SAY HELLO: Juicy Couture, Tory Burch, Nordstrom SAY GOODBYE: Harold’s, ‘O at Home,’ Club Libby Lu, Men’s Vogue

Well if it isn’t the economy, then it’s the economy!

Yawn. (Please have the houseman send two Excedrin. STAT.)

Before we do all the dreary-dreary, let’s start with some fun news, like Tory Burch opening her Palm Beach store today!

Conveniently located right on Worth Avenue, this is the designer’s 16th store; next month her 17th opens in New York’s meatpacking district.  This reminds us, has everyone seen the new Reva in suede?

Another designer landing nearby on Worth? Michael Kors, with a new boutique he has planned for a long time, according to a story in the Palm Beach Daily News:

“In America, the warm-weather place to be is Palm Beach,” he said. “Palm Beach has always been on my radar.”

Also, Nordstrom *finally* opened their new store in Naples last Friday. At last!  And the Juicy Couture flagship on Fifth is now open, following Thursday night’s big do. Below, co-founders Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Juicy Couture

From the halls of popular prep school drama Gossip Girl star Blake Lively was on hand for the Juicy festivities.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Juicy Couture

Co-star and real life significant other(?) Penn Badgley was on hand along with Jessica Szohr…

Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for Juicy Couture

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Many readers are probably familiar with most of these dreary headlines, but just in case anyone missed them along the way…we start with Saks announcing last week that it is closing the Club Libby Lu stores; that is almost 100 shops in total.

The company expects to have all closed by the end of their first-quarter in 2009.

Then we had surprising news today about perennial Wall Street favorite J. Crew, according to an AP story via CNBC:

“Shares of J. Crew Group Inc. fell to an all-time low Monday after an analyst said she expects weaker results from the apparel and accessories retailer…”

And now we are ever-so-glad the Queen Mother wasn’t planning to purchase the new flat-screen at Circuit City, with their bankruptcy announcement today.

But here is the loss that really hurts, hitting too close to home for our sensitivities. Harold’s.

Courtesy Harold's

During our years doing tv in Oklahoma City we frequently found ourselves at the Harold’s at Penn Place if shopping in town. Our favorite out-of-town Harold’s haunts were at River Oaks, The Galleria in Dallas and on Lover’s Lane; we would also pop into the store at Tyson’s when visiting that part of the galaxy.  Even TSU (The Spousal Unit) went nuclear upon hearing the news.

The liquidation sales started last Friday; the company expects it will take approximately four months to finish selling the merchandise.  Sniff.  Tissue please.

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The word came last week that “O at Home,” the quarterly spun off from “O: The Oprah Magazine,‘ will cease publishing with the Winter issue.  Any future issues will be part of O.

The Princess Consort was concerned when he learned that Men’s Vogue will essentially cease publishing, although technically it is being ‘absorbed’ by Vogue, and hopes to publish twice a year.  (Okay… truth be told, the Consort won’t miss this one iota, it is I who enjoyed flipping through the pages.)

And here is one that rapidly became one of our more enjoyable business reads, Conde Nast’s Portfolio. It is dropping from twelve to ten issues a year.

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We are in peril of becoming completely distraught, so rather than going off the deep end we shall mention the Great Preppy Giveaway here at  Preppy Princess Intergalactic Headquarters, where it is *always* pink and green.

You can win an outstanding Bungalow Scout Tote, simply by leaving a comment mentioning something about America you are thankful for… that’s it!  Just fill in the blank: “I am thankful __________” and leave a comment and you are entered!  Plus, if you mention the Giveaway on your blog and you win, you receive a fabulous set of oh-so-preppy Madras Photocards as a second gift that we’ll send to anyone of your choosing! And we pay the postage on all of this!

It is our way of saying ‘Thank You’ to all of our faithful customers and blogging friends! This contest closes at midnight Wednesday night, and the next one begins early Thursday, so have some fun…you just might be the lucky winner! For more information, click here to read detailed specifics and background!

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For today’s Pretty in Pink item we honor Club Libby Lu (not that TP has ever set foot in one, but we have heard about them…does that almost count?!) with the Pop Sugar Polka Dot Cupcake PJ Set in pink.

Club Libby Lu

Until later… grins and giggles.

That Preppy Style Thing Again, J Crew Tribeca Store, L.A. Salvatore Ferragamo

Hello and Happy Friday! A few months back we did several posts marveling that so many different people and publications were alerting us to the fact “preppy style is back.” It seems the change in seasons or some other occurrence has hatched another slew of ‘preppy is cool” type articles, posts, stories, etc. Obviously this was not news back in June for most in our little online group, nor is it news now but it does provide for informative or entertaining (or a combination of the two) reading.

We’ll start with the one factor we know to be influencing fashion and style writers: Gossip Girl (or “G2” as we refer to it). The Chic Spy’s Character Dossier feature has a great story on the phenomenon this week. Below left is Serena (Blake Lively) in her Constance Billard school uniform along with Blair (Leighton Meester) in the not-really-meant-to-be-patriotic ensemble…or is it?

