Milan Baby!

A different week a different city. I've just arrived in Milan and I've already done a twirl around Duomo and it's shops. I'm sitting at this webcafe at Corso Buenos Aires and Viale Tunisia. A fashion school across the street has streaming webcam. I'm in the building with the really bright windows across the street from MacDonalds. I've only just been here 4 hours so I haven't done anything but shop and eat. So make do with the webcam picture for now.

webcam link here

I come here twice a year to the attend the fashion tradeshows and yes it's pretty much as awesome as you might think. The city and it's people exude this flair that you can only find here.

The Golden Rule for Customers

The transitions between seasons always seem to bring out the more challenging customers. When I say challenging I generally mean they tend to be rude, abusive and/or unreasonable. Truthfully the difficult customer is a teeny weeny percentage of all customers. Unfortunately, the difficult ones tend to be remembered for the worst of reasons. They'll haggle over discounts, ask for things not available and/or try to abuse the return policy.

It would seem that some people despite how professionally they've been treated, can't be civil. I won't stand for my staff to be rude. Poor behavior results in immediate disciplinary action. I wish that customers could show the same respect that my staff tries to provide them.

When there's a problem and it's fairly obvious that it's not the customers fault, it's a no brainer. However, when that criteria isn't met, then we have to follow our company policy. Most times we'll go well beyond the definable parameters of our policy. The policies are there so that our staff has a set of guidelines on how to deal with problems.

Most confrontations occur when a customer is not happy with our policy. I can understand that, but don't mistake that when the staff is following policy that they're being rude to you. So don't be rude to them! They're following the rules. In almost every situation the rules are known to the customer. In our stores, the policy is posted at the cash desk and on the receipts. At Tru Drama they're posted in the changing rooms as well.

Here's a way I try to help people understand our return policy. If you've bought a car and that car doesn't work properly then we'll fix it or get you another one. However, if the situation was that you or someone else damaged it or that you simply didn't like it, could you bring it back to the dealership for a full refund? The answer is no. Now imagine trying to return the car and you were being rude about it. Common sense and manners would have both abandoned you!

When customers can't behave I have little patience for them and ask them to leave until they can adjust their attitudes. My staff has my full support if they deem it necessary to ask someone to leave.

Customers should always remember the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Sometimes there's leeway in the policy and rules of any company if the customer asks nicely.

Fake Ed Hardy Cap Submissions

The response from my initial post about "How to spot a fake Ed Hardy cap" was carzy. I'm not perfect and most of the times the pictures aren't very detailed either but I hope to help however I can. So if want know if your hat is fake, then email me some pictures to fed@trudrama.com

Here are some of the email submissions:

This cap just from sewing quality is likely to be fake.

I do believe this one is real but I do have some suspicions on the seams. They're more worn than usual. This might be a returned item and has been discounted.

The colours and details are there but probably fake due to the "Hardy" part being sewn into the crease.

This Ed Hardy Cap is 99% for sure real. I can't really give a 100% unless I'm in physically holding it myself. These were the best pictures anyone has sent me. So a picture of the metal button on top, close up of the bill, inside and plastic strap are best!

Cycle 10 Next Top model

I love to hate Next Top Model, especially the American version. However, like a car accident, I can't avert my eyes. The contestant interactions is really where it's all about. Female circumcision, stretch marks, transvestites and breast milk were some of early topics of discussion between the girls.

Will these girls become America's Next Top Model? The new judge Paulina Porizkova (replacing Twiggy) doesn't think so. Last year, Porizkova told The NY Post the show was "completely unrealistic. They obviously don't take girls based on who can actually be a model." She reiterates her point in another article today. Here's a small excerpt from it:

Porizkova has learned how "Top Model" relates to the realities of modeling the same way "The Bachelor" depicts the realities of dating - which is to say, hardly at all.

"America's Next Top Model has to be very well-rounded, which I've never heard anybody say about a print model," says Porizkova. "Models are not meant for TV - that's the nature of the work, that you're one-dimensional.

"You can be as dumb as a log and just look great.

"But being America's Next Top Model, you have to have some personality."

Now here's a judge I can side with! Paulina clearly knows what she's going on about, not only was she a top model but truly a supermodel at the height of her career.

The Audigier Counter Couture Lifestyle

The success of Christian Audigier has been astounding. The brains behind Von Dutch has taken his key brand Ed Hardy and launched and empire. From branded waters at Whole Foods to to an Ed Hardy Dodge Charger, he's really trying to cover it all. His booth in this Vegas tradeshow expanded to a crazy mind boogling 15,000 sq ft. We saw Ed Hardy helmets, structured water, swimwear, lingerie... the list is endless.

Kat and Me with Christian. Despite being thronged by a mob constantly, he made time to chat us up after we had placed an order.

This one is for all you guys. That's body paint mimicking Ed Hardy Swimwear. Boys, you may now close your mouths.

For a man so over the top, a confetti stroll at the end of his fashion show only seems fitting. Note the stripper pole in the background!

Tru Drama carries more styles of Christian Audigier and Ed Hardy than anyone in Vancouver. The problem we have is that we always sell out. Sometimes we only have a style for ONE day. That speaks volumes of what sort of empire Christian Audigier has carved out for himself.

The Magic Show, World's Largest Fashion Market

Just some images from the Magic, Project and Pool tradeshow in Las Vegas to share with you all.

Yes this is my actual badge.

Don't look back Kat, always forward!

Project

Placing an order

I swear this was at Barcelona too!

This guy would cut up your Ed Hardy shirt for free. He'd make these cool patterns on your $200 shirt!

Celebs hype their own lines in Vegas

Celebs see the fashion industry as quick way to capitalize on their own personal name. With sales in the tens of millions (or a gazillion more) it's easy to see why they'd pimp their own labels. The celebs were out in force in Vegas. They were manning their own booths and hosting parties to get noticed by us lowly buyers. Probably the only time we're ever going to be this close to them.

Nelly was at the Venetian celebrating his Apple Bottoms line's 5th anniversary.

Paris has been pushing her new line called Dollhouse Jeans. Me and Kat were going to LAX to the launch party but we were afraid of the windstorm. We didn't want to be crushed by a tree!

Catching up with Skins, Project Runway / Catwalk and Make Me a Supermodel

Skins Season 2 aired in the UK this past week. The intense stories and characters continue and if the first episode is any indication this is going to be another great season. Watching this first episode was like returning from summer break in High School. So happy to be with everyone again and looking forward to the future.




Project Catwalk Season 3 has been out over a month now and I just realized it. Yes, I'm a crappy fan. However, it gave me a chance to have a 5 episode marathon. The contestants seem more talented and less first-year fashion school. There are still those types but the addition of a couple of Canadians (Jasper and Chelsey) has me rooting for the Canucks!

The final 3 week turned out to be final 4 week on Project Runway. Sweet P was really the weakest person left. However both Chris and Rami was doing their tired old schtick again and I wouldn't have been sad if either of them left. It was the right decision to have them both work on collections and have them pick the final contestant in NYC before Bryant Park. Next week is the reunion show. Victoria looks really pissed off. She probably should have made it to the finals if not for her arrogance. I can't wait to hear what she has to say.

Finally America has voted Katy off Make Me A Supermodel. She was virtually in the bottom 3 every week and survived so often that I thought there was a conspiracy. The show has been super entertaining for me. It's odd that there's more boys than girls in the house. Which of course the exact opposite of the the modeling world in real life. I think Ronnie, Casey and Frankie will likely go home in the coming weeks. Shannon, Holly and Perry are favourites to go to the finals.

Vegas Baby!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I just got back into town. Kat, my assistant manager and I were attending the Magic/Pool/Project tradeshow in Vegas. It was a great show with lots of exciting brands and items for Fall 2008 season. I've taken so many pictures that I'm gonna have to do multiple posts to encompass everything we did.

The crazy highlight of the trip was this wicked sandstorm that had us literally crouched down in the middle of Vegas strip with dirt and debris swirling around us. People were screaming and I literally felt lifted off the ground a few times. We stayed prone like that for over 10 minutes, when the wind didn't stop we made a mad dash to safety. Once safely indoors we realized we were covered head to toe in sand. Some of it was pebble sized! We were tired, so we spent some time in a Brookstone on one of their massage chairs. The vibrations and massaging must have shaken a lot of the sand that was on us loose. The chair was covered in dirt! I felt like Pigpen from a Charlie Brown cartoon.

Staff Hot Pot Dinner

Dinner out is always fun. It's better when you can share it with your coworkers. Unfortunately last night not everyone could make it. A few had family stuff and 2 others had an accident on the way to restaurant. So we weren't graced with their incredible company. We'll make sure to get together again soon so that everyone can attend!

Tru Drama Group on Facebook

Admittedly I'm pretty new to the whole social networking thing. One of the girls wanted to start a group on Facebook. I didn't really know what she was going on about but I said yes anyways.

I hope to do announcements for new items, sales and other events. If i can figure it out, I'd like to offer up discounts or special sales items to members of the facebook group.

If you have a facebook account feel free to join us! Click the the join group link underneath the Tru Drama logo.

