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Why Did You Wear That: Loungin’

By |June 23rd, 2011|Why Did You Wear That?|

I’ve never met a romper I didn’t like.  When I encounter people who don’t “understand” the romper, I must immediately walk away.  As much as I love clothes though, the first thing I do when I get home is strip down and put on something comfy.  While I’d gladly spend all my free time in my knickers, there’s an off chance I ordered pizza and need to answer the door.  Or perhaps I need to run out for another bottle of pinot.  This presents a problem for a girl in her skivvies.  Luckily, there is no problem too large for WhyDid.  The happy medium between bare flesh and camera ready?  Loungewear.

To amp up sales in the lingerie department at Bendels (you can only sell so many strapless bras) we started incorporating some “crossover” pieces much to the chagrin of the contemporary buyer (sorry!).  One must get crafty in order to maintain sales goals, my friends.  Luckily, lingerie brands caught onto the trend of wearing your underwear as outerwear and produced pieces that would fool even the most prude princess.  (As a side note, these pieces are typically cheaper than the contemporary counterparts- bonus!).

1. Skin Cotton Gauze T-Shirt, $105, 2. Undrest Classic Foldover Tap Pant, $33, 3. Only Hearts Venice Teddy, $92, 4. Kiki de Montparnasse Garter Tank, $150, 5. Julianne Maria Shorts, $64, 6. Dessous by Sophie Simmons Ludvine Tunic, $136, 7. And Cake Gold Necklace Ribbed Tank, $60, 8. VPL Deltoid Undi, $87, 9. Eberjey India Jersey Lace Cami and Shortie Set, $103, 10. Matters of Leisure Townhouse Robe, $225

When in doubt, keep a cute robe handy.  My girlfriends probably couldn’t count the number of times I answered the door for them in my pretty pink cashmere robe.  (I never could seem to be ready on time).  So dress down with your bad self.

xx,

WhyDid

Photos courtesy of HerbalTeaNYC

WhyDid Spotlight: Not Your Bikini, It’s Mikini.

By |March 9th, 2011|Why Did You Wear That?|

Anyone who knows me (or follows WhyDid) knows how much I love bikinis!  I have quite a collection for a girl who lived in New York City and a two hour drive from the  closest beach for the last five years.  I probably single handedly supported my own department when I was in charge of buying swimwear for Bendel’s.

So, I was especially thrilled to have the chance to interview Christina Iaquinta and Sean Stuber about their newly launched bikini line and website, Mikini.  Why so excited, you ask?  Well, other than the standard swimwear obsession and the cutting edge HTML5 website, Christina is a fellow WVU graduate and sorority sister.  See?! We did more than just party in Morgantown!  I am not only proud of her, but I’m seriously impressed by her swimsuits.

I’ve seen just about every bikini out there, so when I visited Mikini’s site, I was pleasantly surprised.  You can basically live out your swimwear designer dreams since you are in charge of mixing shapes, fabrics, lining, and trim into any configuration you please.  They have taken mix and match to the next level.  I would be willing to be there’s as many combinations as a Rubik’s cube!

Alright, enough about my swimwear psychosis.

Who’s behind Mikini?

My fiancé, Sean Stuber, and I started this process about 3 years ago now. We kept it just between us to start so it could truly develop into what we envisioned and decided to launch the website earlier this year. We have always been intrigued with entrepreneurship and supporting local businesses – We’ve been working with a local website developer in Boston and our models and photographer are hometown/local friends.

How did you get into the bikini biz? Is this always something that you wanted to do?

I’ve always loved swimwear and could eat, sleep, and work on the beach! I wanted to create fun, flirty, boutique style swimwear. Sean wanted to run an internet-based business so we merged the two. We both have backgrounds in retail which has proved to be extremely beneficial in developing the products, components and our brand. Mikini allows us to fulfill our passions but also considers our future desire to live near the beach!

How did you come up with the name Mikini?

Sean and I still debate this question! I’m pretty sure it was me, but he’s pretty sure he came up with the name! ha! Either way, it was definitely on a road trip from Boston to New York City fantasizing about our future together back in early 2008. The name Mikini evolved from the uniqueness and individuality of the offering itself; quite literally, “my bikini.”

