Only in AMERICA!

Artist's booth

It's holiday time and I am happy!

Soon, we'll get a few days to celebrate with our families and friends, to enjoy some good company, good food and catch up on all those things we were 'too busy' to talk about during the year. I did a bit of shopping today in Bryant Park, where they cover the park with an ice skating rink and a wonderful christmas 'village' filled with little booths.

Each vendor stays there for these few weeks to sell their goods to New Yorkers for christmas gifts. Some of the booths are little one-person operations, but Kate Spade has a whole igloo!

Staffed by college kids, or sometimes the artist, these booths are such an inspiration to me. They remind me what makes life in our country so great- anybody (yes ANYBODY) can start their own business, make a product, a food or provide a service and you can get customers.

Bryant Park Ice Rink

These customers buy your stuff, which makes you smile. The customers give you the cash to pay your workers, pay yourself, feed your family and pay your taxes (ugh!), and they give you feedback and tell you if they like your product or if they hate it. When they do so, you go home and work harder to make sure they love it, so more people will buy your jewelry and you will smile even more.

I was told by our factory in Providence, Rhode Island that all the workers are working one extra day per week this season in order to make enough Roberta Chiarella jewelry for us to meet all of the orders. Can you imagine, you guys are buying enough to enable all these workers to get a nice extra paycheck this holiday season. Isn't that totally wonderful!

Bob, who owns the factory was smiling when he told me this today. The workers themselves are smiling as they work, knowing they will be able to buy more gifts and toys for their kids and make their families more proud of them. This is so much better than a 'government stimulus', it is the way the country should be, every day. Thanks to free enterprise and competition, we do our best so that you buy our stuff. This year, you are buying- and I sincerely thank you. Our staff thanks you. The hard-working folks at our factory in Rhode Island thank you, too! Ciao!

It's a wrap! Fashion Week says goodbye

It's fashion week (or week and a half) and New York is filled with designers, models and lots of fashionistas. Magazine editors, web and other media reporters wait on line to get into the tents, set up at Bryant Park for the spectacular Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Today we saw the Tommy Hilfiger collection presented, and some interesting fashion- body painting!

The major collections have all been shown, Justin Timberlake showed his collection yesterday and it was quite the scene. There are a few final presentations and shows tomorrow, and the people associated with making this all look so good are still here, with the hair stylists, seamstresses and accessories designers and merchants all around the area.

I love to be there, I love the excitement and fun of the crowd and the reporters and photographers huddled everywhere, studying everything that is going on.

You have to laugh when photographers swarm some smartly dressed guy or gal, snapping a million photos, then they go up to the person and ask "are you anyone famous". I was just as guilty, pointing my camera at someone here and there, then asking who was that? Other photographers stalk the limos, stand on tables, chairs and fences hoping to get a shot of some hot model or wealthy runway patron. Of course, it's not hard to find some famous people, it's New York!

The shows end each day with a bittersweet announcement, once the tents come down this year, they won't be back. The shows will move to Lincoln Center next year, and leave Bryant Park. It is a huge change for the industry, as the park is at the edge of the garment center, a district that produces some of our most famous clothing lines, and is home to Fashion Institute of Technology, the home of Project Runway and the source of lots of talented future designers. There are less and less fashion houses in the area these days, so many jobs have gone overseas and real estate prices force little merchants out of business or onto the internet.

So, next year we'll be hanging out in front of the Metropolitan Opera house, hopefully still enjoying the magic of viewing the collections that will be worn by movie stars, millionaires and fashionistas everywhere. Ciao!

Sleighbells are ringing in New York City

I love New York at Christmastime! So many tourists, enjoying all the wonderful decorations, the lights, the attractions and the shopping! I took some time last evening to get some of my shopping done, and made my way down fifth avenue, where the store displays at Saks and Lord & Taylor are legendary.

Every year they seem to get more and more interesting, and the people strolling and shopping just love them. Of course, you have to push your way through sometimes, but I was able to buy a few gifts and then took a walk through Bryant Park with my camera, trying out some available light photography.

