My Breakup with Zara

I usually don’t do this, but in this case, I had to say something publicly because I am so disappointed in a company that I’ve had a long, seemingly happy relationship with for years.

Here’s the situation: last week, I bought a pair of $80 shoes that were as kick ass as could be. I didn’t think about how close it was to “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday”. In any case, I bought those bad boys and wore them a day later, of course getting compliments on them everywhere I went (even if just to CVS). I just so happened to look online for any upcoming Cyber Monday deals and I thought, well let’s see what Zara has to offer; low and behold, I found those same shoes on sale for $50! “Ok, customer service isn’t open this late, so I’ll call in the morning”, I thought. That’s important because later they will say that since it’s ‘sold out’ online and in the stores that they can’t do anything about it. How the hell was I supposed to get this resolved in the middle of the night?

Well, when it came time to call Zara, not only was I transferred 5 times between customer service, corporate and the Santa Monica store (because apparently one doesn’t have control over the other and vice versa – I call bullshit), but they told me that their systems were not set up for a price adjustment. Now, I could have been a complete bitch and just cleaned the bottoms off of the shoes (because they had been worn), put them back in their box with their tags (because I do save tags for a few weeks in case of something like this) and marched right into the store, taken them back then rebought them. But it just wasn’t worth my time. Instead, I thought being the ‘great’ company I thought they were, they would make an exception for this loyal customer and credit me back the measly $30. You know what they told me? After ‘reviewing the situation’, they called me back and said ‘The only thing we can do to resolve this situation is have you send the shoes back to the online store for a full refund’. Umm, how is that resolving the situation in the slightest? You want me to TAKE BACK an item I wanted? THAT’S your solution? Of course I asked for a manager multiple times; and guess what…none available…shock.  That’s when I took to writing about it, because I’m tired of big companies treating us little people like shit. $30 bucks to Zara isn’t shit compared to what that $30 means to me. But even that’s beside the point.

As women, we develop relationships with our favorite brands. Hell, I just endorsed Zara after someone asked me on my blog about where to get a particular kind of pant. But when something as small as a $30 credit could have resolved this situation, it’s also $30 that causes a situation as big as this that could make me as a loyal customer feel betrayed, just like in a relationship. And that’s what it is (well, was)…a relationship between loyal customer and company brand. However, as in any relationship, sometimes there is a situation where the other party shows you their true colors.

Now, this is going to be a bad breakup, because like most of those, you usually go back for a late-night booty call hoping they will prove you wrong. So I may have the urge to shop there again, but I will try hard as hell not to go back to a place that has wronged me, not over something so small.

You know what, maybe this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have been as thoughtless as to buy ANYTHING right before Black Friday. But I did, and for that I take responsibility. But I also know, after having worked in retail for 5 years, that a company can do MANY things to ‘makeup’ to a customer how they ‘wronged’ him/her. But Zara didn’t even try with me. They basically gave me a “fuck off” response. What about a ‘20% coupon off your next purchase’ or a ‘$10 off coupon’ – shit, I would have been happy with that and that wasn’t even half of what I was asking for back. But you live and you learn. Thanks Zara for proving to me how wrong I was about you. 

Kim Kardashian – “Reality” Real or Really Real?

Yes, I used the tag line from a Sprite billboard, but it applies here too.  For the longest time, I’ve looked to Kim Kardashian as a measure of beauty because quite frankly, men (including my husband) go goo-goo ga-ga over her and in fact she looks closer to what I look like than those stick-thin blond-haired, blue-eyed models on the magazine covers. And being even more frank, she IS pretty damn hot. That statement however comes with a caveat. Does she really look like that, like for real for real? I remember photographs of her when she first came on the scene (no pun intended) and she looked a little pudgier and not as ‘tight’ as she does these days.

So I did some digging, looked around for some comparison photos and found a site that offered a great set of ‘before & after’ pictures. Now, I always knew she did some extra stuff that she wouldn’t admit to, but I just couldn’t figure out what. She HAS admitted both in interviews and on her show that she has gotten Botox and Fraxel-lasered (both wrinkle-remover treatments), but those topical treatments alone could NOT account for the dramatic difference in her look. She has also lost weight, but again, that could not account for so drastic a change. So what kind of cosmetic surgery has she had done? Most people have speculated only a nose job. Not only do I think she’s had a nose job (it’s thinner than it was before), but I also think she had a complete face lift. On one of the pictures below, you can clearly see where her cheekbones were vs. where they are now (they’re a lot flatter).  It’s a subtle difference in of itself, but when looked at as a whole, she looks completely different. I’m not saying I’m judging one way or another, it’s just what she decided to do for herself and her image. Is that something you would ever do? I’m not sure I would, but then again, I don’t know what I’ll decide to do in 5, 10 or 15 years either. What are your thoughts? 