How to spot a fake Ed Hardy cap

Which of these Ed Hard caps are fakes? It's easier than you think to pick them out. The real one is the one on the right in orange and brown while the fakes are in the black or white camouflage.

Ed Hardy products have been so hot in our store since we started carrying them over a year ago. The quality and attention to detail that goes into each products really shows. Their products are much sought after by fans and my staff alike. Unfortunately, the premium price this product pulls in makes it a favorite of counterfeiters too.

Lately I've been seeing some fake Ed Hardy caps floating around. A true fan would probably kill themselves before ever putting one on. However, I can see how the uninitiated may think they're getting a great deal. Unfortunately, they're only fooling themselves.

I've gotten my hands on a couple of fakes to really study how they're different from the genuine article. By no means is this a conclusive investigation but I hope to have starting point for others on how to spot a fake. The first 5 points are the most obvious while the remainder is harder to distinguish or easily fixed by the counterfeiters.

Hologram Sticker. Very obvious differences here.

• Not a Hologram. Real one has a serial number and countermeasure. Fake is just a shiny sticker
• Wrong Symbol. It's supposed to be a skull in a top hat with crossbones.
• Wrong Size. Real sticker is 1.5 inches while fake is 1 inch

Materials, Bill and Front.

• The material is quite a bit rougher, the fake is almost a canvas and comes in this camouflage pattern that doesn't exist.
• On the real cap there's also one extra line of stitching that runs right above the bill.

Materials, Mesh. This is where it's most obvious. The fake has this horrible poorly made material where the fakers didn't even try to replicate the original.

Adjustable Plastic Band. The fake one is flimsy and much thinner and doesn't have the website in raised letters.


Metal button on the top of cap. On the left, the real one definitely is more intricate and detailed. I can't even tell what the character the fake one is trying to be... an ape?

Embroidery. On fakes this is probably where the counterfeiters spent all their efforts. Even to me it's hard to tell it's a fake from it. There are some tell tale clues though:

• There is a noticeable shortage of density in the embroidery
• The lettering on the words "Ed Hardy" is a bit elongated, especially the loops in the beginning and end.

• Stones. The fake ones are all dull and placed in an odd way. Real hats would never have the stones placed on the eyes of the tiger.
  
• General Shape. The fake ones have no shape due to the cheap materials used. So even the front panels sag a bit.
  
• Country of origin and materials tag. There is none on the fake one.
• Ed Hardy Label. The tag is poorly sewed and much larger than the real one.
  
• The printing on the ribs on the inside. The "www.donedhardy.com" printing is quite a bit bigger.
  

When I was doing research for this post I found ads for fake hats all over the place. There really is a lot of fakes for sale out there. What pisses me off is the prices these cheaters are hoping to get. The prices are cheaper than the real thing but not by much. They're really ripping you off!

I could spot out the fake items right away, even from a tiny web for sale picture. The difference between the genuine article and the fake is very obvious. The 2 fake caps I have are quite cheap feeling and the mesh really won't hold out on repeated wearings.

If you think you have a fake hat, bring it by the store. We'll try to help you figure out it's authenticity.

Tim Gunn on the Daily Show

Tim Gunn from Project Runway was on A Daily Show last night. It was a great short interview. Jon Stewart was a great foil for Tim's straight talk on fashion. The discussion wasn't deep but I thought it was insightful still.



Their website is a bit buggy so if the video doesn't work here's the direct link to The Daily Show website.

The Hot Shoe for Fall 2008?

Shoes unlike clothing is always way out ahead of what's actually in fashion. Meaning that the styles and colours of a season is decided way before clothes fashion is decided.

Last week I was looking at the Fall 2008 Camper collection. Yes, we're not even in Spring yet! The sales guys usually come to town and get a swanky suite downtown. I personally hate having to see collections this early. The manufacturing of shoes is much more of factory process and maximizing efficiencies is always the primary goal. So a huge lead times add up to having to order so far ahead.

The problem is that every season there's a shoe look that every brand/manufacturer is saying is the must have style of the season. The look was decided so far in advance it's not a for sure fire hit. In my experience that chosen style has a very poor chance of really making it big... being right 1 out every 4 or 5 times. It may be on the radar for the Carrie Bradshaw types of the world but it usually doesn't gain general acceptance nor sets my sales on fire.

This year, the Granny Shoe is supposed to be the hot style. Every Fall season at Kris + Cris we have a variation of a Granny Boot. It's always been a reasonable selling style for us. I don't get the feeling this won't take everyone by storm.

This is Camper's variation of the Granny boot. Notice the twist they add but doing in patent and off colour toe.

