Update on Forever 21 Possibly Coming to Charleston...

One of my most popular posts is on the possibility of Forever 21 coming to the Charleston Town Center.  I haven't been able to get there recently until the past weekend.  Some time ago, I had sent an email to someone in the PR office for the Town Center asking for a confirmation of the rumor but no one ever got back to me. 

I managed to get to the Town Center Sunday with a friend of mine.  I asked a few salespeople in different stores if they knew for sure if Forever 21 was really coming and while they had heard the rumor, nobody know for sure.

Of course, as soon as I hear something I'll let you all know.  In the meantime, you can get your Forever 21 fix at the Morgantown Mall or Easton Town Center in Columbus.

Could Fashion's Night Out Work in WV?

Last night in New York City and many other cities in the world, people celebrated Fashion's Night Out, which is described as a celebration of fashion, but is more of an attempt to "make shopping fun again" and encourage consumer spending.  Designers make exclusive merchandise just for this one night, and the items are usually well-sought after.  Stores will have DJs or live bands, all sorts of free food--no pop and chips here, these things are catered by some of the best local resturants--some will even sponsored free manicures or hair styling. 

What you might notice is the lack of sales during FNO.  The organizers of the event (Vogue, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, NYC & Company, and the City of New York) encourage retailers to sell all items for tonight at full price, again with the "encouraging of consumer confidence." 

I love the idea of doing a Fashion's Night Out in West Virginia...however it'd have to be a West Virginia version.  First and foremost, the name "Fashion's Night Out" is trademarked, so we'd either have to pony up up $250 per store/brand, or come up with a new name.  I'll call it West Virginia Fashion Friday. 



Why, yes, I did study graphic design in college.  A few measly years ago I could have done something much more...stylish, but at the moment I lack access to Adobe products.  Anyways...

We can do the same things that FNO wants to accomplish, but on our terms.  We can enjoy a fashionable night of fun, learn what wares our local stores carry, and help our local economy.  But would it mirror a similar event as FNO?  I'm going to say no.  Here's why:

1. There would need to be some sales.  I think there might be some trouble trying to attract people to such an event to pay full price.  If there's other stuff going on, such as live music, free facials or something, I don't think the sales will need to be very steep. 
2. Location, location, location.  I have Charleston in mind for pulling off something like this (I have ArtWalk on the brain).  Do we hold this up on Bridge Street, or downtown?  There's more space for displays and parking downtown, but most of the boutiques are up on Bridge St., and would have to labor to bring stuff downtown.  Driving between the two locations would be annoying. 
3. This needs to be an all-inclusive event.  That means all price points, letting the men show off their fashion as well, plus sizes, etc.  Fashion and style are not limited to certain members of society.
4. Manpower is a major concern.  This isn't your sister's Mary Kay house party; if you're going to offer quickie makeovers, you need to have some professionals.  This could include salon professionals, cosmetic counter workers, beauty school students, etc. If you're going to have 10 people doing manicures at your location, at least 6 of them need to have working experience.  Friends can fill in voids, but they need to be trained at least a month before the event starts. 
5. How to pay for all of this.  Would the professionals doing makeup be paid, or would they get free advertising in exchange?  If they're going to do fashion shows somewhere, how would the venue get paid?  I'm wary of having the shops/brands participating to have to pay to be involved, except maybe for a small nominal fee.  Sponsors would be needed and since this isn't exactly a charity event, I don't know how excited they might be to get behind this.
6. I think independent vendors should be allowed.  Rent out a store front, call it the Quarrier Baazar (or some other fancy name), and charge people for a booth.  You can have Thirty One consultants or folks who moonlight making jewelry.  This would allow us to bring in many of the wonderful artisans in our state and help make the event truely ours.  My fears, though: 15 Avon consultants, people who peddle cheap goods from China they order out of a wholesale catalog, fake purses (include a clause in the contract that they can't sell anything bearing the name of a company or designer that isn't authentic or could be confused as such), and people trying to sell stuff that isn't fashion-related.  Services could be allowed, such as people doing massages or pedicures.
7. It's be great if cities and towns all over the state could get involved on the same day. 

