Fashion Merchandising

One-stop shopping is becoming more popular these days. That is why more people are shopping at Wal-mart and Target. Since almost everyone has a hectic lifestyle, it is much easier to get shopping done at only one place. People can now get their grocery, clothing, and furniture shopping done at either Wal-mart or Target. But, which store is better? Some people may like Wal-mart better, and others may like Target better. It basically just comes down to one’s personal taste. Personally, if I had to choose just one to shop at, I would pick Target. Actually, I have never shopped at Wal-mart, and probably don’t plan to since I could just go to Target.
I do remember reading about Wal-mart in the fashion forecast class I took a year ago, and no good things were said about Wal-mart. The article just talked about how Wal-mart is ruining other businesses in America because they outsource in foreign countries. It also said that Wal-mart was being hypocritical when they say everything in the store is all american, when actually it is not. The only positive thing about Wal-mart is their prices are very low, which is good for customers who shop on a budget. But, in other aspects, like store organization, cleanliness, product quality, style, design, customer service, and advertising, Target wins.

I also did some price comparisons to show that Target is not that much more expensive than Wal-mart.

The two dresses are slightly similar, but to me the Target dress is more stylish. Also, it is an Isaac Mizrahi dress, and he is a very famous fashion designer. I think the price of his dress is pretty inexpensive for it being made by a notable fashion designer. Target is known to have sophisicated, high-quality, and stylish clothes at resonable/low prices.
The diamond earrings only have a $10 difference between the two prices. So, both of them are good deals.
The iPod Nano is almost the same price at both stores. It’s up to the shopper now if he or she wants to buy it at Wal-mart or Target.
As you can see, Wal-Mart and Target pretty much have similar prices on their products. But, I think Target is definitely more trendy and has more high-quality. Therefore, I would choose Target over Wal-mart.

Posted by Katie C. at 03:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Jewel Tones & Bold Peacock…
That’s the way I like to describe the color direction of New York designers for Fall 2008. Gone is the abundance of subtle muted tones of falls past. In their replace; enchanting jewel tones, bold peacock blues and greens and a few smart warm neutrals. The top 10 Pantone colors chosen by New York Designers included fantastic jewel tones in Caribbean Sea, Royal Lilac, Aurora Red, Twighlight Blue, and Ochire. Also included in the top 10 were brilliant peacock inspired colors such as: Pantone’s 2008 Color of the Year, Blue Iris, and Shady Glade. The final three colors of Pantones top 10 for fall 2008, are chic neutrals that prove to be extremely versatile in color ways among the other seven colors. Burnt Orange, a popular color since last fall, Shitake, a color that invokes brown, gray and green all in one, and Withered Rose, a lovely mineral hue that blends brown undertones with pink.
WWD dubbed this fall, ” A Season of Change”.The preeminence of blue, green and purple in designers collections, shows a major shift from the usual more muted and subdued colors of fall, to cool hues with bright undertones. The bleak American economy and fear of recession, combined with the hopelessness over the on going war, makes for a tough job for the fashion industry. New York designers really came through with some fantastic color remedies to allure women back to the boutiques and department stores in the fall.
Change is in the air, and the vibrant full of life colors of the upcoming fall are a sure indicator.
With a historical presidential election less than a year away now, Americans are eagerly awaiting a political rejuvenation. If all goes well the refreshing sense of political newness joined with the vivacious colors of fall will serve as a good kick into the economy.

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Posted by Jodi at 08:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

It’s a well known fact that the target customer for sports is men. These days women are beginning to be more interested in sports. This would mean that they would probably want to represent their favorite teams or athletes by wearing clothes that show them. Therefore, demand in women’s sports apparel would increase. But, it is hard to find sports clothes that are made for women. In most cases, there are only t-shirts with the sports team on it. And most of the time, they are not really made for a woman’s body. I have a Buffalo Sabres t-shirt, but I do not like the fit at all. It is still too big on me, and I like my shirts to be fitted. I see girls around campus wearing the Sabres jersey or the Sabres sweatshirts, and they look really big on them. But, maybe they don’t mind the fit. Personally, I like to wear clothes that are flattering on me, and don’t like to wear big baggy clothes. Another thing that they do for women’s apparel in sports is that they have pink t-shirts and pink jerseys. I’m not really fond of that idea because I still like to wear the sports team’s color. Although, I do own a pink Buffalo Sabres t-shirt. The only reason I bought it is because I could not find any feminine sports clothing! So, I thought it might be a really good idea if there was a clothing line for women that want to wear feminine and flattering apparel and still represent their favorite team! Then, I heard about Alyssa Milano starting a clothing line called Touch. Here are a few examples of her clothes.


http://alyssa.com
As you can see, the clothes are really trendy, stylish, and fashionable! I like how they all look like everyday clothes that I would wear on a daily basis, and the sports team’s symbol is not too big or obnoxious. I would predict that many women would be buying these clothes.
Her line is doing really well in the MLB and NFL. Therefore, she expanded her line and she decided to do one for the NHL. Here is an example:

http://shop.nhl.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2955537
There are not many clothing options to choose from in the NHL line yet. I think they are still working on making clothes for all the NHL teams. Hopefully there will be clothes of the Buffalo Sabres in the Touch line, since they are my favorite team, and I would definitely buy them.
My cousin and I are interested in somehow creating women’s apparel soley for the women Sabres fans. I think this would be a really good business since almost everyone here in Buffalo are Sabres fans, and there are probably more women fans here than in other cities in the U.S. My cousin has talked to the Sabres management about this, too. So, we will see what happens!

Posted by Katie C. at 06:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hello fellow Fashionistas & Fashionistos!
My name is Jodi and Im a senior in Fashion Textile Technology. My concentration is Fashion Merchandising and my career goal is to break into Fashion Forecasting. If your like me, then your heart belongs to the fashion epicenter of America, New York City. If your a senior or even a junior, you might be feeling the anxiety that comes with finding a job in that fabulous city. Unlike students at FIT, us Buff State fashion undergrads have 395 miles seperating us from Fashion Ave., and all the amazing job opportunities and connections.But wait, dont panic! With new technology and the emergence of fashion talent agencies, we have resources available to us that were unimaginable in past decades. If you havent already heard of them, 24Seven Inc. and fourthFloor Fashion Talent , are two great companies that act as recruitment agencies for the heavy hitters of the fashion industry. In addition to hooking entry level jobs for recent undergrads as well as careers for upper level fashion veterans, they also give you the oppertunity to upload portfolios. Which I think is fantastic!
The companies websites allow job canidates to browse open job listings and employers to view perspective employee resumes and portfolios. 24Seven Inc. and fourthFloor also offer services to the beauty, retail, home furnishings, action sports, and marketing industries. I highly reccomend these companies, although Im newer to fourthFloor, I have had an experience with 24seven Inc. I simply uploaded my resume on their site and in a week I recieved a call from a recruiter wanting to interview me for a full-time job she had to fill. The only catch, the job was in New York City and I had one semester left at Buffalo State. The recruiter was very pleasant and helpful and told me to get intouch with her when I move to the city! So the morale of this post is to check out both these sites, they are easy to navigate and they are fabulous fashion career resources.

Until next time fashion friends!
Jodi

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Posted by Jodi at 06:31 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack