Prom & Quincenera Dress Shoppers Have New Shops in the Valley
Topic: Californiapromdresses

Between the RiverPark Shopping and the remodeling and addition of new stores at Fashion Fair on Shaw and First, parents and teenagers have new shops to shop for their clothes.

The article will come soon. (I visited the Fresno-Clovis area shopping centers. And I left pleasantly surprised by all the shopping choices that exist there now. There are some cool names that join the RiverPark shopping center, Fashion fair and other butiques).

In the meantime, read about the home values of California residents. Home equity allows parents to spend lavishly on their children. That means there will be huge parties in high-end restaurants and dancehalls.

Posted by Fashionista Shopping Analyst at 5:00 PM PST

Updated: Monday, 27 March 2006 7:03 AM PST

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The Top 2006 Golden Globe Awards Dresses: Who wore what and which color?
Topic: Californiapromdresses

The Women in the Black, Pink, Blue, Red and Yellow dress

The Top 2006 Golden Globe Awards Dresses: Who wore what and which color?

Whenever they show up somewhere, the Desperate Housewives sure steal the show. At the recent Golden Globes, they won both awards and praise for what they were wearing. In a sense, they are setting the tone for this year's prom and Quincenera celebration. Beautiful dresses tend to inspire designers to create flowing, colorful dresses and gowns. Teri Hatcher donned a body-hugging V-neck bronze halter gown that comes equipped with art deco style beading. Queen Latifah looked fabulous in the blue dress she was wearing. So did Nicollette Sheridan! For sure, the color of the dresses and gowns was as important as the dresses themselves. The little black dress still held its own head very well. There is no wonder it is a classic for ever. Sarah Jessica Parker, Charlize Theron and Mary-Louise Parker had their classic little black dress for the occasion.

Bob Mackie dressed Eva Longoria in a red Grecian wrap gown. She wore platform shoes to accentuate the whole thing. Keep your eyes open for this season's prom and quincenera outfits and shoes. Bright red and lime green silk dresses were also on display at the Globes. Giorgio Armani donned Ziyi Zhang in a lime green silk tulle. Scarlet Johansson was dressed by Valentino. She had a red scoop neck dress with soft ruffles on the straps and on the back. As far as Geena Davis, she wore a strapless Escada with a jeweled bustier top.

The color that stunned everybody on the Red Carpet was white. Christian Dior dressed Kate Beckingsale in a gorgeous white dress. Reese Witherspoon wore white with metallic trim. Valentino dressed Keira Knightley in a great strapless white dress. Sandra Oh wore a white gown too. As for Huffman and Bello, they wore ethereal white. Get ready for white to start showing up in wedding, prom and quincenera ceremonies this year. This year's fashion season will be marked mostly by bright colors. As always, the Desperate Housewives' dresses and gowns will be the main examples. There will be lots of 2006 Golden Globes knock-off dresses.

Get the rest of the list here

Posted by Fashionista Shopping Analyst at 11:22 PM PST

Updated: Thursday, 9 February 2006 8:02 AM PST

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Masstige, Fashion for The People: Top Clothes Companies such as H&M Find California's Shoppers
Topic: Californiapromdresses

Fresno, Clovis and Neighboring Areas Attract Upscale National Clothes Stores

Gone are the days when fashion-savvy Fresno, Clovis, and Madera, CA had to travel to the Bay area, Berkley or San Francisco to buy at posh clothing boutiques. Based on the recent population increase in the Central Valley, due partially to a spurt in birth rates, prosperous housing market fueled by low interest rates and the equity refugees from the priciest areas of Southern and Northern California, investors and national fashion brands and clothes companies are taking notice. Local businesses are either refurbishing, renovating or expanding to serve this large pool of ready-to-shop customers. A good example of this need to serve these more affluent and savvy consumers is the expansion of the Shaw thoroughfare-based Fashion Fair Mall.

While everything and all the most important businesses have been in a rush to get an address along the Blackstone/Nees corridor in one of the most successful commercial developments the Valley has ever known, Shaw which crosses Blackstone a few miles away from the RiverPark Shopping Center still keeps its cachet. .

The expansion at Fashion Fair brought the opening of such well-known named stores as The Cheesecake Factory restaurant, cosmetics shop Sephora and Lucky Brand Jeans. I took my kids to entertainment-filled event to check the merchandise out. They enjoyed the new entrance to Fashion Fair. It has an a la Disney water fountain in which they played. Bear in mind the surface is rubbery. Many of the patrons who gathered to eat their first meals at the Cheesecake Factory said that new life has been pumped into the mall. They were praying that Fashion Fair would not become like Manchester Mall. In the meantime, the kids were laughing, giggling and running around on the rubbery surface.

