Do Labels Really Attract Attention at the Club?

So, working for Armani Exchange, I have noticed a variety of customers that come and shop in our store. And if you have never been inside an A/X store, nor have you ever seen the merchandise, there are so many pieces that have the AX written all over it. This is not my flavor whatsoever, but its amazing to me the amount of shoppers we get that want to buy a $32.00 graphic tee, all because it says AX on it. And when I suggest something else, that is less than ordinary, and heaven forbid, without the logo, I get shot down for trying to just think outside the box. My question is, are name brands really that big a deal? Granted, as a fashion major, yes, I know designers, and I would love to wear them someday. But I want to wear specific designers not for their name, but for their style. So it really shocks me, when people come into our store, and will spend SO MUCH money on something, just for the sake of having the logo. I suppose it may be a status thing, I am not quite sure and still trying to figure it out. For example, I was helping a client pick out an outfit for a night out, at a DC club. And seriously, I was trying to wardrobe something really different and unique, but all he ended up buying was a pair of denim, and a graphic tee with AX on it. He made a comment, saying "YEAH, the girls are gonna notice me in this." Now honestly girls, does a man in a AX shirt, or any other designer splattered across what he is wearing, helps you to notice them and make you want to talk to them? It was just odd to me. Because granted I like to look good if going out to a club, but I doedon'tel the need to splatter the designer, if I even wear one, ALL over my outfit in order to get noticed.
I just feel that in order to be fashionable, you have to have to wear high-end brands and designers. Which I completely feel does not describe what fashion is. You can go out and buy something cheap at target and make it fashionable. Even buy something from a thrift store and make it fashionable. So I mean, spending hundreds and hundres of dollars in order to be "fashionable?" is it really worth it to buy something with a high-end brand or logo all over your outfit?

Malia and Sasha Obama influencing Children's fashion

Malia and Sasha Obama, similar to their mother are also stirring up something for the fashion industry. When it comes to their dress choices during election night, or just a day at school, the media and the fashion industry praises the simplicity of these girls. Designers describe their style to be approachable and something other little girls can look up to.

One of the beneficial aspects that fashion designers are looking for is how young the girls are, while their father is entering the office. It gives designers and the world the opportunity to watch these girls develop their own styles, and become their own individual. And with this occuring, it will possibly strike fashion trends for the younger generations as they follow their development into their teen years.

During election night, Sasha chose a $75 Iris and Ivy dress, while Malia chose a $110 Biscotti dress. Nordstrom in Chicago, where the girls bought their dresses completely sold out of these dresses, and customers are still asking for more.

As someone interested in fashion, it is quite interesting to actually witness the first family be influential in things other than just the presidency and politics. Similar to the life of Jackie Kennedy who marked something special in fashion, the Obama women are definitely doing just that. It will definitely be worthwhile to see what will stir up in fashion due to the influence of these girls.

Black Friday Traffic

I realize that I had spoken about my experience on Black Friday, but a question that I came to wonder was how well the other stores around the nation did on what they use to say is the busiest shopping day of the year, other than the day before Christmas.

I read an article from WWD, concerning retailers on Black Friday and what were the outcomes. Let me first say, that similar to our store, retailers were unsure of what was exppected, considering the current trickling economy. Therefore, stores prepared for the worst, and decided to offer the most, and what I have got to say, the "KINDEST" bargains. Obviously stores did this in order to get some form of foot traffic into their stores in order to make up some of the losses these past selling weeks.

Some examples of promotions and discounts offered:

Neiman Marcus - 50 to 65% percent off fall and holiday fashions.

Ann Taylor featured $30 off cashmere sweaters, 25 percent off outerwear and sale items, in addition to 20 percent off entire purchases through noon.

Apple, which rarely discounts, held a one-day sale Saturday

"Pent-up demand on electronics and clothing, plus unparalleled bargains on this season’s hottest items helped drive shopping all weekend,” said NRF president and ceo Tracy Mullin. And this being proven with my experience last weekend. As we can see, stores were just so generous in order to get customers to come and shop. But it was stated that in no way will the discounts and promotions continue at such a high rate throughout the Holiday season. Although, we still see some sort of promotions in order to get some traffic through the doors, especially high-end retailers.

But it is quite a surprise for retailers how well Black Friday turned out. It was stated that "Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 last weekend, up 7.2 percent over last year’s $347.55. Total spending reached an estimated $41 billion."

