Shopping for a Candidate, Part II

Friends,

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the upcoming election. A while ago I blogged about shopping for a candidate. Well by now you've probably shared about 20.5 YouTube videos (at least!) with friends and colleagues, re-watched the debate highlights online and received the myriad email forwards from supporters of both parties.

Many of you know the line of work I am in, so I leave you with this one tidbit you may not have had time to look at. The following are the number of results on YouTube.com for searches with the listed keywords as of today, 10/30/08 at around 3:00 pm.

"Obama" - 600,000
"McCain" - 323,000
"Palin" - 144,000

I HOPE this means something.

Giraffe Print Handbags Are Horrible

Lovely ladies of Colatown,

Stop your obsession with the giraffe print handbag! It's a knock-off of a past-season Dooney & Burke model. It's old-lady-esque. Most of the time, the version you're carrying isn't even leather (and I don't think you're a vegan).

It's an old style from a former season. Right now in our town, there are a lot of exciting developments in the art, food and culture world. Further, non-profits are working towards making our fair city a better place to attract and retain talent. How are we ever going to get there, really, if we're all carrying kooky bags?

Really? Really.

Sincerely,

Your friend, Caroline

TG-170 Sale

Oh sniff sniff that I can't be in NYC right now for a TG-170 sale. That does not, however, mean that my *loyal* readers up North shouldn't benefit from my recently-acquired knowledge. The following is a cut-and-paste job from the NYMagazine's "Best Bets" email from today. Enjoy and think of me if you buy anything!

Lower East Side boutique TG-170 is making way for new fall stock with discounts of up to 20 percent on dresses from Sari, Pepper and Pistol, and more, as well as accessories by Bing Bang and Greta Cavazzoni.
When: Daily (12–8).
Where: 170 Ludlow St., nr. Houston St. (212-995-8660).
- Source: New York Magazine's Best Bets email, Tuesday, October 1, 2008

Shopping in Asheville, NC

Two weekends ago, EJ and I wisked ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of Colatown and spent the weekend in the mountain oasis that is Asheville, North Carolina. This Burlington/Boulder-eque town is THE mountain retreat of the area.



There's no need for me to give you in-depth descriptions about the sights and eats that can be experienced, because the NYTimes does such a great job with its Travel section feature, 36 Hours in Asheville (yes, we ate at Table and it was awesome. So is Tupelo Honey and Salsas). But I would like to - surprise! - highlight the shopping to be done there.

If you have serious cash to burn there are a number of galleries where original, local art can be purchased. My favorite exhibits were at Blue Spiral 1 which is right across the street from Mast General Store (a store which gets a lot of press, but is rather touristy IMHO). There are also a lot of jewelry shops with a style of jewelry that I only know how to describe as mountainy. It's not hippie, because it's not cheap, but it's very arty.

The clothing shops, in general, are indeed hippie. Chunky sweaters, lots of embroidery, and funky cloth handbags. But when you're in the mountains, people, you embrace your inner hippie. Paul Taylor makes custom sandals and belts. Here's a shot of its window display - and yes, EJ was contemplating a belt.



On the outside, Tops for Shoes looks like a place your parents would shop for shoes (even the website looks like something your parents designed - dang, am I beating up on your parents or what?). But a gander on the inside reveals brands like Marc by Marc Jacobs and Pink Studio. In fact, the Tops Outlet section is the business! There are a couple pairs I spied that I am kicking myself for not purchasing, but that's what the next trip is for. Anyway, I was saving my duckets for a store that we finally found on Sunday - Moda.

Moda is located in Gerber Village, a 15-minute drive away from downtown Asheville. If you're driving away from the downtown area on Biltmore Avenue, it's a shopping center that's just off Hendersonville Road after the turn-off to Biltmore Estate (Biltmore Avenue basically becomes Hendersonville Road).

Moda is owned by a mother and daughter so the photos near the register are of fashionable family members. Lauren is the daughter whom we met when we went in. They carry fabulous, different looks that satisfy both people in their 20s/30s and those in their 40s/50s. It was nice to see that diversity - from all the stores in Asheville, really. Coming from a college town, the general theme of the stores here is decidedly 20s. The reason I was so hell-bent on getting to this store was because it was listed on the jeweler Emily Amey's website as a retailer of the line. Jewelry is one of those things that is tricky to buy online. Indeed Moda had a whole bunch of Emily Amey jewelry; I got the ring in the photo below, but there were actually a lot of cool pieces by a bunch of other designers to choose from as well. Other brands carried included Coclico shoes and Lilla P tops. Lauren's mother worked in retail for a number of years and you can tell with the pieces they sell. The moral of this story? Fashion can be found in Asheville, you just need to investigate slightly off of the beaten path.

