The "Denim Glut," and is it real!

Hi Jennifer: As your humble west coast correspondent for all things fashion, fun and glamorous, I have done the research you asked me to do on the “Denim Glut” that has been so talked about for the past year. I visited around a half dozen stores and boutiques In Los Angeles and have spoken to the owners and managers about the high cost of premier denim brands and their loss of popularity. I also spoke with shoppers on the street and in the malls about the brands of jeans they buy and how these savvy women see the trend. Granted, this is not a conclusive survey by any means but it’s very telling of the trend and was extremely informative. I had no idea what to expect!

It seems that “7-for-all-mankind” is still the king of the premier denim lines with True Religion, and Citizens of Humanity following close behind but all of them have seen their sales dramatically decrease with the economic slowdown. Many store owners and managers have cut back on these lines with some cutting them completely from their inventory and open-to-buy. The common phrase was, “. . . . nobody wants to spend $250+ on a pair of jeans anymore!” And, “. . . they don’t sell like they used to . . . “ It appears that these lines just got to big and saturated. Store owners became tired of the brand and so did the customers. My research showed that the corporate office of “7” has even reduced their prices and even the newer items are dramatically cut in price.

I also discovered that wearing a premier denim line just doesn’t mean that much anymore, at least to the women I spoke to. It used to be a huge status symbol but they now view premier denim as a “been-there-done-that” kind of thing. They still want to look nice but they don’t want to spend the money anymore. I have to say that I was surprised by what I heard but not shocked.

The store owners and shoppers apparently believe that anything over a $100 is too much money for today’s stylish shopper. For the average shopper it appears that value is now more important then status.

The bottom line was this; no store owner wanted to get the premier line in and immediately mark it down 20-30% just to move it out the door. Wow! Now that was a surprise. So it’s true, there was a denim glut but not the way I thought it was going to be. There wasn’t too much denim just too expensive.

Thanks for the assignment Jennifer. It was incredibly fun and I look forward to the next one.

Lynn, Los Angeles.

Cute T's!

I love just throwing on a t-shirt in a hurry for class and getting compliments on how cute it looks. But I always think to myself 'why are people completing me, I just rolled out of bed'! That's the beauty of cute graphic T's. They make you look put together (even when you're not!), and they are so fun that they always catch someones eye.

My favorite one is the Miss Me "Flying Heart" Top. The shiny silver and rhinestones are so cute! I love the burnout look. It's fun to wear different colors underneath t-shirts like this for a different look every time. I have a perfect little grey tank top I can wear under everything and anything! I couldn't live without it!

-Julie

Chaudry "Printed Short" Skirt

How cute is this skirt!?!? How cute is this top!?!?

I love that this Chaudry "Printed Short" Skirt can be worn both ways, it's very convenient! It would be the perfect piece of clothing to take with me this summer on vacation. I could find a third useful way to use it too...a swim suite cover up :)

Kalyn

Shoulder Pads

I guess you could say that I’m slightly obsessed with Rihanna.
Every time she is photographed her cool rocker vibe style amazes me. She's always very put together and I'll have to say that I’m quit jealous of her wardrobe!
Rihanna can basically pull off any look, she was spotted partying at West Hollywood’s Bar Delux on Thursday wearing this lace top with shoulder pads! I don’t think that many people can get away with wearing shoulder pads but…of course she can!

What do you think...will you be wearing shoulder pads if they make a huge come back?

Jessica

No Surprise on 'Idol'

Well almost! Quirky jerky perky Megan survived another week and I now believe it's because she's so gorgeous and weird that we need to keep her around with hope that she dramatically improves. She makes for great television because I tune in just to see what she'll do next. I've only seen her have one good performance and Randy Jackson called her last performance a "train wreck." I'm not sure but it looked like Megan may have thought that was a compliment.

Adam Lambert (left) was safe. Thank God! Look at him! He's gorgeous! When it gets down to this level the fans can find a favorite and vote off the competition. I get nervous at this level because 16 year old Allison Iraheta is a young girls favorite and nothing will stand in their way. Not even Adam Lambert.


Michael Sarver was voted off and it was time for him to go. He's a gentleman and respectful but his talent level just wasn't high enough. He was asked to sing his last song to see if he could save himself right after Stevie Wonder did his rendition. He started to laugh and said, "I have to follow Stevie Wonder?" He sang and it was better then the night before but not good enough to save him.

Matt Giraud was the surprise of the night. When I saw him in the bottom three I was shocked. He can play the piano, he can sing, and he has showmanship. Why he was their is because he's not the fans favorite. Talent has nothing to do with it now. Well, not completely but the young girl vote in America is a tough thing to beat.

That's all for now, Jennifer. I'll talk to you later!

Lynn, Los, Angeles

My "Weekly Favorite" Item. . . !

Some of my favorite things I often assume are every one's favorite things. Recently, I was getting a 'mani' and a 'pedi' with a friend and I was shocked the salon didn't use Seche Vite. I very quietly mentioned this to my friend, who replied, "what's Seche Vite?" I couldn't believe my ears!

Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat is undoubtedly the finest, fastest and shiniest top coat I have ever used. The secret behind the patented formula is how it penetrates through the nail lacquer to the base coat forming a single solid coating over the nail plate. Not only will your nails dry ridiculously fast you will have the most gorgeous gloss you've ever seen! Apply this top coat immediately following your last coat of color. Reapply any time to have that "I just had a mani" look!

It's my favorite item giveaway this week, and that's not all! I'm also adding my favorite nail color from the Spring OPI collection! Seche Vite retails for $10 and is available in nail salons across the US. I'm sharing this favorite of mine along with a gorgeous nail color to every order placed online! (while supplies last) Be sure to enter promo code "sechevite" at checkout.

If you have any questions regarding this product or anything else on jlamore.com send me an email or call me toll free 866-631-3880. I would love to hear from you.


Jennifer

Next exciting event... Britney Spears!

I'm heading to the Britney Spears concert next weekend in Minnesota! I'm so excited...I've been waiting to see her on tour since I last saw her in, what, 2001 or so?! It's been too long, Britney!


What to wear to the concert! Everything in the new Rock Star Style category would be great for a concert, but for Britney I want to be a bit more girly and flirty rather than a rocker look. I'm thinking something like the Susana Monaco "Madeleine" Top. I could pair it with leggings and black boots with a jacket. It'll be nice to have a tank top to wear when I'm dancing all night at the concert!

-Julie

Lauren Conrads clothing line

Lauren Conrad is planning to take a couple seasons off from her clothing line :( I'm a Hills fan, so I'm a little sad.

She did take time to blog about the issue saying "I learned so much in the past year and I want to apply that to the improvement of my clothing line. I also wanted to make some changes in production so I would be able to lower the price point. That being said, I am actually really excited about beginning this process."

I'm also excited to see her new improved line! TEAM LAUREN :)

Jessica

Celebrities love Miss Me

Ashley Greene, one of the many stars from the movie Twilight and the upcoming sequel New Moon was trying on Miss Me clothing at their showroom in L.A. on March 5th! It's good to know that celebrities have the same taste as us here at J.Lamore :)

Jessica

Miss Me "Embroidered" Jumper

Hi J.LaMore shoppers! I was just browsing through the What's New and instantly noticed this cute Miss Me "Embroidered" Jumper. This embroidery is really beautiful and I'm loving the colors against the black. I have a pair of great wedges that I bought from J.LaMore a couple of years ago that will look fabulous with this :) Very exciting!

Kalyn

Adam Lambert rocks on American Idol!

Hi Jennifer and friends: Last night's American Idol was amazing and interesting at the same time. My favorite female singer, Meagan Joy Corkrey was absolutely gorgeous. She is so beautiful that it's a complete shame she cannot sing to save her life!

This is what I would say to her; "I'm sorry Meagan, its true. You would be better off just standing there looking gorgeous doing nothing but smiling in a cute dress then to go out there and try to sing and dance. By the way, you can't dance either. . . . "

But the amazing singer of the night and the new front runner is, Adam Lambert. His rendition of "Tracks of my Tears" was unbelievable! Amazing! Incredible! He cleaned himself up, slicked his hair back and didn't have finger nail polish on and had an Elvis kind of look with a little Kurt Russell mixed in. He looked amazing in his silver suit and had more stage presence then any other performer of the night along with Allison Iraheta.

The theme for the night was 'Motown' and I was hoping for all the great songs of the past. They even brought out Smokey Robinson to help the contestants with their songs. Although I love Smokey and all his songs but he was very kind to all the singers when they came in when they sounded bad or had bad ideas about a song. Smokey even offered advice on some lyrics that Danny Gokey should add to his song and when Gokey sang the song he left out the lyrics and had the back up vocals sing the lyrics. I was stunned!

I'm working on trying to find out who owns the house the contestants are staying at. It looks amazing!

Lynn Los Angeles.

"Perk & Work" Article

My husband and I were watching a news program last night when he commented on a gorgeous attorney who was a guest on the show. He said to me, "man, her eyes are really freaky." "No kidding" I replied, "it's all the botox she's had, her face isn't moving."

Believe me, while I've not had any "work" done, I'm not against it in the least bit. It just seems that there are times when it gets taken too far. Case and point with the gal on the news program. She was gorgeous, but looked so lifeless.

Today, I came across an interesting article in the April issue of Vogue Magazine. In the article titled, "Perk & Work" the author, Sally Singer, acknowledges the extreme measures women are taking to look absolutely perfect. "With advances in medical procedures, fatalism (i.e., you work with the body that nature gave you) has given way to a different idea: You work the body that nature gave you." She continues on to say, "manufactured bodies are everywhere now."

The article moves on to discuss the challenges fashion designers face with our ever changing bodies. Which body type will be popular the next few years? Large breasts? Small breasts? Bootylicious? Not so bootylicious? Fashion designer Zac Posen notes, "Pieces are being rebuilt to a whole new body proportion."

All of this made me wonder, what is it that drives us to augment, needle poke, and resurface our bodies? Why does my friend think her lips are never big enough? Or my other friend worry so much about the lines around her mouth? Why do I wish my breasts looked better in a halter top? Who or what is driving us to perfection? I'm not against it, I'm just curious how we got here.
Jennifer