Life is better on the Green Side
The trend is going green. Recently, many jean companies decided to go green such as J Brand, Earnest Sewn, Guess, Genetic, and Ruby Denim. Over the last few months it is noticeable how accepted this concept is getting in the form of the consumers. Their attitudes have changed for instance when I was at Barneys and saw with my own eyes a customer picking the organic denim over a premium brand.
“Would you like to try these on, miss?” the sales associate asked the young lady as she had two different in her hand.
“No thank you, I know my size. But tell me, which one is better?”
“Well, the one in your left hand is J Brand’s organic cotton,” the sales associate explained.
She started telling the difference and before she even got to the different washes the lady interrupted and said, “I’ll take this one!” Her voice filled with excitement.
As you can guess, she picked the organic denim. Life is better on the green side..enough said.
Photo: J Brand Green Label Love story 22″ Low Rise Bell Bottom in Haight. Revolveclothing.com
Painting your face for Fashion
Would you go out of your house with no makeup?
To avoid taking attention off of the styles and new trends designers choose to have nude makeup such as the nude lip, flushed cheeks, and minimal eye makeup. By the look of the picture below, would you want to go out flushed out like that?
When the outfits are calm and collected, the designer tends to stick with the theme and the make up is nude and calm as well. Doesn’t that sound dull. Why have the makeup and outfit be all the same? But in fact it does make sense. In some cases you want a well put together look that is all on the same page. When looking from top to bottom at the model, you will peruse through the face down to the shoes without a problem.
Photo: Donna Karan. Style.com.
The eyes and lips are huge when painting the face of the models. Just glancing at a models dark cat eye or popping red lips says it all for the outfit. It tends to intensify the mood of the show and also make dramatic entrances when showing the collections. The girl below, from the Christian Dior Spring 08 collection looks fierce sporting the leopard dress with makeup as dark as night. For this night, she is the god of seduction.
It also makes consumers be more aware of what can be placed on the face and makes them more daring after looking at the collections.
Photo: Christian Dior. Style.com.
12 is the new 50
When did women today decide it was allowed for 50 year olds to dress like their twelve? To me, it’s rather disturbing.
Five inch heels, caked on make-up, tight tops that make their boobs look like their going to pop is not the style these women should be sporting. Just when I thought I escaped these looks for a while, it happened.
I was at Neiman Marcus trying on jeans when a women with an obvious long blonde wig came up to me. Do you think this looks good? At first I didn’t acknowlege her as I didn’t know she was talking to me. She asked again, this time I replied, “For your daughter that would be great. She’ll love it.” Her eyes began to roll as she said,”This is for me, I’m going out tonight.”
My jaw dropped. She was holding a pink, turqouise, and white Catherine Malandrino dress that would probably not even go past her mid thigh. What she was thinking, I had no idea. It was an extremely low cut mini dress that in a few moments was on her body before I even answered.
She began admiring herself in it and loved the fact that her new double d’s were popping out and that her rolls weren’t showing too much since I soon learned that she had sugery a few days before. To top it off, her daughter came from around the corner and was dressed more conservative than her mother! She was around age twelve and had a pair of citizens jeans and a nice and simple James Perse Tee.
Then it hit me. As for now, women at the age of fifty will never learn what is looking good on them if they don’t ask the right people. They are dressing like their kids and are totally unaware that it is hideous! I’ll leave you with one thought. Do you want your mom dressing like you, let alone maybe younger?
Photo: Catherine Malandrino. Neimanmarcus.com.
Flying Anytime soon? I think not.
Are you airline savvy? I’d like to say I am. Traveling a lot is a huge part of my monthly life being that I live in two places. Going to school in California and having my family and what I’m used to in Pennsylvania gets a little tricky to manage. Monthly, I travel back and forth across country to fulfill my needs of every day life. This time around, planning my summer tickets to go home is extremely expensive. Since Delta and Northwest airlines merged(NY Times), there have been loss of flights and prices went up.
Dan Schlossberg, from consumeraffairs.com says,”At the rate airline mergers and acquisitions are going, the consolidation of carriers is virtually certain to reduce competition and raise prices.” Flights are important to me as well as anyone else but especially people involved in the fashion industry.
Since traveling is a huge chunk of what they do for their jobs, many rely on certain airlines they feel they can depend on. With airlines merging, flights are restricted. There is less competition and are less available times to fly which means some have to find other ways of transportation. Consumers now have less leverage, prices are sky rocketing as we blink our eyes and booking flights is a disaster.
Is Cutting Back The Answer?
Have you ever thought about cutting back and not buying what you’re used to? Would your attitude change if you were buying different clothing brands and even generic brands when you are used to designer? People today are going through dilemmas each day trying to swap less expensive items out for others that will work in the same ways. For instance, buying food at the super market, not many double check the prices of their bread. This is just one example on how consumers are cutting back their purchases today.
Instead of going out to eat every night they are eating in. When their used to seeing movies every weekend in the theaters, they are watching what they might already have or have borrowed from a friend. With the economy not being at the ultimate high to say the least, retailers are upping their prices therefore leaving the consumers high and dry wondering what they can still afford to buy.