Now, the concerns in which they are looking at, is in the light of the recession, will the amount of Christmas shoppers decline again, especially due to the lack of high bargains that we saw this past weekend. It is definitely a "sit and wait" moment, to see what retailers are planning to do. Some high-end, tourist attraction retailers in major cities, such as New York are worried, about whether or not the tourism will also decline. The price of gas may be down, but it is only expected to get worst than get better.

Black Friday

So its clearly apparent that our country is in an economic crisis, and I have not felt it until I worked Black Friday at Armani Exchange at Tysons Corner. I was one of the unfortunate ones to have to close down the store after the craziness of Black Friday. Now I was not expecting too much of a madness, considering the given economic downturn, so I basically assumed that noone would really be shopping. Well, Iwent in at 4pm, which was my scheduled time, and walked into a SEA of bargain shoppers, and lets say just say that Armani Exchange sale usually is not THAT big a deal. I was definitely WRONG! The sales were definitely a huge mark down due to the significant drop in sales, and the company is trying to make up what they lost. On top of the sale mark downs, a promotion of 30% off any full price merchandise was also another opportunity to lure in customers. So, when I walked in, the first thing I noticed other than the sea of customers in the store, was the piles and piles of clothes on top of tables and on the floor. In fact, I overheard one customer who walked in, and mumbled, "from classy to trashy." I seriously could not believe it. So I asked my manager why the store looked the way it did, and basically it came down to the lack of associates we could have for the day. Basically, a concern the company had was spending more on payroll than actually making the money they needed. So, he explained how the store was only allowed to spend about 10.8% on payroll, or else they would be spendning more than actually making it for the day.
Experiencing this, it was definitely apparent that the economic crisis is affecting retail stores. Although aware of this from the get go, it was my first experience with it. The store closed at 10pm and we were not finished putting the store back together until 2am. Of course, if there were enough associates, it would have defnitely made more of a difference. What I did not undestand was, why the store did not come up with other solutions, considering the high volume that day. Possibly, keeping a limited amount of sales associates throughout the day, and than at the end of the night bring in more associates for the cleanup and replenishment. All I can say is that I am unsure of whether or not other stores of this calibre experienced troubles like we did, but it was quite apparent that Armani Exchange is definitely feeling the pains of the economy. Hopefully something will relieve it for the upcoming holiday shopping days before Christmas.

A couple of photos of what the store looked like:

MENS pajamas influence WOMENS Spring 09 Trends?

Womens Wear Daily wrote an article regarding how MENS pajamas, have made an influence on the Spring 09 fashions for women. We saw glimses of this from the Dolce & Gobanna spring 09 collection last week. And I was curious to figure out if at all pajamas were the influence. WELL, I was right! Apparently designers have stretched out this "bedtime wear" to an actual street look, that reads more casual and comfortable if anything. Writers described it as, "Runway renditions of your bedtime pajamas were anything but a yawn— elegant, sporty and oh-so-chic." Here are a few pieces from some collections:

So im trying to figure out if this look will actually be a trend to follow by women out there. Women definitely love to be comfortable in anything they wear, but they will sacrafice comfort for the sake of fashion. In this case, will they be putting away the uncomfortable high-fashion, tight pair of jeans or tops, and high-heeled shoes for some . . . . pajama daywear? I guess, we will just have to wait and see.

This look is definitely stepping away from the typical, casual, sportswear that we find some women wearing, such as the tight matching, velvet sweatsuit. Designers are taking a different approach, in not only this "pajama" trend, but in there Spring 09 collections, in making more loosely fitting clothes for women. Much different from the tight fitting, hip hugging pieces we have seen in the past. Don't get me wrong, they still exude some sense of sexiness, but in a more toned down influence without having to expose or advertise certain body parts in order to make it sexy. There is still that focus on body shape and body movement in certain pieces.

I am looking forward to the future fashions with "Pajama" trends, although somewhat relevant to Linen outfits that we generally see in Spring/Summer. Another interesting thought is the similar silhouettes my mother used to wear back in the day, with pajama satin pants and a matching top. Hopefully there will be some sort of contemporary, modern approach. We can only wait and see what mass retailers are going to come up with .. whether consumers will even realize that its daywear, or whether or not there shopping to look cute for bed.

"Douchebag Hair" or personal style?

