Style Fix

Affordable shoe have DSW is rising in a time when other mid-market stores are dropping.

Recent reports have proven that high-end retailers continue to flourish regardless of the economy (i.e. the rich are still rich), and discount brands are doing well; but, those that fall in the middle have been cutting corporate jobs, closing stores, and seeing sale decreases.

Whatever DSW is doing seems to be working, though. Easily classified as one of these middle ground retail stores that is above Wal-Mart, but below Saks Fifth Avenue, DSW is undergoing rapid growth.

In 2007, 37 new stores were opened; 30 is the nearly fulfilled goal for 2008. Plus, the company was undergoing all of this growth without even targeting customers online … until now.

DSW just opened their first online venture - DSW.com - featuring hundreds of sandals, great sales and clearances, easy trend viewing, and a worthwhile reward program (also available in store).

Bloomingdale’s was given the worldwide honor of being named the 2008 “Department
Store of the Year” at the Global Department Store Summit.

Bloomie’s was chosen as the top honor from department store CEOs’ nominations based on meeting the criteria: “an enviable profile through branding, differentiated positioning and powerful messaging; successful developments and executions of product, store and service innovation strategies; delivery of an extraordinary in-store experience; offers of excellent customer service; and strong financial performance.”

I can still clearly remember the day when the reality of how many clothing stores are owned and run by the same company. I was in middle school, and had no concept yet of major corporations. I naively thought all businesses were small businesses.

But since they’re not, and since Banana Republic, GAP, Old Navy, and the new Piperlime are all essentially the same business, it’s about time they just admit it and offer collaborative deals and savings.

And here they are! Now, you can shop from all four of these stores online at once, and thus save on shipping charges. Piperlime always has free shipping, but for the rest of this week - until May 31 - you can get free shipping when you take advantage of this 4-in-1 online shopping experience: just enter “1checkout” as the promo key.

Speculators (a.k.a. gossips) can lay their guesses, rumors, and lies to rest today over Nina Garcia and her relationship with ELLE magazine.

It has just been announced that Madame Fashion Garcia has been named ELLE’s editor-at-large, and that she will continue representing the magazine at least through this season of Project Runway (which starts in July).

Nina has a contract for being the large editor at least through September 1, 2008.

Previously, she was the magazine’s fashion director for eight years.

What do you get when you mix one part badass, twenty-something man with one part sarcastic, cupcake-loving boy?

Johnny Cupcakes, of course!

John “Johnny Cupcakes” Earle, the 25-year-old creative, business mind behind this clothing venture, can tell you flat out what makes his kookiness successful:

“I started this as a joke, from the trunk of my beat up 89′ Toyota Camry.” Mr. Cupcakes says on his Web site. “A college drop out — drug and alcohol-free lifestyle — turned down a lot of investors — Took countless risks — kept my shirts out of heaps of chain stores.”

I say it’s all about persistence and a gimmick - the gift cards come in ovens, the gift boxes are bakery-style boxes, the Web site is oven-themed, and new designs are labeled “freshly bakes.”

And now his tenacity, wit, perseverance, and self-belief is paying off. Johnny Cupcakes is opening a Melrose Avenue (Los Angeles) boutique next month, where he will sell his cult cupcake tee shirts and accessories.

So … let me get this straight: He’s my age, successful, cute, funny, smart, AND he doesn’t drink or do drugs? Is he single? Sign me up!

Those who don’t live in or near L.A., nor Boston where Johnny originated his calorie-free cupcake business, can buy and browse Johnny’s numerous designs - including a cupcake and crossbones, a boy writing “Johnny Cupcakes” graffiti with icing, ovens spewing cupcakes - online.

Reality, fashion shows always seem to have contestants that cannot pronounce major fashion designers’ names correctly. My thoughts, while watching these embarrassing episodes are usually: “How could you not know that? I could say all of those. I know how to say Hermes (Air-mez) …”

But yesterday my big head was marked down in size. Whitney from MTV’s The Hills mispronounced Givenchy (Gee-von-she). To my shock, I discovered that I also was saying it incorrectly.

So in case you are too proud to admit that you might also be saying a designer’s name wrong (like Carolina instead of Caro-leena for Ms. Herrera), here’s some help to prevent laughter behind your back.

