NYC Blog: Men's Fashion, Retail and Visual Merchandising | The Bespoken: For Gentlemen

Fashions Night Out (part two of two)

Fashions Night Out

Barney's Warehouse Sale: A Fashion Orgy

 

Forget the fall of the Roman Empire, the decadence, the natural disasters, in less than one weeks time New York City and its environs were hit with a tornado, earthquake and hurricane. What are the chances? The weather stories preoccupied the news, and even upstaged Kim Kardashian’s wedding to Chris Humphries.

Not subject to natural disasters or acts of God, retail is like the church or the US Post Office. It never closes! With a stagnant economy and a volatile stock market, retailers are promoting their end of the season sales, fall previews hitting the stores, back to school sales, and the ever-important Labor Day sales, which are just a week away. This is an important quarter for retailers. I’m not saying they’re giving merchandise away, but Macy’s and JC Penney were running deep discounts to lure in customers, with 25.00 bonus’ and 20% off already discounted items this weekend. Even they couldn’t have prepared for what was about to befall us.

First, the 5.6 earthquake caused many buildings to jostle and sway. I was blissfully unaware of the sisemetic proceedings, as nearly every retailer and office building was being evacuated. It was one big street gathering reminiscent of the 1960’s happenings, or a flash mob, sans the dance number. When Saks, H & M, Banana Republic, Zara, and Anthropologie all let out onto the street at the same time, there is room for potential pandemonium.

Cell phone usage was blocked out by the satellites, who couldn’t handle the amount of call activity. The word on the street turned from rumors of terrorism, to the global climatic weather changes in the Artic pole, to the harmonic convergence scheduled for 12/12/12, and even Nostradamus’ prediction of the Apocalypse. Of greatest concern to tourists, benign Californians and shopaholics was when is The Gap reopening?

Retailers are a practical lot, if not lighthearted, even after the earthquake, before an aftershock was felt, stores reopened within a hour and handwritten “Earthquake Sale” signs were up in the windows.

Once all that hoopla was barely over, we braced for hurricane Irene. A boon to Home Depot, Lowe’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, and the local Ace Hardware, who sold out of flashlights, batteries, duct tape and plywood. Grocery stores couldn’t stock bread and water fast enough. The Mayor placed evacuation orders in effect. The show did not go on…on Broadway, even Mamma Mia closed until further notice. The MTA shut down all trains buses and subways. New Yorkers were non-plussed when the Stock Exchange closed early, but shock swept throughout the city when Starbuck’s announced it was closing all its locations for three days. Now it looked bad.

While the world was bracing for Irene, I was focused on more important things like Barney, no, not the purple dinosaur or Barney as in Rubble, Barney as in Barney’s NY, which was holding its Annual Warehouse Sale on West 17^thStreet. How could a tropical storm do this to me? I anticipated that no other idiots (besides myself) would deign to venture to Chelsea during a hurricane. Brother was I was wrong, as always, the line was outside the door and halfway down the block. The lines for the local emergency shelters were not as long. Rain pelted and gale force winds were menacing. I, like my NY colleagues love a good sale. Once safely inside, I was taken aback the despicable behavior of customers, the grabbing, the shouting, the pulling things off the hangers, and that was just me! Two women nearly came to blows over a Zac Posnan, size 12, which was rarer than a loaf of Wonder Bread at The Food Emporium this week. In their defense, it was a size 12! I saw lots of great buys, but nothing in my size, standard size 40, 32” waist, 32” inseam, a classic medium men’s. Everything was small or large or designed for Graham Norton. Drat the luck! I could see the headline in the post… “Shiver Me Timbers” with the sub-heading “Barney’s customer killed in hurricane, didn’t even have a sale item!” What a way to go!

 

Guess What? Men Shop

 

There is a commonly held belief that all women love to shop, and that converesely all men hate to shop. In days of yore, some men were embarrassed to admit that they enjoyed shopping, thus reinforcing the sterotype. Shopping was deemed a femenine pursuit. Women who disliked shopping and men who enjoyed shopping lived as self-imposed exiles. Men were hunters, womern are gathers. While those ingrained sentiments may have had some merit back in the day,  its far from the actual truth.

Guess what, despite what you’ve heard, were told or believe…men shop! Anyone who’s been in Best Buy, The Apple Store, Nike, Puma, Adidas, The NFL Store, Diesel, Verizon, Sprint, J. Crew, Armani Exchange, Lucky Jeans, Ralph Lauren Polo or Rugby, Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Sears, Starbucks, and even Petsmart know that men hang out there in droves. Factor in sports clubs, sports bars, and memorabilia stores and you’ll soon realize that men are shopping and consuming. The top of the list for men’s shopping may not always be fashionable clothing, although it comes close. Men are however uniformerly focused on what’s fashionable technologically. The latest Ipad, computer pad, or gameboy translates into status. Today even yesterdays nerd can have street (or office) cred if they have the latest electonic piece of hardware. This runs parrallel to women who use Manolo Blankik or Jimmy Choo’s to broadcast to their friends that they too have obtained fashion prominence..

The retail industry has been long obsessed with providing for the wants and needs of women. Store environments were designed to attract women. Men tended to have been an afterthought among retail and marketing executives for as long as anyone can remember, but not anymore. Today in our department stores, a concerted effort is made to address the needs of men and how men shop. Men’s departments are organized, size ordered, laid out following the color spectrum, signed with helpful information, i.e. selling points are articulated, “looks” are pulled together, and the ambience reflects the manufacturers aesthetic, ergo, Ralph Lauren looks just like his ads, filled with props from preppy athletic clubs, old world libraries, yacht clubs and safaris, whereas Calvin Klein is architectural, minimalist and almost Zen in its approach to attracting its customers. Men are welcome and find a place for themselves that is familiar and comfortable.

Clearly, men are paying more attention to their wardrobes. They’re spending more time shopping for themselves, and they’re even showing an increased interest in personal grooming products. Make no mistake, retailers, manufacturers and marketing executives are finally getting the message.

What accounts for this change? Men are watching suit shows like Mad Men and Entourage. They fancy themselves as a Don Draper or Ari Gold. They are watching NCIS and aping Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J. In short, they too want to attract women. Men are dressing for their office jobs, and forsaking casual Fridays. Men recognize that dressing better connotes confidence and, in some instances, a sense of authority. Men are watching the music industry where rappers hip-hop artists and indie groups are looked svelte at awards shows and on the red carpets in their slim suits. P. Diddy aka Sean John and Kayne West are bona fied fashion icons. Men are going to the movies and emulating Ryan Gosling, James Franco, Brad Pitt and George Clooney. Men are reading GQ, Details, Men’s Heath, Men’s Fitness and Maxim. Men fixated on sports realize that David Beckham, A-Rod and Cristiano Ronaldo are looking good off the field too.

