A New Take on Preppy, Luxury Retailers, Preppy Giveaway

Hello-hello!

We thought we would start this evening with a look at a brand heretofore unknown to The Princess: Kiel James Patrick.

Courtesy: Kiel James Patrick

As described by the designer:

“Kiel James Patrick irregularly stitched bracelets, are individually created solely by the designer from the finest vintage materials. Fabrics are meticulously hand-selected to uphold classic New England motifs.”

Their are a number of brightly-colored collections. The site also offers scarves:

Courtesy Kiel James Patrick

The scarves are original designs by Mr. Patrick, 100% Virgin wool, and bound using silk and cotton.

Next, some readers may remember our story about Tiffany opening its FiDi store a little more than a year ago.

PHOTO: Robert Caplin/Bloomberg News

Situated in the heart of the Financial District (the store is actually on Wall Street), the opening was awash in fanfare and frivolity. The Princess was quite enamored of the Tiffany blue gowns, despite the wrinkles, really unforgiveable under the circumstances.)

Courtesy The Shophound

Initially things went swimmingly.  But in a recent story on the Portfolio website, some say this location isn’t exactly the best place to be right now for high-end retailers. A snippet from the story:

“Sales are already softening at downtown boutiques just as the all-important holiday shopping season gets underway, and the outlook is grim.”

Tiffany’s neighbors Thomas Pink and Hermès and luxury luggage-maker Tumi are said to be suffering, along with Canali, who just opened last spring over on Broad Street. (They do incredible menswear, especially tailored apparel, although the styles are generally a tad too ‘hip’ for the Princess Consort.)

Courtesy Canali

Business publisher Crain’s had a story a few weeks back looking at how ‘luxury retailers’ will weather the tough economy:

“Midtown stores such as Saks and Barneys, both of which are located not far from Lehman Brothers’ 49th Street and Seventh Avenue former headquarters, will be hurt by the market turmoil and massive layoffs. Saks’ flagship Fifth Avenue store accounts for about 20% of the company’s total revenues.”

“Some mid-to upper-end stores, like Coach, which has 10 stores in Manhattan, may stay afloat due to the trading down effect. Shoppers could be more apt to purchase a Coach handbag, retailing for between $200 and $500, than a Prada bowler bag at Barneys which sells for more than $1,900.”

We leave with another reminder to leave on comment about something you are thankful for about the United States…a comment on something you are grateful for related to the USA; leave the comment on this post, or any other post published since last Wednesday, and you will be entered in the Great Preppy Giveaway!  You could win this great Bungalow Scout tote from Preppy Princess!

Bungalow Scout Tote

And if you mention this giveaway on your blog and you are the winner, you also automatically win this set of preppy Madras cards to be sent to anyone of your choosing! (And TP pays the shipping on all of this!)

Holly House Cards at Preppy Princess.com

For full ‘rules’ and how it works, click here!

Grins & Giggles until next time!

Politics and Fashion #6, Preppy Knitting, Paul Smith Bargain Store!

Hello-hello to everyone on a sunny afternoon. We hope you are also seeing the sun shining in your corner of the globe!

Following Monday’s post about Cindy McCain’s jewelry, we have another look at fashion and politics. Below, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin walking onto the stage for last night’s Vice Presidential Debate in St. Louis.

Photo Jim Bourg/Reuters

Below, the Alaska Governor is seen on Tuesday in Sedona, Arizona, prepping for last night’s debate with Randy Scheunemann, a senior policy adviser for the McCain-Palin campaign.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

An intriguing story in Thursday’s WWD looks at an odd phenomenon: the unwillingness to comment on her apparel by fashion industry insiders.

“I am not commenting on this one,” Saks Fifth Avenue fashion director Michael Fink replied when asked about the $2,500 silk shantung Valentino jacket Palin wore to the Republican National Convention that was reportedly purchased at Saks. “We just can’t comment,” a spokeswoman for Valentino said when asked about any other pieces by the designer that the candidate had worn.”