This is a whole new way of life. It really is showing how people are changing everything about what they do from where they go for dinner to what kind of groceries they buy and even to doing their own laundry instead of sending it out to a dry cleaner. Will cutting back be the answer forever? Consumers like myself wonder when this will end and how much longer until they can buy the brands they always have.
Belting Up and Standing Up Straight
The hemlines are getting longer and longer as we take a dive into the collections for Fall ‘08. People are trying to be more serious with their fashions by sporting more sophisticated outfits and showing the business side. Because of the recession, and the retailers having to raise their prices, the hemlines are getting longer. If we are trying to save money wouldn’t the skirts get shorter to use less fabric?
People today are dressing more serious in a way to act mature with everything going on around them. In my opinion, skirts and dresses should be getting shorter and less elaborate as time goes on in order to cut down on using money for fabric. On the other hand, is fashion ever taking the actual easy way out?
In the Fall 2008 Runway collections, what is happening is the opposite. Instead, the look is simple styles, back to basics, and knee length or longer. Say goodbye to the baby doll dresses or mini skirts and hello to the belt tightening, tailored garments look. “There is not a minidress to be found, not a platform shoe in sight. And ‘suit’ is not going to be a dirty word,” states Michael Kors about the collections for fall. I absolutely love this quote because it gives the actual perspective of a designer and what they are thinking. So many people can make conclusions from what they see on the runway but in print from Michael Kors makes it all the better!
We are going back to more serious sixties and seventies looks with more uptight and business outfits. Also in the collections are outfits with pops of color. Of course for fall the items are going to be darker and more neutral such as tans, blacks, and grays but this year we have a surprise pop of color that is finally coming out. This could be because with everything going on, everyone wants to be happy again and demonstrate it in his or her clothing. The colors consist of dark, rich eggplants, oranges, and blues in all different fabrics. I feel that this uptight look is astonishing and demonstrates that not baring too much can go a long way. These looks are also beginning to look like Jackie Kennedy and other fashion icons which is good to see come back. It is like reliving the fashion history!
Photos: Style.com. From Top: Peter Som,Ralph Lauren.
Dressing for Today
It used to be that consumers did not care what time of the year it was, they would buy anything. The targeted consumer was one that was very fashion forward and wanted items first. Today, this is not exactly the case. Saying the consumer does not want the newest items is false but saying it has slightly differed from the past is a little more on the right track. These days the consumer is more interested in the buy now, wear now aspect and they no longer want to put their clothes away to just sit in their closets. People want to buy clothing that is fit for the weather and seeing how it is so unpredictable these days with global warming, it is harder to figure out what items to keep and what to put away. Consumers are investing in more practical garments such as tailored clothing as an example of how they are reacting to the recession. They want what will last a long time and what they can wear through different seasons. A result of the weather being so unpredictable, season-less garments are in style. Luxurious sheers and lightweight fabrics are big this fall. Chiffon and transparent knits are popular because they can be carried over to the spring and throughout all seasons.
Photos: Style.com. From Top:Zac Posen, Posen, and Rodarte.
Economic Forecast:Gray
Looking around from the streets to the runway collections, gray is everywhere. Why do people choose to surround themselves in anything and everything gray? I feel as though it may be a security color. It is a mix between black and white, two of the most used colors globally. In order to play it safe and still look fashionable, people turn to the color gray. Black is known to be a statement color. One to which some may think that it is very powerful and bold. Others may think that black is used to camouflage and for people that want to blend in because everyone can look slim in black.
On the other side of the spectrum, white is a blank palette and is sometimes hard to wear for certain people. It may make people look too washed out or too tan for their own good. It also is a sign that money is nothing such as the Valextra purse that is pure white with no labels. Wearing this purse, people have no care in the world and will do anything for the clean and crisp look even though it will get dirty after a few wears. The people who are wearing white are in fact making a statement but is it a good one? 
Photo: purseblog.com.
These consumers are buying what is in and what looks good at the time. Gray is a neutral color and is a medium between the two. It goes with everything and you can wear it so many different ways. It is not too light but also not too dark either. Browsing through collections for Fall 2008 and color forecasting the next possible colors, it is easy to say that gray is still in but was it ever out?
At this point in time, I think that gray is over played in the aspect that all we see is gray. In every store and every runway collection it is used. But it is these reasons that make it so easy to run back to gray when in a crisis. In the spirit of the times and being in recession, people are wearing this color and trying to be more serious. It is not too flashy but still professional. It does not get dirty too easily and it also does not attract heat like a dark color would. People can wear gray all year round and not have to worry about it going out of style. It can be layered, worn by itself and even jazzed up with pops of color.
I think people choose this color so much because you can blend in when you want to but also can make a statement with an extravagant gray sweater. Will gray always be in or will people finally get sick of it? I think for now it will stay in and people will continue to use this as a staple in their wardrobes. With cutting back and wanting to save money, consumers want a color that lasts a long time. Bill Blass, Dolce & Gabbana, and Jil Sander all demonstrated their love for gray in their Fall 2008 collections.
Photos: Style.com.