There is a food chain where the larger animal eats the smaller animal, and in turn, that animal eats a smaller animal. The same is true of the fashion chain. Given the current state of employment, and for too many, the lack thereof, men need to differentiate themselves from one another. They can do that to a degree with their apparel. The mid-aged and older people rely on style as a way of showing their managerial skills and as a means of competing against the younger workers who may be more technologically proficient. Rest assured conversely those younger men are trying to distinguish themselves from the guy in the next cubicle because they realize that everyone is technologically proficient, but if they can dress the part of mid or upper management and show some sense of style it may give them the edge.

Appealing to male grocery shoppers, Wheaties, the quintessential American breakfast food rebranded with a whole new name Fuel, as if men were more like  SUV's than humans. The new box with images of sweaty athletes like Peyton Manning shot against graphic black looks more like a movie poster for some action film starring Vin Diesel.. Say good-by to Cathy Rigby and Mary Lou Retton. They can chow down on fruity Pebbles. What’s inside the box changed too to cater to the male consumer, all the folic acid was removed (too girly) and they did amp up the sugar content for a quick boot of energy. This gritty rebrand conveys a masculine message in the rainbow colored aisle where princesses, leprechauns and cartoon characters that “real” men can eat cereal too.

The testosterone laden Super Bowl ads are all terrific and a huge water cooler topic the next day. We delight in seeing octogenarian Betty White being tackled.  Perhaps more interesting than the show, there were power cars, power foods, power drinks and lots of power gadgets. But I even I was taken aback by Unilever promoting its new Dove Men+Care, the first “for-men” product from the well-known brand. “Now that you are comfortable with who you are, isn’t it time for comfortable skin?”

The focus now is on connecting with the male shopper by creating a gender friendly environment. The Art of Shaving was among the first to embrace this idea in the men’s grooming space, but its San Antonio-based supermarket H-E-B that appears to have set the stage for the next generation of male-skewed shopping. H-E-B debuted its Men’s Zone earlier this year. Though it’s been described as a “man cave” decorated with blue floor lighting and flat-screen TVs, it’s an aisle filled with toiletries and more. With 20 ft. of product on both sides, the Men’s Zone contains some 534 personal care items, as well as five touch-screens that provide grooming tips and product advice. Sephora, albeit for guys.The concept appears to be clicking with shoppers. After being open for just one month, partner Procter & Gamble reported that total sales for products housed within the Men’s Zone grew 11 percent; body wash sales rose 37 percent.

While it remains to be seen how many other store-based retailers will look to create their own versions of the Men’s Zone, online retailer www.drugstore.com has already staked its claim in cyberspace. Launched in last February, www.athisbest.com carries more than 10,000 SKUs of grooming items, health products, fitness and personal care essentials exclusively for men.

The figures are also downright handsome in the personal care arena. According to the Packaged Facts report, “Men’s Grooming Products: A Global Analysis,” the men’s grooming industry is already valued at $20 billion worldwide, and is expected to grow exponentially to as much as $30 billion by 2014. Perhaps Ben Bernanke might want to turn our recently closed Post Offices into men’s cosmetic stores. An extra $30 billion in our economy might be a welcome source of revenue.

On the retail front, French luxury brand Hermes opened its first men’s-only store on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue. Coach debuted its first boutique for men in Greenwich Village; Ralph Lauren  transformed its Rhinelander Mansion flagship location on Madison Avenue into a men’s store and J. Crew has followed suit with its men’s (only) store a on the opposite corner. This follows the success of their Liquor Store on White and Broadway which is a converted bar. Speaking of which, denim bars like Earnest Sewn in the Meatpacking District serves more styles of denim and then there are brands of Vodka. Denim bars are de riguer and popping up in mainstream retailers too. www.mysuit.com once an online made to measure custom suit retailer is opening their fifth bricks and mortar store this year in New York. Men are shopping.

Another common belief is that women do most of the shopping for men. Research shows that about 75 percent of men shopped for themselves last year, compared with just 52 percent in 1995, according to research compiled by The NPD Group. Based on projections from its consumer panelist data, NPD is reporting men’s apparel sales totaled just over $51 billion for the 12 months ending December 2009. In an economy that has been stagnant or at least static, the women’s sector continues to loose traction with retailer seldom making project sales. However, the men’s sector shows growth each year from one to almost four percent above projected sales.

So the next time you’re shopping. Take a look around do an informal count of men and women at the sales desk and sales floor. Challenge your assumptions!

If you’re interested in reading more on the topic I would suggest “Branding The Man: Why Men Are the Next Frontier in Fashion Retail” by Bertrand Pellegrin or visit his site www.brandingtheman.com

Shopping In A Small Town (part two of two)

 

The Bicentennial Minutes continue to run. Everyone from Jessica Tandy to Gerald Ford seems to have shot a minute. The Bicentennial Minute is a cultural soup that defines who is “popular” in 1976.The Bicentennial Minute, like memory is ingrained in our collective consciousness. Yet some thirty-five years later, of the 365 minutes only two or three are available online. The William Paley Center for Media (Museum of TV and Radio) does not have a single Minute in their collection. The Bicentennial Minutes all but lost. Hopefully stored safely in some warehouse waiting to be released like a genie from a bottle. Memory operates the same way. It is remanded to our darkest recesses. It’s forgotten, but a part of the trajectory that set our lives.

Shopping in a small town is like that too. Stores that we once knew as well as the back of our hand, stores and shop owners that were as welcoming as an old friend, places we passed as often as the maple trees that lined the streets are long gone, nearly forgotten. They are memories.

