Creative Customers

We got a very intriguing e-mail from Noelle, a Zazou customer in Pennsylvania:

"I have the animal print necklace I wore it as a top and it looked
great i was wondering if you wanted to use it on your website as another way
to wear it. Please email me if you would like to see the picture and use it.
thanks!"

The lovely Noelle.

Just to give you some perspective, this is what the piece looks like as a scarf:

Animal Print Necklace, $23, zazou.com

I have to say I LOVE it when customers find new ways to wear our scarves. Or hats, for that matter. Remember Carly from New Jersey?

Photo from thirtysomethingfashion.com

She slid the flower on our Wandering Flower Hat to the front and created a cool kind of 1920s Edith Beale/Grey Gardens vibe.

In Noelle's case, she took the solid strip that is normally worn behind the neck and made it a bandeau, twisting the rest behind her back and looping it over her head. The strands end up hanging in front like a loose belt.

This kind of ingenuity reminds me of meringue.

Separating egg whites, adding sugar and beating it into otherworldly clouds of deliciousness - how do you even come up with that?

Well, of course I had to try Noelle's method for myself. I used the same scarf but in the zebra pattern.

Noelle, you win this round.

Faux Fur or No Fur?

My husband tells this really old joke from Sesame Street:

"Is that shampoo?" He waits for me to respond even though I know the punch line.

"No, it's real poo!"

He still thinks this is hilarious at age 40.

Or maybe it was the Muppet Show?

Anyway, his joke keeps ringing in my head because in the Zazou Design Dept, we are thinking faux fur for Fall 11. (Faux fur/ sham-poo; I don't know.)

Faux fur dates back to 1929 and early versions featured hair from the Alpaca.

I guess they were considered "fake" since they were trying to imitate the traditional mink or beaver. But the furs were cheap and warm so designers continued to try to improve on them - mainly on changing the colors to ones not so reminiscent of an Alpaca.

Fast forward to the 1950s and better living through chemistry!

What a relief.

Acrylic polymers replaced Alpaca hair and proved to be much easier to work with: denser, more pliable and dye-friendly.

Fine.

And after going in and out of fashion for years, faux fur is back with a vengeance! Older faux furs (think 1980s and 1990s) were thought to look cheap, but modern technology is putting a luxe spin on them.

Stars everywhere are wearing this kind of funky, Soviet look. Which Russian designers refer to as "fish fur." (Fun Wikipedia Fact.)

Several Hollywood types have been showing up in faux fur:

Jennifer Lopez, faux fur vest.

The Olsen twins, one in a faux fur jacket. (There are so many pictures of these two together I think there should be an iPhone app. called, "Which Olsen is it?!" It could be the next "Angry Birds.")

Ke$ha, oversized faux fur vest.

There is, of course, a continued debate over whether faux fur condones real fur. I have a lot of girlfriends who feel compelled to blurt, "It's fake!" to anyone who compliments their fur pieces.

In other words, don't throw the paint!

In my book, fake fur is here to stay because it's:

1. Warm

2. Fun

- and -

3. Doesn't kill animals.

What do you think?

(You guys just go about your business.)

Blueberry Bandit At Large

You may remember my recent post about our mailbox theft. It included the raw security video that captured the whole wacky scene: a rotund, shiny, blue-clad woman crow-barring her way into our mailboxes.

Well!

Our local CBS news station also took notice. Last week KPIX TV's Linda Yee reported on the story, interviewing us about what is now being referred to as "The Blueberry Bandit."

Artist rendering.

Me surrounded by bona fide broadcasting professionals.

During the first part of the interview, Claudia and I loitered in the background, pretending to have a conversation. Well, see for yourself:

KPIX video here.

My shining moment included explaining how the checks were altered and pointing at them. (In two different shots - that's how it's done in the biz. I also kept throwing around the term "B-roll" like I knew what I was talking about.)

Claudia, Linda and KPIX camera man Don Ford.

I ended my spot with, "So that was a big pay day for them."

