Fashionosophy: Retail Research

Monday, January 15, 2007

Retail Research

Naturally I am marooned in my condo watching E!'s pre-show red carpet coverage of the Golden Globes. On Saturday I was on assignment at Bal Harbour, scoping out fabulous things for Juli B.

I was a little pressed for time, since it took me like an hour to get there due to road closures that resulted in me pulling up to the security gate in an exclusive Miami Beach community and sitting in the gatehouse with the lovely security officer who was kind enough to draw me a map to Bal Harbour.

I hit Hermes, Chopard, Van Cleef, Judith Ripka and Books & Books. (It's a varied assignment.) Mom arrives on Thursday, so assuming therapist doesn't intervene any further into our shopping habits, we will return on Friday for more "research."

My favorite finds:

Chopard

Van Cleef

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Cast of Characters

Bergdorf Goodman: The quintessential New York City high fashion bastion of excellence. Bergdorf's is my home away from home in the city, a place that re-ups my Seratonin like no SSRI possibly could. Mom, Lynn and I could (and have) spent hours upon hours strolling the floors of Bergdorf's and now on my trips to the city, it is my main point of interest.
Lynn: Mom's longtime friend from her college days, Lynn can go head-to-head with Mom and me at Bergdorf's, Neiman's or Norman Landsberg. My mom's shopping, style and jewelry partner in crime, Lynn is also one of my close friends and one of my style and dermalogical gurus. Her locale, Palm Beach, close to Worth Ave., comes especially in handy for Mom, who is stuck living in a town devoid of designer clothing.
Mom: Style icon and near-professional shopper, whose dayjob seems to be a means to an end for spending as much time as humanly possible at Bergdorf's. Mom inherited the bulk of Roxy's jewelry and continues to give me the castaways. Mom enjoys shopping, jewelry and traveling to destinations as long as Prada, Gucci, Loro Piana and Manolo Blahnik are readily available and an integral part of the travel itinerary. I wonder what will happen when we go to India soon?
Neiman Marcus: Second to Bergdorf's in that Bergdorf's is only in NYC and Neiman's is all over the country, including in Miami, where I now reside. Neiman's and Bergdorf's are owned by the same company, so it's not so pale a substitute.
Norman Landsberg: A jeweler on 47th Street where mom and Lynn and many of our other friends have been buying baubles for 25 years. We need a jewel? We call them up, they FedEx it to us. No big deal.
Roxy: Deceased, Diva grandmother who was a collector of all things chic. Since she died when I was 17, I became the lucky benefactor of her myriad baubles and desinger pieces.