More stores are planned to be open. They announced that Z Gallerie, a furniture and home store, will be open this Spring. 2006 will see the opening of chothing store Antropologie, Children's clothing store Naartjie, One Thousand Steps shoe store, Lavande Nail Spa and After Hours Formalwear. In 2007, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar will be open. Between now and the end of the year, expect these stores to open their doors to the public: Clothing stores Bebe and Bebe Sport, Aldo shoes, Aveda outlet Paruce Day Spa and Salon and Brooksone. Just like the Fig Garden Village, located on Palm and Shaw, the key for Fashion Fair to continuing to prosper is to attract key niche boutiques that young as well as more affluent shoppers can go to.

The state of shopping is great in the Central Valley. Many long-time Valley residents can't believe their eyes right now. The upward mobile young professionals and cash-rich Bay Area equity refugees continue to expect more. The rush to cash in on the Valley's shopping power is on. They want to make a little Santa Monica, San Francisco or Santa Barbara out of Fresno and Clovis areas.

Shop with Podshoppingblog: Get your company and products mentioned on the podcast.

Terry McMillan who is 54, referring to her 30-year former husband, Jonathan Palmer, directed these comments.
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Californiapromdresses
Who says that salsa does not permeate relationships? Hey, add some salsa, hot pepper to the Divorce Party Accessories list

"She apparently was referring to the time she left him a bottle of Jamaican hot pepper sauce on which she wrote, "Fag Juice Burn Baby Burn." And probably also to the time she scrawled "Jonathan's Fag boyfriend Fag" on a photo of a friend" SFGate.com Columnist.

It was a messy divorce, a nasty fight. Terry McMillan fought back. Well, her lawyer fought to keep her financial assets intact. In one last gesture, McMillan sent Plummer's attorney an inscribed copy of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back'' with this parting shot: "You made me sick these last eight or nine months and I hope you rot in hell.''

According to the settlement, Mr. Plummer only got awarded $50,000. Hey, that's not bad. His car will be paid off. He'll receive $10,000 for temporary spousal support. He'll have beaucoup change left.

Upscale, Contemporary, Trendy, Chic Women's Clothing Boutique at Piazza del Fiore
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Californiapromdresses

Trendsetting women of the Central Valley of California have a new boutique they can go to. Located at Piazza del Fiore, BIATOU is a new women's clothing boutique where fashion-sensitive women can find the latest deals. Owner Elie Nikooe is a fashion enthusiast. She describes the atmosphere at the store as "being more of a chick trendy than a young attitude trendy."

It's worth noting that Piazza del Fiore Shopping center at Champlain Drive and Perrin Avenue is located in North Fresno which has seen some great investments. Ever since the RiverPark shopping Center was developed, more and and more local businesses want to have their address associated with that junction of North Blackstone.

BIATOU's target market is 20-to-50-year-old women. If demographics are taken into account, the area is full of this age group capable of keeping the register going. In North Fresno, the average household income.

In BIATOU, Mrs. Nikooe said that you will find a sample of what you are used to seeing in fashion-conscious areas such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. Those are some of the places where she did her homework in addition to the experience gained from her past employment at Marshall's and other stores.

On Blackstone and Nees, Gottchalks whose headquarters is located near the Woodward Park is building the mother lode of all stores near Borders Books and Music and the local theaters. Accross the street from it, you will see Barnes and Noble, Elephant Bar and many other worthy stores. The Gottchalks store is going to be the highlight of that corner. Furthermore, Near national University, you will find 5 Park Place, an office building which features semireflective glass and views of the park and mountains. It received its Project of the Year award from Top Professionals Guide this year. Among other businesses that lease part of this building, we find Fresno Pacific University that is trying to be where the customers with money and mobility are. 5 Park Place is designed by developer DeWayne Zinkin and architect Ron Mazzeo. It's the first of many other projects which are going to be developed by Zinkin in the River Park Shopping Center.

If anything, this new corridor is the new business area of Fresno.