* Gianfranco Ferre (Gee-an-fran-ko Ferr-ay)

For more names, as well as a brief bio on each (then you can know things like whether to say “he” or “she”), the Budget Fashionista put together a great three-part guide on top designers: visit A-G, then check out H-M, and lastly N-Z.

Project Runway is stirring up some controversy in the off-season.

Weinstein Co., the creative owners of Project Runway, announced a five-season, $150-million deal with Lifetime Television Network to move the fashion reality goldmine to Lifetime beginning this November, Season 5.

If that isn’t shocking enough, as the show was oft referred to as Bravo’s Project Runway, upon hearing the news NBC (owner of Bravo) is suing Weinstein Co. to return to Bravo, Project Runway and Heidi in hand.

Apparently, Weinstein wants to lump all of their projects together, but Bravo only wanted Runway. Enter Lifetime offering to buy everything.

Follow the drama at CNN.

“H” must be a lucky first letter for a retail name, because that is the only similarity that I can see between two industry stores that are seeing profits rise at a time when most retail companies are struggling to stay afloat.

Both Hermes - the top name known for gorgeous, expensive, silk scarves - and H&M - a haven for $8 cotton tees, cheap accessories, and affordable teen trends - have reported impressive increases in sales lately.

Question: When does spoiled reality show star Brittny Gastineau fall into the shadow and fail to get mentioned as a party attendee?

Answer: When the event being held is to announce the collaboration of outrageous Heatherette designer duo of Richie Rich and Traver Rains with crazy, fun makeup company M.A.C. Cosmetics. Oh, and don’t forget that Kim Kardashian - Brittny after eight straight cans of Red Bull - is the spokesmodel.

Your local M.A.C. store should have all of Heatherette’s glitterific creations in stock now, as of Thursday, March 20. Plus, products are available for online ordering as well.

I am still dreaming about Stella McCartney’s Impressionistic floral print that she used on her $1,000+ goodies for spring 2008.

In my attempt to hunt down some fabric that I could use to sew my own version (yes, I am that crafty/nerdy) I have found a few that are almost there. Nothing yet is quite perfect, but those seen here are my top choices thus far.

All of these are available for purchase at ReproDepot; most are available in other colors, too.

Any thoughts??? Once I get home, and charge my camera battery, I will share with you the pattern and fabric that I am currently working on!

Top dogs are coming and going lately at several fashion design houses and luxury retail companies. Here are the latest such changes to be made:

* Craig Leavitt has been announced as the new Co-President and C.O.O. for Liz Clairborne, Inc.’s Kate Spade brand. Leavitt has previously worked with (most recent first) Link Theory Holdings, Diesel, and Polo Ralph Lauren. His new position with the hang bag guru becomes effective this April.

* Anna Sui President Michael Pellegrino is retiring after four decades in the fashion business.

* Retailer Limited Brands Inc. is cutting back corporate staff to reflect a smaller retail company (read: they haven’t been making money), and will be turning their focus to lingerie and beauty. On that note … Len Schlesinger resigned as COO of Limited Brands, Inc.. Anne Martin-Vachon resigned as CMO of Bath & Body Works, and President and CEO Beth Pritchard announced her resignation in January. It’s not looking good for the ’90s fashion must-shop. Word is they are selling off most of the Express
brand, and still trying to figure out what to do with The Limited.

* Coach announced a three-fer: President and COO Keith Monda will be retiring later this year, Jerry Stritzke (a victim of the Limited’s eminent death) will take his place, and creative director Reed Krakoff’s contract was extended to 2014.

Here’s a few of the recent occurrences in the fashion biz world that have been caught by my radar and sparked my interest:

* Paulo Melim Andersson, who became creative director of Chloe in October 2006, is no longer with the company. Neither side is commenting right now, but stats show that the label’s sales slowed under Andersson’s direction. Hannah MacGibbon, 38, who previously worked under Phoebe Philo, has been introduced as Chloe’s new creative mind. MacGibbon will show her first line with the luxury company in Paris Fashion Week, October 2008 for the spring 2009 season.

* Design duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were sentenced the Italian equivalence of approximately $3 million for tax evasion after a third-party distributor of the high-end company sold more than 100,000 D&G pieces under the table. It’s no sweat off their wallet, though. The fashion team is still discussing buying a $38 million-valued former-monastery Italian property. Must be nice.

