Deluxa's New Website is Live!

I can hardly believe it it's been so much work, but at long last--it's here!

Please go to deluxanyc.com and check out the site. I'll love you forever. Promise!

February's Window

Maybe not as overtly Valentines as I would have liked, but I think it still came out rather sweet.

Vintage Fabtics in Store

Reproduction of print in the Smithsonian. Cotton.

Dots, stripes, and flowers--delightful! Synthetic.

Psychadelic. This would make an amazing set of pillows for a neutral couch. Polyester.

The repeat on this design is huge! Its super sweet, and looks very Scandinavian, but no labels. Cotton.

This fabric is even prettier in person. I also have a piece in brown tones on white. Muslin.

I had a really hard time capturing the subty of this fabric. The colors are exquisite, and the fabric is the most beautiful silk-like poly. Marked "Klopman Mills division of Burlington Ind. Inc. 1971". This would make a knock out dress. The piece of fabric is also enormous, probably 8 yards.

Large print yellow flowers on cotton. Dreamy.

Negotiating and Home Furnishings in the New York Times

There was a series of articles in the New York Times today that for me, as a small vintage store owner dealing heavily in furniture, I found compelling, and I would highly recommend to anyone looking to invest in furnishings, to learn about how and where and with whom to negotiate prices, and to take advantage of retailer's price points during the recession.

The first, called "How Low Will They Go?" by Steven Kurutz, chronicled his foray into asking for discounts on high end furnishings at a number of locations, from ABC Carpet and Home, to Design Within Reach, to Soho store Cite, finding with varying success, that yes, negotiating for a price on high is occasionally possible--although usually more successful at smaller boutiques.

The second, "Adventures in Haggling: The Retailers' View" by Marianne Rohrlich, interviews many store owners and managers about their policies on price negotiations--with some tactful tips like avoid negotiating on smaller priced items, but for big ticket pieces, wiggle room is usually available, or if a customer is purchasing numerous items a discount may be in order. Retailers like the worship worthy Moss are even offering significant discounts and web specials as never before.

The third, also by Marianne Rohrlich called "A Lesson in Haggling", I'd like to share here and pray that an army of New York Times lawyers don't come to drag me away in handcuffs:

ASK ABOUT THE BASICS Is there any room in the price? Is there a discount for a floor model?

IDENTIFY THE DEAL MAKER Salesclerks are sometimes allowed to negotiate, but often only the manager or owner can. Save the real haggling for the one with the power to make a deal.

START WITH OPEN-ENDED LANGUAGE Though stores want commitment, do your best to stay noncommittal.

DON’T FIXATE (OR DON’T LET ON IF YOU DO) If you’re clearly determined to have a particular item, you won’t have much leverage.

THINK BIG Deep discounts are much likelier on expensive items and multiple-item purchases.

DON’T LOWBALL Offering $500 for a $3,000 item will insult the store. Base your desired price on those of comparable, but less expensive items elsewhere.

ASK ABOUT SALES Is there one coming up? If so, will the store hold an item until then or sell it to you now for the sale price?

THINK BEYOND DOLLARS Focus negotiations not just on price, but on other important issues like warranty and delivery terms.

OFFER TO CLOSE THE DEAL Can you get a break if you buy the piece now and take it with you?

BE PREPARED TO WALK AWAY Leave your number, however, in case the store has a change of heart.

I think these are all great tips, and ones that I, as a retailer--and a buyer when I'm shopping for the store, am acutely aware of.

That being said, I'm always open to discussing prices at Deluxa, even on smaller items, as ultimately my ideal goal for the store is to unite cool stuff with cool people and hopefully eek a modest living. So go ahead and ask--its okay!

Some Cool Vintage YSL Pieces on Ebay Right Now

Dead Mellotron

Is my new favorite band of all time. I've been listening to their album 2 and 3 times a day for days on end. Its one of those era-maker kinds of albums, where I know I'll listen to it tons for now, until it finally has to be put out of rotation out of sheer ridiculousness in its number of plays, but I'll listen to it forever, and always remember how good it was when I first heard it and fell in love.

