H.U.G.E.

I'd like to introduce you to someone:

Oh, no, it's not really about Julia or Vivienne at all. It's about the fact that she's an incredibly happy, satisfied, loyal customer. One that is so happy, she'll spread the word about her experience with your products, service, and helpful staff to influential people. And to the competition...

Famous Last Words:

"Hi. I was in your shop the other day, remember me? 
You refused to help me. 

Big Mistake. H.U.G.E. "

(and if you have no clue what this is about, rent the movie 'Pretty Woman' and watch for the 'Shopping on Rodeo Drive' segment. LOTS of helpful retail info in there.)

The lesson? Treat every customer as an important customer, because they ARE. My friend & blog reader 'Bacchus' says it this way: "Treat every customer like they can spend a million, you never know which ones will."

Image Credits: Touchstone Pictures on IMDB, via Google image search

Storage, Design, and Coming Out of the Closet...

It's amazing how something small can trigger a memory...
I was perusing one of my fave design blogs, Coco+Kelley, and came upon this post. It's really about closet design for small spaces (unlike Ms. Mariah Carey Cannon up there... her shoe closet alone is bigger than some of my client's STORES, for heaven's sake), but something in the story and this photo below made me laugh:

The comment in that post is about putting your nicer clothing on display in your home, as a way to add storage when all you have is a small closet. ...along the lines of "Think of it as treating your home like a boutique!" This unleashed a flood of memories for me. You see, way back in my junior high days, just as I was beginning my foray into retail display work at my mom's gift shop, I set up my bedroom like a retail store.... yep, folks, I'm coming out of the closet (pun intended) about this lifelong retail design obsession.

I was inspired by one of my favorite mall stores, 'Casual Corner'. (OK, now, be kind...I was in junior high and the mall was important!) I took many of the ideas I had seen in that store and recreated them: groupings of my jewelry on stacks of books and in shoes on a huge 6X6 cubed shelf unit, folded sweaters in rainbow stacks in my closet, and perfectly styled outfits hung on a pegrack on the wall. On one wall , I had a giant bulletin board that was covered with magazine pages of fashion and decor that I loved.

I was so proud of my room! No one else 'got it', of course, but it was my way to express my new-found appreciation of retail display. I had a lot of fun constantly rearranging the bed and shelves and dresser - and every accessory on them - to create new looks.

By the time I reached high school, my room was an explosion of school colors and all of the paraphernalia that comes with being a teenager and involved in school activities. (Actually, it looked a lot like the School Student Store.... sorry, I digress...) But for two creative years, it was literally a laboratory where I could test, explore, and play with visual ideas that I had seen in magazines & stores. Which, of course, was a precursor to my studio & home today.

Some things never change..... ;0)

Photo Credits: all from Coco+Kelley blog

Eddie-isms

Eddie really delivered some zingers onTop Design last night.
Let's revisit a few of his 'best' moments, shall we?

"I've flown on Martha Stewart's JET! How many people can say that they've flown on Martha Stewart's JET?" sigh. (thinking: 'I AM the best.')

"I don't know where it comes from. Just a gift from God, I guess!!!"
(thinking: 'And I spell God M-A-R-T-H-A'.)

"I don't need someone to tell me it's good. It's my JOB to know when it's good. And it's always good. I work for the BEST, for God's sake."
(NOT thinking: 'Wearing this shirt on camera will bring on a slew of laundry lessons from Martha, and possibly a visit from Tim Gunn....')

"Preston is a whooooooole lotta' talk..but not much to back it up."
(thinking: "Oh crap. I'm screwed.")

(thinking: 'PHONED IT IN???PHONED IT IN???? Are you KIDDING me? I work for Martha Stewart!!!!')

"Well, of course everyone is entitled to (my...I mean...)their...opinion. But I know plenty of people who would LOVE that room." (thinking: 'like Martha....and I am SO going to get a raise for mentioning her so much.')

And finally, "A gay's gotta' do what a gay's gotta' do." (thinking: 'Preston is better than me. But he can't be better than me, because I AM the best and I work for the BEST. So I have to do everything I can to sabotage him so I'll win and not be the laughing stock of MSLO when I go back to work....').

Poor Eddie. He just can't help being such a horse's arse, so I just think of him as the south end of Mr. Ed. (Yes, THAT Mr. Ed.) I had the thought that he'll be mighty embarassed when he doesn't win and goes back to work - but then I quickly realized that Eddie's super-sized ego will never accept that. He'll go back to MSLO as bombastic and precocious as ever, maligning the taste of the judges and announcing his superior intellect forever. And no one will notice a thing, because they all know that this is just Eddie. EquusRumpus Bombasticus.

Image Credits: All photos from Bravo TV's Top Design

And Another Thing.....

OK, so Bacchus and I are having a convo about DesignStar contestants in the last posts' comments, and I thought I'd bring it up here into a new post...

He's bugged by the gays on the show acting straight by saying 'I don't have a wife at home' and ignoring their partners by not acknowledging them on camera. Kind of like when Hilary Swank forgot to thank her husband on Oscar night... OOOpsie. Excuse me, but your disrespect is showing.

I'm bugged by the gays on the show acting like cartoon stereotypes, whether by their own choice or network dictate. (A caveat: I do not include Sparkle Josh from last season in this category. Nope. He's the real deal! If it wasn't for his accent, I'd wonder.) I was incredibly bothered by one contestant on another show - Shear Genius - going ON and ON and ON about the beautiful wife he had at home. As if to say "I am the only male hairstylist here who is NOT GAY but I can't say that out loud so I'll drop 'my wife' into every line I utter..." I am just so frustrated by it even being an issue. Gay, not gay, whatever. These are competitions of skill and talent, are they not? Living arrangements, sexual preference, number of or absence of children, annual income, credit rating - non-issues!!!!

But I'd like to steer this in a parallel direction: Do you believe what you see?

Are those characters real - flaws and all, intensified by close quarters, timelines, no sleep because Matt snores like Mr. Deb, and stress? Or are they manipulated by carefully-edited footage to support a dramatic build in tension through the season? (One could ask this question of any reality show.) It's television. What do YOU think? Reality Schmeality.

I mean, Tracee just bugged me from day one. She's the kind of designer... ummmmmmmm.... decorator...... that people think of when the term 'DIVA' is used. (Yes, you hear me shuddering) But in all honesty, is she really like that? Is she really a hothead self-absorbed irresponsible troublemaker? I seriously doubt it. At least, she's not that way ALLLL of the time, which is what the show implied. Even though she wreaked havoc, she wasn't eliminated - why? Because there is no decorating without drama, people! They had to build her rep as the beeotch, and then keep her on to stir it up. How sad is that? I mean, this woman has a family, a business to return to...will this portrayal damage her reputation and affect her business? Will clients avoid her because they think she is a P.I.T.A. to work with? Will her kids be hanging their heads in shame at the way the world views mommy?

I've heard more than a few times from friends and clients that I should enter the DesignStar competition. Yes, I possess the ability to handle the design work. But it's the fallout that scares the bejesus outta' me. I may be more Jennifer than Tracee, but I am scared to death of which 'character' in the drama they'd cast me as: the beeotch, the ditz, the whiner, the perky one (not so bad, actually), the den mother, or the Diva - and I mean that in the worst way.