Summer shoewear

Past few days I have been struggling to find my perfect summer shoes. One of the reasons is that there are so many of them to choose.  Shops offer us sandals, flip flops, flats, espadrilles etc. So i am going to compare pros & cons for some of them. 

Espadrilles  Pros: 
                          -Very light
                          -Usually very comfortable
                          - Comes in different prints and colours
                    Con:
                          - Not suitable for rainy days

Jelly shoes 
                     Pros: 
                         -Comes in different colours and styles
                         - Suitable for rainy days
                         - Easy to clean
                         -Comfortable
                     Con:
                          -May leave a graze on a foot

       Leather sandals

                         Pros:
                              -Usually long lasting
                              - Comfortable
                        Cons:
                              - Animal skin
                              - Usually highly priced

C for Cotton

COTTON 

For this weeks letter word I chose Cotton. Mainly because we wear it almost every day and our loved denim, probably, would not exist without it. Also I wanted to learn little bit more about it. 

Cotton is a soft fibre obtained from the seed pad (ball) of the cotton plat, a shrub farmed extensively in warm areas of the world including China, India and the Americas. Used since antiquity, cotton may be spun into yarn or thread before being made into various fabrics including denim, corduroy, poplin and lace.

Different types exist, including Egyptian cotton, Pima cotton and the Sea Island Cotton, and the fibres may be classed according to the species they are derived from, as well as their length and colour. Typically comfortable, strong and breathable, being easy to wash and dye, cotton fabrics are used to make a wide variety of garments such as T-shirts, jackets, socks, jeans and underwear.

How window displays talk to us

    A while ago, in a short visit in London, while walking from-to many, many shops I heeded how important is a window display. It is like a first impression you get about the brand you don't know and a direct advertisement. A lot of times a window display had made me walk in a store to know more about the brand or products they sell, or hang around the display for few minutes to admire , and many times I have walked past without second look. 
Here are some window displays that caught my eye.

A golden parrots in a window. Simple and chic.

Louis Vuitton displays it's goods in sweet candy wrapped shapes.

PRADA attracts customers with bold colours and embellishments.

Levi's uses a mixture of denim, accessories and odd lay.

B for Bum Bag

A BUM BAG (UK,Australia, Oceania, Koala (South America), Ireland), fanny pack (US, Canada), belt pack (US), belly bag (US), Chaos Pouch (US), Buffalo pouch (US), hip sack (US), phany pack (US), waist bag (or waist pack) (US), hip pack (UK), bum bag , butt pack (US) or moon bag (South Africa), is a small fabric pouch secured with a zipper and worn by use of a strap around the hips or waist.

Bum packs reached the peak of their popularity in the late 1980s and early-to-mid 90s with the term entering common North American usage by early 1980.

I decided to write about bum bags  as influence from festival wear. As I am planning an event in festival, I think that having a bum bag is an obligated accessory. no that it only keeps your hands free when dancing to favourite beats, but also is a safe way to keep your belongings close to you. 

Bum bag on runway

CHANEL made bum bags more glamorous

Tribal print and leather- perfect for festivals

What is a pop up store?

    Vacant of Los Angeles, California is the first company to develop the concept of pop-up retail or temporary retail shops. In 1999, company staff wondered whether consumers would line up to purchase limited edition products from niche retailers. Once the products were sold out, usually within a matter of hours, the store would be closed until the owner received more product and would then reopen the store.

Kate Spade pop up store. Penguin Pop-up Shop.

The trend involves "popping up" one day, then disappearing anywhere from one day to several weeks later. These shops, while small and temporary, can build up interest by consumer exposure. Pop-up retail allows a company to create a unique environment that engages their customers and generates a feeling of relevance and interactivity.

H&M Beach Pop-up Store.Hague’s coastal suburb of Scheveningen played host to a two-day H pop-up store full of summer goodies. The retail venture was a collab with Wateraid, dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people.

Things that I learned about setting up a pop up store: 

- Choosing the right neighbourhood or location with the right business and retailers nearby.

You want to be in a high foot traffic area and easy to access. 

- You need to think about customers. Are you planing to attract new costumers or people who already use your products or service, and you just want to remind them about you.

- Has the area or event hosted pop-ups in the past, and were they a success? 

- Bringing energy into the shop with live music, free drink, some attractions or gifts. 

- It's important for the pop up store to be easy movable and set up for the next opening.

CHANEL pop up shop (if you think about it, carts 

and mall kiosks were the first pop-up shops)

The letter A for anorak

     I decided that every week I am going to write about some fashion related thing. Using alphabetic sequence - different week, different letter. Using my dear "Fashion A-Z, an illustrated dictionary" book.

So this week it is letter "A"

Baby heads in Lanvin window display in The Venitian Casino and Shopping area, Las Vegas

Because it's spring I decided to write about anorak jacket- 

a hip lenght, waterproof jacket that is usually hooded and often features drawstrings at waist, cuffs and hood.Originally worn for warmth by Inuit Eskimos of Greenland, who made the jackets from sealskin treated with urine, ash and fish oil for water resistance. Similar to a parka although lighter in weight. "Anoraq"(Kalaallisut language)

I think that anorak is a great outdoor jacket, especially in spring and summer during festivals and rainy or windy days.

Viva l'a Blue jeans!

There is no secret that one of the top denim retailer is Levi Strauss jeans. They are know for many years of quality denim clothes and has a wide range of clientage. 
So, how come Levi's jeans are so long lasting and sustainable?

Levi Strauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother's New York dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Levi Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector said,
"You should have brought pants!," saying he couldn't find a pair of pants strong enough to last.

Levi Strauss had the canvas made into waist overalls. Miners liked the pants, but complained that they tended to chafe. Levi Strauss substituted a twilled cotton cloth from France called "serge de Nimes." The pants were nicknamed blue jeans.

In 1873, Levi Strauss & Company began using the pocket stitch design. Levi Strauss and a Reno Nevada-based Latvian tailor by the name of Jacob Davis co-patented the process of putting rivets in pants for strength. On May 20, 1873, they received U.S.Patent No.139,121. This date is now considered the official birthday of "blue jeans."

Levi's jeans have been wanted brand for many decades and now I feel they are having their "re-born" because wearing Levi's jeans has become like  a fashion statement that's says something like: "I wear Levi's jeans and I support wearing quality denim" 

Denim

Because denim is the topic and task this term in university I decided to learn more about it.  

 
Denim - A hard-wearing cotton twill fabric typically woven with a coloured warp and a white or undyed weft, and produced in a variety of weights. May also contain synthetic fabrics such as polyester, or stretch fibres such as elastane/spandex, in which case it is referred to as "stretch denim". 
Originally used to make protective work wear, denim is now widely used for leisurewear, including jeans and jackets. Thought to be an abbreviation of the city of de  Nimes', a serge fabric from the city of Nimes in southern France.

Denim has been used in the United States since the late 18th century.

Denim was traditionally coloured blue with indigo dye to make blue jeans, although "jean" formerly denoted a different, lighter, cotton fabric. The contemporary use of the word "jean" comes from the French word for Genoa, Italy (Gênes), where the first denim trousers were made.

text from:

 Newman A.,Shariff Z.(2009) Fashion A-Z, an illustrated dictionary, London: Laurence King Publishing

Wikipedia