I have lots more ideas for such an event, but I've lost my train of thought and it's dangerously close to bedtime.  Do you think West Virginia can pull of such an event?  Feel free to add your ideas as well!

The MFer, Now Appearing on WVLiving.com!

Recently, I was contacted by the fine folks over at WV Living to contribute to their blog, WV Living in Style.  I was lucky enough to be one of their first contributors.  So please feel free to head over there to check out my post on county fair style, even though it's rather late in the season.  Trust me, the yellow Kate Spade bag I featured in one of the Polyvore sets is well worth the look.

Granted I've been guilty complaining that there's nothing to do in our humble state, but WV Living has really gone out to prove me and all the other complainers wrong. There's everything from garden showcases in Clarksburg, to information on the state's wineries (yummy!).  They also publish WV Weddings, which they describe as the "Bible" for wedding in West Virginia, and as someone who has helped coordinate and plan three weddings in WV in the past two years, is incredibly true.  And if you're looking for a great place for an outdoor wedding in Charleston: Ruffner Memorial Park.  It's on Kanawha Boulevard about three blocks down from the Capital.  My sorority sister (and best friend!) just got married there a few weeks ago and it couldn't have been more perfect. 

Anyways, like I said, I'll be posting exclusive content over there every so often, so be sure to check it out!

Sephora Coming to Charleston & Other Mall News

Yesterday's announcement of White House|Black Market coming to Huntington hasn't been the only retail news in West Virginia as of late.  Last week, the Charleston Town Center announced that anchor store JC Penney's was getting ready for a multi-million dollar renovation.  According to to the Charleston Daily Mail, the renovations will be from "top to bottom" and will include a Sephora Inside JC Penney.  It should be no surprise to anyone that I am a huge Sephora fan, so I'm more than excited to hear about this addition to the Charleston Town Center.  A few years ago, JC Penney started to remodel its stores, and one of the first ones they did was at the Ashland Town Center, which also included a Sephora.  Ashland is maybe 20-ish minutes from Huntington, and the mall there really isn't worth writing home about.  At the time, the renovation seemed basically to showcase the American Living line, a sort of preppy-Americana brand. That same section now showcases the women's lingere...to show how well the American Living brand is doing.  I'm more or less expecting the Charleston store to look very similar to the Ashland store. 

While the JC Penney remodel is set in stone, I've heard a rumor that Forever 21 is looking to move in the Charleston Town Center.  Personally, I'd rather have a Forever 21 in Huntington than White House|Black Market.  For those who aren't familiar with Forever 21, it's a flash fashion store, meaning the stuff you saw on the catwalk two weeks ago will be in store this weekend.  Prices are dirt cheap, but the quality is dirt cheap as well.  You do get what you pay for: a cute dress that will last this season and that's it.  They do carry a pretty good plus size line called Faith 21.  All of the Forever 21 stores I have been in are huge, and I'm not 100% sure of where there might be that size available in the CTC.  There's the old Steve & Barry's location on the east side of the mall, but it's been split into two different stores. One side is an inflatable bounce house place where you can hold a party, the other sells crap out of distribution catalogs, like fiber optic angel statues.  I don't know what the leases are on those stores, but that's the only place I can think of where Forever 21 would want to move into.

The Huntington Mall is getting ready to do a multi-million dollar renovation in honor of its 30th anniversary.  Basically, skylights are being put in, new flooring installed, remodeling the joke of a food court, and some other odds and ends.  However, they are also going to put in two new stores.  While I haven't heard any rumors of what might be going in those, I imagine it's not going to be anything to get excited over.   Just throwing this out there, but I foresee a Talbot's Women and Petite.  There's already a Talbot's there, and it doesn't carry the plus size or petite clothes.  

My little sister asked me last night what other stores I could see moving into downtown Huntington after White House|Black Market.  Off the top of my head...Urban Outfitters, and that's only if WH|BM does well.  I think between Marshall, high schoolers, and people in the 24-40 age bracket there's enough population and interest to support an UO.  Like Forever 21, most Urban Outfitters are fairly large stores.  Most of the space in Pullman Square and across the street on Third Avenue is occupied.  There's not enough draw to bring people to Fourth Avenue, and obviously location is key.

