April 2003

April 28th 2003
New York City

Girls, I have a new Crush. Hes actually someone Ive loved for a while, and unfortunately all of the girls in the HOLLYWOULD office feel the same way. Around here hes known as the Deli Fox, and of all of the neighborhood foxes (UPS Fox, Fed-Ex Fox, Restaurant Delivery Boy Fox, and Telephone Fix-It-Guy Fox), the Deli Fox is by far the hottest. My special love for him was rekindled when I went to buy orange juice this morning and he said, So, are you a model or somethin? Clearly he is a genius. I would feel twice as flattered if I didnt know that last week he winked at Leslie, gave Maggie too much change, and accidentally touched Erins hand while bagging her Peppermint Patty. He is quite the neighborhood player, and if you frequent Nolita you know exactly to whom I am referring. Tall, dark & handsome with bright blue eyes, hip-hop style (he wears Usher earrings), and we think hes from Yemen. Now, before you jump to conclusions you must know that all of us HOLLYWOULD girls are fiercely patriotic, but we honestly believe that if all of Yemen looked as good as our Deli Fox, there would indeed be Peace in the Middle East. Stone Cold Fox.

Oh by the way, we're pretty sure hes 19.

You'll notice that some of the HOLLYWOULD Kegger pics are up. (Mom, I know my outfit may seem low-cut, but I promise it wasn't as revealing as it looks.) We still have lots more party pictures to post and they should all be up by week's end. You all look fantastic!

April 26th 2003
New York City

OK, something needs to be done about the music in the HOLLYWOULD store. I have come into work at different times only to hear blasphemy on the stereo, such as Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, and today Elvis, from when he was fat. It has to stop. At our old store when we had this problem I had to make a No White People Music rule in order to avoid the pitfalls of artists like the ones mentioned above. This worked well for a while, but we found ourselves making exceptions for Blondie & The Strokes, and soon the music of the white man had made its way back onto our play list. Now however, its gone to the extreme and Im scared I may come in one day and hear the soundtrack from the movie Beaches blasting from the speakers. Until we get this problem solved, please know that if you find yourself at HOLLYWOULD, shopping to the tune of The Wind Beneath My Wings, it has nothing to do with me.

PS - Kegger party pics will post next week. Sorry, we're still recovering...

April 25th 2003
New York City

Does HOLLYWOULD know how to throw a kegger or what?! Thats right, last night we threw our First Annual Hollywould Kegger to celebrate our CFDA Swarovski Perry Ellis Award nomination and it was the block party of the season. Our invitation boasted Free Beer, Drunk Girls, & RocknRoll and Id say we managed to deliver as promised.

The first keg was officially tapped by our CFO Isa at 7pm. 300 people and 3 hours later, keg number four was finished along with a couple of bottles of celebratory champagne. At one point we had kegs out on the street and such a nice crowd that the party was blocking traffic. It rocked. 

We were actually expecting a heavier dose of girls than boys, but with an invitation that listed Free Beer & Drunk Girls, we ended up with the perfect boy/girl ratio. Throughout the evening girls kept coming up to me and saying, How do you know all these cute boys? while the boys kept saying, How do you know all these cute girls?, or in one case, Ive never seen so many fine women in one spot! What can I say? HOLLYWOULD is the capital of cuteness. And, after polishing off 4 kegs in 3 hours, there were clearly some new-found love connections as was evidence by some seriously classy makin out on the dancefloor. Aw Yeah.

Also rockin was our DJ Noah, who incidentally happens to be the talented man who painted our store its famous bright blue. It takes some serious skills to play Led Zepplin, Run DMC, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears back-to-back, but Noah managed to rock the house HOLLYWOULD style. All night long people were asking me about hiring Noah, and I think its probably best if you contact him directly, but remember, DJ skillz like thems dont come cheap. Noah: 917-204-6718 (he will fly to DJ anywhere, but only flies First Class).

To try to list the names of our party attendees would be futile, so you will have to look at our party pics to see for yourselves. After the party we all moved around the corner to Sweet & Vicious, where the drinkin & dancin continued, and then on to The Park & Rehab, where our Director of Sales & Marketing, Erin, threw-up but was careful to miss her HOLLYWOULD shoes. Thank you, Erin.

