December 2003

December 31st 2003
New York City

Newsweek rules!  For those of you who haven't seen it, Newsweek features a full page feature about HOLLYWOULD in their latest issue (Jon Stewart cover - go buy it!).  Ever since the article hit the stands we've realized that the best thing about Newsweek, other than the news, is that straight boys read it.  We've never had press in any magazine read by straight boys, so this is very exciting.  And, the best thing about these boys is that they've been calling off the hook to buy shoes for their girlfriends and wives.  We love boys.  We especially love boys who buy shoes for girls.  But most of all, we love Newsweek!

December 17th 2003
New York

In case you haven’t noticed, HOLLYWOULD Resort 2004 has hit the stores!  (see photo) My theme for this collection is “Copacabana”, and it was inspired by nights spent dancing the samba under a canopy of swaying palms while drinking Caipirinhas.  And if you’re wondering where I’m planning to live out this fantasy while we’re up to our ears in snow, I have two words for you:  PALM BEACH

That’s right ladies, I am pleased to announce that HOLLYWOULD has just opened our very own store in Palm Beach!  You girls are the first to know because I have been keeping it top secret until the store was ready to open.   But, as of this weekend we are up and running, which is a great excuse for all of us to work on our suntans this winter.  We’d love to have you visit, so call your pilot, have him bring ‘round the jet, and come down to Palm Beach to see us! 

And now, the real reason I’m writing is to let you in on a little secret that is only for our very favorite VIP HOLLYWOULD customers … Girls, until December 31^st, all Fall merchandise is 50% off* to VIP customers only.  The rest of the world won’t get this special discount until 2004, so you will need to act fast in order to get your favorite styles and sizes before every sale-chaser in America gets the scoop!  In order for us to know who’s a VIP and who’s not, we have devised a special password phrase that you must use when buying your sexy shoes, foxy boots, and stunning bags.  Here it is: 

“THANK GOD I’M A HOLLYWOULD VIP!”

If you order over the internet, you must write the phrase in your order (with exclamation point!), and if you order over the phone or in person, you must say it with enthusiasm and gusto.  The more dramatic, the better.  Visit the Fall “Collections” page on our website to see your VIP loot!

*Ballets & Legwarmer Boots not included.  Sorry gals!

December 16th 2003
New York City

As predicted, we are all feeling a little bit worse for the wear today.  Our HOLLYWOULD HOLLYDAY PARTY went off without a hitch, aside from the fact that we ran out of champagne at 8pm and all decided that vodka drinks would have to be the substitute.  Not a great choice for those of us who continued drinking until midnight.  I would love to write a long, flowery description of the evening praising everyone in attendance (because we love you all), but frankly my head hurts.  You'll just have to be satisfied with party photos (see right) for now, and wait for my recovery to get the full post-party recap.  Enjoy...

December 15th 2003
New York City

We’ve just received 2 cases of Svedka Vodka for our big HOLLYWOULD Hollyday Party tonight, and despite the fact that the party hasn’t even started, I can already feel the hangover. Ever since Thanksgiving, NYC has been one big non-stop party. I love this time of year. Just to recap a few that I attended this past week:

Visionaire Party:  I barely made it to this party because I was caught taxi-less on the West Side Highway in 4 heels.  It's a long story that involves an emergency Fed-Ex package to the New York Times, but if you've ever been caught on the West Side Highway in 4 heels, you know that it is a great way to get job offers.  For what kinds of jobs, I will not say, but job offers nonetheless.  Anyway, I arrived at the tail end of the party which was a scent themed event with a black room full of photographs that smelled.  It's hard to explain, but every fashionista under the sun was there including Cecilia Dean, Craig McDean, Hope Atherton, Kate Schelter, and the boys from Proenza Schuler (or however you spell it).  Cecilia looked amazing as usual, and I have discovered the secret to the success of her style:  Don't dress for the weather.  When it is 15 degrees below zero there ain't no way to look cute, so just dress as if you're on a yacht in St. Barts and steal the show. 

Blaine Trump's Party:  This was a lovely charity event for God's Love We Deliver held at Bergdorf Goodman.  If you don't know about God's Love We Deliver, I will school you now:  it is a charity which delivers fresh meals to people who are homebound and sick.  Blaine Trump personally delivers meals each and every day to 3 special people.  She is amazing.  And, a friend of hers told me that on September 11th he called to make sure she was OK, and do you know where she was?  Down at the God's Love We Deliver kitchen making sure that every single homebound patient got their food that day.  She is an awesome, beautiful lady.  And...she wears HOLLYWOULD.  What a star!

Burberry Holiday Party:  Since there were no fashion people at this party, I did not know a soul (except for the paparazzi).  However, since there were no fashion people at this party, there were tons and tons of straight boy hotties.  Who are you boys?  Where do you work?  Where do you live?  Why don't I ever see you anywhere else?  Girls, when Burberry has a party ... Go!

Ashley’s Trista & Ryan’s Wedding Party:  Since this party was held at my apartment, I had no choice but to attend. What an event. Nothing beats watching The Wedding of the Decade with friends while eating way too many Christmas cookies. Could you believe that wedding? What about that hair? I don’t mean to brag but Trista, icon of style that she is, was featured in a recent copy of US Weekly wearing our shoes. Trista, where did you get your HOLLYWOULDs? My favorite part of the wedding, for the record, was the mixing of sand. Why, Trista? Why, Ryan? I also liked that Charlie, who we think may have shagged (and certainly snogged) Trista on an episode of The Bachelorette, was the host. Such fond memories for everyone. And having Bachelor Bob in attendance was heartwarming. I’m glad it’s only 2003 because if that’s The Wedding of the Decade we should all go home.

VanCleef & Arpels Party:  So many diamonds, so little time.  I thought about robbing the store during the party, but all I managed to steal were some appetizers and champagne.  Our favorite HOLLYWOULD girl Annabella Sciorra was there looking gorgeous, along with tons of Christmas Waiter Hotties.  The waiters are always the cutest boys at New York parties which is why I've informed our CFO that we need to have a HOLLYWOULD party ASAP with lots of food and drinks and boys to carry them. 

Crowbar Nightclub Opening Party:  Wow.  Imagine a gigantic club in New York City in 1989 and you have the atmosphere.  10,000 people in attendance and it seemed that the only requirements for an invitation were glitter make-up, hair extensions, long acrylic nails, bad platform shoes, and a New Jersey driver’s license.  Amazing.  I don't know how I made it past the velvet ropes, but I am never going back unless I'm on pain killers, in which case it would actually be kind of fun.

Inez van Lams weerde & Vinoodh Matadin's Opening:  Howz that for a name?  For those of you who don't know this duo, they are fashion photography geniuses whose work often appears in Italian & French Vogue.  I think they are fab, and their opening at Mathew Marks Gallery in Chelsea was packed with other fashionistas who agree.

See you at the party tonight!

December 9th 2003
New York City

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  For those of you who don’t live in NYC, there is snow and ice a mile high and all of the store windows are full of mechanical Santas and blinking lights.  There is no better time in New York.

As I trudged to work today across the icy sidewalks in my snow boots, I passed a mother and child on their way to school.  I always see school kids on my walk to work, and they are especially adorable in winter as they are so bundled up like little Michelin men that they can hardly walk in their oversized snow boots.  This little girl, however, was being carried by her mother and was wearing shiny black patent leather Mary Jane shoes.  As I passed them I heard her mother saying to her, “See honey, look at the boots everyone else is wearing.  When there is snow and ice you just can’t wear your favorite shoes”.  She looked down from her mother’s arms, surveyed the snow boots all around her, looked back at her mother and said, “Yes mom, but my shoes are still the prettiest!”  What a fabulous little HOLLYWOULD girl in training!  She already knows that glamour is, in the end, the most important thing of all. 

Now I just need to find someone to carry me to work.  Will let you know how it goes….

December 6th 2003
Paris, France

Newsflash!  Newsflash!  Where is Hello! magazine when I need them?  I just had lunch with friends at Café Fleur, and we were seated right next to Princess Stephanie of Monaco!   She was eating with friends, one of whom was her new circus performer husband.  For those of you who don’t know about Steph, you really need to brush up on your Euroyals.  And, because it is a crime for any HOLLYWOULD Girl to be anything but a Eurotrash Royals Expert, I will take this moment to educate you here:

Princess Stephanie of Monaco is the daughter of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier.  It is rumored that she may have been driving the car the day that it crashed and killer her mother.  She is drop dead gorgeous and was formerly married to her bodyguard, who she left when she found him in the pool with a Belgian stripper.  This past September she married a circus acrobat, after having toured with him in his circus trailer for months.  And if your thinking her new acrobat husband may not be up to royal par, think again:  he is not only a juggler, but also a … handstand expert!  Clearly the girl has great taste.

Unfortunately, I was too busy catching up with friends to adequately eavesdrop on Stephanie & Co’s conversation.  This grieves me because it would have been very useful to learn the tricks of the trade from an expert in the juggling and handstand fields.  Useful for what, I don’t know, but useful nonetheless. 

December 1st 2003
Florence via Palm Beach

My goodness girls, it’s been a while!  I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving with your families! 

This is the time of year when we start to get hundreds of applications for Summer Internships at HOLLYWOULD.  And while we would love to be able to take each and every one of you, we only have room for one intern in our tiny little office, so we have come up with some easy-to-follow guidelines as listed below:

HOLLYWOULD INTERNSHIP GUIDELINES

1. You must be a college graduate.  I know that interning during summers before senior year is valuable, but since we can only take one person at a time, we need for that person to be a college graduate.
2. You must have a place to live in NYC for the duration of your internship.
3. You must be able to work 5 days/week for at least 4 weeks.  Work hours are 9am – 5pm, Mon-Friday.
4. We take interns year-round.  When you write us, please request the dates which you would like to work.  We do not take interns for periods longer than 8 weeks.
5. You must be able to use Office programs (yes, even you designers).  Basic Word & Excel a must.  Photoshop a huge plus. 
6. You do NOT need to want to be a “designer”.  We would LOVE to have some business majors or other liberal arts majors who want to work on the business side of fashion. 
7. Fluent French or Italian a plus.
8. You must apply by mail.  Not fax.  Not email.  Not in person.  You will need to include your resume (one page), a cover letter (one page), and your email address.  We will get back to you via email within 2 weeks of receipt, so please do not call us.  Mail should be addressed: 

• HOLLYWOULD
• Internship Applications
• 198 Elizabeth Street
• NY, NY 10012

FACTS ABOUT HOLLYWOULD INTERNSHIP

1. Internship is unpaid. 
2. There is no glamour.  Jobs include occassional:  data entry, trips to Staples, making press kits, making cute little invitations, making books for God-only-knows-who, making gifts for same people, covering for store staff, mailing your cute invitations, mailing stuff to our fabulous customers, mailing stuff to our favorite stores, visits to the deli fox, sample lending to press we love, courier jobs, taking inventory, making friends at Kinkos, packing and unpacking boxes, meeting celebrities (no freaking out allowed), learning lots about running a small business, learning lots about running a fashion company, helping anyone and everyone who needs your help!
3. Internship is based in Nolita, NYC.  That’s near Soho.  Downtown.  Tell your parents it’s plenty safe, because it is.
4. It’s the best way to get hired!  We’ve hired our last 2 interns, and it’s a great way for us to see if we can squeeze you in our staff.
5. We’ll make it look fancy on your resume.  “Intern” can be worded in many, many ways and we will show you how.

QUESTIONS ABOUT JOBS IN FASHION

As long as we’re talking “Jobs in Fashion”, I may as well take this opportunity to answer some questions I get emailed just about every day:

1. Q:  I want to be a designer, what should I do?  A:  Go to school for fashion design.  Here are the schools I recommend (for info on graduate programs, contact these schools too):
• Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC
• Parsons, NYC
• FIDM, Los Angeles
• Central St. Martins, London
• ESMOD, Paris (need to speak French)
• Chambre Syndical, Paris (need to speak French)
• Polimoda, Florence (need to speak Italian)
2. Q:  I want to work in fashion, what classes should I take?  A:  If you want to work at the high-end/designer level, it is valuable to speak either French or Italian fluently. 
3. Q:  I want to work in on the business side of fashion, what do you recommend?  A:  We love you!  Fashion needs more business people.  I recommend taking any business & financial classes you can.  Business school is not a bad idea.  Any good liberal arts school is great.  Intern with us when you graduate!
4. Q:  I want to be a shoe designer.  Does this have to be my major?  A:  No, you can major in “fashion design” or “accessory design”, but I would still recommend attending one of the schools listed above.

If you have any other questions, I recommend you contact the schools listed or do research on the internet.  That’s all for now girls.  Can’t wait to see who we get to fill our “Intern” desk!

xoxo, Holly