Fashion Merchandising Degrees

Common business practices vary among fashion retailers.  Some retailers won’t allow their buyers to except so much as a donut from a vendor to avoid any hint an impropriety.  Other major retailers allow what is considered for them to be “common business practices”.  Most retailers would consider an occasional lunch or sporting event where the vendor is present to be a common business practice.  As long as the buyers have a chance to reciprocate in some way there isn’t as much risk that anyone is doing anything shady.  However, there are still many retailers out there that will purchase all of a vendors’ poor selling merchandise in exchange for getting a new pool put in their back yard.  Check out the following Top 10 Bribes for Fashion Retail Buyers.

1.Money from vendors can come in many ways.  Kickbacks are very common, where a vendor will offer to split his commission on an order with the buyer.  Another way money is used is when the vendor pays off debts for the buyer such as college tuition and others.

2. Trips are a very common incentive used to entice buyers to purchase certain products.  Sometimes the vendor will offer to send the buyer and a guest on a cruise and it has nothing to do with business.  Other times vendors will invite the buyers to come to New York and they will pay for their flights, lodging at the best hotels, food at the best restaurants and tickets to Broadway shows and then they will tie this into a business meeting.

3. Luxury cars, such as Mercedes and BMWs have been given to buyers after making a large purchase at high-end retailers.

4. Home improvements have been promised such as putting in a pool, garage, new flooring, new countertops, or a new fence.  In this instance it’s usually a more subtle bribe where the vendor will hear the buyer talking about needing a new fence and telling them that they know someone who can do it for them really cheap or for free.

5. Fine food has been a more accepted method of doing business.  The vendor will take a whole team of buyers out to lunch or dinner at a 5 star restaurant as a way of thanking them for their business.  Other times the vendor might send the buyer cases of their favorite wine or boxes of their favorite steaks as an incentive to buy their products.

6. Tickets to special events are another very common practice among vendors.  Many vendors have box seats that they will provide tickets to various sporting events or concerts to entice the buyer to buy more.

7. Golf outings tend to be looked at as a way of doing business.  Many a deal have been made on the golf course.  However, when the vendor takes the buyer to an exclusive club to play golf and pays the high price of green fees etc. it goes above and beyond the normal business practice.

8. Free products can range from a pair of sample shoes that just happen to be in the buyer’s size all the way up to the entire line of clothing that a vendor sells being shipped to the buyer’s home.

9. Prostitutes being provided to buyers in their hotel rooms or the vendor will take the male buyers to a gentleman’s club and pay for special favors from the dancers.

10. Lavish parties thrown by the vendor for all of the buyers and their spouses is a common occurrence and frequently not even considered a bribe.  However, when the vendor pays for a lavish party for the buyer’s kid who is turning 16, then it becomes a bribe.

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You might be thinking, how can a total stranger give me tips for buying my wedding gown?  Many women have been planning their perfect storybook wedding since they were young girls.  Some girls may have even torn pictures out of bridal magazines, but when it comes right down to it there is much more that goes into this big decision.  When you were young you had no idea that you would fall in love with the beach in Hawaii and decide to have a destination wedding.  What if you decide to have your wedding in the morning, would you still wear the same gown as you might for an evening wedding?  Check out these Top 10 Tips for Picking out the Right Wedding Gown.