Needless to say, today our store smells like a frat house and things are moving a little bit slower than usual at HOLLYWOULD, Inc.

April 24th 2003
New York City

So much news in one day! Just wanted to mention that the lovely and talented Sophia Coppola stopped by the HOLLYWOULD store this afternoon to check out our ballets. We love Sophia and cant wait to see her next flick! A few moments later the equally lovely and talented Iman stopped by to say Congrats on our award nomination. Isnt she the best?! Iman has been a HOLLYWOULD customer since we had our rinky dink store on Mulberry Street, and every time she comes in we marvel at how incredibly beautiful she is in person, and the fact that she honestly doesnt look a day over 25 years old! David Bowie is a lucky man.

April 24th 2003
New York City

For those of you who dont know about the fantastic website www.fashionwiredaily.com (a.k.a. FWD), you have been missing out. At HOLLYWOULD weve been big fans of FWD since they first launched, and their fashion scoop is always the dishiest youll find. The reason I mention this stellar website is because they recently published a fantastic story on HOLLYWOULD! If you visit the site you will be able to see pictures of our Fall 2003 shoes before anyone else in the world, and though it costs a bit to register as a reader, the investment is money well spent. I know its probably illegal to publish their article on our site, but we loved it so much we couldnt resist and promise to take it down if they insist. Thank you FashionWireDaily!

Hooray for Hollywould!

By Jenny Bailly

Fashion Wire Daily NY April 24, 2003 - Holly would launch her own shoe business without a lick of accessories design experience. Holly would even master Italian so she could tour Italy's shoe factories and learn the ropes -- I rented a car and started at the top, she says. But Holly never thought she would be nominated for a CFDA Swarovski award for accessories design. At least not yet.

When [CFDA president] Peter Arnold called me I thought it was a prank, laughs the 30-year-old founder of three-year-old accessories firm Hollywould. Then the next day we got a packet in the mail from them so I was like, 'If this is a joke, it's really elaborate.'

Last year when we heard about the nominations - like a week later - we thought, 'That's something maybe we could get in five or six years,' Dunlap recalls. I never thought we would be nominated any time soon.

But ever since Hollywould's first flirty shoe collection hit Bergdorf Goodman in spring 2000, things have happened quickly. The company opened a boutique in Nolita in 2001, only to expand to a bigger space a block away within a year. With Sophie Dahl and Cameron Diaz snapping up your ballet flats and starlets from Liv Tyler to Mena Suvari falling for your sexy sandals, a business grows up fast.

As did Dunlap. I knew what I wanted to do and was really focused from when I was little, she says. As a high school summer student at F.I.T., she interned with socialite designer Carolyne Roehm and later Todd Oldham. Those summers also introduced her to the New York club scene, where she was dubbed Hollywould. The nickname turned out to be prophetic, because Dunlap later fell in love with the sexy glamour of LA (It's so much better than New York, I can't even begin, she gushes.)

At 21, after graduating from Parsons in Paris, the Arizona native stayed in France to work at Christian Lacroix before moving on to London and Vivienne Westwood. Back in the US after a visa mix-up, she landed in LA, styling for photographer Peggy Sirota.

Then, at 24, Dunlap became the head designer at Lilly Pulitzer, charged with breathing new life into its preppy prints.

I grew up as a teenager being really into Vivienne Westwood and punk rock, but I was raised in Lilly Pulitzer, Dunlap explains. So working for Vivienne was my dream, and then on the other hand, working for Lilly had always been my dream.

That preppy Lilly spirit is certainly alive in Hollywould's shoes and bags. The Jungle Luxe spring collection, for example, is heavy on hot pink and green. The punk rocker is there too though. It's always a mix, it's the rebelling against the country club thing, Dunlap says. This is more rock club than country club though, she admits, pointing to a black crocodile thigh-high boot from the fall collection.

The young entrepreneur first landed on the shoe idea when she figured, I could find really cool clothes at Salvation Army, but the one cool thing I could never find thrift-shopping was shoes. Besides, after three years at Lilly, I was kind of sick of clothes, Dunlap admits. And I'd always known I wanted to do my own thing.