Last week, when it was snowing so beautifully here in New York, I was wandering around the Lower East Side with my headphones on, listening to track after track from Ghost Light Constellation by Dead Mellotron, and there was a moment, on Mercer Street, near Washington Square Park, where everything in the world fit together. The night, the snow, the music, large, and painful, and intricate, and washing, that I welled up with a swooning raw emotion of the romance of beauty like I haven't had in years.

Give a listen, download the album while you can, find you're own moment of musical ecstasy, and pray with me that Dead Mellotron decides to sign to Self Storage Recordings so Durutti and I can be a part of, and continue to share what is obviously pretty damn special.

You could go to their MySpace, which you of course should, but you can also just take my word for it and go straight to the album download here.

20x200

If you haven't hear of 20x200 yet, it's a pretty cool place to actually get to own some original art. The ingenious concept is that each work selected by Jen Bekman's virtual gallery is available in three limited editions, at affordable prices. $20 gets you an edition of 200 printed at 8 1/2" x 11" scale, $200 will buy you a larger and more limited print, and $2000 will get you one of 2 very large prints. All of the works are printed with archival inks and paper on an exhibition quality printer.

Here's three of my current favorites:

"Corner Light Monadnock" by Amy Park

"Fence by Railroad Parcel, Ashland, Oregon" Jeffrey Krolick

"Cascade" Jessica Snow

TaxiCDC

TaxiCDC seems like one of many cool labels doing some interesting things with reworking vintage pieces. Unless you're severly DIY phobic, there's not too much that unachievable with some basic sewing skills, so really I'm just sort of pillaging ideas. Here's a couple of my faves:

As I'm never one to turn down grandpa cardigans, this cute sleeve crop is pretty adorable and makes me dream of spring...

Cropped sleeves, hemmed, fitted disco dress becomes a sweet sunny day frock.

Mexican MuMus gone chic! Mini MuMu!

I've been toying with the idea of taking scissors and my featherweight to some of the clothes in store, but it also might be nice to leave them as projects for others...hmm...

Chairs by Cheryl Ekstrom

Eames Lounge Chair with Ottoman, Cheryl Ekstrom

Swan Chair Sculpture, Cheryl Ekstrom

Marshmellow Sofa, Cheryl Ekstrom

At first I came across these and thought they were so devastatingly cool to have upholstered in silver leather and stainless frames, as I myself am in the process of shopping for fabric to reupholster an Eames lounge chair of my own, but lo and behold--these chairs are actually sculpture! I guess that's why the lounge chair is $95,000, and weighs 260 lbs. Made by Cheryl Ekstrom, with permission from Eames Office, the Republic of Fritz Hansen and Herman Miller. From her series, "Stable Inhabitants of a Changing World". Available at Trove. Come to think of it though, even though they are art, these pieces would make incredible outdoor furniture.

Sophia's Sweet Spot

I stumbled on Sophia's Sweet Spot when I was checking out my blogger "followers" (all two!) and completely fell head over heels in love with her own blog and her work. Similarly to how Scott Hansen tapped into a certain vintage visual style, Sophia as wretched open a world of her own--and as much as Orla Keily seems to have taken over the world with her simple inspired (one note?) graphics, I think Sophia blows her out of the water.

Here's some of her works that she's posted on her blog:





Sadly, her etsy store is closed at the moment, which had a ton more of her work--but as soon as its back I'm purchasing this one of her mini works that at least used to be in her etsy shop:


I'm crossing and double crossing fingers and toes that it will go back up.

Funny enough, one of her favorite blogs she follows and updates on her page is of Eddie Ross who I worked with at Martha Stewart for a time (WORST. JOB. EVER. and I've had some bad ones). I had no idea that he had a blog, but I can't say that I'm surprised that it's so successful--walking into his Chelsea apartment for the first time was incredible! I haven't had a chance yet, but I plan on crawling all through his site as he's completely inspirational and catching up with him sometime soon.

Sorry for the Absence

In the midst of moving...new posts planned soon!

Sneak Peek at Website

Getting so close I can taste it! Mark Robinson is doing a fantastic job...just a few more tweaks, a couple more copy revisions, a bit more shuffling, but soon soon soon!

Here's a sneak peek!

January's Window

Just finished January's window yesterday--yellows and oranges to fight the mid-winter blues!