1. Match the dress to the style of the wedding. If you are having a beach wedding you won’t want a full-length gown with a ten-foot long train.  If you are having your wedding in the morning you will want a different dress than if you are having a formal evening wedding.
2. Pick a cut of dress that flatters your figure. When you were 15 and planning your wedding you may have fallen in love with the Cinderella dress, but now you have spent years working out and you’d like to show off your curves with a mermaid dress.  If you have a larger bust line you may not want to go with a low-cut dress.  Try on several dresses and listen to the consultant on what shape will flatter you best.
3. Choose a color that suits your coloring best. Do you have a peaches and cream complexion with red hair?  Then most likely a white dress will wash you out.  Look for an ivory or soft pink dress.  Wedding dresses are not just white anymore.
4. Know your budget before you start looking at dresses. There is nothing more heart breaking then finding the perfect dress only to check the tag and find out that it costs double what you can afford.
5. Sleep on it. No, not the dress.  The decision.  Don’t buy the first dress you try on.  Keep looking.  Most people only buy one wedding dress in their lifetime.  Enjoy the process and the hunt for that perfect dress.  Don’t let pushy sales people talk you into something that you may not want.
6. Get a second opinion. Keeping in mind that the ultimate decision is yours, get a second opinion.  Find the dress that you think might be “the one” and then go back to the store with your mom or a friend and try it on again.  Make sure that you’ve let some time elapse so you can see if you are still really excited about the dress.
7. Buy at the right time. Keep in mind that a custom made dress could take up to ten months to make, but don’t buy so early that major changes could occur.  Don’t buy more than a year before the wedding.
8. Shop online for a bargain. Feel free to check out online companies, but never send a check ahead of time.  Bridal gowns are a major purchase and you never know when a shop can up and close their doors and then you would be out a lot of money.  Use a credit card that has a guarantee or charge back policy.
9. Don’t give up on a high-end dress. Check out eBay if you want a particular designer.  The dress may be used or it might have been a break up situation, but you might fall into a great deal.
10. Know when to stop shopping. If you have purchased the dress that made your heart sing, don’t keep looking.  You don’t want to buy another dress and get stuck with two dresses.  And you can’t return a dress that has been altered to fit you.  Don’t think that you can sell it either because you’ll only get half or less of what you paid for it.

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Wool is a natural fiber that is very warm. But why can some people wear it and feel no discomfort while others find it unbearably itchy.

People having skin conditions or highly sensitive skin seem to be the ones that find wool clothing itchy and difficult to wear. Creating a barrier between the wool and the skin may be the best bet in stopping the itch. Many higher end wool-clothing items come either partially or fully lined. This lining prevents the wearer from direct contact with the wool.

Other reasons wool may be perceived as itchy involve the actual wool fibers.
Wool fibers are created in various lengths and come in different qualities like everything else. Shorter fiber lengths tend to cause more itching because there are more individual fibers to rub against the skin, whereas the longer fibers seem to glide over the skin and rub less. The higher quality wool seems to cause less itching than lesser quality wool and may not contain additional chemicals.

Many people believe they are allergic to wool, but this is rarely the case. Winter skin is already drier and itchier so when a rougher fabric like wool is worn it may just be irritating a pre-existing skin condition. Age may also play a role. Younger people have thinner skin and therefore more sensitive skin. If you thought wool sweaters or dresses were itchy as a child you may want to try them again as an adult. You may find that you can tolerate wool clothing a lot better now that you are older.

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Did Al Bundy ever have to worry about people shoplifting shoes in the store he worked in?  As if smelly feet weren’t annoying enough shoe sales people have to worry about shoplifting.  Every day people are coming up with new ways to steal shoes.  Check out this list of the Top 10 Ways People Shoplift Shoes.

1. Exchange their old shoes for the new ones and wear them out the door.  This is the most common way people shoplift shoes.
2. Display grabbing where they grab two display shoes closest to the door and run out the door with them.  Then they take them to another store and complain that they got two right shoes.
3. Concealment is when a customer finds a pair of shoes that they want and wait until no one is looking and hide it on their person.
4. Stuffing a variation of concealment when the customer wears special clothes to allow them to hide a larger number of items.  One woman was caught with 17 pair of infant shoes in her bra.
5. Distraction used with two people, one person keeps the clerk busy while the other person takes the shoes they want.
6. Flooding involves a large group of people that all want helped at the same time and there aren’t enough sales people to watch all of them at the same time.  Whoever isn’t being helped/watched takes as many shoes as they can carry.
7. Find a friend and get him hired at the shoe store.  Then the friend looks the other way while you steal as many shoes as you want or the friend leaves the shoes in the dumpster for their friend to find.
8. Fake baby in a stroller.  The shoplifter hides the shoes under a baby blanket in the stroller and walks out the door.
9. Backroom sneak where the shoplifter asks to use the restroom and while in the back takes a pair of shoes from the back stock.
10. Split the pair, as many states won’t charge the shoplifter with a crime since they didn’t steal a complete pair of shoes and one shoe is considered to have no value they aren’t charged with a crime.

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