Mountain Xpress Forums

purple ball

2008-04-24T15:37:16-05:00

who were the designers for the purple ball?
a few designs were nice..but oh my...the rest were god awful!

Cheap & last minute shopping

2007-12-18T17:06:12-05:00

I recently received this info from a Steve & Barry’s rep: The local store (800 Brevard Rd., Asheville) is holding a big end-of-year sale. Press for the event says, “continuing throughout the holiday season, EVERYTHING in our ENTIRE store is $8.98 and under!” This includes BITTEN, dear, Starbury and EleVen lines as well as general men’s, women’s, and kid’s clothing lines; including all winter items such as pea coats, down jackets, sweaters, trench coats, jeans, and more.

Get shopping, people!

New Asheville-specific t-shirt slogans

2008-01-16T11:53:01-05:00

Sure, we’ve all seen t-shirt and bumper stickers with slogans like “Keep Asheville Weird” (totally lifted from Austin’s similar campaign) and “Asheville, where weird is normal.” But, after a couple of years, these seem kind of ... dull. Not to mention dated, as Asheville doesn’t seem as weird as it used to be.

So let’s have some suggestions for new, more accurate slogans. Just don’t libel anyone.

Here’s a few to start ...

“Keep Asheville moderately unusual for the South”

“I (heart) Asheville ... Why, yes, I am new here”

“Reasonably local”

“Gentrified, and proud of it!”

Who is the most fashionable local celeb?

2007-12-21T15:55:06-05:00

Who are best dressed local celebs? The trend-setters. The fashion plates?

For the purposes of this discussion, I’d suggest we give “celeb” a rather loose definition along the lines of “often seen in the public eye.”

I’d suggest both Stephanie Morgan (from Stephanie’s Id) and Jane Kramer Edens (from the Barrel House Mamas).

And, while we’re at it, we should also talk about the least fashionable local celebs. Since I’ve currently got the highest number of posts on this forum, I nominate myself. I’m in shambles, honestly.

The worst Valentine’s Day gift you ever got

2008-02-12T13:24:11-05:00

Although it’s only vaguely related to fashion and shopping, have bought a number of dud-ish Valentine’s Day gifts over the years, largely owing to my lack of common sense when it comes to—you guessed it—fashion and shopping.

Make me feel a little less bad, and share some stories about the most bone-headed gifts you’ve ever gotten on V-Day.

Salons for highights

2008-01-25T15:06:15-05:00

I love the look of highlights, but it’s a pricey habit to maintain. Occasionally, when I find myself in one of the big-box discount stores with a salon, I glance at the price list for hair services and am always enticed when I learn they charge half the price for highlights that I spend with my regular stylist. Still, I can’t help wondering if I’d regret it. Would I walk out with green streaks? Bald spots? Over-processed skunk stripes?

What do you think of bargaining?

2008-01-18T11:35:49-05:00

Quick story: I recently saw a chicken painting by folk artist Ernest Lee in a downtown Asheville store window. The price was $65. My budget is a bit tight at the moment, but I had just received a rebate in the mail for $60. So, on a whim, I cashed the check, marched into the store, and offered them $60 cash (as in not credit or check) for the painting. The proprietor said, “You can buy it for $60 is that’s the price.” I explained that, no, it was tagged $65, but what I had was $60 and hoped he’d consider the offer. He looked at me like I was wearing three soiled winter coats and pushing a grocery cart while muttering to myself and said, “We don’t bargain here.”

After I left (mortified), I got to thinking, why not? It’s a painting being sold in a second hand store. While I’m sure there are some guidelines for pricing, isn’t retail cost fairly subjective? I know that similar paintings are selling for about $40 on Ebay, so $60 seemed a fair-market offer.

What do you think? Is it okay to bargain with merchants or is the price tag the final answer?

After holiday sales?

2007-12-20T17:44:09-05:00

Has anyone heard of any great post-Christmas sales going on? I’m sure the mall is full of ‘em, but I thought there might be a neat studio or boutique sale in the works.

Intro and rules, read before posting.

2007-12-11T16:44:12-05:00

This forum is for discussion about local fashion, style, shopping and related topics. Love a particular local designer? Want to talk about the dearth of downtown home decor stores? Conflicted about thrift-store fashions? Know about a new product or great sale? Looking for something in particular and need some direction? Post about it here.

Also, please keep the Xpress forum rules in mind when posting. These are:

1. Think before you post: Seriously. We’re trying to spark interesting conversations about local topics here, and the last thing we want is to flood the board with thoughtless content. This includes the needless repeating of catchphrases, redundant posting of internet memes and posts with little original content.

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