Chantelle's Africa T-shirt Bra:

Amber Frey's Book and Movie: Witness for the Prosecution of Scott Peterson
Mood:  amorous
Topic: Californiapromdresses
His life has changed for ever. He is a convicted felon on death row. He is sitting in jail watching the fascination of the public with his story. He is a killer. He killed his own wife and son, Connor. Her life has changed for ever too. Hers is the story of the second woman who did not know she was dealing with a killer of the first degree. A sweet talker. A guy who knows all the right moves until that fatal day which he sought to hide.

The lives of the Laci Peterson's parents, friends and Modesto residents and the rest of the country have changed for ever too. All it took was one incident. one capital crime. one person with greed and too much time on his hands to devise such a plan. Amber Frey's book and movie are the stories of small towns, America. They are the stories of a young woman's encounter with the beast in the Central Valley of California.

Amber Frey co-wrote the book on the prosecution of her former lover, Scott Peterson. CBS won the bids and bought the book for a tv movie. It's scheduled for tonight. It will go against the season finale of two very popular tv shows: Fox's American Idol and ABC's Lost. Whether viewers watch the movie or not, they will remain captivated by the story of an average single mother who was trying to raise her daughter in Fresno. Fresno, a community she calls home for ever, was soon catapulted into the spotlight.

For sure, that double-homicide investigation was not like anything Fresno has seen before. There were some close similarities. When you have romance, youth, greed and money, all the elements for strong international appeal were reunited in this case. The OJ Simpson trial came to mind as a precedent. From a complete uknown, Amber Frey became the trial's key witness. Her popularity was soon increasing. Her book became a bestseller on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and New York Times.

Upscale, Specialty Clothing Boutiques Are the New Niche Market
Topic: Californiapromdresses

Find All Prom, Quincenera & Evening Dresses

The Valley's service sector is very attractive to many investors who put their money in real estate, garbage as in 1-800-Got Junk, Computer Recyclers of America, Waste management, shopping center developments that draw crowds. Among those developers, developer/lawyer DeWayne Zinkin has a good knack at predicting the needs of the community. Whatever projects he has touched has turned into gold so far. He may not be the only one who has long predicted that the Valley's economic boom would arrive. From the residential to the commercial real estates, everybody is making some money in the housing industry. No wonder there's an oversupply of real estate agents. Everybody is posing as an agent. Teachers work as agents on the side. So far, women may outnumber men. Stay-at-home mothers with a cell phone, computer and printer are rushing to the head of the heap. Their organizational skills allow them to succeed faster than the males who, for the most part, become more daring, riskier and ungentleman-like in order to get the deals. No manners will withstand their maneuvers to get the listing. They blanket the front door of your residence with handouts, leaflets or spams. All of them think homeowners are ready to put their homes on the market. And they want to be the ones to do them the favor of listing it on their company's web site and multiple listings.

Well, there's a new niche market created by educated Valley residents who are first true shoppers at heart. The new residents of the Valley are benefitting from the entrepreneurship of this group. More and more Fresno and Central Unified School Districts are being stung by the entrepreneurial bug. They want to capitalize on their love of fashion by creating a shopping experience that is unique in the Fresno-Clovis area. They want to accomodate their friends and those who are fashion savvy. Just a few months ago, we wrote about two Fresno Unified teachers who left to found their own store. Jennifer and her good friend, Ami Zinkin, founded ShopSheShe, (shopsheshe.com). Based on the experience of many shoppers, the clothing store was needed in the Fresno area. Now we have a brand new store located in the Crossroads Shopping Center at perrin and Sommerville drives. It's been reported that two Veteran Fresno teachers, Shea Melanson and Jill Somers, combined their love for home decor and clothes by opening Vanity Boutique. "This is superb for Fresno!" said Nicolette, a shopper from Los Angeles whose husband moved the family to Clovis due to a new job.

Vanity Boutique offers contemporary women's clothing and stylish accessories for the home. Shoppers will find wool rugs, artsy vases and wall sconces. If you can't afford to go to Los Angeles or San Francisco, Shea and Jill will go for you. In fact, they travel there very often to bring you the best merchandise. Young people are changing Fresno and Clovis residents' taste. Farm, dairy clothes are giving way to more urban, trendy ones. The interest in fashion has always been there if you count all the high school and Fresno State fashion shows. Valley women have always shown interest in great clothes. The variety of providers, shops, boutiques will only accentuate their desires. Vanity Boutique is for young people and mothers with strollers. The aisles are huge enough to allow them to maneuver them. Most mothers fall in love with the spacious dressing rooms. Who would want to shop at a store whose dressing does not allow any breathing space for your kids?