Zara

Because of a my unshakable slothdom, most of the info I share comes from what I can remember off the top of my head - facts and figures from skimming through Wikipedia and/or simply from hearsay...so just don't quote me on a lot of the stuff! Today I thought I'd blog a bit on one of, if not my favorite, past-time: Shopping! Yesterday, my dear friend Patty, came up with the bright idea of hitting the mall in order to keep cool with the kids. You see our A/C had been pushed to it's limit last week & hasn't been working since. This whole thing about the busted A/C is actually another blogworthy subject, but I'll save that for next time. Today I just want to focus on shopping.

Now one of my all-time favourite boutiques is Zara. You might have never paid much attention to this before, but it will probably suddenly click now that I'm telling you that Zara does not adverstise. Yeah, my reaction exactly! That's because when the Spanish magnate, Amancio Ortega, founded the chain in the mid-70's he opted to skip the publicity that his peers spend big bucks on and used the money instead to open up more stores - He was certainly confident that the times were auspicious and that his maverick business strategy would work and that he would have a huge patronage in no time! So that's why you never see billboards, tv commercials and so forth of Zara. You'll also never see a runway show because they concentrate on understanding what their consumers really want now and on delivering it to them rather than promoting predicted trends for the next season. Because they take care of their own design, production and distribution, Zara can churn out fresh and trendy styles faster that you can say, "houndstooth wool and cashmere blend coat!" or "paisley print halter silk top!" or "gold strappy gladiator sandals!" or "black chiffon sheath dress to be cinched with a funky studded belt and paired up with sexy stilleto sandals!!!" that is, around five weeks tops (lol), while it can take months for most companies to come up with a new collection and actually have the finished goods on their shelves. Moreover, when a certain style doesn't sell, they pull it out of the stores right away and cancel any further orders for the same. No single style stays on the sales floor for more than a month. According to Wikipedia, an average high-street store in Spain expects customers to visit three times a year. That goes up to 17 times for Zara, owing to this constant influx of fresh styles. I'm not too sure what the averages are for their boutiques in other countries, but having raked in 6.824 billion € in revenue in 2008, I wouldn't be too worried. No, I have no idea what this figure translates to in terms of profit margins in their books or in comparison to their competition, or in relation to the industry as a whole, but that's a lot of money!!!

I like Zara simply because it is very fashion-forward and affordable - it totally fits my pocketbook. I like how complete outfits and actually an entire season's wardrobe is grouped together on racks with the matching footwear perched either above the clothes or beneath them with accessories strategically displayed around the store - eliminating a lot of the guesswork which is especially great when you're a busy mom with not too much time to shop. Of course it's a different story come sale time when it always seems like a search party had ransacked the place, leaving not a single garment unturned. Well, that is exactly what happens, the stores do get combed by a cohort of girls of all ages, from the pre-pubescent to the menopausal (although I think it is the hormonally charged members of the 18-35 age group that do the most damage!) I know this is the beef a lot of my friends have against the store, particularly a neat-freak friend of mine who won't even bother going in altogether because of that. I think that's sad becasue she's really really missing out. Personally, I would never abandon Zara for that reason, what turns me off even more is when sales associates at certain other boutiques snarl and growl at you in a rabid dog manner for messing up a neat pile of clothes they had painstakingly folded. Are you kidding me? It's tons of fun rummaging through piles upon piles of sweaters, and flipping through racks after racks of dresses and digging into mounds and mounds of shoes. It's just a matter of inspecting the merchandise first to ensure that it is intact, checking for missing buttons, detached zippers, tears, lipstick stains and even BO. I know, I know, it's just because I had a nasty experience once when I tried on an outfit that stank of that, realizing it a bit too late after it had already touched my skin, talk about gross! So what I do now is give all clothes a little discreet sniff-over before I hit the dressing room. No, you don't necessarily have to bury your face into the fabric and smell away as if it's a Downy commercial, you would just end up getting high on the sizing chemicals that way. Just a quick whiff and you should be safe...better that than sorry, I always say! (I swear I almost have it down to a science! I think it's good practice and encourage everyone else to do likewise!) So, with all of that being said, I like Zara for how they are able to strike a perfect balance between ultra-feminine and trendy in their designs while keeping them reasonably priced....