Ah, a phrase I wish I could take back. One that my husband now likes to repeat to me constantly. For example, driving in the car - someone cuts us off, he pauses and looks at me pointedly.

"So that was a big pay day for them."

At the grocery store, someone beats us to the shortest line. Same pause; same look.

"So that was a big pay day for them."

(Now I know how Gary Coleman felt with, "What you talkin' bout Willis?" Once you say something, you can never take it back.)

However, I am very proud of Zazou! Claudia interviewed like a pro. I love that she kept her sunglasses on throughout. Very rock star.

And I'm very happy that I managed to get Zazou's fingerless gloves in several shots.

I wore the leopard gloves above, except in snow leopard.

There is the old adage that all publicity is good publicity. I don't know if Zazou was helped by this little story (we were definitely hurt by the thefts) but - hey. It was fun to be on camera.

As for the Blueberry Bandit - I wonder if we could track her down based on her outfit. How many plus-sized blue pleather suits are sold anyway?

Bad Hair Day? Yeah, Right

Enyo breezed into work today and I had to take her picture.

She claims she was having a bad hair day so she tied one of our Vintage Sari Scarves around her head. I LOVE IT!

Side view #1.

Side view #2.

This side has the cute knot, with a crafty little rubber band holding it together.

Back view.

Isn't the scarf beautiful? I have become the unofficial champion of our Vintage Sari Scarves. There are so many colors and embellishments. Plus they are recycled!

It is easy being green.

Ah, the Vintage Sari Scarf. So many colors.

So little time.

Love From The Jersey Shore

The third season of MTV's Jersey Shore premiered to huge ratings last week. In case you are not a reality TV fiend like me (I read NOVELS, too, okay? Long ones.) it's a show chronicling a girl named Snooki and her hard-partying roommates.

Behold Snooki. She actually seems like a pretty sweet person millionaire. I hope she heeds Ellen DeGeneres' advice and doesn't blow all her money on gold toilets and unnecessarily elaborate drinks.

It got me to thinking about a much more stylish and sensible Jersey Girl who happened to pop onto my radar last month: Carly from www.thirtysomethingfashion.com!

Isn't she stunning in Zazou's Wandering Flower Hat?

Carly published a post about Zazou entitled "Zazou Lust... I mean Luxe!" talking about how she found Zazou in her aunt's little boutique, Andi's, in Bay Head, New Jersey (www.andisbayhead.com). One hat in particular won her over - the same Wandering Flower Hat she's wearing above.

She looked us up online and found a lot more to like.

She loved our leopard beret for $33!

And our Animal Print Necklace, $23, which she called "so unique."

It's all the more flattering when I found out Carly has quite the fashion pedigree, having working with big names like Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Nicole Miller. She started her blog early last year after taking a break from from her career to be a new mommy.

I love her blog because she pairs Old Navy dresses with Michael Kors. I love her blog because she looks so cute in everything she wears (also, I'm kind of in love with her eyebrows.) And, let's face it, I love that she loves Zazou.

From Carly's post:

"I immediately fell in love with [Zazou's] 20's vibe and the price tag was so friendly. Anxious to learn more about this brand Zazou Luxe I visited their site and fell in love with pretty much everything...AND...realized that I was wearing my hat the wrong way...Not sure I care...I really like the flower in the front."

Here's the model wearing the hat the "correct" way, but I gotta tell you - I think Carly's "mistake" looks fantastic.

And our other Jersey Girl, Snooki? Well, she can wear a hat too.

Though there is more wrong with this picture than just the hat. (Please, please put half of what you are making now into a sensible IRA account.)

The Ugly Side of Fashion

Something wicked happened outside of our offices in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

We was robbed!

At 3:35 am on Saturday, Jan. 9, a woman jumped out of a waiting SUV and did this:

Of course, we've been watching this video with mixed feelings of outrage, disbelief and - admittedly - a little amusement.

Some immediate observations:

1. The all electric-blue outfit. Scratch that, the SHINY, PLEATHER electric blue outfit, a la Eddie Murphy 1987.

This may have been an attempt to blend into the night? The all electric-blue night? (One Zazou staffer called her "Veruca Assault.")

