I Have Not Forgotten

I have not forgotten that I promised to give you my take on the collections of Carolina Herrera and Nicolas Ghesquiere for Balenciaga. As usual, life sometimes gets in the way of all of your wonderful plans. I am once again back on track and will give you the 411 on those collections over the weekend. For now, I want to blog about something that really is important to me.

I was scanning some of my old magazines last evening and I ran across some photos of Christian LaCroix's last collection. I was really saddened that there may not be any collections to follow. It is not that he was one of my favorite designers; it is that he is a designer with his own style and an unmistakable talent for blending beauty and shock.

A few years ago I was looking for gifts for my brothers and my dad so I decided to pick up a few Christian LaCroix ties for them. It was one of the best times I had selecting gifts. Each tie was an incredible blend of color and patterns. So, mixing and matching with shirts ties and foulards was a pleasure.

I also got my dad this really pale yellow casual jacket to wear with jeans. I remember the sales associate asking me how old my father was. When I told him he was 80 he suggested different designers thinking that Mr. LaCroix would be too edgy for my dad. Well my dad is still wearing that jacket five years later and loves it.

It makes you wonder why it is okay for men, irrespective of age to wear garments that they really love; but when it comes to women the question of whether the garment is age appropriate always comes up. Maybe it is the general attitude about women and youth in this country. I don't see it so much in Europe. But here, there really is a tendency to stock the stores with clothing that is going to make grown women look totally inappropriate.

Once more, enter the game. If you are 45 and looking for a really great top to go with a pair of linen pants that you just purchased what is the section of the store that you will most likely be sent to in order to find this great top? Actually, it is a category of clothing. Those in the industry know these categories and religiously send women off to the appropriate sections of the store to find the '"age appropriate" garments.

A 45 year old woman shopping at Nordstrom would be sent to Narrative or Point of View, or if she is really edgy, Individualist or Savvy. But more than likely you are going to be sent off to Point of View or Narrative. If you go in looking well put together you be sent to Studio 121 or Collectors. But t.b.d. and via C are the exclusive domain of the 30 and under crowd.

The selections of the large commercial retail buyers are the one thing that has turned me into a boutique shopper. If I want a selection of great boutiques all in one place, I go to Saks. I just head up to the third floor and start looking around. It may be a different floor in your city so just go and check out the designer sportswear department. You are sure to find something that is really great.

I included all of the above to keep you from searching the paragraph with the question for the answer. The "category" of clothing for women 35 and up is called 'bridge'. To me it is a crazy name and an even crazier concept. What exactly are they 'bridging'? If I could rename everything it would be 'children’s', 'young adults', then "bridge" and next contemporary'.

But that is just me. My real goal, as you all know by now, is to get better choices and a wider range of options in the stores. Who would that hurt? It certainly would not hurt the designers, the retailers or the customers. Sounds like a win-win to me.

a la prochaine

Debra