Just heard Lux in Cooper-Young is going out of business. (I was away from Facebook for a few days, okay?)
Everything is 30 percent off right now, even already marked-down clearance items, and owner Tad Feazell says the store will close at the end of June.
“It’s just time to move on,” Feazell says, citing the economy and the amount of time the store takes.
When my Rhodes College interns started at the beginning of the year, I asked them both if they knew of anyone on campus who would be good for the Fashion Week feature.
Both of them — without knowing what the other had said — recommended Sarah Knowles and Matt Tamason.
Matt has a very interesting fashion aesthetic — you’ll see as the week goes on, very eclectic and fun — but we’re going to dive in slowly with what he describes as a more conventional outfit.
This is something he would wear to class or to an internship: a basic blue J. Crew sweater, a gingham dress shirt from Ralph Lauren, and gray cords from Argentina with a yellow Zara belt he got in Spain and sneakers he got from Sneak Peek on Main.
I would say something about this combo, but I think Matt says it best:
“While blue and gray create a flat and cool surface, the yellow and red turn the temperature up a bit with warm colors, breaking up the plainness,” he says. “The black shirt ties in with the black splattering on the sneakers.”
Amid all the Shop & Swap craziness — taking vouchers, hanging up clothes, trying things on, giving away a bicycle — Justin and I actually took a few style pictures, too.
You know, like we used to do in the old days. Or before it got cold.
At any rate, meet interior designer Ashliey Garner. She wore an Isaac Mizrahi floral skirt paired with a wrap shirt from Ann Taylor Loft, and shoes from Target to the event.
The skirt is one she says works for a variety of occasions, given its breezy feel and the inclusion of a few well-placed sequins.
She puts her outfits together the same way she does interiors.
“I envision a room and it comes together,” she says.
(Also, if you look behind Ashliey’s right shoulder, you can see another woman leaving the Swap & Shop with her haul.)
The key to a great jean jacket is to never, ever wear it with jeans.
I say that first mostly for my own benefit. I always try to pair them with jeans and then it’s either too matchy-matchy or awful, and I think — as I’m throwing the jacket back into the closet — how do people wear jeans with jean jackets? And then, at some point, I will inevitably remember, they don’t.
LaTasha Cornett obviously has this rule well under control, however.
This is what I would call a classic minimalist outfit: a cute Limited jean jacket combined with a white tee-shirt, black pants, and then — to add a zing of visual interest — a pair of pointy-toed red heels.
“I tend to have a lack of color in my wardrobe,” LaTasha says. “I tend to stick to grays and blacks. … I don’t tend to do trendy items.”
But the poppy shoes (it’s been a while since we’ve seen shoes that pop!) make the outfit.
Holly Beuke works in development at the University of Memphis. So it’s no surprise that she combined this cute, tan suit from Ann Taylor with a blue blouse.
She says her style veers toward classic lines with a bit of flair. Because of her job, however, she has a lot of Tiger blue in her closet.
“Alumni notice when you wear blue,” she says. “They also notice when you wear orange, but I don’t wear orange.”
Whew! After the Swap & Shop on the 22nd, I had to take a week off. (What can I say? Lazy, prolly.)
But I think it was a great success. I know I left with a few new things … including a dress I’ve already worn several times and a pair of jeans … and from the blur around me, I could see women bringing stuff and leaving with stuff and trying stuff on and squealing in glee.
We divided the clothes into four groups: small, medium, large, and “as seen on facebook” for the clothes we had featured on our Facebook page.
I have to say, I got a little tense when the first Swap & Shoppers showed up at 4:45 and the event wasn’t technically supposed to begin until 5:30, but it all ended well. It gave us a chance to hone our clothes-hanging skills before the first wave of women hit us right at 5:30.
Oh, but I haven’t answered the most important question yet, the one I’ve been getting ever since then: Will we do it again?
The answer is: YES.
We’re already planning to do another Swap & Shop in the fall. There are a couple of things we’ll do differently next time — more dressing rooms, two check-in tables, more racks — but the basic premise will remain the same.
And I have to thank the Peddler, Berryman Cleaners, and the Inn at Hunt Phelan again for helping us out with this endeavor. We made about $50 for Dress for Success Memphis, but we also gave them about three racks of clothes for their rummage sale in October.
And congratulations to Anne Plumlee for winning the bike from the Peddler and to Alycia Carter for winning the gift certificate to Tsunami!
Thanks to everyone who came out!
Just a friendly reminder that Style Sessions’ first ever Swap & Shop is tonight at the Hunt-Phelan.
It begins at 5:30 and goes until 8:30. We’ll be giving away a lady’s bike from the Peddler and a gift certificate to Tsunami.
What’s a Swap & Shop, you ask? Well. Let me tell you. In several easy steps.
1. You bring up to FIVE gently used ladies’ clothing items, preferably for work or play. Please no shoes, jogging suits, lingerie.
2. We give you vouchers for each of the items you donate to us.
3. You hit the Swap & Shop store where each voucher entitles you to an article of clothing … or, an entire suit, b/c it just breaks our heart to split up suit pieces. It’s like splitting up a litter of kittens.
4. You still see other things you want, but you’ve used up all your vouchers. You can buy a voucher for $5 each.
(4b. Take a break at the bar with a little refreshment.)
5. Hit the Swap & Shop store again.
6. Go home happy and with brand-new-to-you clothes.
All proceeds go to Dress for Success Memphis.
I was on South Main on Saturday for the Strange Fruit Vintage launch party (see Shalishah “Petey” Franklin’s Fashion Week below). Despite a little incident with some blue candy, I and I think everyone else had a great time.
While I was there, however, I heard a rumor that Charlotte Memphis — which has been located in Saddle Creek for several years and sells really cool interchangeable jewelry such as these rings — is moving onto South Main. I’m not sure where exactly, but that’s exciting! I might just get another piece for my Charlotte21 ring.
I heard that a graphic tee store also might be opening, but I don’t have any more details.
This is one of Shalishah’s Sunday brunch favorites.
“It’s super sweet and vibrantly colored so it subliminally makes me feel happy,” she says.
(Does this remind anyone else of their entire childhood summed up in a dress? Really? Just me?)
For this or similar pieces, you can check out Shalishah’s online boutique, Strange Fruit Vintage.
Shalishah describes her personal style as multi-faceted.
“One day, you could see me in 5-inch high heels, then the next day, in Chuck Taylors,” she says. “I do things a bit more daring at times. I think a bit less about what people say, and I get inspiration everywhere.”
Strange Fruit actually began as an event production company, so it would stand to reason that Shalishah would know what to wear on a night out.
“I’d pair it with a matte red lipstick and hair tussled like you didn’t try very hard, but really you tried extremely hard to make it look so darn carefree,” she says.
The outfit is a vintage black and white ribbed spandex dress — which I swear I saw some really similar things in the stores in the last few months — with a red blazer.
“I thought the blazer would add a bit of formal to the flirtiness of the dress. I’d wear this to a luxe spot in Memphis like one of my faves, Mollie Fontaine.”
Also, since we’re talking about going out (and you may have missed it the first time) Shalishah’s online boutique, Strange Fruit vintage, will be having a launch party Saturday 7 p.m. at Mpact Memphis, 506 S. Main