My father shops at Mink’s. Mink’s is a store for men, grown men, husbands, aka fathers. Today a father and son can dress in the same brand, exchanges tees and find something at Aeropostale or Express that they can both wear, but this is 1976 and the last thing a seventeen-year-old wants to do is dress like his father. We’d rather enlist. We do everything humanly possible to look not like or fathers. I stop in Mink’s only when I am obligated to. Mink’s on South Orange Avenue rose in prominence after the Newark Riots, which extended to East Orange, where their main store is located. We stay out of East Orange unless we can’t help it. I do not know if there is a Mr. Mink’s, or if the name is meant to convey luxury. Regardless, it’s a feminine name for a men’s store. The store logo is an ebullient script, not unlike Lord & Taylors. To compensate for the feminine name and script, the store is done in a kind of Hollywood Regency style. Very masculine, dark walnut wood and cigarette smoke stained lampshade as yellow as your lungs. . Mink’s is the kind of place where Don Draper (Mad Men) might shop. It has two floors. The main floor is filled with suits, shirts and accessories. This includes cloth handkerchiefs, which men are still using. It is easy to shop at Mink’s. Every suit comes in midnight black, navy blue and charcoal grey, and that’s it. Every shirt is white, and every tie is striped. When men come in “looking for something different” a Mink’s salesman (there are no saleswomen) understands that what he is saying is “I want the same exact thing in a slightly different shade”. Mink’s does not sell ready to wear. Clothing is altered. Every suit, every arm and every cuff. The tailor is an old man, and cast by MGM, non-descript, old world accent and has a yellow measuring tape around his neck. You will have your inseam measured publically. Mink’s is a male bastion. The pant will “break” once, and you will wear your new suit, and be delighted that no one will know notice it’s new, because this season’s grey is just an “Umph” lighter. “Umph” being a technical term to indicate just a little bit. The main floor of Mink’s is more orderly than the Dewey Decimal System. Everything is pressed and pant creases are as sharp as the edges on an envelope. Clothing is arrayed in gradiant shades from light to dark. You will not get anything that looks “mod” or subject to be found in the pages of Esquire or Gentleman’s Quarterly. You might find a “continental” cut suit in sportwear, jackets and blazers if you are lucky. At Mink’s you will get a “safe” suit, a uniform you can wear to the office on Wall Street, a baby christening, dinner at Rod’s,  a church supper or Father’s Day at the grammar school. Mink’s second floor is where it’s at. Clothing is relaxed. Clothing is fashionable; it’s for the younger set, men who are trying to be “hip” like the ads for Lord West, Musk For Men and Hai Karate. It’s a floor that James Bond would shop on if he were to settle down in a center hall colonial off of Valley Street. Mink’s second floor sells stripped body shirts, safari style jackets, blazer with patch packets and contrast stitching. Casualwear. The sell pieces from the Johnny Carson Collection. You can purchase a swimsuit, a Cabaña outfit for Miami, tennis togs, polo’s, and leisurewear too. My father purchases his first pair of flares, a pair of slacks; they are white with a raised flocked blue tartan print. They are beltless with an expansion band and Western style pocket. These are slacks you wear to make an entrance. My father is turning forty-six and his mid-life crisis is about to go viral. Mink’s second floor is for men who want to dress to attract the opposite sex. 

Portnoff’s was conveniently located under the train trestle. It is said that local (Newark born) author Phillip Roth used a variation of the Portnoff name for Portnoy's Complaint and in Goodbye Columbus, which has a scene shot in South Orange;  Jack Klugman plays Ben Patimkin an old time garmento hoping to assimilate in a waspy community. Presumably based on Mr. Portnoff. While many if not most people who lived in South Orange and Maplewood were upper middle class and upper class they opted to live in mostly self-imposed segregated areas. While the community was primarily Caucasian there were many people of color. There were large groups of conservative and reformed Jews, and there were neighborhoods of second and third generation Italian and Irish. Everyone knew the rules. Portnoff's was the store that they went to… social climbers on their way up the hill and Jews that had arrived. A woman was once heard to say, “There was no Christmas trim in the window”. Suits were shown on dressmaker forms. The suits were made of better (meaning imported) material. Suits were made in Italy, the only place where “good” suits are made or so decried Mr. Portnoff, you carried himself like Russian aristocracy. When I was old enough to purchase a suit all by myself, a frightening prospect for my father, I went to Portnoff’s. Me, a Christian, a Catholic. Mr. Portnoff was lovely and helps edit my choices down to what a proper young man should wear. Me, “proper” not an adjective I ever heard. I fell in love! I had a limited budget, and Mr. Portnoff knocked off 15.00 from the ticketed price providing he could rely on my patronage. I wasn’t 100% certain what patronage really was but I promised it anyway. fifteen dollars in 1976 was a fortune. To further stir the pot, I did not buy a “suit”. I bought a blazer. My father was livid; I did not go to Mink’s. I shopped at Portnoff’s. I hear my father’s voice, as he struggles to contain his confusion, frustration and anger. “That’s where people from the mountain shopped”. “People from the mountain” was code for Jews. My father knew what he was dealing with and that there was no way to convince me about “us” and “them”. I did not live in that world. It was for naught. The blazer was beautiful and I wore it well into the 1980’s. It was a blue plaid tartan tweed. Mr. Portnoff gives me the low down and explains clothes to me in a way no one ever has. He tells me it has a ticket pocket, and kissing buttons (which appeals to my sense of romance) and an equestrian cut with a contrast underling in the back lapel. I think to myself. This is not a mere blazer, it is a history lesson, it is my entre into the world of fashion.

There are not many stores for men’s clothing in South Orange; Dan Manzi’s is where you go if you do not deign to enter Minks. Dan Manzi’s is a classic menswear store with a little bit of everything for everyone. I got my school clothes there. We bought my Grandfather his birthday cardigans there. In all of Dan Manzi's there is nothing sols with a logo or company nane on it. The idea of wearing someone else's advertising is a foreign concept. It was a very democratic institution. The shop was well stocked and neat as a pin. There was old fraying wool carpet that was scored to the canvas by four ways, T-stands and rolling racks. I tripped in that store a million times. My father was “old school”, of the belief that his children were the extension and reflection of him. Therefore, we were to dress in a certain manner. Shopping is about bonding. My father used Dan Manzi’s to teach us (my brother and I) the rules, a pant legs breaks here, not here, a sleeve length ends here not here, the seat needs to be pulled in, but not too much. Jackets with shoulders too broad couldn’t be altered no matter what they said. The benefits of side vents vs. center vent, vs. no vent. These rules annoyed me to no end, but ultimately served me well. I bought a pair of brown ribbed velveteen corduroy pants at Dan Manzi’s, they looked very fashionable, but “whooshed” like the devil whenever I walked and my thighs pressed against one another. As a sophomore in high school purchased a pair of butter yellow Tattersall slacks that I wore to death, they has clips on the  side that you could adjust so that they fit your waist or hips, I wore them through the knees. I was bereft, but true to form in a small town stock and styles do not change too much. Entering my senior year Dan Manzi still had stock my size. It was there as if my Tattersall slacks were waiting for ne to return. My father like Dan Manzi’s, he commiserated with the salesmen. They spoke the same language. My father wanted us to have “school clothes” and what he called “Knock-abouts” i.e., Play clothes. At fourteen the notion was annoying, at seventeen, the idea was appalling. My father thought it was cute to tell us that we could shop at Young Cottage, a store for infants and toddlers.  So I acquiesced and I got belted sweaters, Henley’s with white piping, madras and wallpaper print button downs, Chinos aka Khakis and all sorts of things I had little use for. How different the world order is. Dan Manzi prided themselves that they did not sell jeans. Denim was for laborers, we were patricians.