So it was off to Italy for a crash course in shoe production at the factories of Manolo Blahnik, Sergio Rossi and more.

The shoe guys were like 'This funny blonde American girl thinks she's going to have a shoe line?' They were more trying to introduce me to their sons and have their wives make me dinner than actually giving me the answers to the questions I needed, Dunlap recalls. But they couldn't have been more friendly.

The funny blonde American girl got enough answers to land herself a line though, and put out her first collection, made up of only wood-bottom shoes. I found a tiny little factory that was willing to work with an unheard-of person ... but they only made wood-bottoms, she explains. Three years later, Hollywould is using a factory that also works with Louis Vuitton, Celine, Dior and Ferragamo.

Now Hollywould is looking to retail expansion and, yes, a clothing line. I've been saying it'll happen next season for the last three seasons, so I don't want to say that again because I'm afraid that'll jinx it, Dunlap says of her return to clothing design. But hopefully that'll happen soon. I'd love to expand into all the categories that our girl fits.

Dunlap describes that girl as someone who doesn't mind being the center of attention and always has high sex appeal. She's into pink, high heels, Barbie. And though the brand is based in New York, the Hollywould girl is no Manhattanite. New Yorkers get our shoes, but it's not really their brand, reasons Dunlap. Our big customers are LA and London.

Hence, the next two Hollywould outposts will be in those cities. First will come LA at the end of this year. I don't know where yet, I need to go out and pound the pavement, says the businesswoman, still as hands-on as ever. I wanted it to be on Hollywood Boulevard, but I don't really think there's a spot for us up there -- though she does describe some of her first wood-bottom heels as old-school hooker shoes.

In that spirit of irreverence, before Dunlap heads back to Italy next month (she spends six months a year there and has an apartment in Florence), her team is hosting a let-your-hair-hang-down kegger in their Nolita store - likely spilling out onto the street to celebrate the nomination that has propelled Holly way beyond would-be status.

April 24^th, 2003 (part 1)

New York City

As much as we love Brittney, no one can replace Madonna. Yesterday I decided to play hookie for a few hours and happened upon Madonnas live performance at Tower Records downtown. Now, weve all heard rumors that she cant really sing, cant really play guitar, etc, and as a Madonna fan who had never seen her live, I feared these rumors could be true. That, however, is not the case. There she was, on stage with guitar in hand and nothing but a mike and she was killin it. Voice like an angel. Amazing guitar, especially for someone who learned to play after age 40. Madonna rules. Her acoustic, Joan Baez version of Like a Virgin was supreme. Its good to know that my entire 6^th grade year spent worshiping Madonna was completely justified, and that the countless hours I spent jumping on my bed singing Holiday were not hours wasted. We love you Madge.

For those of you who received an invite, the party is still on and we are ready to rock. For those of you who didnt, youll read about it in the diary tomorrow

April 20th 2003
Paradise Valley, Arizona

Being in Arizona in April is enough to make anyone question why the heck they live in NYC. It is beautiful here. It is cold & rainy there. There are five kids in my family and were all home for the weekend, which is a rare occasion. Yesterday began with my adorable niece and nephews at the annual Country Club Easter Egg Hunt (you've never seen so much Lilly Pulitzer on one green lawn), then off to the Child Research Center luncheon with my great friend Terrye Underwood, then a bit of shopping, and then home for a neighborhood golf putting challenge (girls against boys - girls won), BBQ and cocktails, which lead us to our favorite Scottsdale haunt The Grapevine.

If youve ever been to Scottsdale, chances are you havent visited The Grapevine. There are many other chic establishments worth a visit, but our family has always avoided those kinds of places in favor of The Grapevine, whose clientele ranges from cowboys to hookers to professional karaoke masters to just plain drunks. The karaoke machine offers a wide variety of country favorites, but we always manage to anger the locals by requesting hidden gems like Bust A Move and Im Gonna Sex You Up (sorry Mom, that's the name of the song). The kids in our family were joined by the kids from other families we've known forever, so the evening lasted way past my still-hung-over-from-Thursday-night bedtime, making Easter morning a not so early event. We'll post the Easter weekend party pics as soon as I find my camera...

