I attended the East Bay Style Collective Event tonight, featuring Berkeley designers and smaller business boutiques. After some mingling and talking with some people, the cause for the event is to help families by donating prom dresses to those who need the help and support. This is sweet.
It was an interesting/entertaining evening in the Gourmet Ghetto. From 6:00 – 8:00 PM attendees enjoyed food and wine tasting ($4 per taste) then the fashion show began at 8:00 – 9:00 PM ($10 per seat).
Images from the event …
North Shattuck Avenue and Vine Street, Berkeley
A perk about fashion events are samples, freebies and little gadgets sponsors, contributing partners and designers donate to event attendees. It just so happens that included in my goodie bag was a slip for a ”free” pouch from M Lowe & Co. a jewelry business. My pouch had this cute necklace! A piece of information: they’re located on 1519 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley.
Yet, I completely fell (literally, well actually tripped) for this yellow and black tie-dye printed, low v-neck, thin strap dress!
(DIY: fold a shirt whichever and however you want it, and bind with rubber bands or string, and apply dye. Didn’t we all do this in grade school? I did.)
And, back to the 1960’s I say!
More than the print, the fabric eases on my body – way too comfortable! It flows real nice, being that it’s chiffon.
The perk of this dress (or any dress, really) is that you can refashion it to match your mood, event, or anything really. How? Just sport a different color cardigan or blazer. Wait … can’t forget to accessorize, duh?!
If you have a similar type of dress, you’ll know what I mean, right?
Finally, a documentary-ish film about Anna Wintour -editor-in-chief of VOGUE and one of THE most powerful, influential womnn in fashion – and the making of the September issue – “September is like the January in fashion“. I’ve been told, its debut will be on or around September 10 or 11 during New York Fashion Week! Watch for it …This is one movie I can’t wait to watch. It beats Devil Wears Prada on my list!
Fashion is so much more than what the general population deems it to be, it entails everything. In my book, fashion is THE industry that reflects everything that happens in our society, its psychological and helps with self-expression, it entails hard-work and long hours, at the same time it’s fun, amusing and rewarding. .. I could go on, you know?!
Jumpers are always fun, especially for summer! Literally, you can accessorize with anything hats, scarves, little vintage clutches, bracelets, belts, and the list goes on … the only pet peeve is when the bathroom calls – you have to undress from the top!
Jumper from Forever, pumps from ZARA, hat from my darling friends shop Olive Juice, scarf from Paris thrift store, clutch from Paris vintage store.
Today was one of those “hang out with a friend and walk around town day” for me. It also just happened that the Jazz Festival on Filmore Street was happening! OMG, the street was filled, I mean packed with all kinds of people … here’s my snapshots of some people whom I thought had interesting style
This was the cutest thing that happened, and picture explains it all, this little boy was A-dorable!
Then there was the white lady:
Today was a good day indeed, Betsey Johnson was having a buy one get one free sale! Except for her accessories, “Why… Betsey, why?” I find her accessories line so irresistibly adorable.
Is it wrong to use sexual power for personal gain?
As I stand in front of my mirror, I ask myself, “is this too much?” Is there sort of a blurred boundary in our culture/society that suggest it to be taboo for a woman to “use what she’s got”? I mean, you could argue from both sides, … but after reading this article by Nancy Hass, I feel confident more than ever that as a woman, you should never settle, ”you have to ask yourself how much your sexuality is integral to your very being. And you have to be willing to take the blows if being true to that hold you back in your career.”
This past semester I studied that the male gaze, everything in movies, films, and media, for example, is from the perspective of a male staring at the woman, “males see while females are meant to be seen.” Many theorists and experts, such as Laura Mulvey would argue this point, and say that this notion is also prevalent in all our surrounding advertisements. I sometimes wonder if for some women the idea of women being subjected to a male gaze develops into a sort of an empowerment, an authorization … because “as long as sexuality is an organic by-product of self confidence, not the other way around, it may be a force for good, out lasting youth and its accompanying self-doubt and inexperience.”
“Obviously there remain a few clear boundaries: It’s tacky to flash cleavage at work, and sleeping your way to the top is demeaning and fraught with peril. But, in an era when displaying femininity is no longer automatically dismissed as a sign of weakness, surely that’s not all there is to say.”
“What if your sexiness if without intent, if its simply integral to your personality – are you morally bound to suppress?”
I (for BARE Magazine) had a chance to do an interview with Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and Eileen Lewis, Zappos’ Director of Fashion Strategy.
If you’ve never heard of Zappos, this is your chance to get to know the Best #1 company in terms of customer service. Fortune Magazine also rated it as “100 Best Companies To Work For”. I’ve been told stories, and I’m sure there’s a gazillion others, about the superiority of their service! A friend of mine told me someone actually called Zappos to order some pizza (making the long story short) and although Zappos is a retailer, the customer rep had pizza delivered to the house. I know, right? Even if this didn’t happen, the fact a story like this exists goes to show their dedication in providing the best service to customers, like you and me. The story above might have stemmed from the fact that Tony had a pizza business in college before launching Zappos.com in 1999. Zappos is huge on delivering happiness to customers and employees …
How do you decide on your merchandise? Are you selective, or is it just based on the brands you know that can sell?
We look at what the customers are asking for as well as the next hottest trends so that we always have what the customers what.
Do you track what the top brands or fashions are, and how?
Yes, we constantly shop the market internationally as well as all of the media available to us.
Why did they decide to expand into clothing and jewelry?
We want to deliver a better customer experience by having everything that our customers would need to complete the look. These were natural categories to go into next based on their volume on the web. We also sell bags, watches, eyewear, beauty, etc.
Can you tell us, based on your data, what one or two top trends are for the summer?
They’re site offers everything, and trust me on their superb service! If you don’t believe me, check them out for yourself! Also, Tony is very active with his Zappos and the public community, here’s his twitter: http://twitter.com/Zappos. Don’t forget to follow me, and Bare Magazine too!