Franchise Vintage

Wow, I'm not sure how I feel about this concept: a franchise of vintage clothing stores! Over Labor Day weekend, KH and I went to Greenville for the day because I had heard some good things. While it's no Charleston, it does have a Whole Foods...and a Clothing Wearhouse. Interestingly, this store is actually a franchise of vintage clothing stores. You can learn all about it on the website. What's more, you can buy vintage clothing from the business wholesale. It's genius, really, but leaves me wondering where all this vintage clothing is coming from?

As I'm sure you can guess, I bought two dresses at The Clothing Wearhouse in Greenville. I mentioned how thrilled I was about this store in my previous post. Now that I know it's a franchise, I guess it makes sense. Every dress in the store was on a hanger with a see-through plastic garment cover over the dress. There was a display inside that featured male and female mannequins all dude-ed up with styles labeled "50s," "60s," "70s" - you get the picture. It was all just pure genius! Hm, I suppose I just answered my question of how I feel about this concept. Hey, if I'm willing to shop at BR, JCrew, H&M, Zara (the list goes on), then why not this place?

Back in the Summer of '08

In the immortal words of Gracie Peanut, "Lordy, lordy, lordy, lordy!" August was a long old month indeed. I drove up and back to upstate New York, then two days later I flew out to Northern CA to hang with the O'Malleys and work a trade show, then it was back to Colatown for the first Slow Food Columbia event, then KH came to visit for Labor Day weekend and then I started a full-time job last week.

A shopping/things I acquired this Summer redux:

I grabbed a bunch of furniture in NY. This china cabinet was something I believe my parents bought. Not an heirloom, but cool nonetheless.


In Northern California, I spent the entire time in awe of everything in the region - food, culture, lifestyle, etc. Here are my fave people in the BAY Area:





And here is one of my fave purchases from Los Altos. Yes, these are jelly-esque...I prefer to call them the anti-croc (or should I say, anti-croque?). These are from 151 Boutique.



Oh sweet Melissa - "plastic dreams" just sounds so magical.

By the way, my apologies for these fuzzy photos, but that's my PDA for you. Ok so onto my shopping extravaganza with KH. We rocked it out with day trips to Gaffney (outlets), G'ville (GREAT vintage clothing shop there - more on that TK) and Chucktown. Of course we hit the King Street strip in Charleston, and K had an exceptionally successful trip in Hampden Clothing, per use. My piece de resistance was this killah rubber necklace from my favorite, B'Zar.



And now it's back to the ol' 9-to-5. Feels great to be able to talk with people throughout the day!

Hos before Bros

First there was the "wife-beater" shirt, which is a term that I loathe. I love me the tank top, but I really despise that name.

Then last night I saw an ad in latest hard copy issue of Blue Ridge Mountains Outdoors promoting some sort of Subaru called the bromobile or something like that. I will report more correctly on that later, but the use of the term "bro" seems to be seeping into everything these days.

And now finally, the piece de resistance -- the "Cougarette" skirt from Diane von Furstenberg. Argh! Here's the photo of it. Cute, I guess. And I suppose it is some sort of take-back of the phrase, but come on.



Bla!

Victoria Keen sample sale

Hey all my NYC ladies! Apparently Victoria Keen had a sample sale and I just got an email that she's extending it due to the recent Labor Day weekend. Get over there and buy some groovy yoga pants. Do it now! And be really Zen about it!

Crocs Outrage

This article about making Crocs stop on Newsweek.com is one of the funnier ones I've read recently. Still, has anyone addressed the need to recycle these things on a corporate level? I can't seem to find a like-minded comment out there.

Suggestion for Target

Thanks to a conversation I had with SB last night about the quality of Target clothing, I remembered the other suggestion I was thinking of recently, this time for Target.

I think it's great that Target gets guest designers for apparel, shoes and handbags, but when it comes to handbags, they are always plastic. And I'm not talking the nice vegan plastic, usually it's the obvi-not-leather plastic. A while ago they featured Rafe for Target. Hello, I love Rafe as most of you know. But plastic? That's a not so much. Right now it's Botkier for Target. Although they have one metallic bag that isn't obviously pleather (see image below), most of them are a disappointment.



