The first purchase of the year goes to the Calvin Klein’s cable knit sweater. Bought on sale for $100 at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. 80% lambswool and 20% cashmere. Made in China. Dry Clean only.

Only A Handful of Stores

It’s perhaps the first and only Calvin Klein store I’ve ever seen or been to, as the brand has been out of the limelight for a while, it’s only recently re-emerging and repositioning itself in the market. Considering its previous success with its perfume and jeans line in the 1980s and 1990s, I’m surprised that CK had never  officially opened any stand alone retail stores. As of late, since Francisco Costa, who had taken over as head designer for the brand, I’ve come to really appreciate the minimalistic look with luxurious fabrics on the runway. I’ve heard little about their bridge collections, so I was pleased to visit the Calvin Klein store in Vegas.

According to Wikipedia, the following brand names are as followed:

• Calvin Klein Collection (black label, top-end designer line)
• ck Calvin Klein (grey label, recently repositioned as bridge collection line)
• Calvin Klein (white label, better sportswear line)
• Calvin Klein Sport (sports version of the white label line for Macy’s)
• Calvin Klein Jeans (denimwear line)
• Calvin Klein Home (high end bedding, towel, bath rug and accessory collections)
• Calvin Klein Golf (launched in late 2007)
• Calvin Klein Underwear (underwear collections)

I have yet to see or notice an actual Calvin Klein Collection piece in the higher end department stores, it would be great to see anything up close and personal for judgement.

The store I’ve been to is clearly Calvin Klein (white label line), offering a nice collection of gray toned apparels in silks, cashmere and wool blends. The silk dresses were of nice prints, however upon touching them, they were unlined and had a familiar H&M quality to them. Prices are accessible like Banana Republic, around $50 to $500.

The cable knit sweater I bought was on sale, if you can call it that, for $100. I’ve been searching for a nice warm cable knit sweater, but can’t seem to find any in Montreal’s bargain hunting grounds. No doubt the Calvin Klein label doesn’t seem to make an appearance in our local luxury stores. It is indeed a warm sweater, however it has a tendency to leave pieces of itself on darker clothing. I had reservations about the Made in China label. An indication that it was made for cheap but with very skilled hands (or machinery). The debate comes down to: which of the evils do you choose? Have those dollars spent to support the overworked laborers in China so they can feed themselves of what little they can save? Or, not pay for the sweater and thinking of the risk that that factory may not exist in a year or so?

The purchase itself may seem like such an easy thing to do, however, our little action of buying somehow goes down much deeper to the person on the other side of the world. It’s hard to decide. Keep supporting Chinese manufacturers to feed those that need work (despite them being overworked) or not support them and take away their hard earned money.

In the end I went for the purchase. I don’t know if my purchase will help keep Chinese people their jobs or not, I don’t know if the manufacturers in Italy or Scotland should be better off with my money, eventhough on a certain standpoint, Chinese people need it much more than Europeans do. I’d like to think I’m helping the Chinese, but who can really say? This is what I wish I knew more about the manufacturing industry…where does your dollar really go?

Total spent for 2009 closet: $100.00

It’s a beautiful smoggy morning in sunny California

Yes, smog is a huge problem in the state of California. An hour away from LA I could already see the smog hazily hanging over the rolling golden California mountains. The traffic is incredible, I’ve never seen so many cars in one area. However, spending much time here can easily make you forget that there’s smog in the air since you have to really be on the outskirts of the city to see it.

The state lives up to its “California Casual” looks with beach sandals, flowing white shirts, floral prints, and sundresses. Beachwear is a must in Santa Monica, especially since you’re so close by the ocean. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to sift through the local boutiques to check out the fashion.

San Francisco was a different story and climate altogether. It was pretty windy and chilly in San Francisco. With such cold weather, fashion statements here were fleece sweaters, and zipped up hoodies galore if you’re hanging out near Fisherman’s Wharf. However if you wind up downtown near Union Square, the atmosphere is totally different. During the day, the sun is hot and temperatures rise to 25C-30C, while throngs of people hustle and bustle the fashionable streets. Surrounding Union Square are loads of brand stores including Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the usual luxury stores like Prada.

Being that Holt Renfrew can’t quite compare to Neiman’s or Saks, I took a spin in both store looking for my one purchase for my trip. In San Francisco, I noticed the styles were geared towards a slightly more younger crowd at Neiman’s than the one I went in Houston. Neiman Marcus had a huge selection, but I deemed it too old and the layout too cold for me to sift through the clothes. I ran over to Saks Fifth Avenue afterwards and enjoyed their store way more. At Saks, they put brands together side by side giving you a continuous round of clothe sifting instead of seeing each brand separated by a wall.

