Wait, There's More?

Shopping for Zoe for Fall 2013 was truly a detailed event.  A week after I returned from the most lengthy trip I've ever taken to market, I was on a train again to visit showrooms for the day! This time Zoe's Assistant Manager, Tara, was with me too!

This was more of the typical NY trip - on the 5:30 train with arrival at around 8:45.  Rush around all day and hop back on a train late that afternoon.  Jim always reminds me when traveling with someone else "Susan, not everyone can handle your intense pace.  Remember to factor in some downtime!"  (Hmmm...think he has been the victim of that breakneck pace in the past?)

With that said, Tara and I had a busy day but a reasonable day.  Our first stop was a visit to the CLUNY showroom.  This was my first trip to this showroom and it was great to see Victoria's smiling face when we exited the elevator.  The first order of business was to finalize my Spring order that is to ship this month!  A few things had been cancelled and I needed replacements!  With that out of the way, we then started shopping for Fall.  Cynthia Steffe, the designer behind CLUNY, always does femininity with a bit of an edge.  I love her fashionable yet wearable style.

A picture of the CLUNY showroom.  I love how clean and simple it is so as to better highlight the clothing.

As we walked toward our appointment, we had noticed a very cute little macaroon store down a side street.  We vowed if we had time, we would go in.  The case full of macaroons was gorgeous!

Our Alexandra loves macaroons so we had to visit and take pictures, just for her!

From there, we went to one of our favorites, Findings NY showroom, the home of Velvet, Graham & Spencer, and Mother.  We first shopped Graham & Spencer (wishing we could buy the leathers and furs but knowing that we had to shop for our Alexandria customer!)  Of course, I loved getting the chance to try on this sweater (we bought it for Zoe!)

Next was our Zoe customer's fan favorite - Velvet!  This always the most fun and the most difficult - so many beautiful colors and styles!

The team at Findings NY is moving at the end of the month to the TriBeCa area of Manhattan.  We will look forward to visiting their new showroom during the next major season shopping trip in September!

By this time, it was time for lunch!  I remembered a charming little Italian restaurant that Kathlin Argiro had suggested to us last year during our Spring showroom trip. Tara and I headed for Mercado in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan and were immediately seated.  There is just something warm and comforting about authentic Italian food.  Tara and I enjoyed an unrushed meal from a corner table. 

Sigh...no drinking wine on the job.  But it was fun to look at their storage shelves from our table!

Once we finished lunch and checked email, we were off to Chan Luu!  Although I had already shopped their booth at market the previous week, I wanted to meet with them to discuss a trunk show and to give Tara the opportunity to see their amazing showroom on Broadway.  While there, we discovered that they also represent an amazing line of hair jewelry by Jane Tran, who is also Chan's sister!  We had a great time picking out some new finds for Zoe's customers.

This is a sample of some of the beautiful hair pins that will be arriving at Zoe in the coming weeks!  Look for great headbands and ornamental hair pins as well!

From there, we walked to the showroom of NEL and Co.  We already purchase the beautiful pieces of Waverly Grey from them but we wanted to take some time to look at two additional lines - Envi and Nell.  I was really enamoured with the Envi line.  And, had to take the opportunity to try on some of the sample sizes (I completely admit this is part of the job I love).

Loving this little fit and flair dress and jacket!  And you should have seen the faux wrap dress I tried on!  The fabric and styling was perfect!

By then, it was time to head back to Penn Station for our trip back to DC.  Tired but happy, we had accomplished our mission - Fall buying for Zoe was complete.

Next Up:  A Great Place to Buy Denim