Tracy Chambers is a sassy industrious young woman living on the southside of Chicago who dreams of becoming a fashion designer. She has worked her way up from salesgirl to secretary and assistant to the head buyer at a luxury department store (modeled after, and filmed at, Marshall Field's on State Street, Chicago).<ref name="mahoganytracy">[https://www.jstor.org/pss/1354334 Mahogany and Marshall Field's]</ref>