a GOOD day

LG Almighty, I have the hardest body in the world to jeans-shop for. All you girlies out there, don't go gettin' all anorexic/righteous on me because I do think I'm a cutie - no body issues here, but there is no getting around it, my large(r) thighs + (relatively) teeny waist mean every single bloody jean out there is too tight around my leg but super loose and baggy in the waist. And skinny jeans? The WORST offenders....---Until today. I'm so excited about this I had to blog about it.

A little background: we just had our once a year sale at JC. We got over 20 huge boxes of sale stuff from our AZ stores, including loads of denim, most of it at least a year old and from designers I totally didn't recognize, including this strange label Jenne Maag. During the busiest day of our sale, one of the girls was convinced someone had stolen some of our jeans and left their "crappy" pair behind when she picked up the JMs. It's true - they're not lookers in the least, and they're sized weird.

I tried on most of the jeans in "my size." They were beauts - awesome detailing on the pockets, designer names like Hudson, soft, yummy denim, gorgeous washes. It took me a long time to work up the energy to do so. First, I would "harvest" the jeans and store them away in little nooks in the store, but wouldn't protest if a customer or employee put them back.

Once I had my stash finalized, I vocalized my desire to try on jeans to everyone I spoke with, and claimed my stash with a post-it, giving the stink-eye to anyone who ventured too close. My managers had to tell me to stop circling. J/K.

It took me about three days to try on all the jeans in my stash. None of them fit. No surprise there, really.

Yesterday, there was a huge bust of shop-lifters at the store across the street from ours, including a girl who had been in our store earlier. (!) Like six policemen and loads of shouting and crying. Eeep. This was after I had lost all hope of ever finding skinny jeans (or any jeans really) that looked cute on me. A dark and gloomy day.

I worked by myself today and the paranoia was ripe for the picking. I would count how many items I put in a fitting room and employed the rule of Conservation of Hangers and Garments almost continously (There is a garment for every hanger and vice versa is the basic principle).

A girl came in and picked out a pair of Jenne Maags to try one, and as she lifted them from the rack I had a lightbulb moment - she had the same body type as me, the Jenne Maags were dark and skinny legged, and I was about to put them in a fitting room for her. Hope and fear entwined in my heart.

Then a whole bunch of people came in and I lost track of her until she came to the register to check out. She had a brown pair of JMs - not the jeans. In what I can see now was not the most polite tone I asked her very sternly if she left her other items in the fitting room because remember today I suspected everyone of shoplifting, especially old ladies because isn't that the perfect cover, and how heinous would it be if my perfect jeans were shoplifted from under my very nose only seconds after I realized the Ugly Duckling was in fact my Swan?!?!

Sooo...to make a long story short (too late) I tried them on, they fit great, they look awesome and I LOVE them. (Plus I got them for $30 marked down from $172.) Happy dance!!

Check my beast out here: Jenne Maag.

Okay, not to get our heart rates up too high, but these are some sweet shoes: Ready? Begin! Tracy Neuls.

Web 2.0

I've learned a hell of a lot since I graduated and I may regret this bold statement later on, but I have to say, I've learned way more in these last two years than I did in university. Maybe I'm a late bloomer - well, not maybe :) - and maybe it's cause I'm workin' a gig that don't require no education but I have to say to all the kids out there, I do:
College is optional. It's not a free pass to a white collar life and it's not a pre-requisite for a white collar life.
So if you love debate team, and playing the cello, and varsity soccer, and AP English, and those sorts of things, then by all means, the world is your ivy l oyster. But if not, don't fret, because oysters ain't all there is to life, and pearls before swine and all that.
I know we get nervous when this blog strays from frivolities, so let's get back to our regularly scheduled programming: Hall Ohara






You may be wondering what this all has to do with Web 2.0. Well, we didn't get to that today, so let's save it for another time. Good night and god speed.

