Holding tight..

 I, like everyone else I know, are not spending like they used to.  Doesn't mean they can't, they just won't.  It isn't great for the retailers but it is good for everyone else.  Spend what you have and what you need not what you want.

In the last day, I have for the first time stepped into a few stores to take a look.  I'm going away next week where the weather is a bit cooler and I bought a few items, mostly items that can be worn over and over until spring.  Also, one offs.  Certainly my best purchase was my last purchase but I find myself wearing things over and over again that I just love and working with less.  I am liking it. 

Last weekend we have a bar mitzvah to go to and one weekend prior to the event my friends were discussing what we were going to wear.  It was very different from the conversations of the past.  This was more about, remember that dress I wore to such and such, I am going to wear that again.  Ooh, I loved that dress, you should wear it again and so on.  It was actually refreshing.

The stores in NYC are hopping this week because of fashion week.  I stepped into Jeffrey's today and they have a really cool exhibit.  To celebrate the 10 years Jeffrey has been in the Meat Market  – I can't believe it has been 10  years – they have taken 2 cases and filled them with dolls, that look like Barbie and Kens, wearing handmade outfits from particular designers that they carry.  They are being auctioned through a silent auction with all the proceeds going to AIDS and Breast Cancer.  The dolls are fantastic.

Ideas like this is what will get customers into the stores and if they are lucky make a purchase.