H&M and Zara Duke It Out for U.S. Online Sales While Urban Outfitters Moves on Facebook - Forbes

H&M and Zara Duke It Out for U.S. Online Sales While Urban Outfitters Moves on Facebook - Forbes:

'via Blog this'

Interesting....especially for folks that don't live near to a city where these two fashion powerhouses have stores!

Am I a Size 4? 8? 10? Tackling a Crazy Quilt of Sizing - NYTimes.com

Good article on how retailers are trying to tackle the bane of clothes shopping - what the heck is my "right" size? :-/

Am I a Size 4? 8? 10? Tackling a Crazy Quilt of Sizing - NYTimes.com

H&M Launches New Plus Line - Inclusive Madison Plus

H&M Launches New Plus Line - Inclusive Madison Plus - YES! ;-)

Yes I know - the styles are a bit young. However, if H&M sees a market for this size range, they may start selling a wider range of their clothing in those sizes - which would great for the 50+ plus sized gal!

LOL!...

I'm with you girlfriend....Where ARE all those clothes going? (I've always heard that closets are much smaller overseas...)

From the wonderful Style...A work in progress....


Style...A Work In Progress: "Don't be afraid of death so much as an inadequate life." - Bertolt Brecht

Say WHAT?????....

This from Styleite

Clothing Prices Rising | Styleite

I SO agree with Styleite - this can be a real pain for those of us who are still lucky enough to have a gig - we HAVE to up date our wardrobes on occasion!

That 6 outfits thing is sounding better and better...and maybe fiscally necessary! :-(

Hummm...The whole 6 pieces thing....

Must be the clothing theme for today...

Could you wear just six pieces of clothing for a month? | Unclutterer

I have to admit - I'm intrigued by the idea....

Yes the never ending quest....

For jeans that fit!

Marie Claire post some choices for those of us who laugh at the idea of being a size 4...(and introduce their plus-size stylist!)

Big Girl in a Skinny World:Ashley's picks for the best jeans for curvy girls

I welcome the addition of Ms. Ashley to Marie Claire! Hopefully we'll see more attempts to address the styling challenges of real women - not just those that can mimic size 0 models! (Now let's see some articles focused on the challenges of petite dressing as well!)

So....

What's Your outfit worth?....

An interesting post from Styleite...

Cost of Your Outfit...

Now let's face it - if you're going to include what's in your handbag, your electronics alone can push the number up pass $300.00! But it's an interesting question - just what is what you wear each day worth? ;-)

A perfect....

Summer outfit....

26 July 2009

What I love about this outfit is it's crisp simplicity and the ease with which just about any woman can archive the same look with pieces that suit their figures and price point.

A great example of how less can definitely be more!

An expiration date...

for clothes?

Ms. Angie over at YouLookFab speculates on the possibilities....

An Expiration Date for Clothing?

And her reader's do too! Go on over and put in your two cents!

Wouldn't it be lovely in these time crunched days...

To have your own personal shopper?

And yes, some of the major stores do offer personal shopper services for free -- but then you have to go into the store to take advantage of that and that takes time, the time you supposedly don't have...well you get the picture.

But what if you had a personal shopper who did the research for you -- and sent the results right to your e-mail...

Meet ShopItToMe

Here in brief is how it works:

1. You sign up.
2. You choose the retailer/designers you love/buy
3. You choose how often you want to be notified

And viola! When items by that retailer/designer goes on sale on pretty much any website, you get an e-mail which not only tells you what's on sale but provides a picture and link to the site!

I received an e-mail from the site basically announcing the service and suggesting that it might be of interest to my readers -- so I decided to check it out. And I must say, it is pretty slick! And if you, like me, do a great deal of online shopping it's that personal online shopper you've been wishing for! My one caveat is that they need to add more retailers - I'm not quite sure why J Jill is not a choice!

So go on over and give ShopItToMe a try!

While I'm busy bitchin' about designers....

Can it be that we make some of our own troubles?.....

Carolina Herrera Will Tell You If You're Too Thin to Look Good


Go on over to Style.com, take a look at Ms. Herrera's Spring '08 RTW runway show and judge for yourself if she's just blowin' it out her butt on the skinny model issue...

Carolina Herrera Spring '08 RTW

(Okay, I'll admit that her models do have some meat on their bones - but I see her share of boney knees as well!)

But the part of the piece I found most interesting was her comment on the unthinkableness of showing the collections on "very fat" people (Tell me Carolina, what qualifies in your mind as "very fat"? A perfectly acceptable size 14 perhaps?) because women come to the shows to fantasize about the clothes they see on the runway making them look like the models.

Normally, I would blow that off as just another designer excuse - but when Stacy London of What Not To Wear fame noted that it was a true statement based on "studies" that women don't want to see the clothes on realistically sized women, well that made me pause 'cause Stacy has never come across to me as a size Nazi by any means.

So that begs the question ladies -- Is it them - or is it us? Are designers trying to foist an unrealistic image on us - or are we demanding it because we ourselves are unrealistic about what truly makes us look good? 'Cause honey, if any of us - especially we 50+ babes - are thinking that any dress ever made is going to make us look like some pre-pubescent 12 year old made up to look like an 18 year old, tottering down the runway on way too high heels, we're not just unrealistic - we're delusional!

