At River Island — which just filed a healthy company report, given the current retail horrors — Sarah Walters, the head of communications, estimates that nearly half the customers shop at least once a week. “It’s very focused on going out,” she says. “It’s about Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, festivals in the summer and parties at Christmas.” She describes them wanting “fit, fabric and something new and hot”. The design team’s fashion leads “come, in no particular order, from music, the street, celebrity, travel and catwalk”. Above all, she says, their customer wants “to look sexy, show off her tan and her legs”. Going out is a huge ritual for women, and the expectation and bonding start with the shopping. “Then,” says Walters, “they all get together, watch The X Factor, get ready and go out.” Round at Stef’s, the girls have on TMF, a music channel. Stef walks me through her wardrobe. She spends 20% of her income on night-time statement clothes, jewellery and accessories. She doesn’t buy Primark or New Look, more American Apparel, Topshop, All Saints and Zara, but “I never do designer”. Her friends nod in approval. “It’s far too expensive because we never wear anything more than once or twice.” Stef says her “fashion choices are all about shopping. I look at the mannequins, I check what’s new in. I find magazines a bit behind. When they were on about body-con and ToyWatches, I was, like, hello, I’ve been doing that since January”. Going out is about so much more than an outfit. Selfridges knows this, and come week’s end, the London store’s ground-floor fashion and beauty hall forms a setting for the dedicated glamour puss: hair irons, hair pieces, glitter tattoos, manis, pedis, make-overs and style advisers can have you ready to walk the walk. Up on the new 3rd Central floor space, the younger designers have been grouped together to encourage this kind of shopper to go crazy. Craig Parker on the Marc by Marc Jacobs counter says that Thursday night is “small bag night”, when he often finds himself folding tissue around a customer’s old clothes, then squeezing them into the store’s smallest bag as he waves her off on a night out in her new purchases. “I love this sort of customer,” he says. “She comes out of work on a Thursday or Friday feeling ‘bleurgh’, then comes in here and soon she’s feeling ‘aaah’. She lives for the weekend, she’s young, funky and excited.” Kristin Chenoweth of "Pushing Daisies" and Jon Cryer of "Two and a Half Men" won supporting acting Emmys for their comedies and proved that acceptance speeches can be entertaining. "I'm not employed now so I'd like to be on `Mad Men.' Wow! I also like `The Office' and `24,"' said Chenoweth, alternating between tears and smiles as she accepted for her canceled ABC series. "Thank you so much to the academy for recognizing a show that's no longer on the air." Backstage, the Tony Award-winning Chenoweth noted that she is appearing on an upcoming episode of Fox's show "Glee," has shot two movies and is doing a series of concerts. Cryer, whose series is the most-watched comedy on TV, brought a wry tone to his speech. "I used to think that awards were just shallow tokens of momentary popularity, but now I realize they are the only true measure of a person's worth as a human being," Cryer said. "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" won the trophy for best variety, music or comedy series, its seventh in a row. "Grey Gardens," the story of a reclusive mother and daughter who were relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, yyqq0923 won for best TV movie.
wow gold wow power leveling wow gold wow power leveling cheap wow gold
wow gold wow gold wow gold wow gold
|
