8 THINGS OUR CLOTHES SAY ABOUT US

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Maria

You know you can’t tell a book by its cover.  But I wish you could.  It’s so confusing.  I once hired a babysitter who was dressed like a nurse on the interview.  She looked responsible, educated and she said she was coming from her job as an x-ray technician.  She showed up for work the next day in high heels, a mini skirt and tight top.  Now this wasn’t the same person I hired!  I was tricked!  But no, I really wasn’t because she ended up being the best babysitter ever.  So she tricked me twice, proving you really can’t judge a book by its cover.

But despite this, we do judge each other by what we wear.  Here are some things our minds say to us when we see another person:

1)This woman’s here to meet a man.
2)This woman’s respected in her profession.
3)This woman’s angry. (probably at her husband or parents or boyfriend or men in general or the economy, etc)
4)This woman’s scary.
5)This woman doesn’t want to be noticed.
6)This woman is like me.
7)This woman’s wealthy.
8)This woman has a stud in her nose.  I don’t know anything about her.  Can’t stop thinking about the stud.  So maybe it’ll have to be just seven things clothes tell us about others.

And maybe all these things aren’t even true anyway!  Maybe these clothes are just facades, hiding the true person inside.  All we can tell is what other people want us to believe about them.  But that says something, I guess.  That gives us a clue as to what the person values.  Still confusing.

But I know one thing that is definitely true because Mark Twain said so.  He said, “Naked people have little or no influence on society.”  Perish the thought that we’d have no influence on society!

So we put on our clothes, choosing what message we want to give and hoping that message is the one others get.  And after feeling really good about ourselves all day,  we come home and notice that spot of lipstick on our tooth that nobody told us was there.  What was the message they got?  This person’s sloppy or careless?   No, the message they got was this person is human.  And I guess that’s not such a bad message after all, right?  And there’s the eighth thing clothes say about us.

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WHAT WE KNOW THAT JUST AIN’T SO

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Maria

One of the benefits of getting old is that you learn what’s good for you and what things (or people) are just best to avoid. But sometimes this gets us into trouble. Mark Twain said it best (of course). “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

I have seen this in action when I work with women trying on our jackets. I watch as they put on these huge jackets so they can cover their butts or their stomachs or whatever “horrible” parts of their body they perceive to be wrong. They just assume their bodies have to be hidden to look good. Most of the time, what they see as bad, “just ain’t so.”

A smaller jacket with definition does show off those parts that a bigger jacket hides. But instead of a jacket hiding your body, it can be used to accent those parts perceived as bad. Women have curves, so let’s show them off. Let’s try on that shapely little jacket. Maybe we’ll see it ain’t so bad!

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THREE WAYS YOUR JACKET CAN UPDATE YOUR FALL WARDROBE

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Maria

 

I’m not trendy and I work with a few young women who are.  The minute little pumps or short dresses or cute anything comes out, there they are sporting it and looking terrific.  I dress the same no matter what style is in and this is why jackets will always come to my rescue.

A jacket is like an accessory.  Especially the way it’s used today.  Now a jacket is like an impulse item that stands on its own.  And it allows you to get trendy even if you’re not.

 

Picture of Dot Jacket

Dot Jacket

POLKA DOTS: Polka dots have become really popular. Marc Jacobs and Diane von Furstanberg have used them in their lines this season but us conservative types don’t have to buy an expensive dress or blouse to make this fashion statement.  A jacket can ease us into this trend because we can leave the house feeling a bit more updated and secure in the fact that the jacket can always be taken off leaving us with our more comfortable khaki and black top look.

Picture of a Shimmer Jacket

Shimmer Jacket

SHIMMER:  I love this trend because it’s been around for so long that it’s almost become classic.  A jacket with metallic tones can be worn for evening dress or surprise, surprise, with jeans, day or night.  Some lines carry metallic jackets that can be worn reversed so that the shiny goes away, giving us even more of a safety net in case our conservative self takes over.

