

Its mission is straightforward: help customers find and express the best versions of themselves through fashion while keeping the merchandise fresh, relevant and interesting.

That means timeless staples alongside trends. Personalized styling. Honest feedback. Denim specialists. Tailoring help. Attention to detail.

And conversation. Lots of conversation.

“We marry the convenience of digital shopping with the in-person experience,” Peters says. “I get it — people rely on online options because not every shop can carry every brand. But there’s nothing like entering a store and interacting with people who are there to help you and offer feedback. Plus, you get to try on clothes.”

That belief makes Peters something of a modern old-school retailer—fully aware of online shopping’s convenience but equally convinced many people still crave genuine human interaction.

Maybe more than ever.

The reward, she says, comes in the outcomes.

A customer finding the right look for a major event. A teenager glowing in a prom dress. A nervous professional suddenly feeling confident before a presentation.

Peters remembers one customer in particular.

“A friend of mine needed an outfit for a business presentation,” she says. “I remember being super busy at the time, but I loved doing everything I could to figure out the best one for her.”

That, she says, is the fun part. The meaningful part.

“I love when the outcomes of our customers’ visits make them happy,” Peters says. “It’s so cool. I love our team, too. I’m so lucky that I get to work with talented, nice people who are fun and warm and great at styling.”

And that feeling — the warmth, the energy, the welcome—is ultimately what Peters hopes people remember after walking through the doors of either boutique.

Not simply what they bought. But how they felt while buying it.

Lillie Alexander Lake Forest is located at 197 East Westminster Avenue in Lake Forest. Winterfield Hinsdale is at 18 West First Street in Hinsdale.