Of equal merit and fashion opportunity was Maguire’s in Maplewood Village or David Burr on Springfield Avenue in Irvington. These stores rounded out a fashion education. Shopping was an activity like Little League between father and son. It will come as no surprise that I was not on the Little League. I was vexing to most salesman who would patronize me and call me sir, “what is sir looking for” to which I’d reply. I’m looking for the kind of pants that Clifton Davis wears, but I’d settle for David Cassidy, you know low on the hips.  And I’m looking for the kind of shirt that Michael Ontekean, you know on “The Rookies” wears.  David Soul has one too on “Starsky & Hutch”, but he only wear he’s sometimes… it’ a zippered knit with an O-ring pull ?I received most of my fashion education from TV, It was David Janssen’s plackard jackets on Harry-O, Chad Everett’s wardrobe on Medical Center, Chad, who as a neurosurgeon wore custom made shirts (no pockets) and leather trench coats. I admired Bill Bixby, and Alejandro Rey mod looks on The Magician and The Flying Nun, but clothes like that were not sold in South Orange.

Bellin’s Boystown was a small store on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood. It was the place you got your school uniform or filled the list for what to bring to summer camp. Even then it looked antediluvian. It was something out of the 1920’s and hadn’t been altered since Wilson was in office. It was tabled with high stacks of pyramids of boxes and shelves with neatly folded stock behind glass counters. It looked like a set for a Chaplin movie, ready for Charlie to destroy with his cane as he skated around to purchase a penny handkerchief. I don’t know all the salient details, but at some point Mr. Bellin retired and his head salesperson, Jerry Nardone took over the business. It stayed Bellin’s for a while then it became Jerry’s. Jerry’s moved to South Orange Avenue on the corner where Ramosser's Bakery gave way to Decorating on a Velvet Shoestring. Jerry’s was a large space, with risers and a dropped soffeted ceiling in an atomic kidney shape (left over from Ramossers) It was merchandised electrically with store fixtures and furniture finds from “Junk Week”. Jerry’s was a not just a place you shopped at, it was the town hall, the place to get good gossip, where you could be entertained and become part of a surrogate family. Jerry’s was a small town store. It could never exist anywhere else. Jerry Nardone was a good friend. Jerry and his wife Pat ran the Baird Community Theatre for years and years. They produced hundreds of plays, from the sublime to the ridiculous. One month it was The Crucible; one month it was The Boyfriend. It was French farce, Tennessee Williams or a holocaust drama like, Jacob Comes Home. The Baird Theatre enriched our lives. I was in many of those plays. I directed some of them. The Baird was a not-for-profit venture. It was done for love. Through its doors came talented people who wanted an opportunity to get their feet wet in the theatre. Theatre is a time consuming venture and all coalesced at Jerry’s. Retail is about community, it is about socializing. It is easy to get lost in a small town. To be dismissed. We sometimes fail to see what’s important. Jerry Nardone always had a smile; Jerry’s was a place to be found. I don’t think he was successful if you measure success solely in numbers and money. If you measure it in how many people adore you than he is a very wealthy man. I hope that someday Mr. Nardone receives his due for all he has done to bring art and culture to a small town.

For shoes, we went to Gem Bootery who had styles that rivaled any retailer at The Livingston Mall. The entrance was in an arcade style, windows to the left and right, an open vestibule. The store was walls and walls poorly constructed wood cubes, each cube containing the left foot shoe. Like everyone, I knew my size, but was still measured. Usually with several other pairs of shoes nearby to promote multiple sales. It was not an attractive store, but they did sell a lot of shoes. Actually, it was two stores, which were abutted, one side was for women and children and the other was for men. There were stylish shoes, clogs, Wallabies, Hush Puppies, Buster Brown. Dingo boots, (worn by Joe Namath and OJ Simpson) mottled and two tone wedgies or clunky heels, and Cuban and Chelsea boots. If you veered towards something more traditional, there were wing tips, Oxfords, penny loafers with, and without tassels (naturally I was a tassel), and my favorite side buckled with a snub nose. When Gem Bootery went out of business, “We Got Movies” moved in. The cubed wall was the perfect size for videos. Do you remember when people rented VHS and Beta video tapes? I worked at the video rental store, which was owned and operated by a lovely family, the Iverson’s. They were very good to me and I think about them often. Gem Bootery was the only game in town when it comes to footwear in South Orange, but I do have vague memories of Community Shoes in Maplewood. It was a larger, a more sophisticated store with “name brands” Johnson & Murphy, Frye, Bostonian and Florsheim. Community Shoes looked much more successful, indeed it may have been.

I believe all these stores are gone. I only know what I know. I know when I was on the precipice of adulthood I was trying to figure out who I was, who I wanted to be. These stores informed my adolescence. They were part of a community, a community of men. A place of bonding and aspirational purchases. Places that without ever having to say it, said that there was a place for us in the world.

 

 

Shopping In A Small Town

South Orange, NJ is getting ready for the Bicentennial. Everything is red, white and blue and we are wearing flag print. It is 1976. Bicentennial Minutes have been running all year on TV to buoy up American patriotism, which has long been on the wane. On Thanksgiving evening during The Walton’s, Lucille Ball does a Bicentennial Minute on corn husking, and how the activity provided colonists in New England with a welcome break from the monotony of farm life. (Corn husking all day… not monotonous?) No one questions that the voice over narration is the British born, Patrick McKnee, (Stead from The Avengers). It is a time when the country was still war weary from Viet Nam, disillusioned by Watergate, and in recession. Our family license plate is INF-333. This means we can get gas on the odd days Monday, Wednesday and Friday. However, truth be told, Wednesday does not seem that much odder than Thursday. How does a small town celebrate the Bicentennial? There will be a parade on the Fourth of July and a community picnic, which is a big step up from the perfunctory fireworks (July 3^rd) to which we are accustomed. Everyone knows that Maplewood will do us one better on the 4^th. The Boy Scouts and Brownies will be marching, as will the Kiwanis, and Knights of Columbus. At what seems like great expense The Philadelphia Mummers have been hired to march. Descending on South Orange Avenue will be men dressed head to in banana yellow, hot pink and lime green satin and spandex. Their costumes will be rhinestoned and include sequined rickrack everywhere a sewing machine will go. They will have feather sprays in grander proportions than a Vegas showgirl. It is like nothing we have seen.