On Uggs and Canada Goose Jackets

So, when I first returned to Canada from living in the Philippines for x number of years, one of the top items on my to-do-list was to get me some sexy leather boots (in an unconscious attempt to fulfill some repressed girly superheroic fantasies). You see that's one wardrobe item that one doesn't get to wear back home obviously due to the make-up melting tropical heat unless you live, I guess, in the mountain resort city of Baguio where it is considerably colder due to it's higher elevation or if you street-walk for a living (for money for old rope!) along the red-light district of Ermita - neither case applied to me, the latter, thankfully not so! Thus, I had absolutely zilch excuse or occasion to wear boots back in the old country! So, at the first chance I got after arriving here in the fall of '99 admidst the Y2K hype and fears of an impending armageddon, I headed to Rockland's and made a beeline to Aldo's and bought my first pair of black, leather, high-heeled winter boots. They were pretty nice, maybe not the most efficient in keeping my feet warm, nor the most practical for trudging through knee-deep snow or negotiating frozen iced over sidewalks, but dang! They looked good!!! I'm glad however, to see how these past few winters, women have smartened up in this regard owing especially to the scrumptious offerings of snow-worthy bootmakers that now combine both comfort and practicality and not to mention warmth and safety with to-die-for style, style, style. One no longer has to sacrifice on aesthetic value, just to avoid the risk of the resulting need for a toe (or two!) amputation from frostbite. Viva toasty toes!!! Oooh, I'm getting a warm fuzzy feeling just thinking about it and Uggs....

Now, I didn't always like the look of Uggs after the ever effervescent Sarah Jessica Parker set the trend. But they eventually grew on me. I'm sure many will agree with me that they are an acquired taste. I just didn't jump into the bandwagon jampacked with happy, shreiking, stylish, comfy-footed girls between 15 and 45 right off the bat. I waited it out to see whether it would be just a passing fad that would soon die off, plus they didn't come cheap. It's a bit annoying because UGG's lucked out and was flying high with SJP's virtually free plugging that sparked such a craze for the original, fuzzy-lined-interior with a beige and suedy outer, boots (which now come, mind you, in an array of different colors, styles and heights) and with such a high demand for them, they could get away with whatever MSRP they didn't just "suggest" but impose. That's exactly what happened to Canada Goose. The popularity of their jackets rose to astronomical proportions after my babe Matt Damon was spotted wearing one somewhere, where exactly, I forget but that's besides the point. Those down-filled poofy jackets don't come cheap either. But if you ask my humble opionion, like Ugg's, I believe they are well worth the price. I am hardly surprised that these styles have endured a few winters now. These are pieces that you'll really enjoy for years and years. I know Kumar likes his Canada Goose bomber, and personally, I have my mind set on getting the more fitted and longer parka (in black) in the near future.

It's a shame, though, how with the advent of every trend, comes the proliferation of imitations. Some by rival manufacturers that blatantly copy the styling of the original, and others that run more clandestine operations and who try to pass off their products as the real thing. Even Canada Goose jackets are being imitated! I guess the Chinese needed to find a way to put to good use the perfectly good Peking duck down feathers that are usually discarded by their rotisseries and in a flash of genius, one dude came up with the idea of using them as stuffing material for their imitation jackets. Eureka!!! When it comes to certain things, I let go of my bargain-hunting, H&M-frequenting self's philosophy (also held by every other penny-pinching style puss): "A real Timex is better than a fake Rolex." Ugg boots and Canada Goose Jackets, being some of those things. Like I said, these items are worth the price and are defintely good investments, think of them as gifts to yourself that keep giving back, you just can't go wrong!!!

