Mumbling Madly

I’m only posting another stuffed animal picture because this one has a good story attached: Bettina has been a staple of the store since I joined its forces two and half years ago. There’s something about her froggy, long, legs combined with the ridiculous tutu action that enchants small boys….yes, I said boys. They LOVE “Bettina.” Usually when some poor little chap is dragged into the store with his Mom and sister I’ll hand him a frog. It really works…by distracting the young man, I’m preserving the sanity of the store. A bored little boy is hell in a handbasket.
The store eventually ordered pink Bettinas…but the reaction was mixed. Typically we see kids immediately identify the green and pink frogs as different genders. You guessed it: Green Bettina=Boy and Pink Bettina=Girl. So even though the green frog is wearing a tutu, he’s still the boy in the duo.

“For those of you who love unicorns, Russ presents this purple unicorn with a lilac scented innerbag to you. Her name is Charisma; and she is super special, because she smells like jasmine! Charisma has a beautiful purple coat, blue eyes, pink inner ears, a white horn, and a white fuzzy tail, mane, and hooves.

Charisma likes children, especially little girls. And, though most unicorns are hard to capture, Charisma is not difficult to own at all. In fact, she would be the happiest unicorn ever if she belonged to a loving, imaginative child. Do you know a little girl who might like to own a gentle unicorn?”

All of that sexist crap aside, this unicorn is more popular than Elvis at our dance store. Originally we gagged at the idea of a unicorn that stinks of lilac, but let me tell you, they are all the RAGE with the toddler market. We’ve seen kids throw full on tantrums over these unicorns. I’ve had parents buy hundreds of dollars worth of ballet clothing and the kid still insists on the unicorn over a new leotard. Who knew?

I want this reversible jacket…I just wanted you all to know.

I’ve done it…I’m horribly addicted to a brand name…an expensive one! I LOVE GSUS! I have no idea who or what their deal is exactly, but Gsus is sold at Kansas City Kitty, where I also sell my bracelets. Recently I have traded my consignment money from KCK for Gsus clothing. Check out this top I bought recently with my bracelet credit here and note that it is REVERSIBLE. Could there be anything better? Remember when reversible clothing was the SHIT when we were kids? Who knew it had filtered into the world of adult clothing. Do you SEE the detailing on the arm? And do you notice how there is a big naked patch right above the left breast….let me tell you, I wore this shirt at our opening night party and it is a head turner. This shirt truly exemplifies the “Less is More” theory.
I’m crazy about this brand…as long as I sell bracelets at KCK my income slowly trickles over to the magical, well-designed, beautiful cothing of Gsus. I’m having some issues finding clear, English, descriptions of their clothing line on the web. I guess they’re truly a US import and therefore more popular abroad.
And now I’ll end this entry with one of my past Gsus purchases:

(Would you LOOK at those stars in the pattern and that incredible asymetrical line?!)

So, those of you who are in the retail biz know that occasionally you have to deal with reps. These representatives are trying to sell you various goods for your business. In my store’s case, it’s everything from leotards made with tactel/nylon (read: SPANDEX) to stuffed bunnies. Sometimes a rep will come loaded with garment bags…other times the rep will pull up in a trailor and we’ll peek inside at all his wares. Usually the owner and I have to sit there and guess whether or not a certain item will be a success or not. This is never easy. Who can predict whether or not teens will go crazy for pink, rip-stop, plastic pants? You’d think it would be straight forward, there’s so much fashion on TV and in magazines. But F.C. is about two years behind everyone else in the fashion world. And F.C. is terribly conservative…so anything with any remote flair sits on the racks for months. Still, a store can’t stock black alone, we must salt and pepper our inventory with some cute cotoure.
So, there I am last Friday, staring at this purse and thinking: This is so ugly and retro, there’s no way anyone in this town would buy it. Seriously. The rep is trying to convince me that, because I’m 27, I don’t know what I’m talking about. “This bag is for the 8-14 yr olds, you wouldn’t know.” Now, it was early in the morning on a Friday, so I was too tired to defend myself. But I WOULD know, HELLO, on a weekly basis I teach 3-16 yr olds kids. If anyone knows what they’re wearing it’s moi. Maybe it’s because the first thing out of my mouth when the rep pulled out the bag was: “I think it’s hideous.” I’m sure that didn’t go over well with him…after all he’s a middle aged man selling purses and plush animals.
I couldn’t even decide if it was hideous in a good way or a bad way. I mean, kids in this town LOVE pink, everyone loves pink these days anyway. You know what sells in our store? Pink satin backpacks…You know what probably wouldn’t sell? Retro, yellow and purple bowling bags. Gimme a break. So than I picked up this purse and pulled it up under my arm like one would if one was carrying a purse that size, and I said, “Well, it’s a little too small to really do anything with.” And the rep says, “Well, again, it’s not for someone your age, so their arms are going to be smaller.” Okay, wait a minute…has he seen the average size of children these days? Kids are ENORMOUS…I’m tellin ya, the child obesity statistics are true in my opinion. I have seven-year-olds coming in wearing a size small adult and size 7 ladies shoes. I’m not kidding. Don’t tell me that my enormous, 27-year-old arm is no match for this retro bag. Besides, kids in this town are just not hip enough, who says this bag can’t be for cool teens and young adults? What the hell? Finally I dropped the bag and said, “I have things to do.” And I left the rep with the owner to hash it out, while I went to do my job.
What do you think?

When we first looked at the place, our landlord quickly glossed over the relics standing in the laundry room: Two ancient washing and drying appliances. Upon further inspection, Josh revealed that the washer was indeed, a Lady Kenmore. For some reason, I find this facinating. We figured the appliances must have come with the completion of the house in the early 1970s, late 1960s. In fact my mother-in-law pegged the house’s origins the second she saw the ancient, pink contact paper inside the kitchen shelves. (”Nobody uses pink to decorate their kitchen anymore,” she claimed). What I love, is this washer obviously came out before Women’s Lib. (Or maybe the manufacturers were still in a position where they could ignore the racious bra-burning feminists). I kinda liked having two vintage pieces of equipment from the past. Sadly, the Lady Kenmore spewed forth the entire contents of one big load of towels on the floor. (Years of use has deemed her incontinent). We had to send the Lady Kenmore (and her Dryer comrade) out to pasture.