Which brings me to my latest idea: why not have at least one bag in the collection that is leather? I would pay, and I'm sure others would pay, $100 to $150 for a [INSERT GOOD BRAND HERE] for Target leather bag. I might even pay more if they marketed it right, and if there's one thing I don't doubt, it's that Target knows how to get me - and a whole heck of a lot of other people - to buy.

Hollywould Go Lightly (And Did)

What a pleasant surprise to stumble upon the great sales happening on Hollywould.com. Just check out these cutie flats (they're only $100!). There's a lot on super-sale - aka: Final Sale - and a handful of metallic espadrilles and other super hotties that are on basic sale.

Something Old, Something New?

So I'm feeling a little melancholy about Girlshop being officially gone. It was either the last time I was in NY (March 2008) or right before I moved (May 2007) that I went out to the retail store in the Meatpacking District because it was having a going-out-of-business sale. I didn't understand at that point that actually the retail store, presumably a last-ditch attempt for the online retailer, was the first stop to end-of-businessdom. And I feel blue about it because I bought plenty of items at Girlshop (sample sales only, mind you, which is probably a main reason why they're now gone) that I don't own today due to wearing through, wearing out or getting bigger. It's like a time period in my life came and went and I have nothing to show for it.

In related news, it seems that Nau is now coming back. Those brats! As you may recall, I recently bought a couple of items from Nau. While I am indeed impressed by the comfort of the material of the pieces, I ordered what are my usual sizes and of course, both dress and skirt were too big. There's no returns while this company morphs into something new, so I'll just have to don these items when I'm feeling fat, I guess. But I feel like clothes that are big on me make me feel even bigger, so I'm not quite sure what to do with these duds. Anyway, stay tuned for the Nau developments.

Suggestion for the Makers of Crocs

So Crocs are really popular down here for kids, and kids are really popular down here in general. I was thinking that due to the typical kid-like wear and tear a shoe will receive, and the fact that kids grow out of their shoes faster than you can say "apple juice," there are plenty of Crocs being thrown away.

In light of the green movement going strong across the country, wouldn't it be a great PR move if Crocs had recycling locations at the major retailers selling their sandals? Maybe people who actually recycled their (kids) Crocs could receive a discount on the purchase of their next pair.

If the company has some good PR/search people they will come across this posting and take my advice. Or maybe a plan like this is already in the works/happening? If so, kind reader, do let me - and the other handful of peeps who actually visit this online destination - know.

Best Shopping Resource for Columbia, SC Stores

Dear Caroline,

What's the best way for me to quickly learn about all the good boutiques in Columbia and the special deals, sales and trunk shows they might be having?

Sincerely,

Southern Shopper

Dearest Southern,

A new friend of mine, Anne Postic, is fashionably fabulous, a dedicated locavore, an intense Pilates instructor and has two blogtastic websites (to name a few of her many talents and interests). Her newest endeavor will be your main resource for learning about everything happening, shopping-wise, in the Colatown. It's called The Shop Tart and if you're wondering if I'm jealous that she came up with this great idea the answer is "yes!"

So here's the drill - yesterday, once I peeled myself off the couch after watching a Project Runway marathon (the season that Chloe won. Yes, I thought she had the chops and skills, but I liked Santino Rice's final show so much better and didn't care that it wasn't cohesive and I want that pleated dress with the ruffles down the front! More on that to come in another post), I had the urge to shop. Furthermore, I had to go find a birthday gift for CC so I pulled up The Shop Tart website. Lo and behold, there's up-to-the-minute information on the latest sales. I was thrilled to learn that Kicks is one of the stores with items on sale - most everything in the store is 30% off. Sure enough, I managed to find these groovy BCBG silver platform shoes on the super-sale table. They were only $57, people!



Anne also maintains another blog called The Daily Digress. There's no way to give this blog true justice in a simple description. It's genius - just read today's post (July 13, 2008), bookmark it and thank me later.

Mullets...

...have finally hit Columbia. This just in: it's been 5 years, but they've finally made their way down.

More to come.

Patriotic Poison Ivy

This week, in preparation for the July 4th weekend, I managed to get a serious case of poison ivy in our backyard. As I mentioned earlier, apparently we have it growing all over the place back there. He's a shot of it creeping up our neighbor's fence (this is the side of the fence facing our yard).



