What's In Store

Hello fellow shoppers! Today I'm going to tell you all about some terrific store events I recently attended as a member of the press. While I don't want to make you jealous (well, maybe just a little), I thought you'd get a kick out of reading about what it's like at some of these "press only" fashion events. Besides, I'll zero-in on some of the fashions you should be on the lookout for come spring, and even some which are available now.

That said, let me start off with a fab event I attended to celebrate the opening of Bogner's New York flagship store. This is a Germany-based family-owned company, run by 1960/64 member of the German Olympic ski team, Willi Bogner Jr. The company has since grown to encompass not only ski wear but some of the best looking rtw. OK , the clothes ain't cheap, but the quality and styling make shopping here worth saving up those bucks. Remember what I said in my last blog about value? Well, you can't go wrong with the gorgeous spice-toned velvet jeans or any of the chic wool hacking jackets or the stunning butter-soft leather jacket. These are in store NOW so get your butt down to West Broadway in SoHo. As for the opening party, here's what they did. There was a multimedia show specially designed for the event by Willi Bogner himself. It was a truly impressive display on five rotating screens which gave a fun rundown of the brand and its founder starting with the 1930's and continuing into the future. Who knew that Bogner designed the ski chase scenes for the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, among other Bond thrillers and action documentary films? All the guests were riveted to the rotating screens not to mention the free-flowing wines and hors d'oeuvres. That's the way to do a store opening! Find out more on this iconic brand at www.bogner.com.

Step UP to Bogner's

They just let anyone in nowadays...
C&C Seeing and Being Seen at Bogner's

Next on my agenda was a cute store party held on the Upper East Side for French kid's brand Petit Bateau (I'm so Continental), to celebrate the recent flagship store remodeling. This is the kind of boutique which caters to moms who want classic babies’ and kids’ separates and accessories. Note: For the best understated pure cotton tees and tanks for grown ups, this is the place to go. I've worn them for years and they never seem to wear out or go out of style. Now about the party; Petit Bateau did a clever thing. They painted kid's tricycles in Crayola bright colors, attached flag poles to the back with the store banner and chained them (don't forget, this is New York, after all, where they'll steal your teeth if you're not careful) to parking meters, lampposts, etc. around the neighborhood, added balloons at the front door and voila! – a creative and fun way to attract attention. Inside, I saw lots of families with kids from the neighborhood scarfing up champagne (French, remember?) and the fancy cheese and other goodies spread out while I, in the name of research, stuck to taking notes on the merchandise, the atmosphere and the child-friendly store environment. Petit Bateau is a great place to shop year ‘round. Check them out at www.petit-bateau.com for other store locations.

I Followed These...

To Petit-Bateau's Show

That's it for stuff in-store this very minute. Now I'm going to tell you about four FABULOUS fashion events I covered with an eye to what's happening for Spring. The first was a ladylike editors’ tea party at the posh Bryant Park Grill hosted by Kmart. The reason? To introduce the guests to Jaclyn Smith and showcase her spring '09 style and design home and apparel collections. Normally, you couldn't drag me out on a miserable wet rainy Fall day just to cover another collection, but the temptation to see Ms. Smith in person was just too great to resist. After seeing her up close and chatting with her, I wanted to commit hara kiri. NO ONE SHOULD LOOK SO GORGEOUS! The woman hasn't aged a drop since Charlie's Angels. And on top of that, she's a lovely, down-to-earth woman so I can't even hate her. Dressed simply in one of her collection's leather pencil skirts and a black sweater, she looked stunning. Let's face it, the woman would look great in a potato sack! As far as the event itself, the café was packed (probably we all wanted to see her for ourselves), the food was wonderful and the merchandise terrific and very affordable. In particular, her bedding collection (in store now) was gorgeous and displayed beautifully in a room setting – I wanted to plop down and never move. You should note that Smith actually designs her stuff with the help of a great Kmart team unlike some other celebrities who just put their names to a product and rake in the royalties. To top things off, we were all given stylish black/gray graphic-printed white tote bags (available in Spring) filled with stuff from the home collection and a cute link bracelet. I had a great time.

Jaclyn Smith
Timeless Beauty, Great Style, and
Source of C&C'S Jealousy...

Look Good Out Of Bed with Jaclyn Smith's Designs

Look Good in Bed, Too...
Jaclyn Smith just defined C&C luxury!

I also had a great - if different - time at Macy's semi-annual press event held in its flagship store. This is one event I always look forward to as Nicole Fischelis, Macy's creative director and her staff really go all out to give editors a total picture of the upcoming season's fashion trends. For Spring, the space (upstairs in the executive office area, complete with giant plant-filled terrace), was decorated with gigantic, colorful crepe paper flowers which set the cheery mood right off the bat. As for the clothes and accessories, the pros really hit the fashion mark as I wanted to own everything, even the group of printed summer dresses, from which I normally shy away. Here's what you should know: color pops for Spring/Summer as do floral print dresses and separates, trench coats, ballet flats, wedge-soled sandals, patent handbags, etc., etc. Price points are also on the money as I noted that some of my fave pieces came from such affordable fashion houses as Nine West, Steve Madden and Michael Kors’ bridge line, not to mention Macy's own private label collections. The beautiful food and dessert buffet, and of course the champagne also helped put me in a wonderful mood. Macy's has so much great stuff to choose from, I urge you to check out the Spring lines – I think this will be one of it’s best seasons ever, at least in fashion terms. It will be money well-spent.

Last but not least, I attended two different press events in one (rainy, what else ?) night. The first was down in SoHo on Broadway at one of my favorite boutiques, Uniqlo. This Japan-based company does updated basics at a great price as I've previously mentioned. The reason for the party was to highlight some of Spring's offerings for guys and gals. While the store was still open to the public, the press was herded into a separate area and handed wine and nibbles. The merchandise was displayed on mannequins in double rows on a slightly raised platform. So here's the deal: The stuff was primarily aimed at the younger crowd, with some cute dresses in sweatshirt fabrics, preppy men’s blazers, jeans and sweater combos, plus lots more. This was just a sampling of what Uniqlo will have in-store come Spring (probably around February). From there, my colleague and I traipsed over to Parsons School of Design for the bash to end all bashes, Lilly Pulitzer's 50^th anniversary jubilee and retrospective, "celebrating 50 years of a colorful life." And boy was it colorful! I never saw so many Lilly printed attendees in one place! Not only were the women dressed in printed dresses, but the men were decked out as well in a sea of pastels. Outside there was even a Lilly-patterned jeep parked! Inside the hordes – and I mean hordes – packed the place and swayed to the sweet sounds of a band singer from the Alex Donner orchestra. Even the piano was covered in a Lilly print! How cool is that?! The food and drinks flowed non-stop. There were mannequins tricked-out in a variety of vintage Lilly dresses and we spotted lots of celebrities mingling in the throng. We left happy campers loaded down with a printed goody bag filled with more Lilly Pulitzer swag. God! Sometimes I love my job!

So there you have it – my "store" adventures. Next stop, a fabulous Church bazaar. I'll keep you posted. Ta for now! C & C.