There is loads of info in the story, including a lengthy list of tips for getting your own similar look, not to mention the classic shot of ‘Chuck’ in a white suit with all the trimmings, a look that really must be seen to be appreciated. Then for fans who simply can’t get enough, US Magazine has put together an amusing series of “Before & After” photographs showing many G2 stars ‘back when…” before they gained such notoriety, and then ‘after,’ showing them now, present tense. Presumably everyone has seen the stills from the upcoming ‘catfight’ scene?

And did everyone hear that when Michael Kors isn’t busy running his clothing empire, or judging upcoming designers on Project Runway, he is doing a guest spot on the show? ‘Tis true.

Actually, when it comes to this fall’s small-screen viewing, we’re tickled to see that “Lipstick Jungle” is making a return. We thought the show was dead and buried, a victim of a poor time slot and too many chick-flick shows in prime-time. We happily discovered we were wrong when a promo for the popped up during the Olympics.

If you missed the first season, you can catch always play catch up at your leisure; put it in your queue at Netflix, or add another dollar to the College Fund by reserving it at your local library. TP’s library has no fees for videos but we can’t say what the policies are at your local lending establishment. The NBC site says the DVD is in ‘Anamorphic Widescreen,’ which besides sounding like a pornography film, is a term no one here at the Intergalactic Headquarters of The Preppy Princess has ever heard.

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There is quite a bit of news for the guys when it comes to shopping this week, so much it’s tough to know where to start. We’ll begin with the new Men’s Salvatore Ferragamo shop at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles, actually open since the last week of June or so, a beauty from the looks of things. Sleek and elegant wood, soft as butter leather couches and über-elegant Italian clothing, shoes and accessories make for a luxe look and posh surroundings. Perhaps Miss Muffy has popped in for a visit with the oh-too-wonderful Skipp, and can file a west coast report for us on the store. (BTW, this is *not* to be confused with the Mens & Women’s store on Rodeo.)

Should you be thinking ahead (always a wise move for the busy Princess) with an eye toward early holiday gift buying, there is the alligator duffel bag (center row), or the rather unfortunate shade of green alligator tote, on the top row.

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Next we visit the new J. Crew Men’s store in Tribeca that opened yesterday in the old Liquor Store location. They have done a simply splendid job blending the old with the new, right down to the exterior of the building.

Uncrate.com

Brian Berman for J. Crew

For those spared the tedium of The Princess going ga-ga over J. Crew’s announced plans to open a men’s-only store and word that the old Liquor Store bar was going to be its home, well, we’ll only say this is a somewhat legendary locale, and electing to pay homage to its previous incarnation as opposed to gutting it was a stoke of genius.

Brian Berman for J. Crew

Uncrate.com

The retailer included most of its basics at the new store, as well as some of its higher-end merchandise, like its Thomas Mason fabric shirts (left), and wool Cambridge ties that are TDF. Really, they are.

They also have their new Italian Slim Suit in a color they call dark graphite that is just smashing, a classic look with understated elegance. Very nice. Any and all J. Crew fans will enjoy a wonderful little video with Senior Design Director, Frank Muytjens explaining ‘How J Crew Does Luxe for Less‘ using this suit (we think) as the example.

The store was actually designed by Andy Spade, who has his own book coming out in September. A story in Men’s Style explains more:

“The new store’s sponsoring a series of workshops based on Spade and business partner Anthony Sperduti’s forthcoming book, What a Man Should Know (available there on September 1). So what should you know? Chess, wine, and figure-drawing, among other things. It’s never too late to learn.”

There are lots of other goodies at the Tribeca shop you won’t find at other J Crew stores, like vintage Timex watches and Baracuta Coats, the latter’s Harrington G9 jacket favored by a wildly diverse group including Arnold Palmer, Steve McQueen, Elvis, Frank Sinatra and The Clash.

And to bring a smile to our preppy friends who are lovers of all things nautical, we bring you this stunning example of horological magnificence via Artfact. The 1940’s Nautical Captain’s Desk Clock is to be auctioned on the 30th, just a week from now. This is obviously what Miss Nautical by Nature needs on her desk. It would make an excellent addition to the cottage, but it’s also ideal as an outstanding gift to anyone whose heart is always with the sea.

On that seaworthy note we’ll say bye for now with wishes everyone is about to embark on their own journey to a wonderful weekend. We’ll be back of course, bringing some convention fashion tidbits and US Open tales.

PHOTO CREDITS:

• Gossip Girls Fashions all The CW Network,
• ‘Catfight’ PopSugar
• Lipstick Jungle courtesy NBCUniversal
• Ferragamo Opening Nancy Pastor / For the Los Angeles Times
• J. Crew: Brian Berman for J. Crew and Uncrate.com (photographer unknown)
• Special thanks to A Continuous Lean for publishing so many of J. Crew’s photos!