Bel Biv Devoe, now I know!

In the meantime, Thacker finished painting the two rooms that were a horrible color. I was therefore able to settle our things into the rooms a little more and now feel comfortable sharing some more shots of the house. Here's the guest room -- ready and waiting for your visit down to the South Cack.



And these are the two living room/den areas on the first floor on either side of the fireplace.





By the way, the guest room is more of a grey, but a pretty blueish grey it seems. I guess our house is evolving to showcase the color blue. Here's our bedroom, which we didn't repaint.

Hanging around with Hanging Baskets

After a week in the new place, I realized that the trend in our new hood is to have hanging baskets of plants or flowers or both on the front porch(es). Furthermore, there's porch furniture to consider. Since my mother-in-law is responsible for advice and opinions on the garden/plant-related element of our house, she and I went out to Rebekah's Garden at the Farmer's Market the other week and got these.



The ones in front are sweet potato plants and the ones off to the side are petunias - I think, but all the flowers have fallen off the sides facing the house so you can't really tell there's any difference between the four baskets. Yes my friends, this is what it's come to.

So here's what those baskets look like when facing the house. Green does well with the peach/pink color, wouldn't you say?



Oh by the way, these things need to be watered at least once a day. I've purchased a garden hose with a "wand" to attach to it and traipse outside nearly every evening to water these puppies. I guess I have poison ivy growing near the garden hose because the other day, before book club, I was a rashy mess after watering the baskets. It is truly a different world.

Caroline's Closet Presents, the Closet

ML has been asking me for photos of our new house. The thing is, even as the furniture is placed and the boxes emptied, I don't know that photos are doing the place justice because, frankly, there's a lot that still needs to be done (don't tell my husband) -- dining room table, more than 10 items to hang on the wall, etc.

Anyway, the point is I realized that the one room I am ready to show you is my closet. My wonderful master bedroom closet. EJ very selflessly gave me the entire space. It's the first room that has been fully set up.

As you may have noted from the updated profile photo - Caroline finally got her closet.

Je T'Aime, Paris

So it's been pretty hectic what with going to France for a week, moving into our new house, the long weekend. But believe me, I'm not trying to make excuses, just explaining myself a bit. Now on to the good stuff.

France was a wonderful experience. Friends have been asking me and EJ what we liked the best and all I have to say is, "all of it!" I didn't care that the euro was kicking my butt and stopping me from buying $300 Repetto shoes (at the actual Repetto store, no less! Mon dieu, it was beautiful). I didn't care that a bottle of water was $6.00 - I really loved the whole experience. The most exciting part of checking out the way women in Paris were dressed was that they generally looked like peeps in New York. The weather was beautiful - sunny during the day and cool at night with no rain for a week - so women donned RayBan-esque aviator sunglasses, roman-style, strappy flat sandals and casual dresses. There's not really a lot of crispness in the general style of clothing as I see here in Columbia - it's more drapey linen. Surprisingly, I didn't see one scarf. As I said, it was warm weather, but from what I've been reading in Lucky, the Spring/Summer scarf is popular here in the U.S. Maybe it was just too hot.

So that's the news from the fashion capitale du monde. I really needed to get that one out so that we can now move on to my new shopping focus: the house! More on that to come. In the meantime, I leave you with this little shot from the streets of Paris.

Get 50% Off Now at Nau

It looks like after just one year the environmentally-conscious high-end retailer NAU is going out of business. What does that mean for you and me, my dear readers? 50% off, yo! Now you might be able to buy one of those super-cool, streamlined jackets they sell. I stress the word "maybe" because in the case of the price of these jackets, one-half off might not make too much of a difference. I suspect the discount will get deeper as they get closer to having to completely shut down ops.

What does this mean for the bigger picture? Well, I guess the green movement is important to many, but not when it comes to paying $300 for a jacket or $150 for a jean skirt. Or perhaps, since the founders of NAU were apparently Patagucci defectors, Patagonia and North Face do indeed have a stranglehold on the big-ticket jacket market.

I would like to formally credit Smiles with sending me the information about this sale. For those of you who know him, how awesome is it that he's the shopping source?! Smiles would like you to note that if Nau is out of the color of the item you'd like to buy, try another color. Another tip is that it took me about 4 tries before my order was actually processed online. So stick with it little shopper bees!