Don’t Mess With The Zoran

Having heard of Zoran in “The End of Fashion” by Teri Agins, this elusive designer has no website to speak of but commands a loyal following. Certainly a website can’t do much justice to garments in general since you can’t touch them or zoom in on the details. So when I came across his collection at Saks, I immediately examined and pawed my way through his clothes. What impresses me most about Zoran isn’t his designs (that in itself is quite unique, they’re one size fit all) but the fabrics he used to make them. Incredible fabric! I’ve never touched anything so special in my life, one of them was a vest or coat with shiny, shiny fur pieces  (so shiny I’m debating whether it’s real fur or a type of fine synthetic thread) overlapping in sections. It’s hard to describe, but the fact that these pieces were sewn or glued on to sheer fabric made it all the more impressive. So it’s no wonder his shawls and coats were over $3000 a piece, but I need something with a bit more pizazz.

Alaia

After making rounds on the floor, that pizazz settled on Alaia, which I’m assuming is the brand that belongs to Azzedine Alaia. Now honestly, I don’t know much about Azzedine Alaia, neither of his shoes or his designs, I have no idea who this man is or what his design concepts are about. This is unimportant (in this case) as I don’t buy into brands anymore and don’t have loyalty to any particular one. The dress and skirt that I had found at Saks in San Francisco at Alaia is nothing short but breathtaking.

I didn’t check the name while I was browsing, I was simply attracted to that pure white colored dress, the fabric was out of this world. I personally like stiff fabrics, it demonstrates to me that it’s durable, has structure and won’t wrinkle very easily. I can’t even describe very well how this fabric felt- it was like it was tightly embroidered in flowery patterns (all in white, so you can’t really tell unless you’re upclose to it) and lined beautifully. The dress was sleeveless, and the skirt was a little bell-shaped, and the back of the dress had dozens of small metal hooks and a seamless zipper. What I would have given to have the chance to try it on, but knowing at a price tag of $3200, there was no point in putting it on. There was a waist skirt made of the same material and priced slightly lower at $2600. *sigh* Here I am touching the cream of the crop of fabrics and I can’t afford these incredible pieces unless I wanted to forgo a few month’s worth of salary.

Dejected, I went upstairs to the bridge collections, and after pawing through the best of fabrics a level below, going to the more affordable bridge collections felt like a jip. Though I have to say that bridge collections are more youth oriented, hence why they’re more affordable, but the quality in many of these pieces just isn’t the same. I pawed through several pieces by Phillip Lim, D&G, Alice + Olivia, but no good…that Alaia dress had me mesmerized to the core.

Theory

This brand had the office look going on that I liked a lot, and pawing through the fabrics made me realized that this brand had not too shabby fabric for some pieces. I tried on 2 dresses, one was a white and silver stripped shirt dress and the other was a little black dress that tied in the back. I loved the shirt dress a lot, it really did look like it was just a really long shirt and forgot to put a skirt on, I felt sexy in it even if it I was covered up to my knees. The black dress was nice too except I was battling the zipper and it was very difficult to get into the dress itself (not to mentioned that it was dirty with makeup and other stains I couldn’t identify). I refuse to buy clothes that I have to fight my way in, so I bought the shirt dress and to my delight, it was on sale. Originally priced at $315, it cost me $210 (and made in the USA).

So this wraps up my trip to the US and now I’m back in Montreal surfing the waves of the internet. By the way, you won’t be able to find Alaia and Zoran on Saks Fifth Avenue’s website, I’m assuming these are very prestigious collections that will probably never go on sale, so their pieces aren’t available for purchase online.

Image credits: Alaia dress from arts of fashion, saks fifth avenue

Having heard news that there were chances of thunderstorm in Las Vegas, I was prepared to spend my stay in dreary rainy weather. But no. What kind of meteorologist says that it’ll rain…in the desert. Take no heed to anyone who says it’ll rain in Las Vegas. Today I baked and toasted under the hot desert heat like an omelette on a grill.

I arrived yesterday to our modest but rather very large hotel 15 mins off the strip at South Point Hotel Casino & Spa. The rooms are large and comfortable, very clean, huge plasma screen and a great view over the hotel’s pool.

But enough about hotel and comfort talk, let’s talk fashion and shopping in Las Vegas.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Las Vegas is building CityCenter on the Vegas Strip right next to the Bellagio Hotel. It’s slated to open in 2009 and construction has already been underway and had progressed much faster than I had anticipated. This patch of land already has the infrastructure to a near completion, a few of the buildings are already halfway through putting on the glistening silvery windows. CityCenter will definitely stand out in the Strip as I noticed many other buildings may be flashy with lights, but many are covered in gold mirror like windows. CityCenter will be all silver mirrored.