I won't just hire any Martian!

I got this comment from an anonymous poster. I thought the comments posed were worth writing about in an actual post:

Anonymous said...

Hi there, im a big fan of tru drama but sometimes i feel intimidating to shop there, because it possess an "asian only vibe." I Just think it would be nice to see a range of different race working instead of just chinese asian, because i dont always understand what they're saying .But i do understand that you prefer to recruit within family and friends.

A couple of years ago AE got sued for hirinf caucasian surfer like guys only, just giving you a heads up to avoid this.

February 3, 2008 10:04 PM

We certainly don't strive to have an "asian only vibe". However, I can see your point of view. We do our very best to have a diverse team and we've had visible non Asians working for us in the past. The mix of the store may be not as intimidating once I share some information with you.

It would be a dream if I could staff my store with family. I could pay them very little and work them like dogs! Alas, none of the staff are related to me. The store staff might have a very homogeneous look to them it but in reality the store is quite diverse. The countries currently represented are Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, China and Vietnam. We may all be Asians but that's like saying Italians are really the French... a comparison both would deny and despise.

Even I can only communicate with one other staff in my own store in my native language! Both of my past assistants share only one language with me. I can't speak either Mandarin or Korean so English was it. Our store policy is to speak English at all times unless the customer needs help in a language one of our girls speak. I'd like to think most of the girls follow the policy.

I hire on the basis of ability and attitude, race has never been an issue. The applications the store gets a majority are Asians. The ratio of non Asian resumes is probably 1 out 20. I believe that's got something to do with the neighborhood we're in. So the choices I have are pretty narrow. We also have low turnover, I think we have 1/3 the normal industry rate. Combine all that with the the limited amount of actual hours available for new staff... well it's pretty tough for anyone to crack the team.

I would love to have a more diverse team at Tru Drama. However, I will hire the best candidate regardless of their background. I'd hire a Martian if I thought he/she/it had the right stuff! Right now I've got an opening for a full or near full time staff. So send your resumes to jobs@trudrama.com.

The Store Today

The store is transitioning into Spring. A bit slow due to the Superbowl. You'd think we'd be unaffected due to us being a women's store but you're wrong!

The Best Assistants

Yesterday, was the last day for my assistant D. She's moving on to enrich her fashion career. I think this is a good move and I fully support her in this. She's been with me for 3 years. Like my previous assistant Karen, she came over from the Kris + Cris Shoes store when we opened Tru Drama. I've had 2 assistants since my second store and both of them have been invaluable.

The assistant position isn't the same as a store assistant manager. Although at times they've been both. They're really a rare blend of "can do" attitude, brains, maturity and of course fashion ability. My first assistant Karen has moved to Toronto to work in finance. In my last visit to Toronto we had gotten together for drinks and lunch. I'm glad to say she's on the path to mega bucks even though her career is sucking her soul dry. She misses fashion!

D is embarking on a similar one I had made at her age. Trying to make it in fashion. She's got all the right tools to be successful. I hope she finds herself in the right companies that will recognize and nurture her star talents. I'm certain one day I'm going to be talking to a young fresh faced assistant about D, "Yeah I knew her when..."

My assistants are my in-store confidantes, travel mates and fashion buyers. The first time me and D attended our first Vegas show was a great experience. We came back home with our bags packed to the brim with free giveaways from suppliers. Not much can beat free things! The very best times have been sharing meals with them. I've had the pleasure of introducing two "must haves" in LA to them. Homemade Tiramisu at Al Gelato on Robertson and Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori in Torrance. The "O" faces we would make while eating would be near pornographic.

It's been an honour to share fashion and food with these two great girls!

Tru Drama website is now my blog

This blog is something I've really come to enjoy doing. When it was first proposed, I didn't think I could do it. From that meager first post in September 2007, the audience for the blog has grown to over 4000 hits in December. I know it's small potatoes but to think that people are tuning into the blog to read my poorly written English and view my flash challenged photos is astounding.

I've decided to have all the store's official website traffic directed to this blog now. The blog clearly has more hits than the actual trudrama.com website and most of those visitors were clicking thru to get to the blog anyways. It was hard to keep the original site current. The blog allows me to make posts anytime and simply easier for me to do (and add photos) than the old website. In the old way, I'd needed to beg my cousin to change it for me.

Ultimately it's all about content. The old site was basically like a simple 2 fold pamphlet for the Tru Drama store. The blog with it's 79 (and growing) posts is like one of those big thick Fashion Magazines... the good ones in a foreign language not the skinny Canadian ones.

So just like my first post on Sept 28, 2007... Welcome!