Posts with tag mall

We love love love shopping online -- it's easy, eco-friendly, can be done at any time of day, and doesn't require us to get dressed. But, the one thing online shopping is missing is the mall experience. You can't stroll through the mall, checking out storefronts. Or, at least you couldn't until MyMall came around.

Sure, the Victoria Secret fashion show has all of those supermodels, but it's sort of sanitized sexiness. Plus you know that everything in the show will eventually turn up a mall near you, piled on a table next to a pyramid of "Pink-scented" lotion.

If you want creativity and adventure in your underwear, you have to check out the new Triumph Inspiration Awards. An international design competition for students, this year the theme was Female Fascination. Designers from 31 countries participated and the judges included supermodel Helena Christensen, Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf, and noted sexy photographer Ellen von Unwerth.

Remember that month in 1988 when it was acceptable to wear a fanny pack in public? Seriously, it happened. I remember it fondly. I was in the mall and I was walking downstairs humming along to the Roxette being piped out from Miller's Outpost, or maybe it was Musicland. It's all so blurry. I was wearing a fanny pack, it was gray and it matched the big 'V' on the back of my Vuarnet t-shirt (sleeves rolled) perfectly. It was fantastic. If I close my eyes and concentrate I can go there and hear the sweet synthesizers of my soundtrack and feel the cool of my mullet on the back of my neck. I had the look. That was my day, and the fanny pack was part of it.

By the time I left the mall they were out of style. Fads are ruthless.

Flash forward to the now. It's 2008 and there isn't a fanny pack in sight. All is well. Still, don't you miss the ease of having everything right on your waist? Batman never outgrew the utility belt. Why should we?

Happy Cow has the solution to our problem. They make "Pocket Leather Belts, Belt Bags, Waist Packs, Micro Mini Skirts, Leather Fanny Packs, Belt Pouches, Money Belts, Urban Wallet Belts" and yes, "Utility Belts."

Freaking utility belts. Holy sweetness, Batman.

Perhaps you think it a bit tacky to make leather goods and call your company Happy Cow. Morbid maybe, but not tacky, you see all of the belts are designed and handmade in Australia from organic leather. According to the website, "this means that the leather is sourced only from cows that have died of natural causes." No meat-packing leftovers for these belts. These are cows that enjoyed themselves.

The products offer ample room for all of your things, cell phones, credit cards, make-up, smoke bombs. Whatever you need to carry on your person, there is a place for it on one of these babies.

The fanny pack isn't back, these are above and beyond a simple accessory. They are the focus.

Check it out, this is your day:

The super-cheap store Forever 21 recently announced that it will be expanding to include a slightly more sophisticated luxury line, Twelve by Twelve. The website will be launched later this month, followed by in-store additions and a stand-alone in Beverly Hills.

I surprised myself when I went into Forever 21 for the first time, expecting an obnoxious place catering specifically to the popular girls in high school, and bought quite a few tops for myself. However, I'm not sure how I feel about this Twelve by Twelve line. Sure, I've only seen two photos, but it looks a bit ridiculous, not sophisticated. Maybe these clothes would have been in with the rich crowd a few decades ago, but I think the 2000s call for a little more than animal prints and shiny fabrics. Also, what the hell is the mannequin on the right wearing on her poor little head? Looks like a flower pot/windmill hybrid.

Way back when I was in college, Limited and Express were the go-to mall brands. Times have changed and the brand has been flagging lately. WWD reports that Limited Brands will sell a 67 percent interest in its Express brand to Golden Gate Capital for $548 million in cash. They will also examine strategic options for its Limited brand. Lately the brand has been dishing out all the love to the Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works divisions. Could this be the end of Limited and Express?