To get right down to it - are we too cowardly to look ourselves in the mirror, take honest stock of what we really look like and have to work with today and not only work with it but demand that those who design the clothes we consider wearing work with it too? And not just demand - but give permission to designers to design and show for real women with all our curves and bumps and bones and wonderful imperfections.

Because if we are saying that's what we want, but turning our noises up when we see the clothes on the runway on real women, not children (thus giving us a real picture of what they are likely to look like on us) then we get what we deserve - unwearable clothes that make us look downright ridiculous.

And if we can't bring ourselves to do it for ourselves for God's sake lets at least do it for our daughters and our nieces and all the young women coming up behind us - so that maybe, just maybe the crown of Queen of Denial won't be passed down to another generation!

Funny and Informative....

At the same time!....

From Fashion Sanity....

Heteros...Slowly Step Away From The Clothing Racks...

To quote my sister...It's like dinner AND a show! ;-)

I love her enthusiasm and obvious love of the art of making and styling clothes - and her practical approach! Instead of putting the cart before the horse, she focused on the woman who would be wearing the dress - not the other way around!

May she find success in the world of fashion design - we desperately need more designers like her! Maybe then we could actually find something fit for wearing when we go shopping!

H&M does Marimekko....

And a wonderful tribute it is!



A Tribute to Marimekko

If you fondly remember the Marimekko prints of the 60s or just have a love of bold graphics on fabric, do go over and take a look at the whole collection!

And if that just wets your whistle for these wonderful graphics - get thee over the Marimekko site itself (Yes, they are still in business!) - and enjoy!

Marimekko

Okay, yet another....

WTF!!!! moment!!!!

From The Budget Fashionista

Walgreens Launches Private Clothing Line Called Casual Gear

You can see the gear here...

Casual Gear

Now once you get pass the whole concept, Ms. Kathryn makes a valid point. With Walgreens open 24/7, it's the perfect place for emergency clothing buys.

However, they'd better up those sizes if they really want to serve a - forgive me - wider audience! :-/

Over at YouLookFab....

Ms. Angie is taking quality...

Develop an eye for quality

And how right she is. I think, sadly, that there has been a lost of not only quality in the items we find in stores but, perhaps since we see so little of it offered, the ability to judge what is quality and what is not. And while quality often comes at a price, Ms. Angie is quite right when she states that that is not always the case. I have purchased items that did not cost a fortune and they have proved to be better quality pieces than something that cost much more.

This idea....

Is brilliant!

What Size Are You – Really?


I still think that the best way to buy clothes is to try them on - just because something looks like it will work with your figure, doesn't mean that it will once its on your butt!

However, wouldn't it be great to be able to narrow down the stores and the items you want to try? This site would really allow you to focus and spend that time in the mall wisely! And online shopping would be a much more satisfying and, dare I say, closer to a return free zone!

Go on over and take a look at their site - Size Me Up

And while you're there, give them a hand by Sharing Your Closet! In exchange for some info from you on your favorite best fitting items you can win an IPod Nano!

Sounds like a potential win-win to me! And just to help out - I'm placing a link to their site on the right - so we can all keep an eye on this venture! ;-)

Okay Time for Some Fashion Fun!

If you're anything like me, you love shopping - even if you don't do any buying. That's one of the many things I love about the Internet - you can shop all day, even put the things you lust after in the shopping cart - and then not buy a thing! (Amazon, you rock!)

So it makes me just down right happy to have another place to dream shop....

ShopStyle

Not only it it a great looking site, it allows you to search for items from 40 retailers which, according to their faq, encompasses "major department stores, mall retailers/boutiques, and designer-focused websites like Bluefly and ShopBop." They also state they are adding more stores every week.

The site is broken down by Women, Men, Teens, Kids and Baby (which I thought was pretty interesting....you don't see too many shopping sites of this type that cover ALL age groups!) and, because they just plain need their own category, Shoes.

And, Hallelujah, they have both Plus and Petite size sections!

Navigation on this site is crazy easy and you can drill down by Brand, Store, Sale (WooHoo!), Price and Size.

And to make it just a bit sweeter, you can create an account and save your favs to your own stylebook. From there you can create looks from the items in your stylebook - so you can put those shoes that seemed so right with the dress you loved to see if they really are meant for each other!

And I love the fact that they also provide code for those of us who blog that will allow you to place a look on your blog! (You KNOW you'll be seeing some from me here! ; - ) )

All in all, definitely worth a visit!

More Fashion Fun!

The incomparable Urban Socialite clues us in to a fun new fashion site...

Poly Wanna Outfit?

It's loads of fun! And yes - it could just stop you from making a tragic fashion match up!

Enjoy!

Reality Dressing over at Spiegel...

One of the things I love about Harper's Bazaar is a feature they have in every month's issue. Titled "Fabulous at Every Age", the article takes the most current fashion trends and breaks them down for women ages 20 to 70 giving examples of how to wear that trend for your age group.

It is a great feature and I believe they are the only fashion mag out today that does this as a regular feature! If you get a chance to check it out do - I highly recommend it.

Now it looks like Spiegel is attempting to do the same.....

Reality Dressing: Fabulous at Any Age

I think it is a good first attempt. However, they fall short in my eyes in that they suggest pieces that don't always come in every size - definitely something they need to improve!

Still, I'm heartened to see at least the beginnings of major retailers realizing that women at every age want to remain stylish -- and the sample outfits do have promise.

So go on over and take a look - and kudos to Spiegel for getting with the program! ;- )