April 18th 2003
Charlotte Airport, North Carolina

Yes, it is officially Good Friday and my booze ban was lifted with a little bit too much zeal last night as the clock struck midnight. In an effort to appease my mom (see March 26), I hadnt had a drop to drink since March 22^nd, so last night I decided to make up for a months worth of drinking in one short evening. Am currently stranded at the Charlotte Airport, where for the past six hours I have been paying dearly for last nights booze binge. The smell of hot dogs mixed with Cinnabon doesnt do wonders for a hangover.

The night began at East Village club LIT, where I met friends Hope Atherton & Kate Schelter at a party for literary star extraordinaire, JT LeRoy. For those of you who dont know, Hope Atherton is one of NYCs best young Art Stars; Kate Schelter is the genius graphic designer behind our websites new look (visit her website at http://www.kateschelter.com/ -!); and JT LeRoy writes interesting stories about his/her sad, questionable, Boys Dont Cry-ish childhood (Mom, you wouldnt like them. Edgy downtowners, you would.). At any rate, JT was nice enough to serve free booze to all of the party attendees, so I really didnt have much choice but to take advantage of the open bar.

From JTs party we (at this point the we becomes unclear, as does my memory. Waris? Nathan? Claudia? Kate? Hope? hmmm) decided to head to The Park to continue the evenings festivities. I cant remember who kept feeding me drinks, but whoever you are, you are evil. By the end of the night all of my friends had abandoned me, and my poor Secret Crush ended up having to baby-sit me in my drunken, stumbling, mumbling state. I dont remember anything that was said except for that I found his every word genius and amazing. Now, if youre wondering whatever happened to my declaration that I had fallen out of crush (see April 4), I will only tell you this: I lied.

At 5:30AM I managed to stumble home from da club, and because I had a 7AM flight out of JFK and had not yet packed, I made the wise decision to take a 5 minute nap. Needless to say, I missed my flight which is why Im stranded in Charlotte instead of sitting by my parents pool in sunny Arizona. When will this behavior end?

April 16th 2003
New York City

What a day! Todays celebrity customers at the HOLLYWOULD store included Queen of the Supermodels, Linda Evangelista, and Queen of Indie Rock, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. I happened to be working in the store (which is rare), so I was thrilled to get to chat with both of them. I first met Linda years ago working for Vivienne Westwood, and I even dyed my hair bright red when she did, way back in 1990. It was a good look. As far as Kim Gordon goes, well lets just say that she was my hero for a long, long time. Coolest chick in the world. I know so much about her its actually a little bit stalker scary, so when she came in today I decided to play it cool. We have a no autographs, no hassling, no pictures policy when it comes to celebs, and I have to say that it was very hard for me not to ask Kim to pose with me as if she and I had been Best Friends Forever, but I managed to restrain myself.

In other HOLLYWOULD news, the lovely Shoshanna Lonstein came by yesterday with the equally lovely Samantha Ronson. In case you didnt know, Shoshanna is getting hitched in May, and all of her bridesmaids are wearing HOLLYWOULD! Speaking of weddings, Samantha Ronsons DJ brother Mark Ronson recently got engaged to his longtime sweetheart and another HOLLYWOULD favorite, Rashida Jones. Rashida came by the day after he had popped the big question and gave us the whole scoop. Apparently he proposed by making her a crossword puzzle using all of their friends and common experiences as the clues. Well, as you can imagine as soon as Rashida started seeing the W-I-L-LY-O-UM-A-R-R she was thrilled and said Y-E-S! We think this is one of the best proposals ever invented and are convinced that their eventual children will be the most beautiful kids on the planet!

April 14th 2003
New York City

Ive recently tried to start liking Sushi. My personal trainer said its the perfect food, I used to date a brain surgeon who said it is actually good for your brain, and Im going to Japan in a few months - so Ive been feeling that it is imperative for me to start liking the stuff, pronto.