* Tommy Hilfiger launched a new, interactive site - Dreaming About You - where visitors can have dreams interpreted, talk to a dream expert, confess about their wild dreams, see behind-the-scenes footage of Tommy’s ads and more, and learn about the new line from Tommy Hilfiger including the perfume Dreaming.

* Interior decorator and former president of Anne Klein Design Studio, Burt Wayne, 76, passed away Thursday from cancer complications.

* Photographer and America’s Next Top Model judge Nigel Barker has been a busy man lately. Barker traveled to Canada to photograph seals in an effort to help bring to light the annual fur hunt going on this month. He also joined with David’s Bridal to establish the perfect prom look for every girl, every body, and every budget.

* Spider-Man Tobey Maguire made headlines when guests of his revealed to the media that he did not allow leather of any kind to enter his house. Celebrities have been seen leaving thousand-dollar handbags, belts, shoes, and more outside the Maguire mansion.

More celebrities are coming out with their own lines of products: no surprise there. Today, everyone has a perfume or a clothing line, or two or both.

Usually the celebrities make sense, however. Sarah Jessica Parker has a classic sense of style and starred in a hit, fashionable show … and has her own clothing line. Amanda Bynes is cute, sweet, and has a throng of teen girl fans … and has her own clothing line.

But now it is just getting ridiculous. Here’s three recent announcements:

1. Amy Winehouse: forget the drug and rehab scandals and what do you have? Bad makeup and horrid hair … and her own line of beauty accessories. That’s right ladies and gents, you too can now have a matted rat’s nest atop your head (product: hairspray) and eye makeup that looks like you used an extra thick magic marker (product: liquid liner). But don’t forget the clothing accessories, too (product: animal-print head scarf).

2. Jill Scott: she’s got a big voice, a big heart for children and her hometown of Philadelphia, and big boobs. I said it. Jill Scott has some tatas on her, but now she’ll have better support. The soulful singer has teamed with company Ashley Stewart to design the
Butterfly Collection by Jill Scott, a lingerie line for plus-size girls and their “girls.”

3. Luke Wilson: he loves golf; girls love him. Next rational career step? Of course! Design a clothing line for golf-playing men! The actor and “Top 40 Hollywood Golfer” (according to Golf Digest) has teamed with athletic clothing-giant Puma and Swedish athlete Johan Edfors (shown here with Luke) to create clothes inspired by the “more sophisticated” style of 1950’s sportswear.

Any guesses for whose next? A collection of shirts by the ever-shirtless Matthew McConaughey? Bronzer by the ridiculously fake tan Lindsay Lohan? Perfume called “Sanity” by Paula Abdul?

Sitting on the bus ride home yesterday evening - amongst a particularly loud and obnoxious group of city folk - I couldn’t help but notice the number of large, screamingly fake bags surrounding me.

With hope, these gum-snapping, females knew that their totes were obvious rip-offs and did not pay more than a few dollars for them. However, it did get me thinking about designer fakes in general, and more specifically: would I be able to spot the difference between genuine goods and noteworthy knock-offs (if said knock-offs were better that the fakes that I see on the bus)?

Apparently the Bag Lady had a similar commute as I, because she stole my thunder this morning. She also helped me out, though. I was going create a game/quiz with a variety of pictures side-by-side of designer gear and their cheap look-a-likes.

Voila! Miss Bag lady, being the clever diva that she is, dug up the fancy “Spot the Knock-off Interactive Quiz” from Portfolio in July, 2007. Check it out here via The Bag Lady.

BONUS: Of the two photos on this page, one is a designer handbag costing $295; the other brags about being a good knock-off and is only $34. Click on each picture for the truth - the real one will lead to the designer’s home page; the fake will direct you to a blatant knock-off site.

My opinion, as brief as I can get it, on the whole subject of real vs. fake: If you want the designer look, pay the designer dollar. If you don’t want to spend several hundred for a purse, then buy something cute at a less expensive store. Buying fake goods is creative theft from the designer, can hurt our economy, and often supports criminals.

Click the flier below to be taken to the Fashion Career Expo homepage.

A few more hours to vote in Project Blog!