Fashion in a small town takes many shapes and sizes. In South Orange, “fashion” as we know it today simply means dressing “nice”. A word that is used frequently, “That was nice”, “Be nice”, and “She looks nice”. Hippies have now become “New-Agers”. They have waterbeds, painted rainbows and macramé in their homes. They have swapped out their bohemian attire for corduroy and denim jackets. The fringe is gone and patchwork is in. Bell-bottoms are now flares. Peter Pan collars with ruffles and bows create a sober look when paired with denim wrap-around skirts. Fashion in a small town mimics what the rest of the world does.

Some of our mothers will shop at Elsie Sommers in the village where all the dresses are stored on pink padded hangers in whitewashed French Provençal armoires, you will tell Elsie what you are looking for, and she will dispatch her sales clerk like a lady in waiting with the wave of her hand to retrieve her latest acquisition. The armoires are jammed packed. It is easier to get through the wardrobe to Narnia than a Sommer’s armoire. Elsie Sommer speaks shorthand with her staff, “You know the one.” “The new pink.” “The one with the shoulders”. Her clients are mostly from what is called “the other side” meaning Wyoming Avenue, meaning the “Newstead” area. For all intents and purposes, a gated community without an actual gate. These are the upper class who merely share space with us, the middle class. Ms. Sommers does her buying in New York, the fashion capitol of the US. She buys “designer”. She is known on site at the three B’s, Bendels, Bergdorf’s and Bloomingdales. Ms. Sommers hold court. Her word is law. She is a grand dame and dresses like a Gabor. At Elsie Sommer’s you will purchase your important dresses. The “good dress”. Everywoman has one. It has a special place in your closet. According to Elsie, everyone is a “darling”, even me! Our mothers will not quibble about price, but be ready to have it out with your husband when you get home. You will be billed. Ms. Sommer's finds handling cash distasteful. When you receive your invoice, you will send a check and a “thank You” card. Elsie Sommer's has the distinction of being the most expensive dress store in South Orange and Maplewood, in fact, the most expensive dress store in all of Essex County. You will be catered to. It is a tea party from 10:00 (store opening) to 4:30 (store clothing) You will be offered tea in a porcelain cup with a saucer. You will be completely seduced. When you get home, your dress will be in a box, there are no bags at Elsie Sommers! It is all about experience and theatre of retail. You have been cast in a depression era screwball comedy and you are at some fancy dress salon you have no business at. Elsie Sommer has “an eye" or what is known as “good taste”. There are dresses she will not sell you. Miss Sommer does not mince her words… “It’s atrocious! It is appalling…foul! It is not the right dress. “You’re too old to wear sleeveless, my dear”. Right dress…wrong occasion. Let’s try another; you need to lose some weight and your husband”. The magic of Sommers is that she will sell you only what you need, you will look good in it, and it will not be something that you would pick up if it were out on the rack. Sommers had a flawless reputation.

For some women Feller’s is the be all and end all of dress shopping in South Orange and Maplewood. Mr. Feller ascribed to the rules, no white after Labor Day. God forbid he catches you at the opening of the opera season in white duchesse satin opera gloves. He would read you to filth at intermission of La Traviatta and publically reprimand you that he has the same gloves in teal, aubergine and puce…and he did! Tsk...Tsk. You park in the Shop Rite parking lot and pray you will not be towed. There is a sign that reads “this parking lot is exclusively for Shop Rite customers. All other’s (that’s you!) will be towed” If the police issue a ticket you will swear you were just in the grocery store, which is adjacent to Fellers. An officious little police office will give you the fish eye, and ask, “Where’s your bag, lady?” He’s gotcha. Parking comes at a premium, as you will compete with the Post Office, Eric Wagman, the family photographer, and Victor’s Barbershop, who’s customers who are also parking in the Shop Rite lot. After all that, why would you want to shop at Feller’s? Mr. Feller is an effete man who invokes Franklin Pangborne. He is an old school homosexual, completely closeted and completely conspicuous. He has immaculate taste. His shop is done like a set from a Phillip Barry play, all trellises with festoons of daisy’s running here and there. The interior is painted white and sunshine yellow and filled with white wire birdcages on Queen Anne tables. They are filled with yellow canaries. The birds are perched on swings and white driftwood. The sound of their calls can be sweet or maddening. One weekend, when the shop was closed, Mr. Feller opened up to find hundreds of dead parakeets. The landlord had turned off the heat that weekend, and they froze to death. It was still as a tomb, not a single mating call. In true Feller form, Mr. Feller clapped his glove hands “Toot Suite”, and a sent a retinue of employees to the Maplewood Pet Shop, Woolworth’s in Irvington, and Bamberger’s pet shop in Newark to refill the cages before store opening. Mr. Feller cried like a baby as he dumped 127 birds into a garbage bin. Unlike today, dresses at Fellers were categorized by what they did and where they were to be worn, there were day and evening dresses, there were cocktail dresses, outdoor dresses, N & D’s, (neat and dumb) ensembles, which were dresses with matching jackets, or overcoats, there were mother of the bride dresses, tea length dresses, two and three piece traveling suits, and business suits. Mr. Feller had millinery and sold hats when women seldom wore them. Mr. Feller sold gloves. Mr. Feller created looks. You did not buy clothes there you bought “outfits”. Mr. Feller catered to the women you didn’t make the grade at Elsie Sommers. Fellers was grand, but mostly pretense, it was a store where you could shop off the rack, items were priced and tagged.

Certainly not everyone could afford Elsie Sommers or Fellers. In 1976, we lived differently, casually. Pantsuits and tunics had arrived. If you are off the right age you have acquired a Diane Von Furstenberg wrap around, alas, mostly we are wearing cheap reproductions. Mothers do not wear jeans, but might wear a Calvin Klein's apron dress or a copy of Oscar de la Renta's rhumba number.  Geoffrey Beene and Bill Blass create “sportswear" for the masses. Their signature looks all add to the new American chic, this look is identified as simple, restrained, clean. Collars are worn up. Then comes Halston fresh off of “Hot Pants” and onto deep necklines, cat suits and disco attire.  This is all great for the fashion world, but it has been diluted by the time it gets to South Orange.