They've put up a temporary winter playground, complete with outdoor fireplaces which were all in use by folks having a drink and some snacks.  Every year they set up a shopping village, with all kinds of handcrafted items, and lots of glassware, winter wear and neat holiday items. And there's an Ice Palace Bar! 

I saw a TV show about finland or norway, where they build a bar out of blocks of ice, and people wait on line to get in, the place was lit in blue and although the guests had to be freezing, they looked like they were having a great time. Bryant Park built a more melt-proof structure adjacent to the ice skating rink, complete with a balcony overlooking the ice, and a giant heater over each table.

Unbelievably, it was not there a month ago, it's put up for the holidays and disappears after new years! Only in New York.

I finished up by walking through Rockefeller Center, the christmas tree is New York's most famous, and the crowds so thick you can barely move. I love it, though, because it is so festive, and it's free! I stopped for a moment and a couple asked me to take their photo, I put my package down on the ledge and obliged them, and then went on my way. A few minutes later, while I was admiring the swarovski star on top of the tree, I noticed the same couple running towards me to give me the bundle I'd forgotten! My faith in angels renewed, I continued on my merry way to Henri Bendel's to check out the Roberta Chiarella jewelry counter, making sure it's fully replenished for that last minute rush.

Even though the economy is not great, people are shopping, and we're doing our part, putting lots of items on sale and offering gift wrap and other specials for our customers. The Angie Earrings have been doing so well, we've reordered from the factory and have plenty in stock.

We'll pack and ship like crazy, to make sure everyone gets their gifts on time. We want everyone to have their present christmas morning, it's a promise I made to Santa!  Ciao.

The tent is up, it's fashion week in New York

I walked past Bryant Park last week, as the workers were erecting the giant white tent on the lawn, and realized summer is really over! The weekly movies shown at dusk are gone, and fashion week is here. The top designers (and a few well-funded others) are presenting their spring 2009 collections at what they are now calling "Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week". We get to see America's most recognized designers — Ralph Lauren, Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Donna Karan.



Today, I went to check out the action at Vera Wang's event, as the wedding styles she is showing will certainly need jewelry to complement her designs!

We have some other designers like Tracy Reese, Phillip Lim and Yigal Azrouël showing who are building their brands, and the Project Runway finalists will show their collections on Sept 12th. One of the show's former participants, Malan Breton, will have a show of his work as well. You might not remember him, he was kicked out after only the third episode on season three, but he is here with his collection this week. Christian Siriano is here too, with a maternity line, of all things.

New York's fashion week is a major stage where new and established designers will make a statement. All kinds of other statements are made as well, with protesters on Sunday taking issue with Donna Karan's use of fur,
and some non-anorexic women were out on the sidewalk, angrily taking issue with the fashion industry's fixation on thin bodies.
Chanting, "Curves on the catwalk," they had signs saying "Hire Me! I Can Walk!". Today, in addition to fashion, there is Reverend Park's bible crusade going on in Bryant Park, which looks so beautiful this time of year. His supporters (in stylish attire, of course) mingle with the fashion crowd, handing out invitations to passers-by.

Karan's show was remarkable for the presence of (hold your breath here) jumpsuits and rompers. These garments have been seen in the spring 2009 collections from others, with some on the runway of BCBGMaxAzria and Yigal Azrouël. The actual look is different from runway to runway, but you have to wonder what's up with these clothes?

Donna Karan's show on Sunday was a celebration of 20 years of DKNY, and featured some modernized looks from the '80s. She showed a number of romper-like shorts that were fluffed out at the top of the thigh. They were cute, but nobody I know over 20 can wear these.

The rest of us enjoyed the jumpsuits that would look and feel better on an 'adult' body. Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham unveiled a short, boyish new haircut to go with her new fashion line this week as well. Her small collection is made in a London atelier and will be produced in very limited quantities. I kept thinking-Wouldn't she look great wearing my earrings!

Another hot ticket is for Justin Timberlakes runway extravaganza. With celebs like Jessica Simpson and Jessica Biel wearing their William Rast jeans, his show will have one of the most star-studded audiences of the week. If you are here in town, it's fun just to walk by the tents, the music is throbbing, limos come and go, and you can probably get a glimpse of a star or two, rushing in or out of the fashion event of the year. Ciao!