My friend Lynne thinks that going to market just sounds so exciting. She suggested that I blog every night of market so that she can experience this vicariously.
It’s Saturday. We took the morning flight from Houston to Newark so that we can get through the Handmade portion of the show today. (No weekend for us, we work three hours today, and 9-6 tomorrow) On the plane, I read today’s Chronicle and Wall Street Journal, three back issues of the Journal, nine back issues of Women’s Wear Daily, and four industry trade journals. Out of all that, I ripped out 11 items of relevance.
In forecasting trends for Handbags and Shoes, Women’s Wear calls out several I agree with:
Sea World -- Dive into an ocean of blue and green
For Pleats Sake -- Bags to welcome you into the fold
Cat Power—Lots of Spots for sex-kitten chic (our favorite –we love leopard everything)
Hard Core Exotica—Ostrich bags give you goose bump (this is incoming, and we’ll only try a little)
Rainbow Connection –resort accessories are packed with bright hues
Here’s what we saw today. More jewelry than you can possibly imagine. Now this sounds fabulous, if you’ve got a lot of money to spend and all the time in the world. But if you want to add 1 or 2 lines and you have to look at 300, it’s a lot. We did get to visit our friends Sabrina and Glena from Pick Up Sticks. These girls are delightful. They are cousins who started a company of photo charms together, and they have a wicked sense of humor to go along with it. Lynne will have to wear their new necklace that says “Shake it Baby” on one side, and has a martini glass on the other. It has a tiny silver martini glass charm on it also. I’ll wear the one that says “Women spend more than eight years of their lives shopping” (well, for me, more like 16 years) it has a cute tiny handbag charm, too.
Another huge category: Free Trade Products. I love this concept so much. But in selecting products for Give Simple, it can’t be the starting point. There are websites that specialize in Free Trade items that can sell the gamut, but I need to fall in love with the product FIRST. I might buy something free trade that I did not love for a friend who is completely socially responsible, but not for my customers. Still looking. There must be free trade items out there that are fabulous first, with free trade as a bonus.
Okay, have to shower before the theater. Seeing In the Heights. Dinner afterwards where we sat next to Tom Cruise in May market. We could get lucky, but unlikely to see someone that famous again. Until tomorrow…