FB #7 - Trunk Shows

I personally haven't really had a taste of what a "real" trunk show is. I know that in New York City, designers often bring collections to retailers to allow them to take a look at merchandise before it is available for sale to the public. For example, I remember seeing Pnina Tornai do several trunk shows at Kleinfeld on the show Say Yes to the Dress (GREAT show, by the way!). I'm sure designers do trunk shows in Boston fairly frequently - I remember a Minnie Rose trunk show in one of the boutiques in Greater Boston, but it was way outside of my price range. Too bad, because I loved that ruffled shawl Kate Middleton was spotted wearing to the grocery store a few days after her wedding! That said, I likely am not in the target market for designers hosting trunk shows in my area.

I realized that I have actively participated in a type of trunk show, though. I sold lia sophia jewelry for a couple years, which entailed bringing jewelry to someone's home or other venue and basically run a party for a hostess and her friends to purchase jewelry. In fact, lia sophia jewelry is the whole reason I started blogging back in 2010! Lia sophia is a family owned company which publishes catalogs twice per year - the styles are very diverse, and quite a bit of fun!. I own a ton of lia sophia jewelry, but haven't purchased any for a while so I decided to take a look at the company's YouTube channel to see what's up for Spring/Summer 2013. I found this great video which touches on the themes they're using for the warmer months of this year, including wedding/bridal, springy floral jewelry, layering necklaces, and summery jewelry.

Competitor, Stella & Dot, also has several videos about their jewelry, trunk shows, and trend reports. You can check those out here. Let me know what you think of these two companies' similarities/differences! I'm personally still a huge lia sophia fan, but I have been known to purchase the occasional Stella & Dot item. I've even broken all of the rules and bought Silpada! All of these jewelry companies operate like trunk shows - a representative of the company offers to set up shop in someone's home, and that someone invites all of their friends and family to come shop the collection. There are usually incentives for the person hosting the show at their home, such as free jewerly and awesome discounts. Have you ever been to a jewelry party? Here are some pictures of what these various parties look like (lia sophia, then Stella & Dot, then Silpada):

I think these jewelry parties are important for fashion because they bring inspiration and advice to women who might not necessarily know how to accessorize an outfit, and they allow women to shop for jewelry in a comfortable home environment with friends they can trust for honest fashion advice. My favorite customers were always those who walked into one of my parties saying, "I don't wear jewelry," and ended the night with a $250 order. I learned a lot about the jewelry in the time I spent selling it, and found creative ways to wear some of my favorite pieces. I loved sharing those different ways with my customers. In fact, one of my all-time favorite necklaces can be worn nine different ways (keep scrolling for a link to the post!). All it takes is one well-trained advisor to help a shopper find their perfect piece of jewelry.

In the interest of exploiting my early blogging days and providing you with a good laugh, I will leave you with some links and old pictures from my early blogging days. I'm mildly horrified at how awful these photos are, but it just goes to show that this little old blog has come a long way!

One Necklace Nine Ways





What is it about lia sophia?

Emily has put some thought into her last couple outfits....