Picture of a Colorblocking Jacket in Fleece

Colorblocking Jacket

COLORBLOCKING: I guess this is a resurgence from the 80’s but I was in a fog raising three little kids at the time and never noticed.  Colorblocking can be done in several ways.  We can take all our solid pieces, in my case it would be beige, black and white, and wear them all together, no printed scarves or blouses allowed.  Or we can take our trusty jacket that has already been colorblocked by a designer, and put it over our classic outfit to get that updated look.

Fall is here, so now we can experiment with our new updated, trendy look.  Our jackets can ease us into it so that by the time spring comes, maybe we’ll feel confident enough to buy that beautiful polka dot DVF. We’ll be able to leave our houses committed to the look and comfortable with the fact that we can’t change our minds in the middle of lunch and take it off.

 

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Why I hate new ideas

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Maria

I hate new ideas.  Well, not all new ideas: just other people’s new ideas.  At first I thought it was because I was “old” and resistant to change.  Then I noticed that whenever I began a conversation with, “I have an idea,” my twenty and thirty something teammates would get this look of terror.

OK, I’m the first to admit I’ve had some pretty bad ideas in my time. That jacket I designed that could be worn upside down, as well as right side up, did not fly.  The customers got confused when they tried putting it on.  A jacket that needs directions just to get on, well it’s  just not right.  We moved on.

So when the team approached me with the idea of having home jacket parties, something like Tupperware does, my knee jerk reaction was, “why?”   Why would anybody want to lug all those jackets into somebody’s home, spend a night watching people try them on and then have to return them all back to their correct places in the warehouse?  And we know that nobody’s going to want to make a profit on grandma so they’d probably end up selling them for cost.

But twenty to thirty seconds later I realized this might be a good idea.  The team would be able to get ideas from our end customers.  We (and notice I changed it to “we”) could find any flaws in our designs and get inspirations for new ones.  The team could design invitations which would give them experience in promoting a product.  They could create a buzz in the community. They would learn business concepts like how much their time was worth.  The positives kept popping up in my mind.

But the biggest realization I had, was how lucky I was to be surrounded by such energy and creativity.  There are a lot of good things about owning a small business, but one of the best rewards is seeing growth, not only in monetary profits, but in knowledge.

So now I say, bring it on.  I can take it because I know that any dumb idea you have, I can have dumber.  And who knows?  The next great, dumb idea might be a jacket that can be worn inside out with removable buttons.  Wait.  I think that was done already.

 

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A NEW TREND IN HOTEL GIFT SHOPS

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Maria

I think there’s a new trend in hotel gift shops.  The hotel gift shop used to be that little room tucked way in the back of the lobby or down on the basement floor.   But lately, the gift shop in some of the finer hotels, has become a high end boutique!  Trips to gift shops are now less because of convenience and more about actual shopping

In the HARRISON HOT SPRINGS RESORT in British Columbia, the gift shop occupies both sides of the hallway.  One side has the souvenirs and gifts and the other side holds the clothing and accessories.

THE BROADMOOR HOTEL in Colorado Springs has an American craft gallery called Luma. A customer can find something to wear to a dress occasion that night or a piece of fine, handmade jewelry to take home for a special occasion.

When you walk into the beautiful MARRIOTT ORLANDO WORLD CENTER, your vision is assaulted by a burst of color from the gift shop.  You can get the aspirin, the toothbrush, the shampoo, all those little details you forgot at home.  But you can also go shopping.  Stationery, purses, handmade art for your desk, are all displayed so that you almost forget that you have to check in at the desk in the lobby.  What lobby?  What hotel?

 

 

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ONE JACKET-TEN OUTFITS!

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Maria

Why I love jackets.

You can take your boring, conservative top and plain pencil skirt, put a pretty jacket over it and, voila, you have an outfit.  Now add a belt for a different look.  Swap that skirt for jeans and you’re set for a Saturday afternoon coffee with a friend.  Let’s switch those jeans for a white pair, add a blouse, top it off with this same jacket and a Saturday night movie outfit is assembled.

You’re going out to dinner instead? Okay, put on your LBD and this same jacket and a pair of heels and you’re set to go!  Five outfits, one jacket.  If it’s a reversible jacket, well now you have ten outfits.  And all possible from one wonderful little jacket.

Let me know if you have another combo.  Maybe we can up it to 12!

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