Obviously, the shopper is in ultimate control of what her Mikini will look like, but how did you decide on the prints and silhouettes offered?

With the prints, it’s personal tastes and trends. We also attempt to select fabrics that work with each other to a certain extent as well – we want to create bikini “collections” for our customers similar to what they have in their every day closet… Tops and bottoms that they can truly mix and match depending on their mood and atmosphere. That’s one point of difference with our site – You can select multiple fabrics within one top or bottom and just keep adding new styles to create a full collection that reflects your personal taste.

As for the silhouettes, we wanted to launch with very “classic” styles. Co-founding the company with a male helps bring a completely different eye to the cuts and fabrics which I find refreshing.

Do you plan on expanding into more styles? Perhaps coverups and accessories in the future?

We have pages and pages of ideas for the future! In short, yes to more styles, yes to more fabrics, yes to more linings, yes to accessories! WhyDid will be the first to know when a new product comes out!

Who is the Mikini Girl?

The “Mikini Girl” is ambitious, fashionable, indulgent and social. She values her style and personal tastes.

Shopping for a bikini can be brutal for women. What advice would you give in picking out the right suit for you?

I’ll take this one, Sean =) The best advice I can give as far as cuts go would be to utilize different aspects throughout our website. Fit is really obviously important in swimwear – We have lots of pictures on our website to show the fit of each suit through the “view on model” link for each style. We are also constantly adding information/pictures/videos to our blog that shows different angles of each style. Lastly, if a customer still has questions, we have a Live Chat where we can chat directly! Something I should also add for the readers is that we do allow exchanges for size.

What’s the biggest mistake women make with their swimwear?

I’d have to go back to fit on this one.

Any swimwear pet peeves?

Showing up to the beach when someone else has your bikini on! One of the main reasons we started Mikini – we want our customers to create buzz and let people wonder where they found something so unique.

Your favorite vacation spot:

We are willing to bet our favorite vacation spot is going to be Bora Bora, where we are honeymooning this August! For now though, we’ll go with Ibiza off the southern coast of Spain. We vacationed in Portugal and Spain this past summer – the beaches in Ibiza are breathtaking and have so much energy!

Beach bag essentials:

The biggest beach towel I can find, iPod, magazine, notepad (we are constantly writing to-do lists), camera, raw almonds, fruit (Sean’s obsessed), Burt’s Bees, & Ray Bans. Great question – we are heading to Ft. Lauderdale this weekend and I need to pack! Ha!

Favorite beach read:

We both love Inc. Magazine. Useful links/advice for entrepreneurs and really motivating stories. I’m currently hooked on all things wedding related!

Polka dots or stripes?

I adore polka dots! I just made a purple polka dot bikini last night!

Check out my beach bound bikini creation here (guess I’m a stripes girl) and get your cute buns over to MikiniBikini.com and start designing your very own!

xx,

WhyDid

Why Did You Wear That: Under Where?

By |April 16th, 2010|Why Did You Wear That?|

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Yesterday, my beautiful LA counterpart sent me this text message:

“You should do a blog post on sexy lingerie and where to find it. NOT some hoodrat Victoria’s Secret stuff but not stuff that’s like $200 … Is there a middle man?:)”

Well, if there is something I know about, it’s lingerie. I spent a good two plus years buying lingerie for Henri Bendel and I have two giant drawers dedicated to my undies alone. So, Miss Wright, this post is for you!

First, let’s start with a few things that every girl should have in her lingerie drawer:

tinythongcom_bv5Commando Tiny Thong, $22

coverupsHollywood Coverups, $14.99

fashiontapeHollywood Fashion Tape, $8.99

thumbnail.aspStrap Perfect, $11.99

Yeah, I know that last one seems a little queer. My mom insisted I own them and I reluctantly took them home with me to New York. They turned out to be a lot easier to use than my usual MacGeyver method of using a safety pin. So now, on to the fun stuff.