Caesar’s Palace : The Forum Shops

Not exactly knowing why Caesar’s Palace was deemed la creme de la creme of shopping areas, I understood the moment I set foot in The Forum Shops. A gargantuan maze of marble floors, winding escalators at the entrance, fountain center pieces galore with painted sky domed ceilings, and well over 100 high end brand names including Emilio Pucci, Christian Lacroix, St-John, Roberto Cavalli, Tourneau (a luxury watch store) and even a huge Trojan horse at FAO Schwartz. Tourists crowd the Italy flavored hallways as they are mesmerized by the beautiful sculptures and captivating lighting. The luxury stores were scarcely empty except for the venerable Louis Vuitton store. However, it isn’t to say that they weren’t making any money. I’ve seen dozens of tourist carry shopping bags from Gucci and Dior.

In general the atmosphere was completely commercial, enticing shoppers to spend their precious money at every stop. It was very hard to resist even for someone like me to simply pass by.

Fashion Show Mall

This huge mall is more catered to the general public but remained less crowded than The Forum Shops. The main concept for this mall is that there is a huge center runway in the middle of the mall, with a control room on the 2nd floor which controls the lights above it. From what I saw on the screens, there are regular fashion shows at the mall and models strut down the runway. I call it the Vegas Panache. They always have to add a lil form of entertainment value.

Here you’ll find many generic mainstream brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Steve Madden, etc. There were also the high end department stores like Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, as well as the lower end like Macy’s and Dillard’s. There were a couple of stores that caught my eye, mainly a store I fancy called White House & Black Market. I especially liked their strapless bubble skirt dresses, and the quality looked satisfactory. My main problem with this store is the fit, just a tad too big even as a size 0. A shame, it’s a really lovely store.

Style? What style?

There’s not much to speak of in terms of fashion style in Las Vegas. Everyone’s wearing board shorts, thonged sandals and tshirts. Only at night can you see the few who bother to dress up for a night out on the town, but there’s nothing really relevant to say about American style dressing (sorry). From my experience so far, most American cities are not quite into fashion eventhough they have a huge spending purse for luxury goods. But like many affluent shoppers who love to buy luxury items, they can’t dress themselves to save their lives (I am being biased of course, but if you want a city with style I would say Montreal, Tokyo and New York are the most fashionable I’ve seen so far). I am hopeful that I’ll see more interesting styles in Los Angeles and San Francisco though.

I’m on current a mission to find toy slot machines, the kind that acts like a bank and also serves as an entertaining slot machine. Anyone happen to know where I can find one? It’s for a friend since she couldn’t make it to Vegas with me.

I’ll also be attending a Cirque du Soleil show called “Ka” at the MGM Grand. Originally I had wanted to see “O” at the Bellagio, but unfortunately they don’t play Mondays and Tuesdays. Oh well, at least just one show will be enough.

I’m going on a trip to Las Vegas, LA and San Francisco next week, and hopefully I’ll have enough time to properly blog this time. My trip to Japan was great, but I didn’t have any energy left to blog since I was exhausted of the 5hr walking trips I’d take every day.

Had I known that Las Vegas had signed a whopping $9 billion deal to create perhaps the most luxurious retail space in North America, I would’ve postponed my trip til next year. According to WWD, CityCenter is an 18 million square feet of commercial space that will include over 70 retailers, a 61-story, 4,000-room gaming resort; three luxury nongaming hotels, and a 5000 square foot “flower carpet” where flowers will be changed daily. CityCenter will feature The Crystals – 500,000 square foot of retail space. And I thought our H&M’s 15,000 square feet of space was big. Perhaps there’s a reason why I’m not in architecture right? Most of the well known luxury brands will take up space in this new project including a 10,000 sq.ft for Tiffany’s, and the second largest Louis Vuitton store in North America. Nevermind that many of these retailers already have several store locations in the city.

Frankly, I’m split two ways about it. One is that I’m majorily curious as to what these fanciful places look like (so far they all look the same either in the US or in Japan’s Ginza district). Plus, will they make a profit from all this construction? Second, $9 billion dollars? Is it really necessary to have a repeat of the same luxury retailers? Do you know where all that good money can be used for to help poorer countries? This is what’s contradicting of the luxury world, you have all this money, and you’re always seeking more of it when you very well know you could perhaps donate a few dollars – ok, thousands, hell, millions of dollars – for charities and such.

We will see next year. For now, I will be making rounds in Vegas and dutifully make observations on the shopping experience. I haven’t been to Vegas since I was 12, and back then I was confined to the Circus Circus arcades where I wasted many hours of my youth fending for raffle tickets that would get me at most a toy water gun. I was even told by my mum that the Golden Strip “didn’t exist” when I had asked her about it.

San Francisco should be lovely as I heard so many good things about it. My stop in the LA area would be more so on the beaches of Santa Monica, I’m not really interested in LA to be honest. All that Hollywood gossip is such a turn off.

Image credits: CityCenter (artist rendition)