There are no discounters or chain stores in South Orange, there ware stores like Howard Perly, the Dress Shoppe, or you might go to Maplewood, to Delia’s or Suzy-Q. Clothing is on rounders. It’s a quantity, not quality business. It appeal to women on a budget. The clothes are colorful but bland. The fabrics are an amalgam of blends like polyester, dynel and acetate. Things that do not grow. This is where we, the middle class shopped. Time permitting; we traveled to the Livingston Mall. All well and good, but it neglected community values by supporting your local retail, your neighbors.

In South Orange, women bought their costume jewelry and handbags at Miss Tobie’s. The building was condemned and was one of South Orange’s oldest structures. It was a wooden building that pitched to the right. It looked like an illustration from The Three Little Pigs. “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down”.  The building was a health hazard. It is now a part of a public park. Miss Tobies was dark and decrepit. When the building went so did Miss Tobie. Here was a character. She was as round and plump as a kick ball. She sat behind her counter and had “a girl” a fully-grown woman ring up the sales. Although on first glance she might not look it, Miss Tobie was a nervous woman and was always doing something with her hands, repairing a clasp, or shortening a link on a piece. Ms. Tobie with her magnifying glass was an expert at undoing knotted chains. Ms. Tobie saved the day! Miss Tobie sold great costume jewelry and an awful lot of crap. Regardless, if you brought in a dress, printed blouse or jacket she would pull out this and that and in short order a lilac enameled flower pin looked as if the dress was designed around it. Ms. Tobie told some items three do a dollar or might have an estate piece worth a hundred dollars. It is 1976; women are wearing beaded necklaces, gold chains, bracelets sets, broaches, faux silk floral lapel pins, stickpins, and rings. If it does not match, it coordinates. It finishes the look. Ms. Tobie is a rite of passage store. It is the store your mother takes you to when you finally convince her that you have to have pierced earrings. It is the store where your father will get you dropped earring when you graduate high school. The dropped earring something that grown women wear, not Daddy’s little girl.

If you were “artsy”, you went to Ted Lowey. He tanned his own leather and soldered his own brass. Into every other piece was a sliced geode the size of a potato pancake. It was his signature look. He sold hand-made leather bags. They came in one color… natural aka brown. But might be burnished or aged, might be embossed or scored, and you left knowing that your bag was a one of a kind. Lowey made rings, necklaces and bracelets. He charged what seemed a fortune. Lowey was a burly man with a baldhead. He sat in his window in a white tee, jeans and sandals. He had a defined chest, flirted with housewives, and patronized their husbands.  I recall an earring, a silver stud. In 1976, this is heresy. His life through the window, which I pass often, seems romantic.

Today I paint with a broad stroke. There is not a lot to pick and choose from, fashion wise, in South Orange, but no one complains. We are all dressed, and nicely so. We dress differently for the PTA than The Rosary Society, lunch at Orange Lawn or lunch at Victor’s 21. We do not wear the same dress to two different weddings. Women wear nylon hosiery, girdles and safety pads under their arms. Perspiring is not an option. Clothing is ironed with a steam iron, even in August. Every woman knows the rules and abides.  The ERA was killed in the House in 1976 and young women were just emerging as feminists. Our mothers are in their late 30’s, which is old in 1976. Thirty is not the new twenty, it’s the soon to be forty. Women know they are the reflection of their husbands and family. They dress accordingly.

Return in a few days when Shopping In A Small Town will visit menswear stores.

 

Hello Operator...

Hello Operator, this is an emergency! Get me Sephora right away!

Everybody knows what to do in a medical emergency… you dial 911. Now, Sephora wants you to dial 1-877-Sephora for a beauty emergency.

Yes, the beauty retailer is launching a “Same Day Beauty Delivery Service” when you're fresh out of Clinique, Loreal,  Make Up For Ever, or Bumble and Bumble.

It used to be if you were out of your insulin injections, asthma inhaler, or severed an arterial vein and in distress, EMT was just a few digits away. What constitutes a beauty emergency? You’re prepping for a date and realize that your foundation is gone, or perhaps you’re on your way to “Speed Dating” and the Maraschino Cherry lipstick you swear by falls to the floor and break into pieces. Stay calm, take a breath and know that Sephora will be there.

The service is currently only available in New York City and accepts orders during the hours of 8:00am and 11:00 am for delivery between noon and 9:00pm that same day. There's a $15.00 delivery charge (less than the price of a taxi to the shop), and a $50.00 minimum order. Deliveries are made in a black-and-white Sephora branded Mini-Cooper. How cute is that?

Okay so us cheapskates will make do with what we have or run over to Duane Reade. Whatever!

courtesy of www.retaildesigndiva.com where it appeared on July 27th, 2011

Mr. President…I Give You Dunkin' Doughnuts

 

Will Republicans and Democrats ever see eye to eye on the fiscal crisis? Well pass around a dozen assorted to Speaker of the House Boehner and who knows.

 

Washingtonians are blaming each other and big business and small business, millionaires and illegal immigrants, the un-benefited sick and the entitled working poor for the mess. If only America could find common ground, and something to help stimulate the economy.

 

Most of the IPO news has been centered around technology businesses like Groupon, LinkedIn, Pandora, Zynga, etc., but what might really catch America's appetite might be all-American blue-collar brand Dunkin' Donuts which is heading to the public markets.

 

The owner of Dunkin’ Donuts, who also owns the 31 flavors of Baskin Robbins, is looking to raise as much as $460.6 million in a stock offerings, by selling 22.25 million shares. That's about 1.8 million dozen in donut-speak, or half my yearly intake.

The company is currently owned by investment groups Bain Capital Partners, the Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners who acquired the company from Pernod Ricard.

 

I know what I consume on a weekly basis. That stock is secure as long as there’s chocolate frosted and Coolata’s. Did someone in Washington say “Stimulate the economy”? I'll take a dozen shares to go, please.

The Bigger They Are

The house of Halston is like Humpty Dumpty, and one wonders if all the kings’ horses and all the kings’ men can put poor Halston together again. Halston has fallen… hard… again.

A fashion house is not a soufflé…it is a brick.

It seemed an odd choice when the ever so fashionably inclined Sex and The City II chose a classic white Halston for its movie poster featuring Ms. Parker. The Sex and The City franchise is all about fashion, but Halston hit the skids way back in the early 1980’s when Roy Halston sold his name and company to a series of licensees that made everything from .99 cent cigarette lighters to automobile tires. Granted, Sarah Jessica Parker looked fabulous in the white gathered sheath with requisite diva fan, but the last time anyone wore Halston, Roy was guesting on ABC’s The Love Boat.