2. Note the fall that happens about 33 seconds in. If I had the know-how, I'd make one of those remixes set to music. ("Free Fallin'?" "Mama Said Knock You Out?")

3. The solo railroad-handcar method demonstrated at 1 minutes and 18 seconds in. Impressive.

4. At 2 minutes and 5 seconds in, I think I detected a FANNY PACK.

We await details on catching this thief. But if you see a woman in blue with a fanny pack, please notify us immediately.

I guess things could be worse.

Behind the Spring Catalog Shoot

Our Spring fashion shoot brought back a blast from Zazou's past:

The amazing Jennifer Beaty.

Beaty was also our model back in 2007. When we heard she could fly to California and model for us again, we were ecstatic.

She walked in looking easy, breeezy -- you know. And besides having grown out her bangs and giving birth to a beautiful baby boy, three years hasn't changed her a bit.

Jennifer, circa 2007.

(I'm not sure of the male model's name but I love looking at his pictures because he kind of has that "mean guy from a high school movie" vibe. I just can't figure out who he reminds me of. Anyone?)

The other usual players were there.

Gentle and wonderful David Michaud, our make-up and hair guru.

He took a shine to our bamboo rib muffler and agreed - in exchange for a free sample - to model it for me.

His bird sweater says he's sweet but his raised eyebrow says he's a little dangerous.

Next up is the camera-shy Christopher Carroll, our designer.

Note you'll usually only see him from behind. The man has an uncanny ability to sense when a camera is pointed at him and does this:

No joke. Every single time.

Or he'll aim his iPhone at me, in a surprising "turning the tables" move that's hard to combat.

Rico Schwartzberg was there, a really big-time photographer who we have been lucky to work with for many years.

Seriously talented person. Check out his work at www.ricophotography.com.

The legs of Zazou owner Claudia Koch also made an appearance. She decided she didn't want to be photographed this day so this was the only shot I could get away with. (I didn't mind; I LOVED her tights and boots.)

(This would be a pretty sexy shot except for what looks like someone's pizza-stained napkin on the floor.)

Here's our catalog designer Mara Murray, who makes sure every scarf gets the perfect close-up.

She irons too! (Thanks Mara!)

And, last but not least, design-student/Zazou employee Enyonam. You may remember her as our assistant from the last shoot. This year she got to try her hand at styling and she kind of blew us away with her headscarf-tying prowess.

She pulled off this look in UNDER FIVE MINUTES. This was at the end of our day where every minute we went over would cost us a pretty penny.

The end result:

Ah, magic.

The main thing I noticed about this shoot was how calm it was. A mix of groovy music kept it mellow and it was one of those shoots where every photo on the monitor just worked.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that Jennifer has been modeling for - don't quote me here - but something like 20 years!

Looking back at her work from 2007 to today, I see she has honed some signature looks but still manages to make them fresh. Behold a professional at work:

Readying for a sit-down shot by the window.

The 2007 version.

A gravity-defying updo also made a repeat appearance. I watched David do it and I could tell it involved a headband but beyond that I was mystified. How did he get that kind of volume?

Okay, hair spray, but still!

The updo looks particularly fabulous with a head scarf. Cue Enyonam.

This is our optical stripe scarf. I'm kind of in love with its retro-but-not-retro quality.

There were few dramatic moments. Nobody's car broke down, nobody fell, everyone was on-time and in a good mood.

Me bonding with Enyo.

There were some cool paper lanterns to goggle at.

And David's make-up spread to marvel at.

Don't you just want to take a big purse and do a swipe and run? (Kidding David!)

Of course it wouldn't be fashion without a little criticism. Claudia did hate my shoes. And told me so. Several times.

Dansko Mary Janes. What can I say? I had to run around and iron about 100 scarves!

And take pictures for this magnificent blog post. :)

Our next photo shoot is right around the corner for - can you believe it? - Fall 2011. I am shopping for the perfect foot wear.

What do you think? Maybe the black is too conservative.