Third Thursday Thoughts, April 2017.
Is it me or is April flying by?! Heck, this entire year is flying so fast, so far. It is time for another brain dump or my monthly "Third Thursday Thoughts". Ready?! Pour yourself some wine or a cup of joe if you prefer and bear with me...
- So many stores and brands are closing down, what the 'F' is going on?! I was shocked to learn that "The Limited" was closing down towards the end of 2016. It had been one of my tried+true brands since I was 18 or 19. Their stores closed abruptly and if I knew I would have gotten more stuff during their 70% off sale from the last time I visited one of their stores. I was happy to know they would still function online, but that was only a few weeks. Then "Wet Seal" closed down - granted a store I don't shop at but still. I wasn't shocked with this one since "Forever 21", "Charlotte Russe" and other nicer fast fashion stores like "H&M" were all the rage these last few years. Plus, "Wet Seal's" higher-end sister store "Arden B" closed some years ago. I also learnt "American Apparel" stores are closing very soon and as if that wasn't enough towards the end of May, "Bebe" will close for good. Though I haven't shopped at "Bebe" in many years, I do own several cocktail dresses and beautiful and nicely-made 100% silk blouses from them. I also love their watches, handbags and wallets. My current 100% leather wallet is from there and I have been carrying it for 5 years and it has held up (and still does) so well. "J.Crew" - and this is shocking - isn't doing so well either. They have been closing many stores in the last few years and my local/closest to me store at a nice mall closed suddenly a couple of weeks ago.
- What is happening to brick and mortar stores guys?! What is the future of mall shopping or traditional shopping?! I know many (if not most of) bloggers shop online and get packages all the time - some that they buy and some that are gifted to them, but still, I do believe stores are important. I am one of those people who prefers and almost always shops at the store rather than online, with the exception of Target and I will tell you why, but perhaps in another post. I love entering a store and seeing clothes in person, touching them, feeling them, trying them on, seeing them/combining them with other clothes, etc, etc. I also love when other people (bloggers or not) do those mirror selfies and try-on sessions. They seem more real. With that said brick and mortar boutiques as well as a ton of online boutiques have satisfied our cravings for shopping especially in the last 5 years. A lot of these boutiques have unique things, but again if you dig you can find similar things at F21 and other alike stores. And yes, sometimes even at places like Target or Meijer's.
- My little girl turned 4 years and a quarter exactly, yesterday. She was born on January 19th 2013 for all of you who don't know. We had a small at home celebration for her 4th birthday this year and I still haven't gotten around to do a recap of it on the blog. To tell you the truth, I haven't even edited the photos. But I will have to select and edit some of them and I will finally do a post about that this Sunday.
- I have also been meaning to do some beauty posts on the blog. I am as low maintenance as they come when it comes to makeup (and hair for that matter). But that is not to say I don't like makeup or don't appreciate good things for my skin, my hair and my body. After all I am a lipstick hoarder. You all know how much I love lipstick, especially red. I probably own at least 7-8 red lipsticks. There is so many shades of red out there and so many great brands too, some at your local CVS and some at your high end department stores. With that said, I will will be sharing a hair product review that I have used for the last few months - again a post very late in the making but better late than never.
- I am in a huge need of a big and I mean BIG closet purge. I need to organize my closet, be very ruthless and get rid of a lot of things. It will be my late Spring+Summer project because I think I will get to it some by some each week. Once I get rid of things which will be organized in categories: things to sell at Plato's Closet or Clothes Mentor; things to take to Goodwill/Salvation Army; things to donate to friends/cousins; I will invest in all velvet hangers (I already purchased 25 of them) and good containers from the Container Store. I want to eventually build up my dream closet where everything will be organized by color, all the shoes shelved, all the jewelry in its containers/boxes, everything easy to see, pull out and wear. Like I said it is a lot of work but I am determined to do it this year. Though I am always super busy, I am not gonna lie.
- Every big blogger (and their mother) is writing/reporting/instagramming/snapchatting from the Reward Style conference this weekend. Everything in the pictures+videos looks beautiful and these ladies all look perfect too. Perfectly coiffed hair, beautiful makeup, gorgeous on trend modern outfits, stunning shoes, fun earrings, etc, etc. Is any of you who reads my small blog going to the Reward Style conference this weekend?! How does one get invited and is it free or do these things cost a fortune? Please tell me. Thank you.
And since tomorrow is Friday, I got the cutest Friday GIF to end up this post, today. Thank you all for reading and have a great weekend!!
- So many stores and brands are closing down, what the 'F' is going on?! I was shocked to learn that "The Limited" was closing down towards the end of 2016. It had been one of my tried+true brands since I was 18 or 19. Their stores closed abruptly and if I knew I would have gotten more stuff during their 70% off sale from the last time I visited one of their stores. I was happy to know they would still function online, but that was only a few weeks. Then "Wet Seal" closed down - granted a store I don't shop at but still. I wasn't shocked with this one since "Forever 21", "Charlotte Russe" and other nicer fast fashion stores like "H&M" were all the rage these last few years. Plus, "Wet Seal's" higher-end sister store "Arden B" closed some years ago. I also learnt "American Apparel" stores are closing very soon and as if that wasn't enough towards the end of May, "Bebe" will close for good. Though I haven't shopped at "Bebe" in many years, I do own several cocktail dresses and beautiful and nicely-made 100% silk blouses from them. I also love their watches, handbags and wallets. My current 100% leather wallet is from there and I have been carrying it for 5 years and it has held up (and still does) so well. "J.Crew" - and this is shocking - isn't doing so well either. They have been closing many stores in the last few years and my local/closest to me store at a nice mall closed suddenly a couple of weeks ago.