So, last night a friend and I went out to a very good sushi restaurant in the neighborhood. After spending hours and lots of $$$ trying everything on the menu, here is what I have to say about sushi: It is disgusting. Anyone who says they like sushi is lying. I think people pretend to like sushi because they think its chic to use chopsticks and eat foreign food, but in the end, no matter how pretty they make those little rolls and how much wasabi you add, sushi is still RAW FISH GUTS.  I tried to get the phrase “raw fish guts” to stop running through my brain as I attempted each bite, but before it even hit the back of my throat my gag reflex kicked in.

Not only do I not like sushi, but I don’t like the sushi scene.  Everyone in the restaurant was using chopsticks (Why?  This is America.  We use forks here.) and they all looked like they had spent the day in bed reading The Communist Gazette.  Nearby table conversations were all about Iraq, and there was more chin scratching and intellectual pondering than I ever need to see in an eating establishment.  I like places like local New York chain, BBQ, where (a) they have TVs, (b) they serve really big, strong, cheap daiquiris, and (c) nearby table conversation is always about either J.Lo or Jay Z, both worthwhile eavesdropping topics.  

I don’t mean to offend our sushi loving customers, and the whole nation of Japan, but I honestly think you’re faking it.

April 14th 2003
New York City

I’ve recently tried to start liking Sushi.  My personal trainer said it’s the “perfect food”, I used to date a brain surgeon who said it is actually “good for your brain”, and I’m going to Japan in a few months, so I’ve been feeling that it is imperative for me to start liking the stuff, pronto. 

So, last night a friend and I went out to a “very good” sushi restaurant in the neighborhood.  After spending hours and lots of $$$ trying everything on the menu, here is what I have to say about sushi:  It is disgusting.  Anyone who says they like sushi is lying.  I think people pretend to like sushi because they think it’s chic to use chopsticks and eat foreign food, but in the end, no matter how pretty they make those little rolls and how much wasabi you add, sushi is still RAW FISH GUTS.  I tried to get the phrase “raw fish guts” to stop running through my brain as I attempted each bite, but before it even hit the back of my throat my gag reflex kicked in.

Not only do I not like sushi, but I don’t like the sushi scene.  Everyone in the restaurant was using chopsticks (Why?  This is America.  We use forks here.) and they all looked like they had spent the day in bed reading The Communist Gazette.  Nearby table conversations were all about Iraq, and there was more chin scratching and intellectual pondering than I ever need to see in an eating establishment.  I like places like local New York chain, BBQ, where (a) they have TVs, (b) they serve really big, strong, cheap daiquiris, and (c) nearby table conversation is always about either J.Lo or Jay Z, both worthwhile eavesdropping topics.  

I don’t mean to offend our sushi loving customers, and the whole nation of Japan, but I honestly think you’re faking it.

April 7th 2003
New York City

Oh Girls, last night I was invited to a screening for what I am now referring to as The Best Movie Ever Made, Down With Love, starring Ewan McGregor and Rene Zellweger.  Without giving too much away I will tell you that the movie is set in the early 60s and is reminiscent of my favorite Rock Hudson-Doris Day movie, Pillow Talk, but with a new twist.  You will LOVE it.  The day it hits the theater Im thinking of closing shop for a few hours and forcing the entire HOLLYWOULD staff to go and see it together.  Yes, its that good.  Also in attendance at the screening were some of my favorite New York gals, Fernanda Niven, Rachel Peters, Liz Cohen, Beth Blake, Jennifer Creel, Lucy Sykes, Amy Sacco, Amanda Cutter Brooks, and the evenings organizer Peggy Seigal.  And if youre wondering why so many fashionable gals would attend such a screening, I will tell you that Down With Love is all about fashion, with 1960s costumes, hair, make-up, and sets to-die-for.  I suspect youll be reading about it in Vogue just as it hits the theaters May 15^th, and I will be the first in line to see it again and again and again. 

April 4th 2003
New York City

Oh sadness, heartbreak, tears and utter despair I think I have fallen out of crush.  Thats right, my Secret Crush is no longer.  I know it may come as a shock, how I could one day be head-over-heels and the next day out-of-crush, but I have discovered that my Crush has one tragic, fatal, irreparable flaw: he is a Rock Star.  You may wonder how I could have adored him for so long and not have known, and the truth is that I was blinded by love.  Last night I saw his band play (theyre kind of really great) and as I stood in the audience I had an epiphany: I dont want a Rock Star, I just want someone to watch TV with.  And while some of you may think that Rock Stars are all right, anyone who has ever dated one knows its actually quite a problem.  Rock Stardom is, sadly, the antidote to long lasting love.  And he was so perfect in every other way cry me a river.

