Friday, June 30, 2006

The Plight of the Sample Sale Worker

Goodness, it's been a while, no? Hmm, let's see what I can tell you. Went to check out a Miguelina sample sale last week. As most of you know, I love me the sample sale, but what I don't love about it is the people working the sample sale. I guess the deal is that the women who actually work for the designer have to work a shift during the sale. You are therefore presented with the nasty fashion industry person (I am generalizing, yes, but please bare with me). So I stroll into the Miguelina headquarters to check out the sale, smile at the women at the front desk and I kid you not when no one said "hi" or even cracked a smile. Get over yourselves, I beg of you.

I then proceeded to get stuck in the elevator for about 10 minutes right on the same floor as our beloved Miguelina. When I pressed the alarm button did anyone on that floor react? Nay. Needless to say I did not purchase a thing at the Miguelina sale, but bought a Cutie McCute turquoise-blue leather shoulder bag from at the Rafe sale later that week. The women working at Rafe answered questions and smiled. It's called a positive brand image ladies, and Rafe gets it.

Happy 4th of July! Eat a lot of good bbq, watch parades and fireworks and relax.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

My Sense of Fashion: A Retrospective

Returning from my 10-year college reunion I realize I've learned a lot when it comes to style and fashion. Herewith, my top-ten lessons learned in the past 10 years.

Lesson #1 Cut-offs and flannel shirts are appropriate only in the middle-of-nowhere Ohio.

Lesson #2 Purses are not evil and are sometimes a lot better than big, bulky backpacks

Lesson #3 Perfume is not “girly” but nice and appropriate

Lesson #4 Heels can and should be worn on occasion, but that occasion is usually not in the middle-of-nowhere Ohio

Lesson #5 Product is your friend, especially facial moisturizer and hair care product

Lesson #6 Drinking a lot of beer = having a beer gut

Lesson #7 Painting one’s toe nails is not “girly” and is absolutely necessary when exposing the toes

Lesson #8 Wearing a lot of black does not make you a miserable, negative New Yorker

Lesson #9 The pinnacle of shopping existence is not necessarily J.Crew

Lesson #10 Never say never

Trendspotting: Update

Two more trends I am seeing around town:

Tank tops and summer scarves
This is everywhere right now in New York. The idea is to rock a thin summer scarf or a lightweight pashmina (usually the latter) and a tank top. It looks very Euro, very downtown. It's paired usually with shorts or cut-offs and flats.

Peep-toe flats
I love this trend – enough said.