Flash Back Fridays: Jean Jackets

Everyone from Rihanna to Kanye West to Nicole Richie have been spotted in recent months sporting the 80's fashion, jean jackets. So how do we make it look up-to-date on ourselves? Check out my video!

The Perfect Fall Outfit

Color Blocking – No Matchie-Matchie Here!

This season is all about color blocking. That’s just a fancy way of saying stick with two or three bold colors and stack them. For example, as you see in the picture of me below, I’m wearing a white tank top, burnt orange skirt and aqua earrings. Umm, aqua? That’s right. These three colors don’t seem to go together, but they do. When you ‘color block’, it draws the eye up and down the entire length of the outfit, making you seem slimmer and taller (and I need all the help I can get in the vertically-challenged arena!) It would seem more natural to match the earrings to my skirt, but in actuality it chops those sections of the body and the eye can’t easily glide up and down your frame. So, stay away from matching colors and go for something a little more unexpected. I do have burnt orange earrings I could have easily worn with this outfit, but I think this gives it a more updated look and it gives an old outfit a new twist. If you stop and think about your accessories (that maybe you haven’t worn in a while), I think it will give you a fresh look this fall by mixing some colors that you wouldn’t usually pair. Fall is here and with that means more layers, so you have more of a chance to pair some interesting color palettes together!

Side Note: If you don’t think you would even know where to start, stay within the same color family and wear different shades of the same color together. 

Elie Saab – Does He Ever Get It Wrong?

I mean, damn. This guy is a genius when it comes to designing clothes for women’s bodies. He seems to get it right every time. His Spring 2013 collection is just….too good. This could be a problem (although, I don’t see this happening): he is setting himself up to the expectation that he will always produce a winning collection. What happens when he gives a lackluster performance one season? The fashion industry, as we all know, is very unforgiving. Again, I am a huge fan, so I find it hard to believe that he could ever fall from the ranks of Fashion-Iconism (if that’s even a word).  Elie Saab has dressed movie and music stars for years and from this newest collection, we can see why.

So, back to the collection…there are three words to describe this latest collection: Lace, Lines and Beading. I would wear every single piece in this collection because not only is he able to incorporate the latest styles (i.e. flowy yet structured button down shirts) but he also keeps true to his signature style of body-conscious dresses and long lines that highlight a woman’s curves in just the right places. He highlights these with his beaded and lace dresses that outline softly with a change in the fabric the lines giving the garments depth and dimension, while his black and white items are very bold yet still feminine in their patterns and cut. The color-splashed garments have black lines that outline a woman’s body as she moves, meaning it would look good on any body type and in any situation - whether a woman is standing or walking down the street, this would flatter any figure. He uses bold colors (blues, reds) yet they do not overpower the actual garment, adding just the right pop to offset the seemingly tame construct. And back to the beautiful beaded dresses that will catch the eye of anyone…the short hemlines offset the high necklines. Even the black and cream garments have a complexity in the style unlike anything you’ve seen before. Really, you just have to look at the whole collection to really understand the true genius of this man. Check out a few pics below. 

Bohemian Chic…In Jeans?

Damn right it can be done! I found two girls that happened to have the same idea on the same day (the fact that they’re cousins had nothing to do with it J). So even though summer is over, the weather is still warm enough (at least here in LA) to wear something like this throughout the year. These girls hit the nail on the head when it comes to 1. Color and 2. Style.

Let me start with Color. Ok, so I know what you’re thinking….”these girls are gorgeous; they can pull off these light, skinny jeans, but if I wear those, I’ll look like I have mom jeans on!” Not necessarily. Light-colored jeans right now are very in and you don’t have to wear the skinny kind – you can find the type that works best for your body type (body type and jean fit is a whole other blog post that I will for sure get to). But I’m sure you also noticed that the color scheme is very similar; this is also very ‘in’ right now – wearing the same color all in one outfit, but in differing degrees of that same color. Looking at this example, the top and pants look good together because they’re both very light colors that are part of the same color family; varying degress of white could also work well with these jeans.

Next, is Style. Although this is what I call ‘Bohemian Chic”, you can change the accessories (shoes are considered accessories to me) and get a whole different ‘feel’ (or style) with just a few simple changes.  For instance, you can change the style altogether to “Rocker Chic” and wear this in the winter by adding a leather jacket and some high-heeled booties, or rock it out like the girls are doing here, with simple accessories and add some knee-high boots and a scarf. Either way, you rock it the way you want to and at the same time keeping up with what’s hot now without having to break the bank.