Sales Suck

...when you are the person on the other side of the till. It's all fun and games till someone asks you for a further discount on pants that have been marked down from $300 to $30 just because they don't fit. Shoot me now, please. Whooop. Did I just say that out loud? Excuse me, I think I'll mosey on over here and refold the entire southeast corner of the store just so your a) toddler b) dog-too-large-to-be-in-store c) drunk boyfriend can promptly restore it to utter chaos while you spend two hours hogging a dressing room, then try to steal a t-shirt.
I do still love my job however, as I got to spend all day today snuggled in a yummy Nanette Lepore coat - why was I HAPPILY wearing a coat in July you may ask? Why, because I work in San Francisco. It was FLIPPINB cold today.
Okay on to design-y fun.


SUCH an awesome floor + idea. Via design sponge.


Look to the right there and notice the wire elliptical bookshelf. I like it.


Check out these shoes! Via peonies and polaroids.

And your designer of the day: alexis mabille:


Love the colors in this outfit.


So Audrey. I love the way the loops stick out over her arms. Notice the bow earrings as well.


This dress is SO fun. Notice the bows on the pockets.


I love the way the mushroom pleats make the chiffon opaque.


These bowed-out shoes are insane! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Probably cry. :)



Would this not be an awesome wedding (ha - I almost wrote "weeding") dress, or am I crazy? It would NOT be an awesome weeding dress. Mwah, y'all.

When Do I Get My Own Label???

Megan Park

Fashiony Fun

Sorry I've been MIA. We're having a huge annual sale at work, so things have been crazy there, plus I've started school and the homework load is not insignificant, although it does consist of drawing barbies and sewing seams so I think I'm not the only one who would agree that life could be worse. Plus, I think mine is the ONLY degree where we are strongly encouraged to subscribe to at least three fashion magazines. No problemo. :)

Besides, I love my job.

I love it when a piece of clothing that looks totally innocuous, even ugly, on the hanger, becomes gorgeous when the right person puts it on.

I love figuring out how a certain item of clothing fits, is it high in the waist, cut narrow, cut for an ample bodice, and then spotting the person who has the exact right body, who is willing to try it, who falls in love (of course)and purchases it (cha-ching).

I love meeting our daily sales goal, with that one magical person who comes in needing a whole new wardrobe. Mwah, dahling, enjoy! You look fab.

I love that we drink. We offer beers, and wine, and during the sale, the margaritas flow freely.

I love that we carry designers I love, and can thusly, should I be so moved, order any piece in their collection, in any size and color, at will AND receive a discount to boot.

And I love the people I work with. But enough already.

Some YSL:




I'm off to go draw barbie in profile, dears. What a life.

Beggars can't be shoesers

Whatever that means. Charmone. Does that word mean anything to you? It will after the following images are viewed:




My friends. Charmone is a VEGAN shoe company who promises their shoes are good for the environment and good for your feet. Apparently the materials they use are as durable and breathable as leather. Hooray!
Don't get me wrong. I love Zappos. Their customer service is amazing. But their selection? Overwhelming and is it just me or is their search engine really bad? Bottom line: you have to WORK to find cute shoes.
Enter Endless.com. Whoever does the buying for this site, I highly commend. Very consistent cuteness. Some shoes I would like:


Nine West


Joy Chen


DV by Dolce Vita


Pour la Victoire

Beautius Maximus

Found Janne Peters via tiny k. What beautiful places:


Love the purple wall with the lace!




Gorgeous refurbished furniture from vintage renewal:


Plates I wouldn't mind having around:
From Nuno.


Colors: black on white, white on black, fuschia on navy, chartreuse on grey.

If I Had a Million Euros

The dollar has disappointed us all, but if I had some euro-coin, I'll tell you what I'd do. Buy me some fabulous ruffled Prada shoes (photos via San Francisco Magazine and style),








(I lovelovelove the Fall Prada collection! Eeeee!)
buy me some luscious tiled tubs from Sicis (is it weird that I love these tiled bathtubs so much?),






and buy me a supermodel best friend who strikes me as cocaine anthropomorphized: Omahyra Mota. Here she is as I first saw her. When I saw the gladiator sandals and the baseball cap I knew it was meant to be, no matter how dangerous and insane she is.


Further research yielded these results:




This post is all about luxury, and not surprisingly my euro-dough has been spent mostly in Italy. (Except - I picked up my BFF in Paris via the Sartorialist.) In conclusion, I swear, if the price of those yummy shoes dips a cent below $500, I will all over them like tattoos on a sailor.