But why am I talking about Ugg boots and Canada Goose Jackets in the middle of a brutal heatwave which is leaving my naturally wavy hair with waaaay too much to be desired??? Sandals that come in a plethora of shapes, styles and colors and made out of every imaginable material - canvas, plastic, leather - even pleather would've been a more apt subject to blog about, one might argue. But hey, I'm actually keeping up with the ridiculously fast moving pace of the fashion industry which keeps churning out new styles outdating the last trend every millisecond, it seems!! Trust me, give it about a week more and you'll see storefront displays awash with mannequins decked out to the nines in the "transition" collection replete with the matching blingy accessories, bags and/or hats, even the latest hairstyles and footwear to boot (no pun intended)! And then you'll find the remaining summer stuff reduced to a sad rack at the back of the store under a sign that not too discreetly screams LIQUIDATION!!! Personally, I have no prob rummaging through sales but I know of some weirdos who do - they simply don't realize how exorbitantly high the clothes have been marked up to, to begin with, duh!!! But going back to the transition collection, all this is really, is a big fancy term for what is a smaller sampling of the next major season's (e.g. between spring, summer, winter and fall) must-have's which help fashionistas to gently ease into the new weather, and more importantly, the new styles. The next transition collection will be featuring some pre-fall goodies with heavier fabrics and deeper colors of, hmmmm, I don't even know! Hang on, let me consult my fashion plate hubby first, will get back to you on that one! But to tell you the truth, I'm not even remotely close to ready to give up my daisy dukes, cotton baby T's and flip-flops which I've been living in the past few days. Those cutesy blazers, cashmere turtlenecks, tweedy skirts, opaque tights and knee-high leather boots and not to forget, the Canada Goose jackets and Ugg's can totally wait - indefinitely - if only I had my way!!!

The Gucci's

So am I "Imeldific" when it comes to shoes? I'd say that I have a reasonable and healthy admiration for them. I mean, name me a girl who doesn't? Oh, yeah?? Well, tell her she's a lying hypocrite!!! My current (it undergoes a steady turnover!) collection is basically pretty much composed of shoe wardrobe staples such as my black pointy Nine West pumps that I got at Winners (which is Canada's lame excuse of an answer to the US' Target!!!) sometime last winter, that fateful day when I was torn between those ones that I actually ended up getting (which are ok, I guess, and have been serving me pretty well at the office these days, as a matter of fact - versatile, quite sturdy, perhaps not the most comfy, of course, as they cram my feet into these unnaturally narrow twin-peaks, but who cares?? they're sexy!!!:p) and the contender that evoked quite the reaction in me of a shallow gaspy breath, sweaty palms, heart-a-pounding, pulse-a-racing and hands-a-shaking as I gingerly picked them up to admire - real Gucci's which have been marked down to only a whopping $500.00. But there was just no way - although I totally believe in investing in quality pieces, that would have just been pushing it, plus I was still on mat leave at the time, receiving just a measly fraction of my salary. But again, they were beautiful, and after all, I was on a mission to find a pair for everyday that particular morning, and they would definitely have fit the bill, hands down, without a question!!! It was an understated pair of black leather of the finest grain pumps embellished only with the recognizable green and red ribbon fastened together with a golden buckle fashioned into Gucci's signature interlocking, juxtaposed, mirror-image G&G logo. Time stood still as I mulled over the advantages and benefits of purchasing the beauties and got lost in thought as I imagined the fantastic times we would enjoy together. I finally snapped out of my trance-like daydreaming state, being brought back to reality by my 10-month old baby's soft whimper as he stirred and woke up from a rather longish nap in his stroller. Jaden's increasingly persistent whining from having been subjected to yet another drawn-out shopping session also brought back all sensiblility to me. Therefore, so as not to prolong my agony any further, I quicky tried the Gucci's on to get it over with already, hoping that they wouldn't be as flattering as I thought they'd be or at least just wouldn't fit, and would snuff out any vestiges of the burgeonin' splurgin' desire that I was entertaining and was threatening to get the better of me and drive me to do considerable damage to me and my husband's joint account or lead me to irresponsibly swipe some plastic and consummate the sinful retail "deed" and that way if they didn't fit, I wouldn't feel so physically ill as I was beginning to, but much to my dismay, they did fit - and so beautifully so, from every single freakin' angle, waaaaaaahhhhh!!! Eventually, in what must have seemed like an eternity to poor Jaden, I reluctantly took them off and returned them to their perch on the shelf, covered them a bit so they wouldn't be so conspicuous to my fellow female shoppers - you see, I just couldn't bear to have seen them being snatched up and whisked away and bought by somebody else, no, not on the same day, at least! That would've been just too much grief for me to handle! It was only after much emotional turmoil that I finally conceded that the shoes did not justify the price and settled with the Nine West pumps, pushed Jaden along to the cash, paid for them, took the parcel from the irritatingly chirpy, twenty-something cashier, hung it over my left forearm, the way Paris Hilton used to tote Tinkerbell and with the heaviest heart, turned my Zara boot-clad heel and proceeded to the exit, paused to fish into my oversized Club Monaco bag for my leather gloves, slipped them on, cinched the belt of my also Zara peacoat a little tighter and turned up it's Napoleon collar to brace myself for the freezing winter air, left the store and with my cashmere scarf flapping in the icy cold wind, got Jaden and myself into my car, turned on the engine and the heater, put on my Marc Jacobs sunglasses to conceal my doleful eyes, my chest-a-heaving and not daring to look back, sped away and moved on with my sad Gucci-less existence.....