Below, Ms. Palin in the much-discussed Valentino jacket worn the night of her acceptance speech at the Republican convention.

Photo: Paul J Richards/AFP?Getty

Other tidbits gleaned from the onslaught of editorial copy being devoted to the topic? The candidate has supposedly changed lipstick brands from Mary Kay to MAC, and much is being made of her shoes. In particular, the red Naughty Monkey brand shoes the Governor wore on August 29th when she was announced as Senator McCain’s running mate in Dayton, Ohio.

Photo: John Gress/Reuters

The shoes are garnering attention because (among other reasons) they are apparently a brand Paris Hilton is seen wearing. Ms. Hilton is of course, one of our first AntiPrep selections.

Below Ms. Palin’s shoes behind the podium at the debate.  At the risk of engaging in unbecoming behavior, we feel it necessary to point out that amazingly, we were unable to locate any photos of Senator Biden’s feet. Do you imagine we simply didn’t search hard enough?

Carlos Barria/Reuters

Much is also being made of the fashions worn by Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Below, the Senator and Michelle Obama at a campaign rally in Detroit earlier this week.

Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP Getty

Below, a photograph better showing Ms. Obama in another dress provoking commentary, an off-the-rack shift from H&M; the retail price for the dress is $34.95.

Photo: Alex Brandon/AP

Quite by accident TP stumbled across a site that is absolutely heaven-sent at this point in the process, Mrs. O.

The site is described in the following way on their ‘about’ page:

“The site hopes to be a central, ever evolving resource to chronicle Mrs. O’s look, while providing fashion commentary and information.”

Below, Ms. Obama on the cover of More magazine’s October issue.

2008 More magazine

The Huffington Post has a story from More’s Editor-in-Chief, Lesley Jane Seymour, detailing the behind the scenes machinations that went into the cover shoot.

“Her people had begun, days earlier on the phone, by ordering us not to bring any fancy dresses that “would look presumptuously inaugural.” I got that.”

“But then a second dictum arrived: Obama was going to wear a dark brown dress by H&M. We immediately sent an assistant uptown to get us the dress…”

“It took several more rounds of negotiations to bring the two businesses–selling magazines and selling a candidate’s wife–together. What won the peace prize: a bright pink Maria Pinto sheath, and as a back up, a navy satin Narciso Rodriquez shift (both dresses from Obama’s personal closet).”

Deeper into the article Ms. Seymour reveals once the pink Maria Pinto dress was on, the magazine asked her to remove the bow on the collar. It is clear from the cover what side won that point.

If you ever question why on earth you spend any time whatsoever reading our silly little blog, today we shall earn our keep. How? By alerting you to the Paul Smith store opening on the 16th in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn.  And this is important because…? The shop is carrying only merchandise that is on sale. Marked down. Discounted. By whatever word one elects to use, this makes it pretty much a must-see in many fashionistas’ minds.

Above, a Men’s shirt with fabulous detailing, and below, a hat and matching gloves for the ladies.

Below, two pair of their fabulous socks, for which we have long had a serious weakness.

That will become a new stop anytime we are in the city.

Now, compliments of Second City, how about this for a fabulous collection of penny loafers?

It comes via Second City Style and is more than fun to look at, with loafers from a large group of designers including Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Ferragamo, and Cole Haan. The Princess is quite fond of Second City, a delightful site always overflowing with good information.

TP must admit complete and total ignorance on the art of knitting; the total of our knowledge is the phrase “knit one, purl two,” and how we can even recite that much is a mystery.  However, if we were to take up knitting, it is possible we might attempt creations like the two seen below, discovered on the blog Learning from Chavah.

Oh, one more thing following up on Tuesday’s post about the incredible email problems the House of Representatives was experiencing mentioning the email backup. This tidbit from The Hill explains it now also applies to the telephone

To cap off our little news roundup, word that come next year A&W, KFC, Long John Silver’s, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, will start posting calorie information. Do you want to know?