The Non-Lookbook

I was originally going to do a Lookbook on this piece of clothing, but the more I look at them, the more I think they're ugly as sin.



This is the maxi skirt.  Think of the summer favorite maxi dress, just in skirt form.  I love maxi dresses, but I can't get behind maxi skirts.  To me, they're just frumpy.  Just add a weird flat bun and clunky Sketchers, and you have the typical Saturday-afternoon-at-Walmart look.  Long skirts are coming into vogue, and I've seen some lovely ones that had trains, or were made of pleated silk.  In those cases, it's a more formal look, and very Tilda Swinson:



Tilda isn't exactly a fashion plate, but it doesn't seem to bother folks.  They just accept her the way she is, and somehow she manages to stay off the worst dresses lists.  But this is how to properly wear a long skirt. 

I've tried to envision the maxi skirts with a variety of different shirts and shoe options.  The only combo I can think of that I remotely like is this one:

This would be cute for wearing to the Capitol Market on a Satruday morning.  This is the only thing I could think of that didn't scream Baroness von Frumpalot.  If you decide to wear a maxi skirt, wear a fitted shirt on top.  The skirt is already slouchy enough, a similar shirt will just add pounds to your frame.  I can't decide if heels would be too much with these skirts, maybe a strappy leather platform would be okay, but flat sandals work best.  If you're taller than 5'10", of which I am, these skirts may hit your ankles at best.  If you're 5"0", you'll need stand with a cherrypicker under your skirt* if you want to be able to move anywhere. 

If you want a long skirt, just reach for your maxi dresses. They just look so much better than these dowdy skirts. 

*Teehee!

Is Spring Coming Soon?

I work in the construction/contracting business when not going to school.  Even though I don't actually build the houses or wire them, I still spend a fair amount outside mucking around job sites (come to think of it, every season is mucky in these parts).  But with spring I get to get out of the office, out of my clunky Colombia snow boots, leave the Carhartt behind, and embrace color (and flowers!).  Spring through fall, I get to focus almost entirely on landscape design, which I was never into before I took this job.  After a gray winter, there's so much cheer on the faces of the pansies, the delicate lilac of a crocus, or the bright yellow of a daffodil.  In short, I love spring.

In the winter/spring of 2009, I was doing some research for a personal project, and ended up spending massive hours at the Charleston Town Center.  One of the things that stood out to me the most were the lack of pastels for the spring lines, and the introduction of lots of citron green and a bright colbalt blue.  The citron green, which is similar to the color of Mountain Dew, took some time to grow on me, but it was love at first sight for the colbalt blue.  I'm happy that these colors have stuck around, although I haven't seen as much as I would like to for this upcoming spring.

Once there's not quite so much snow on the ground, or I can write about dressing for spring without sighing, I'm going to do a week's worth of posts featuring shots from the Spring 2011 Fashion Weeks, and how to get the look without dropping too much money.  Already starting to shop?  Here's a short list of what to look for:



Pantone is a company that more or less regulated the science of colors.  For example, if I were a fashion designer and wanted to paint my house the same color as a dress from my collection, I could tell the painters the Pantone code like the one above, and know I'll get the exact same color.  Pantone has taken to naming a color of the year, and basically, that will be the color you'll see all year long on everything.  Last year's color was turqouise, which to be fair, was already in vogue.  This year is honeysuckle, a reddish pink that I'd actually call rose.  My coworker calls it "coral minus the orange," which for some reason the guys in my office seem to understand.  Because this is the "in" color, expect to see it for all seasons this year.

-Not into Honeysuckle?  Look for citrus-y oranges and yellows as well. 

-Still not into fruit salad colors?  Fleshtone neutrals are another big trend.

-And if you're not into any of that...well, feathers are big.  I really haven't looked at the malls or online, but they were all over the runway shows.