Before heading out to see the band, however, I met up with some friends for a dinner at PIE, a great pizza place on 4^th Ave.  As you will see from the Party Pics, it was a pretty fashionable (and slightly drunk?) crowd, including KCD PR Star Victor Glemaud, Fashion Star Hanuk, Art Stars Casey Cook, Frank Rothenberg, Isca Greenfield-Sanders, and Sebastian Blanck, Roller Derby Star Yesim of Kevin Krier, PR Star Monique Nguyen of Christian Dior, and HOLLYWOULD Stars Nick Day and Ashley Auchenbach.  Kids, theres your five minutes of fame, so live it up!

April 3rd 2003
New York City

Its not very often that I get to be in NYC for an entire month straight, but because I will be here for the whole month of April I decided to join a gym.  The last time I belonged to a gym was about 4 years ago, and I ended up having to quit due to the fact that all I ever did at the gym was watch TV.  How are you supposed to exercise when youre surrounded by TVs?  I would go in every morning ready for a serious work-out and end up on the treadmill at the slowest pace possible in order not to impede my ability to read the closed captions. 

So, this time I decided to solve the problem by getting a personal trainer.  Yesterday was my first session with Billy, my trainer.  As Billy was showing me the ropes of the gym, I couldnt help but notice the legions of hotties on every machine.  More foxy men than I have ever seen in my entire life.  With each new machine Billy showed me, I found myself surrounded by gorgeous men.  Where are all of these men during the day?, I thought, and could not believe my good fortune in joining the ultimate fox hangout.  About hour into my workout I began to realize that not only was my gym full of beautiful men, but there was hardly a girl to be found.  What luck!  When I asked Billy where all of the girls were he said Oh, we dont get many women here, being a GAY GYM and all.  Gay gym.  I joined a gay gym.  As I looked around me I began to realize that yes, we were listening to techno; yes, all of the men were wearing mesh D&G muscle shirts; and yes, there was a lot of unnecessary spotting going on.  How could I have been so blind?  Any fashion girl worth her salt can spot a room full of gay men, but I guess my jet-lag has impaired my gaydar.  Its actually kind of nice to know that all of the men around me couldnt care less about my abs, but geez louise, a gay gym?

April 1st 2003
New York City

Todays big news at HOLLYWOULD, other than the fact that Cameron Diaz just rang up to order more ballet shoes, is that we were nominated by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) for Swarovskis Perry Ellis Accessory Designer Award.  Yeah!  This is the biggest award the fashion world gives to a brand like ours, so we are ecstatic, thrilled, amazed, and eternally grateful to the members of the CFDA!

The minute I heard the news I had to place a call to Mom & Dad (M&D) to give them the scoop.  Here is the basic gist of our phone conversation:

Me: Hi Mom & Dad.  I have great news: we were nominated for the CFDA Swarovski Perry Ellis Accessory Award!!!

M&D: Thats great honey.  Are you coming home for Easter?

Me: Its a really big award, like the biggest award you can get.

M&D: Oh honey, thats nice.  We really wish you lived here in Arizona.

Me: We're so excited because we didn't think we would even get nominated for this award for like 5 more years.

M&D: You know Hol, your little sister has a boyfriend.  She's probably going to get married before we know it!

Me: Great.  So the other designers that have won in the past are like Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford.

M&D: Who?  Are these boys you like?  Has that Secret Crush ever called you?  Youre older sister's kids are such a joy.  We love grandkids.

Me: Um, so I guess Ill see you at Easter.

M&D: Fantastic!  That is great news!  We love you!

Why can't I have Stage Parents who push me into the spotlight and force me to enter beauty pageants and talent contests?  Parents who give me silent treatment when I lose and bribe judges so that I win?  Parents who pay someone to build the winning Science Fair project at the expense of my education?  Parents who actually care more about my achievement than my personal happiness and fulfillment?  Hmmm... I guess when you put it that way my M&D are all right.