Lora Chasteen says that most salespeople at punk shops in the Clark and Belmont area seem to think being surly on the job gives the fishnets and creepers they’re pushing a whiff of authenticity. But she and her husband, Pier Novikov, who own the boutique Medusa’s Circle, request that their employees be attentive and friendly as they help customers select just the right pair of bondage pants. Says Chasteen, “I’ve never fit a mold, and sometimes it’s been kind of lonely. Maybe this sounds weird, but I’ve always liked us misfits to have a look–it gives me a sense of belonging.”
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Chasteen grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, and when she finished high school in 1990 she hightailed it to Miami to attend the International Fine Arts College (now Miami International University of Art and Design). She met Novikov, who had emigrated there from Russia with his family in 1988, in one of her first fashion design classes, and she says it was love at first sight. After graduation they got married and opened the first outpost of Medusa’s Circle in Miami Beach, selling punk and goth accessories and clothing, some handmade by Chasteen. But after two years they realized Miami tourists might be the wrong market for their wares and decided to give Chicago a try.
The couple promoted the event through the store and Chasteen gave away trinkets like neon bracelets and eye glitter to the throngs at the bar. By February she and Novikov realized they were spending so much money on promotion that they weren’t breaking even. “The major downfall of Watusi is that it’s not really a club and there’s no real dance floor,” says Chasteen. “Every time, our friends would ask, ‘So where are you going to do this next?’ We got the hint.”
