Ageless Diva Reaches a Certain Age…

No, this is not a reference to me but rather an article in the NY Times about Cher. It’s curious that this article about Cher came out the same week the FT put out a special magazine “Women at the Top – The Top 50 Women in World Business”. That women reach the CEO suite is notable, maybe that women get to the top in show business is not so newsworthy although enduring as Cher has is certainly worthy of comment.

Both the Cher article and the women in the FT magazine offered some valuable tips – stuff we know but always nice as a refresher. Maybe you can guess which came from Cher and which came from FT?

- Know your own limits.

- Women succeed better in a positive ecosystem rather than an ego-system.

- Some crimes are cool and some crimes are uncool – it’s better to be a heroin addict, go away to rehab than to be caught for shoplifting.

- What you don’t know is so much more important than what you do know

- You learn more from bad than good experiences

- Where you are is not who you are

Whether it is Cher , Andrea Jung, Irene Rosenfeld or Ursula Burns , they are inspiring ,as are all of you women who are a success in your own right.

On the cutting edge - I Am!

I think I know fashion – discuss amongst yourselves. My keen sense of fashion has once again been validated. Recently, I was shopping with a dear friend when I saw one of the coziest, softest throw blankets. I picked one up, wrapped it around my shoulders and declared that I was buying said blanket to wear as a shawl. My firiend looked at me in horror (a look with which I am all too familiar) and said she was going to perform a fashion intervention and forbid me to go with my whim. However, I read today that at a recent fashion show, Phoebe Philo “daringly wrapped a woven cotton blanket over a full-length red dress with a gold Cleopatra choker…” I rest my case. I am off to the store to buy some throw blankets to go with all my formal wear.

Noisy Chip Bags...No Joke!

Frito-Lay is pulling most of the biodegradable packaging for Sun Chips snacks because poeple complained the new bags were too noisy. They are going to go back to the nondegradable packaging. Excuse me?? Too noisy? Are thousands upon thousands of people eating the chips in a quiet zone? Libraries? the quiet cars on the Acela? How can the noise of opening a chip bag effect your experience of eating the chips? This has gone too far at the expense of our environment. Don't we want to push consumer product makers and everyone else for that matter to be more eco-friendly? Apparently "consumers" have posted videos on the Web and "fierce complaints" on social networking sites. My guess is that it's not "consumers" that have posted the complaints but rather one or two of the 14.9 million unemployed people in the US who have nothing better to do with their time than mess with noisy chip bags. And if Frito-Lay were smart marketers, they would address the complaints and turn it into an opportunity for their brand.

Only in the US...

Following is a link to the article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703843804575534182403878708.html?mod=ITP_marketplace_1

Bangs and stuff

That's gonna be the title of my new book, but that's a story for another day.

Did anyone else catch the following review of RL's new collection below:

Ralph Lauren tapped his vision of the American West, with a collection that included fringed deerskin jackets, silk georgette dresses and beaded skirts in a palette of neutrals and metallics. As if to illustrate the day to night adaptability of his looks, Mr Lauren paired a fringed beaded skirt with a plaid work shirt. His style captured the modern American woman’s jumbled-up approach to dressing.

REALLY? I am offended. I mean I have been known to wear things I have purchased at Mandees however a "jumbled up approach to dressing"?? C'mon, I think there is a challenge in here somewhere. I may have to begin wearing Brioni as his imagined muse is "a middle class woman, but with a dark side".

What do they expect - look what we have to work with...skinny jeans, jumpsuits...need I say more? The real problem is that fashion retailers target the WRONG market - they all go for the under 30 market. FYI, the fastest-growing segment of Facebook users is women over 55 and most online retailers still cater to the younger set. In fact, 65% of online apparel sales to to women over age 35.

I'm just sayin....