So, while looking through the October GQ issue, a feature article definetely caught my attention. It was about having "douchebag hair." It was something I related to, considering my hair is definitely one of the things I take pride in. Even looking back at the beginning of the semester when Professor Whitehead asked if we had to have one thing, what would it be, and honestly, "FORGET THE MURSE, I NEED MY HAIR PRODUCT!!!"
The article basically talked about how the modern man today goes to great lengths in order to keep there hair together and looking trendy. From blowdrying, to flatironing, to oozing amounts of hair gel, to the hardening effects of hairspray. They describe how the modern day man takes so much time in doing there hair. Now, I agree it is definitely a process to get my hair to look the way it does during the day. I mean, a good hair day for me is just waking up, and throwing some product in it and calling it a day. But there are bad hair days now. And those are most days when much product and processing is needed. I'll stand in the bathroom manipulating it like crazy to do what it was cut to do.
The writer does have a point. I mean, there are some men out there who just really go to great lengths. Now there are some hairstyles that are meant for some guys. Like, come on, the Faux Hawk, lets say it together now, "IS NOT FOR EVERYONE." Some hair texture is just not meant to do it. And the faux hawk and mohawk has definitely been overused and abused!
But in some aspects I strongly disagree with what this writer states. I don't think I have douchebag hair. And to be frankly honest, I want to see this writer's hair myself. I mean, its personal style I believe. As long as your not walking around with an old school mullet, or hair like cousin "it," than I say, "WHAT THE HEY!, if you can rock it, ROCK IT."
They even mentioned Christian Soriano, and for those who don't know who he is, he was last seasons winner on Project Runway. Throughout every episode we saw him flatironing his hair or hairspraying it. But he was a hair stylist from Bubbles. It was his own personal style. And it what makes Christian Soriano .. HIM!
Now mens hair trends are changing. From the highly sculpted looks of spikes and mohawks, to the look that I escaped from when i was growing up. Dont know what im talking about? THE COMB-OVER is back and slowly making its entrance.
Now in order to stay trendy, am I gonna go do the comb-over. I think not. Why? Because I know what looks good and what my own personal style is. And the comb-over may look great on some guys, it definitely does not on my head.
So in response to this feature article, whether I have "douchebag hair" according to this writer, at least im sticking to my own personal style, whether its trendy or not. As a fashion student, I at least try and stick somewhat relevant to the times. But to do the side part, REALLY scares me!

http://men.style.com/details/features/landing?id=content_7478 ( article)

Ballston Commons Mall

Store location as we all know is a very important factor in the success or failure of a mall. And I am writing this because I was doing a case study for my Visual Merchandising class on store locations and what makes the shopping centers in our areas successful or unsuccessful. One of the shopping centers I had to visit was Ballston Commons Mall, which I have not been to since I was a little kid. When I walked around it, I was just left blank in what I noticed, especially in comparing it to other neighboring shopping centers.

A shopping center like Tysons Corner, is a perfect location, where commuters generally pass it on an everyday basis, whether to or from work. It is easily accessbile from major thoroughfares. Ballston Commons Mall, I can remember as a child, was where my mother dragged me through endless aisles of womens clothing in what used to be called "Hechts," and what is now called Macy's. But even as a child, I never really referred to this mall as Ballston Commons, but primarily referred to it as "Hechts."

Ballston Commons Mall never really made a name for itself in terms of carrying high-end name brands, luxury items, or even popular speciality retailers, such as the Gap or Express, which as we all know, can generally be found everywhere. Within this shopping center we can find countless number of places to eat, a place to get your nails done, the As Seen on TV store, and other stores that don't really leave any good impression in my mind. The popular Victoria Secret can be found there, but if your looking for that high-end appeal that the Tysons store portrays, then just forget about it. The major anchors to this mall are Macy's, Macy's Furniture, and CVS Pharmacy.

Dont get me wrong, I am not writing this to put down this shopping center. But more on the lines of wondering, "why let this mall go to waste?" I feel as though this mall has great potential in becoming a successful one especially with the growing cost of homes and people in the Arlington area. Take for example Clarendon, which use to not be such a major lifestyle center, but now all of a sudden, everyone wants to head over there even just for drinks, to dine out, or just walk around. They have definitely upgraded the area. Now, why not for the Ballston Commons Mall? The surrounding areas are not too bad, especially with these expensive high-rise apartment buildings and hotels. I agree, the further you go down Glebe Road you feel the need to hold your bag in front of you, clenching on it for dear life, but isn't it quite possibly that if this mall were to become successful in terms of upgrading it, the surrounding areas would feel the need to change as well?

Ballston Commons Mall has many great assets to it. It has the metro, which definitely makes it accessible to even those that live miles away. Also, the surrounding hotels that will most likely provide shuttle services to their guests to go to the mall. And obviously these hotels bring in many tourists, considering Washington D.C. is not too far away from Arlington. So, why has no effort been made in order to save this mall that is just going to waste?