Just in time for the Sex and The City II film junket it was announced that Ms. Parker was taped as the new President and Chief Creative Officer for Halston. It was a publicists dream comes true. SJP would redevelop the “Halston Heritage Collection”, Halston’s discount line. Before Halston; Sarah had designed the line “Bitten”. launched exclusively with discount clothing chain Steve & Barry’s. The company only sold items under $20.00. They have since gone out of business.

It is not without coincidence that film producer; Harvey Weinstein would purchase a good portion of Halston. Weinstein’s wife Georgina Chapman runs fashion line Marchesa. Weinstein and Parker co-produced Sex and The City II and worked on several film projects together. Ahh, now the parts of the puzzle start to fall in place.

Halston and SJP could have been a “natural”. After All SJP is Carrie Bradshaw. Mr. Parker gets press coverage every times she sneezes; one might think she’d apply that to her work at Halston. Well, one might think that…but…

From the get go, the writing was on the wall. Ms. Parker and Mr. Weinstein were really figure heads and seldom showed up at the office. Not a great way to make friends and influence people. Not an ideal way to manage a struggling company. FYI Halston had eight company presidents before Parker and Weinstein. Weinstein presents like a lovely man when interviewed by Piers Morgan, but then so does Ryan O’Neal and Charlie Sheen. Weinstein and the staff of Halston did not see eye to eye. The fights were legendary and gossiped about by industry insiders. Long distance fights to the coast do not a designer make.

Fashion people are notoriously anal retentive and hard working. When your bosses are making millions and unable to make it to the office, resentments do build. Research suggests that Ms. Parker and Mr. Weinstein never took the opportunity to travel overseas to visit their factories where Halston designs are manufactured. Ms. Parker, who is frequently spotted on the red carpet, fashion event, charity functions, talk shows and press events seldom, was spotted wearing Halston product. Can one even imagine Coco Chanel or Yves Saint Laurent showing up for the press wearing their competitor’s duds?  

Too often I have had the opportunity to debate the merits of what happens when celebrities design, with the possible exception of Victoria Beckham and The Olson Twins, celebrity designers have been a death knoll, think Lindsey Lohan for Ungaro, the Kardashians, Paris Hilton. Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus for Wal-Mart, or Mike (the situation) Sorrentino Couture Tee Shirt line. Fashion is a train wreck.

Ms. Parker is one of the entertainment industries highest paying performers. Just prior to joining Halston, Ms. Parker became the mother of twin’s girls through surrogacy. That in itself is a full time job, even if you have and nanny (The Broderick’s do not have “live-in” help) and a stay at home dad like Matthew Broderick. While Ms. Parker did not have a great attendance record at Halston, she’s not a slouch, Ms. Parker did manage to make several films “Did You Hear About the Morgan’s?“ “New Years Eve”, “Smart People”. “I Don’t Know How She Does It”. The last two titles are perhaps the most aptly titled.

In a time when millions of Americans wrestle with living hand to month, Ms. Parker and Mr. Weinstein will walk away with payout packages estimated in the millions.

Christopher Haynes: On Not Taming The Fox

 
"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you're still nothing more than a little boy who's just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I'm nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you'll be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world …" Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - Le Petit Prince, 1943

It is not without consequence or coincidence that Christopher Haynes sent me this quote from one of the most beloved books of the 20th century. Mr. Haynes may well be the incarnation of The Little Prince… had he ever grown up. 

Mr. Haynes appeared on my radar via LinkedIn and Facebook, where I followed his activities and postings with some regularity. Just recently I became enamored with a typography and graphic project he was working on, and we’ve exchanged a few e-mails. 

 
Mr. Haynes is what is classically described as a Renaissance man.  His bailiwick is 'Creativity for Commerce' and one of the projects he’s working on right now is creating a brand for Rachel Taylor, a well-known upcoming pattern designer in the UK. www.rachel-taylordesigns.co.uk.  Previously, he has been contracted to assist with European Government backed projects in Birmingham, UK providing photographic services to promote the Southside Bid www.southsidebid.co.uk as a gesture to promote economic development in his home town. This is a man who clearly believes in karma.

Mr. Haynes is perhaps best known for rebranding "http://www.bbrown.co.uk/"  in 2008. During this time he successfully continued in his sales role in the U.K, France and the Middle East. B. Brown is Europe's original supplier of background materials i.e. fabrics and finishing’s for the retail display and interior design industries. BBrown was incorporated in 1934, and continues to source innovative fashion forwards products. 

 
Is a picture worth a thousand words? If you wanted to get a taste of Christopher’s aesthetic sensibilities then you would want to visit OOHGRAPHY© his online photographic art store. You can link to it at www.facebook.com/oohgraphy  and is "a one-man camera adventure, stolen moments, hidden stories and a quest to provide an alternative to mass-produced art". As with any business which is designed to be a 'well kept secret' it relies entirely on word-of-mouth exposure.

As for not taming the fox, Mr. Haynes is not a “yes man”. In fact, he has a reputation for being…  “Politely blunt but charming." "Dangerously honest” and "cheeky, very cheeky!” If this raises your antenna, it’s interestingly to note that Christian Dior offered him the lucrative Visual Merchandising Manager position for The Middle East and India in 2008. He mulled it over, but turned them down. Is he self-destructive? 

Perhaps he was just ready to settle down. They say that travel makes the man. The Petit Prince lived on a small planet with just one tree and a chair. Alas, Mr. Haynes was born on planet Earth. Since birth he’s lived in England, Saint Louis, MO, Paris, Marseille and travelled to over 100 destinations across  Europe, India, The Middle East, Africa and The Americas. 

Mr. Haynes has an interesting approach. In true entrepreneurial spirit he manages his own business, www.christopherhaynes.co.uk which he launched in response to the credit crunch to give SME's a cost-effective solution to help their commercial development and have access to services normally only available to larger companies. It’s a handsome site that offers a lot, here’s just one principal portion, Mr. Haynes describes what he does as being a “Business Buddy”… 

a pay-as-you-go ideas guy…Simple and free idea number 1: 

Drop me a line and give me some details about your company and I think about ideas to inspire you to boost your business and help you get there. 

Here are some things I could help with: Sales & Marketing. Business Development. Logos and Image. Photography and Photoshop. Web Design. Graphic Design. Google popularity. English/French projects. Inspiration. 