I-M-E-L-D-I-F-I-C!!! (Santa Imelda de Manolo, Saint Imelda of Manolo, Ste-Imelde de Manolo)

I've touched a bit on shoes with my dad's "shoe malfunction" story there in my first part of the "pursuit of beauty" post, and I honestly don't know where I am going with this! But I thought I'd blog tonight about how I feel about my fellow Filipina, Imelda Marcos, who is notorious for her sizable shoe collection. I don't think she's someone to be proud of, I just find her collection of over 3,000 shoes (hate her!) to be ostentatious - tangible, eye-candy of an evidence of her frivolous self-indulgence. Well, she defends herself by claiming that they were given to her as gifts. Painfully faultless samples (sob!) given to her by shoemakers in Marikina - say what??? M-A-R-I-K-I-N-A - it's a city in the Philippines also known as the country's Shoe Capital and apparently by extension, of Asia as well, owing to it's notable shoe industry. I guess, it could be true that she accumulated that many shoesies that way, after all her husband did serve as president/dicator for an overly draaaawwwwnnnn-outttt (reminiscent of the very recent epic John Isner-Nicolas Mahut Wimbledon match) twenty somewhat years. Shall we do the math? Let's just say, that exactly a dozen shoemakers gave her one sample each, every single month for twenty years - that would come up to 2,880 pairs of shoes, just a little over a hundred shy of 3,000!!!! I just wonder whether they were offered up to her nestled on red satin pillows out of the goodness of their hearts, or simply in sucking up leech-style, or perhaps with an ulterior motive of getting a tax break (no, corruption doesn't exist in the Philippines, naahh!!), or maybe in an attempt to appease her wrath after she had threatened to have her hubby Ferdi, annihilate them all if they didn't deliver!!! And yet, how come I don't believe it for two seconds when she says that her entire collection consists solely of gifts. If anything, I believe that receiving those samples in the beginning may have whet her appetite for shoes which later developed into a voracious and insatiable hankering for shoes, shoes and more SHOES over time! Don't tell me she doesn't own any sexy patent-leather Prada pumps (drooling), some funky playful Louboutin platforms, a couple of magnificent diamond (not rhinestone!) encrusted strappy Blahnik stilletos (I can't take it!!!) or a few dainty gaily-bowed Choo kitten heel :) numbers that she had personally purchased with her infamously ill-gotten millions, that's impossible, that just can't be! She's gotta have a few of those - some few dozens of them - and I bet you they are exactly what make up the rest of the 3,000 and more! Apparently, Imelda's shoes are now on display or maybe I should say, enshrined at the Shoe Museum of Marikina...now that I've got to see. I promise to plan to set off on a pilgrimage to this shoe Mecca with Maya the very next time I go home, or maybe I'll just plotthe heist of the century.... hmmm,
we'll see...Oh, did I say that out loud???!!! (Candice, care to join me? Stella and Maya can totally act as decoys!!!)