- What is happening to brick and mortar stores guys?! What is the future of mall shopping or traditional shopping?! I know many (if not most of) bloggers shop online and get packages all the time - some that they buy and some that are gifted to them, but still, I do believe stores are important. I am one of those people who prefers and almost always shops at the store rather than online, with the exception of Target and I will tell you why, but perhaps in another post. I love entering a store and seeing clothes in person, touching them, feeling them, trying them on, seeing them/combining them with other clothes, etc, etc. I also love when other people (bloggers or not) do those mirror selfies and try-on sessions. They seem more real. With that said brick and mortar boutiques as well as a ton of online boutiques have satisfied our cravings for shopping especially in the last 5 years. A lot of these boutiques have unique things, but again if you dig you can find similar things at F21 and other alike stores. And yes, sometimes even at places like Target or Meijer's.
- My little girl turned 4 years and a quarter exactly, yesterday. She was born on January 19th 2013 for all of you who don't know. We had a small at home celebration for her 4th birthday this year and I still haven't gotten around to do a recap of it on the blog. To tell you the truth, I haven't even edited the photos. But I will have to select and edit some of them and I will finally do a post about that this Sunday.
- I have also been meaning to do some beauty posts on the blog. I am as low maintenance as they come when it comes to makeup (and hair for that matter). But that is not to say I don't like makeup or don't appreciate good things for my skin, my hair and my body. After all I am a lipstick hoarder. You all know how much I love lipstick, especially red. I probably own at least 7-8 red lipsticks. There is so many shades of red out there and so many great brands too, some at your local CVS and some at your high end department stores. With that said, I will will be sharing a hair product review that I have used for the last few months - again a post very late in the making but better late than never.
- I am in a huge need of a big and I mean BIG closet purge. I need to organize my closet, be very ruthless and get rid of a lot of things. It will be my late Spring+Summer project because I think I will get to it some by some each week. Once I get rid of things which will be organized in categories: things to sell at Plato's Closet or Clothes Mentor; things to take to Goodwill/Salvation Army; things to donate to friends/cousins; I will invest in all velvet hangers (I already purchased 25 of them) and good containers from the Container Store. I want to eventually build up my dream closet where everything will be organized by color, all the shoes shelved, all the jewelry in its containers/boxes, everything easy to see, pull out and wear. Like I said it is a lot of work but I am determined to do it this year. Though I am always super busy, I am not gonna lie.
- Every big blogger (and their mother) is writing/reporting/instagramming/snapchatting from the Reward Style conference this weekend. Everything in the pictures+videos looks beautiful and these ladies all look perfect too. Perfectly coiffed hair, beautiful makeup, gorgeous on trend modern outfits, stunning shoes, fun earrings, etc, etc. Is any of you who reads my small blog going to the Reward Style conference this weekend?! How does one get invited and is it free or do these things cost a fortune? Please tell me. Thank you.
And since tomorrow is Friday, I got the cutest Friday GIF to end up this post, today. Thank you all for reading and have a great weekend!!
I had not idea that Limited was going out of business! Yikes! I think brands are focused more on online business. I have no idea how to invited to the Reward Style conference but hope to be there in the near future. Happy Friday Ada!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kathrineeldridge.com
I love a good closet purge...good luck!!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to Vivian! And yeah, I think that brick and mortar stores are finding it harder to keep up with online shopping. Also everyone is so "busy" that online is just popular. Thanks for linking up with Jennie and I for Fabulous Friday!
ReplyDeleteNina
aworldofdresses.com
Sad a lot of stores are closing. A lot has to do with Amazon and other online retailers owning the market. So much so stores are going the way of the dodo, that doesn't mean all stores will go out. The ones that are probably didn't have the ecommerce to support their transition. H&M has a good site and with amazons competitive pricing it is hard for say stores like that to stay alive. Stores like target and Walmart continue to do well because they grew with the times. Sad to see so many stores going,
ReplyDeletewow.. I did not know about Arden B, The Limited, Wet Seal and Bebe all closing! I was sad when Delia's closed....
ReplyDeleteBut since I did not know they closed, it just shows that I am one of the reasons why they did. I am now an online shopper.
As for Jcrew, the quality has gone down and they sell pretty much the same stuff. But sad if they have to close too because they are not doing well.
Ada, it truly is sad to hear so many of these brick and mortar stores closing. I agree shopping in store is just a whole different experience. I used to shop at bebe too and like you have some pieces from them that I will probably never part ways with. As for the reward style conference....I've never been invited. And I stopped using reward style and switched over to shopstyle (don't know if that was the best idea lol). Happy four and a quarter birthday to your sweet Vivian! :) P.S. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and for your sweet suggestion Ada! Need to get working on that!
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame when stores close down, I suppose online shopping has an impact. I was really shocked to hear that Jaeger has gone into administration. I so need to do a closet purge but I'm a terrible hoarder!
ReplyDeleteEmma xxx
www.style-splash.com
Its amazing to see all these empires of big brands closing and to think all the jobs being lost.. we're watching retail history in the making.
ReplyDeleteThanks for post:
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