Scott Hansen

Is my hero. He's the modern triple threat--fantastic graphic designer, super talented musician, and superb blogger.

First about his graphic design, a project called ISO50, it beautifully exploits 60's and 70's color palettes, and a spirit of optimistic internationalism, with nods to iconic logos (think early PBS, and TWA). It's brilliant and vibrant and daring where so many other contemporary designers seem to be meddling in some middle ground between ironic/cute/absurdest (think any series of Urban Outfitters shirts, or a lot of the stuff on Pokito [which don't get me wrong, lots of which I do like!]). I love how he seems to so earnestly look forward and backward, and I hate to tie it all back to Deluxa, but it taps into the whole idea of reuse and repurposing, because I'm pretty damn positive that hanging one of Hansen's posters will look a million times better over a vintage orange couch (see previous post) than over any couch you'd ever find at a Jennifer Convertibles. Here's some pieces that I'm particularly enamored with, but really all of his work is pretty stellar.


Yeah, I know, you just saw the awesomeness of those handful of pieces and was all like, "What, and that guy does music too!??!!" For reals. Here's what his latest full length, "Past is Prologue" looks like:


Gorgeous, right? His music project is called Tycho, and its great, and I play it in the store all the time. Something between Ulrich Schnauss and Boards of Canada. Its accessible and I think still carries that sense of optimism that's manifested in Hansen's visual work; its easy to get lost in both the intricacies of the ebb and flow of the individual elements, or also to get lost in the overall waves of sound. And for me, coming from California, it somehow captures something extraordinarily left coast, that I don't think I could have appreciated unless I'd moved away from it. A friend Will Joines, who also directed Elika's "Let Down" video (a recent but assured all-time fave), directed this video of Tycho's "Dictaphone's Lament".



I know I know, so now you're like, and this guy BLOGS TOO?!?! Yes, and it is awesome. Tons of great design info, vintage stuff, music stuff. The bulk of my starred RSS folder are his posts. Follow the action here, and Scott Hansen will become your hero too.

Be sure to visit each of his sites as well, as they are all beautifully designed and delightful, ISO50, Tycho, MySpace, Shop and Blog.

THANK GOD!

Little did I know, until it was saved, that Mother's Cookies filed for bankruptcy in October. Hooray for Kellogg (begrudgingly) for saving this childhood culinary institution of mine. Circus animals here I come! But maybe this is a West Coast thing? I can't remember the last time I saw these in a grocery store in NYC...


I'm having trouble finding any 1st hand news source on this (AP, where you at?) but all the other sites say so, so collective internets info must be true, right? I can has circus animals? Please say I can enjoy delicious cookie coated pastel dipped goodness?

Smashing Living Room Set

Just in the store today, this living room set is sort of completely to die for. Sell your soul to the devil to die for. Its incredibly hard to get a good pic of all the pieces, but I think you get the gist of exactly how cool this is... Couch, three chairs, and a super big communal ottoman for the whole party. The complete set is $650, but I'm willing to sell individual pieces too, just contact the store for more details.



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Full Flickr set too.

Just a Few...

Of the TONS of new women's items I got today. This is only a scratch in the surface. I now have way more clothes than I have space--lucky you! 20% off all clothing through Sunday!

Gray polyester sleeveless drawstring jumpsuit. As loath as I am to admit, it looks really cool. Size M. $28.

Late 50's early 60's bathing suit in gorgeous pattern. Hard to imagine swimming in something so constructed, but then, kind of delightful too. This would make a fantastic DIY project...screams bustier or skirt. I'm particularly in love with the gathering at the bust. $34.

Oleg Cassini silk slouch shoulder dress. Would make an amazing wedding dress for someone in a pinch... I should have taken a detail of the spherical and diamond buttons. This dress looks like a dream. Beautifully lined. $85.

Romantic diaphanus nightgown. Top sheer layer, with layers of turquoise nylon underneith. Really beautiful color and movement--photo doesn't come even close. While the long nightie may reek of something your mom used to wear, this one is ripe for hemming (above the knee? mini length?) for the adventurous... $24.

This is a handmade satin and lace mod dress in a bluish, grayish, purpleish. Its a contender for me to wear to a party tonight, where guests are invited to dress glamourous...maybe I'll post a pic of the final outfit...