One of my favorite, favorite, favorite brands is Deborah Marquit. The price point is on the higher side, but it is literally handmade and beautiful! My favorite pieces are from the fluorescent collection, although all of her pieces are ridiculously sexy. I’ve had the pleasure of going into her store/design studio here in NYC. She’s incredibly talented and a very interesting woman.

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Lace underwire demi bra, $185, Lace g-string, $55

Cosabella is another great line of lingerie that is sexy and more friendly on the wallet.

AMORP1103_LEOHPNKbAmore Mio pushup bra, $56.25

AMORP03ZL_LEOHPNKbAmore Mio Lowrider Thong, $20

Another personal favorite is Huit. It’s a great French brand that fits incredibly well and is very girly and fun. They also have a great line of basic bras for everyday wear.

huit-huit01-vea8-gsVertiges Magic Air Underwire bra, $79

huit-huit01-vej10-gsVertiges String, $47

I could go on for DAYS about this, but I have things to do, people. So here are a few of my favorite NYC lingerie stores:

Sugar Cookies

203 W 19th Street (between 7th and 8th)

212-242-6963

Journelle

3 East 17th Street (between 5th and Broadway)

212-255-7800

And for those of you who are NOT in NYC, don’t worry your pretty little heads… I’ve got you. Here are some great sites for online lingerie shopping:

Catriona Mackechnie

La Petite Coquette

Azaleas

Tell your boyfriend, “you’re welcome.”

xx,

WhyDid

Why Did You Wear That: I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Preen

By |March 24th, 2010|Why Did You Wear That?|

So you have a hot date? A big event? You want something to make heads turn all the while looking effortlessly chic? Oh, this ol’ thing? Enter Preen by Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi.

Started ten years ago by the design duo, Preen has collected quite the celeb following including Kate Moss, Chloe Sevigny, and Thandie Newton. It is easy to see why. Take a look at some of my favorite pieces from their Spring 2010 collection:

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I remember when Henri Bendel first started carrying this line over two years ago (when they still carried apparel). It was so incredibly sexy and chic without being blatant or cheesy. It was the ultimate alternative for cool girls who were sick of the oversaturated Hever Leger bandage dress. I was immediately smitten.

10029174_120724_800Pleat Tulip Dress, $1,106

01234F108008_1_2One Shoulder Sheath Dress, $1,089

64452_in_lPower Knitted Lace Dress, $1,375

Friends often ask me for suggestions about what to wear when dressing to impress and I would say, if you want to look less Kim (Kardashian) and more Kate (Moss), go grab something Preen and wait for the boys to scream (had to).

Sigh… now if only I had a red carpet to walk…

xx,

WhyDid

WhyDid Wisdom: Bendel’s Got a Brand New Bag

By |May 1st, 2009|WhyDid Wisdom|

henri-bendel

You may know it as the New York institution on Fifth Avenue where “Gossip Girls” go to shop, but today marks a sad day for the “girls’ playground.” Henri Bendel has announced they are planning to expand their accessories business, which means they will be eliminating their apparel departments completely.

Over the years Bendel’s has been trying to re-invent itself in many different ways, but after opening a handful of accessories stores that only carry private-label merchandise, they have decided this is the route they are going to take. They will be opening another six stores this year, bringing the total to eleven. They also started their brand promotion on different social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook. They opted for a different technique for branding on social media like Facebook ads on Facebook. For the social boost review of traffic boosting tool visit us.  And for the promotion on Instagram, they firstly opted for the strategy to make their account popular by increasing the number of Instagram followers through Upleap. They hire the top famous company Nitro for the increase of instagram followers. According to the sources, they also started getting the result on their Instagram page.

Where does that leave  the apparel buyers?  Well, that’s a good question.  There is no longer a place for them at HB.  With no more Herve dresses to buy, no more I.D. Sarrieri lingerie to select, and not an E.Vil t in sight, they have been sent on their ways to explore new opportunities.

It was a good run and I will truly miss the wonderful ladies with whom I  worked.  On a positive note, this will give me much more time to scout out horrific fashion and update you on clever ways to make your cleavage  appear more voluptuous.  You should probably just go ahead and send HB a “thank you” note cause now you’ve got my undivided attention.

xx,

WhyDid