 Officially, Mr. Haynes is the Business Development Manager for Rockingham Display in the United Kingdom.  "http://www.rockinghamdisplay.com" I know Rockingham only by reputation, and what one can learn from their internet site, Rockingham is primarily a point of sale manufacturer that specializes in the cosmetic and luxury sectors, where discriminating quality is valued. But what does that really mean in English?  Mr. Haynes reports …“His role is to provide experience, knowledge and creativity to gain acquisitions within the British and European retail display sector and further develop Rockingham’s reputation as an easy company to do business with who understand your projects and deliver your vision. Oh, now I get it!

When you visit the Rockingham site you’ll be impressed with their work, and the diversity of their clients. It’s sort of a who’s who in the UK and global luxury sector. 

 
Of Human Interest and Bondage…

First of all Mr. Haynes works with his shirt on and fur huff cap off. Mr. Haynes is a good twenty years younger than me. He cuts a dashing figure in his skinny jeans and signature sunglasses.

 
Mr. Haynes has an attractive face, a contagious smile, blue eyes and flirts shamelessly. Is he a school girl’s delight? TBD. He stands 6’ 2” tall and wears size 13 shoes. (You know what they say about big shoes.)  He appears to be one of those a good bad boy archetypes. It is surprising that he has not been photographed in a black leather jacket riding a Harley. 

Expressive…a strong silent type he is not, not a shrinking violet. Like those brooding 'good underneath' bad boy types his demeanor may be provocative, animated, loud, and perhaps abrasive to some, but rest assured it’s certainly a defense mechanism, as I’d stake my reputation that he is really quite sensitive. He says, no, and that… “he’s as subtle as a train wreck”. Well do you want to take that ride? Is exciting better than bland?  

The art of seduction is not lost among the French. He is certainly quite irristible. Sexy. He is often referred to as “Marmite” a product virtually unknown in the US but synonymous in Britain with something you either love or hate. As a man who questions the merits of mass appeal - he's happy with that.

On Facebook he lists about 100 artists as favorites that runs the gamut from The Monkees, Serge Gainsbourg, Louis Armstrong, Kings of Leon, Madonna and Jane Birkin. The Monkee’s? Did he really say The Monkees with my beloved “ Pleasant Valley Sunday”, a chart topper! A song written by Gerry Goffin and his wife Carole King in 1967. I was only 10 years old but neighbor Dorn Kirshner had me record a demo track for Ms. King, for the Monkees. The Goffin’s-Kings lived on Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ) and had picnics every Sunday, hence “it’s just a Pleasant Valley Suuuundaaaay! I was paid 15.00 dollars and got a free 45. It’s a small world.

Not prone to gentrification, Mr. Haynes opts to live in the Chinatown section of Birmingham, UK. Mr. Haynes speaks English (a native) and French fluently. Some things are best left unsaid, while we’ve never spoken, I can well imagine the wonderful accent he has which he himself describes as an 'airport accent'. A deep resonant voice. It’s a shame that we Americans (myself included) speak as if we all have marbles in our mouths.  

 

You already know I’m all about style which Mr. Haynes describes his style being influenced by 1960's France with an enormous dollop of Brit Rock.  Is it affect or not? TBD. He wears signature sunglasses as in everywhere, and all the time. He proudly wears labels like All Saints, D&G, The Kooples, TopMan, H&M and counts among his favorite shops, Colette in Paris and naturally, Selfridges. Mr. Haynes is compulsive and changes his shoes as often as he can but is still happiest 'pieds nus'. His color palate for choosing clothes includes deep colors that like himself can't quite be easily defined, blue/black,  grey/green, wet clay, dark skies......He includes his favorite fashion accessories as his camera, a cup of coffee, and his Marlboro Lights. He is an insomniac. 

That being said, From our few emails and my research I can ascertain that Mr. Haynes is a talent, creatively driven, entrepreneurial, an intellect, and profoundly interested in life. This is a man of passion. His activities and interests on Facebook list over a hundred things. You’ll note most people strain to list ten things. Isn’t there something seductive about a man, who can build anything out of wood, watches life through a lens, reads Elle Déco and Wallpaper and wears military boots?

It is difficult to summarize an unfinished life. Mr. Haynes has sent me intriguing quotes, insightful character sketches, provocative ideas and lots of quirky autobiographical information. Collective enough to create a profile twice this length. I will elect however to commence here and encourage you to pick up the conversation directly with him. I hope you will place him and his work on your radar.

Here is a quote Mr. Haynes has asked me to include...

"Tous les hommes sont menteurs, inconstants, faux, bavards, hypocrites, orgueilleux et lâches, méprisables et sensuels; toutes les femmes sont perfides, artificieuses, vaniteuses, curieuses et dépravées ; le monde n'est qu'un égout sans fond où les phoques les plus informes rampent et se tordent sur des montagnes de fange; mais s'il ya au monde une chose sainte et sublime, c'est l'union de deux de ces êtres si imparfaits et si affreux. On est souvent trompé en amour souvent blessé et souvent malheureux; mais on aime, et quand on est sur le bord de sa tombe, on se retourne pour regarder en arrière, et on se dit : J'ai souffert souvent, je me suis trompé quelques fois: mais j'ai aimé. C'est moi qui ai vécu et non pas un être factice créé par mon orgueil et mon ennui." Alfred de Musset, On ne badine pas avec l'amour (1834)

"All men are liars, fickle, false, talkative, hypocritical, arrogant, cowardly, despicable and sensual, all women are perfidious, artful, vain, curious and depraved: the world is a bottomless sewer where most shapeless seals crawl and writhe on the mountains of mud, but if the world is holy and sublime, it is the union of two of these creatures so imperfect and hideous. We are often deceived in love, often wounded and often unhappy, but we love, and when you're on the edge of his grave, we turn to look back and say: I have suffered many times, I'm wrong sometimes, but I loved. It was I who lived, and not a fake being created by my pride and my boredom. "Alfred de Musset, No Trifling With Love (1834)

Contact Information…

Website: "http://www.christopherhaynes.co.uk/"

Email: "mailto:christopher.haynes@me.com" christopher.haynes@me.com or  "mailto:christopher.haynes@me.com"  "mailto:christopher.haynes@me.com" christopher.haynes@mac.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com  or  "http://www.facebook.com/oohgraphy" "http://www.facebook.com/oohgraphy" www.facebook.com/oohgraphy

LinkedIn: "http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/christopher-haynes/16/bb3/735" View public profile http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/christopher-haynes/16/bb3/735

Phone: +44 79 73 95 92 79