Gretta Baby, I Love Ya...

Owning a store is like having a baby. You nurture it, love it and hopefully watch it grow into its best version of itself. And it changes your eye and perspective and your outlook and all things in between. And while a baby makes your heart strings a tad easier to tug, having a store, albeit a fabulous one, makes it more difficult to be wowed by fashion.
You see it all, each trend and every on-trend thing months ahead of the curve so by the time it comes down the pike you are semi-over it. You've been there. You've done that. You are so ready for  two seasons later. Except for this season. Spring 2012 at Gretta has been a feast for my tired eyes, a buffet of prints and silhouettes that are sophisticated, new and wearable.
I find that I must hold myself back each and every day from wrapping beige tissue paper around racks 1-4 and  running out the front door. It's my store so I guess I could do it, while grabbing Anniel's perforated suede bootie to, um, boot, but if I did, I would deprive you of the opportunity to partake in what I am loving, and to wear what would instantly excite you.
That being said, I did manage to make Tucker's minty green silk tank with thick straps my own. A new edition to Tucker's family of blouses and tie dresses, this top is dying to be paired with a baby blue high-waisted jean. Just long enough to skim the waist, it calls for a little tucking and possibly a platform shoe and your ready to go.
I know, you are salivating and envisioning. And you will get a photo to compare to your vision and it will be as good. Promise.

When Farfetch.com Met Gretta Sloane

Well, it's official. Gretta Sloane is joining a select group of boutiques who offer their wares on  http://www.farfetch.com/. It speaks volumes about Gretta and the quality of our goods since only the best boutiques worldwide are asked to join.
And, to boot, Gretta is in the process of launching its own e-commerce site. I know, so many ways to get you some Gretta...it's just too much, even for us.
Etoile by Isabel Marant, Rag & Bone, A.L.C., Inhabit, Lauren Park, T by Alexander Wang, Helmut Lang, Jerome Dreyfuss, Chinti & Parker, Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, SUNO...and more

You hyperventilating yet? Oh, and be sure to find us on facebook. New styles posted each and every glorious day.
Did I happen to mention J.Crew needs a blog...more on that later.

Desperately Needing a Blog, J.Crew

I have thought it a bazillion times and I've constructed beautifully detailed copy (street style photo included) in my head each time I have double-clicked on an item on J. Crew's e-commerce site. But I have never actually uttered the words aloud. Until now.
J.Crew, why don't you have a blog?
Why don't you have a ridiculously fashionable gal out there on retainer who takes your stuff, street-styles the heck out of it and posts wonderfully imaginative and detailed prose about it?
Jenna Lyons, I love what you have done at J. Crew: the updated silhouettes and fabrics, the partnerships with contemporary designers and, of course, collection,  but I don't know why you haven't taken that extra step? What makes me buy or want to buy with a voracious appetite these days are the street style blogs. Nothing gets my juices going more than seeing how others take a piece, relatively snoozy and mundane on its own, and give it wings by making it their own.

 Take this top for instance. Okay, I get it, the floral thing is in, but left unattended, it can look frumpy, needlepoint mom with a couple of calico cats and Antiques Roadshow on DVR kind of frumpy. But...street-style it up by adding a wildly printed skinny pant a la Gretta Sloane, a bright bag, ankle boots and there ya go. Suddenly I want it, you want it and it's sold out everywhere instead of what's really going on here, which is that sizes 2-14 are still available.
Food for thought, J.Crew.

An Eternal Child of the '80s

I can't help it. I grew up in the '80s. And, along with the bad perm my mother should have never let me have, there were a few things I still love: colored denim (already back), off-the-shoulder tops (now being done in a more sophisticated way) and neon.
Oh, NEON.
How I love your vibrant hue. How I get giddy at the sight of a fluorescent marker or a bottle of shocking pink polish. And, even though, sweet neon, you have recently made your way back into the arms of fashion, I have never let you out of mine.  I have consistently parlayed you into my life, albeit in quiet (dare I use this word in the same sentence as you) ways, with an electric green coin purse tucked inside my satchel or with fluro orange toes peaking out of my summer sandals.
But I am so very happy you are back and even happier that fashion line Eternal Child has chosen you to accent some of their key spring pieces. They have managed to make you new, sophisticated and, most importantly, unexpected. I love the gold thread twinset (eek, another '80s word) with the hint of neon yellow/green on the inside of the cardi and striped across the bust of the tank.
It is beautiful and genius and wearable for a woman of any age.

And you thought neon was just for kids...

My New Year's Resolution...To Blog (Again and Often)

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION:

1) I will resume my gretta sloane blog and I will post often.
2) I will share my thoughts about fashion, trends and what is happening at Gretta
3) I will leave you, my reader, hungry for more, and, more importantly, wanting to shop.
4) Amendment to #3: I will leave you wanting to not just shop, but to shop at Gretta (and who wouldn't...seriously)
5) And to help you successfully achieve #4, please prepare yourself and your spring shopping budget for

wait for it...

http://www.grettasloane.com/

that's right people, all things gretta will soon be one click away. So get ready...

Beaded Bracelets-The Windows to Your Soul...

Who would have thought that when a curly-haired woman walked into Gretta lugging a suitcase overflowing with handmade beaded bracelets last fall that it would create a trend that has not only stood the test of time but continues to inspire a waiting list.

We have sold them by the thousands, by the glass jar that sits on our white marble desk full. Young girls, school girls, sorority girls, on-trend moms and more have all fallen prey to piling on as many of these bracelets as their poor arms can hold all in the name of fashion and individuality. You see, the amount of bracelets you choose to don as well as the color combinations you gravitate toward tells us something about you.
Do you prefer the solids? Then maybe you like the simpler things in life
Do you wear just one? Perhaps you shy away from clutter
Or do you like an arm-full of rainbow-hued sparklers? We at Gretta do so what does that say about us...hmmm

A Little Birdie told me to go to Gretta tonight...

The balmy weather (a chilly 81 degrees) coupled with daily visits from our our fave UPS guy Glenn bearing some of the season's best pieces have inspired the Gretta gals to have a spring get-together this evening. Nevermind the wind and forget that it is a bit too early for the bronzer to be dripping right off of your face and come in. Oh, how you must come in!
Drinks + Hors d'Oeuvres + Alexander Wang, T by Alexander Wang, Clu, Vena Cava, Hanii Y, Rag & Bone, Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, Inhabit, Humanoid, Virginia Johnson, Thread Social, Lauren Park, Genevieve Jones, etc. = a fabulous time at Gretta