misnomers
After several failed attempts to log into this account, I realized that maybe I've been away from this little pet of mine too long. Oh, I can make excuses about schoolwork and my boring life and yet, somehow, being too busy...but you know that's all bull.But the real reason I wanted to come back today is to talk about Samantha Thavasa, a Japanese designer company (not person) that is soon taking the US by storm. Guest designers include Paris&Nicky Hilton, Posh Spice, Tinsley Mortimer, Beyonce, Maria Sharapova--though I'm not too sure whether or not some of them are just spokesmodels and not really designers.
I'd known about ST a few years ago when I first started reading the Japanese magazine Ef. After doing some research online, I discovered that ST's handbags/accessories/jewelry was limited to Japan, and was not available anywhere else despite using both American and British celebrities in their advertisements. My mom started asking friends and relatives in Taiwan about it, but alas...Japanese Limited was Japanese Limited.
In November 2006, Samantha Thavasa opened up a store in NYC. When I saw this in an issue of Vogue, I had Karl take me into the city the very next day; and as a supportive and wise boyfriend, he willing took me (as long as we got to watch Pan's Labyrinth). At first, I wasn't 100% certain that the store even existed. The number on Google addresses turned out to be the fax, and the store was so new it didn't even have its own website yet. Nevertheless, I was willing to take the chance and walked my ass down Madison Ave.
The store was small, and the selection even smaller than I'd expected. To my dismay, they didn't carry any jewelry from the Samantha Tiara collection, and most of the bags were "Americanized" and thus stripped of its original girly cuteness. But man!--the service there was amazing. I knocked over one handbag after another in my excited frenzy, and this really polite saleslady just cleaned up behind me while apologizing profusely.
Finally, I settled on a pink and gray bag with a metal and leather chain and tweed/plaid bottom. I should probably post a picture of it at some point, since it's really hard to describe. For now, just think Japanese/British fusion. The only reservation I had against buying it was that the top is almost completely open. As the saleslady explained, in Japan, people don't really pickpocket, so having a bag with an open top isn't a big deal. However, as someone who grew up in
(Wow, I just wrote a lot about one bag. This will be the only time I do this, promise. Next post will be about something really really profound, seriously.)
So, to summarize...if you're one of those people who are sick of LV or Dior or Coach, and don't want to drop a few grand on a MiuMiu/Prada or Chanel--go for Samantha Thavasa, especially while the prices are still reasonable. ST is a lot like Juicy Couture in the sense that it's ultra-girlyand no one really carries it above the age of 25. The store seems to only carry a few items of each product; as it turns out, I had bought the last one in my style, which is NY Limited. So if you like novelty, and not carrying the same bag as everyone else, take a trip to NY while the trains are free (22nd-28th) and treat yourself to something that only select American celebrities and handbag junkies covet and adore.
posted by Tiffany @ 1:44 AM
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