Athena's Gown

Greek mythology is one of the many things that I like. Interesting stories, such as Sisyphus, which is my favorite one, and beautiful goddesses. For some reason, it's not easy to get a real Greek-goddess-style evening gown these days. With a coming party that I have to attend, I decide to start looking for a gown that is close to the one that Athena wore (just without the weapon) for myself.

Here's my research:

Two-piece evening gown? Athena may forget her jacket somewhere...


A short dress? Athena is a warrior, and it must be inconvenient for a warrior to fight in a short dress.


A tight little dress? The turnaround of this dress is gonna be very high for her during war time.


What about just a simple one-shoulder gown? That's a statement of Athena! Brave, confident and beautiful, the goddess of war, wisdom and the crafts.

Chadwicks Fall Fashion Tips for Women

Fashion "Please Don'ts"

We spend a lot of time talking about what to wear and what looks and trends are hot for the coming season. What we don't do is talk about the fashion DON'Ts! Some trends just shouldn't be trends, some outfits that should just be out, and some that just plain irk me!

Here are my top 3 trends that need to end!

3) Boots are meant for walking... in the winter!
How many times have we all seen some crazy girl wearing boots in the dead of SUMMER?? I get hot just looking at them! Peel off (and air out) those stinky boots, get yourself a nice pedicure, and show off those little piggies in some cute sandals!

2) I see London, I see France, I DON'T want to see your underpants!
Whoever said it was sexy to have your thong (or even your granny panties) show from the top of your jeans needs to seriously reevaluate their fashion sense. Ladies, do yourself (and everyone else) a favor, check out that little behind of yours to make sure no unnecessary junk is sticking out of your trunk.

DRUM ROLL... And the number one fashion trend that irks me the most...

1) Jeans + Jean Jacket = WAY too much denim!
There is definitely a reason why no designer has made a denim suit, it's just not right for a person to wear THAT much denim. You're never going to find the same color jeans that match exactly to that jean jacket, so please don't try.

What are some fashion faux pas that you can't stand?

Great White Sharks on Cape Cod?

We have all seen the movie Jaws and I for one always think of sharks when I swim in the ocean. Even in Maine where the water is always chilly. It just freaks me out that you can't see the bottom and you just never know.....

I am a little alarmed at the recent sightings that have occurred in Chatham harbor. There has been an increase in seal populations which has led to Great White sightings only 50ft from shore! There was a couple this past week out on their Kayak that claim just a few feet from their boat that a Great White Shark leapt out of the water grabbing a seal! Can you imagine? If that were me, I think I would freeze in terror. Would I be able to row myself in or just sit there in a daze?

Why is it that so many people fear sharks? I have to admit I am fascinated by them (only from afar) and enjoy watching Shark week on TV. It is so comforting to be on the couch, while watching these large predators; nothing to fear except for the large mound of laundry that never seems to go away. I think what scares me the most is that sharks can only touch by their sharp toothed mouths; they just clench down to figure out if the morsel is worth taking and I would not want that to be me.

I think I am done swimming for the summer.

Chadwicks on TV!

Have you seen us on TV yet? Chadwicks, your destination for great fashion at great prices has teamed up with The Balancing Act on Lifetime to help with your fashion questions. As you balance career and home, the show is a great place to get great ideas on how to make your life a little easier. The show informs, enlightens and shares solutions on how to be a success on both fronts.

JoJo Cohen is there every Monday to give you fashion advice, answer your questions and give you tips to make sure your week ahead is a fashionable one!

Catch us weekdays at 7am ET/PT, 6am CT (Check local listings for MT) on Lifetime. Check out our latest show here

Accessorize Your Closet

As I am in the process of planning my wedding, my budget has definitely gotten a little tighter. Being in retail and fashion though, I need to keep up with the latest trends, which can be challenging with the current economy. I don't let that stop me from updating my looks and buying trendy pieces for the season! If you are like me and love to shop; but don't want to spend a fortune, a great and easy way to update your current closet is by accessorizing! Right now scarves are a must have!! Wear them around your neck or even around your waist and you are set to go!! And lastly, my favorite accessory at the moment is the Chadwicks Statement Necklace- it is so glamorous and girlie at the same time, and can really dress up any outfit you own!!

Wait…What’s a Cankle?!

I was at my desk working away when I heard it and it was music to my ears. Since I’m a writer and voracious reader, my ears just perk right up when I hear a word that I’ve never heard before and I just had to ask my boss what she meant by the word “cankle”. Everybody else seemed to know what she was talking about so I thought I’d better get up to speed.

Apparently, the same people that came up with the words “love handle”, “muffin top” and “saddlebags” (I’m not sure that I like those geniuses) to describe women’s various figures problems have come up with a word to describe chubby + ankles=cankle, or at least that’s how I think it came about. Or maybe ankle + same diameter as calf=cankle. Guess women have genetics to thank for the condition. Or at least that’s what the Today show’s health segment had to say. Take a listen for yourself…

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The good news (according to the video) is you can make your cankles less noticeable by what you wear (I’m a big fan of disguise, sleeveless tops have fallen by the wayside for me in favor of short sleeve or ¾-sleeve ones). Here’s the advice that Today was passing along: wear longer pants, longer dresses, or a 

nice-looking wedge. Maybe Chadwicks can help in the fight with something like this...

Fashion Beach Reads

For some reason, reading happens to be more of a leisurely hobby for me in the summer time compared to all other times of the year. I guess because I enjoy going to the beach or laying out by the pool, but I need to do more than just lay there. Besides your typical fashion magazine; I enjoy books that are based off of women’s lives and more important-fashion! Two of my favorite reads have been Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster (she also has a very amusing blog at: http://www.jennsylvania.com/) and Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison.

Bitter is the New Black in Jen’s words are the “Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office.” The extremely long, sarcastic title caught my attention and kept my attention until I finished the book in less than a week.

Shoe Addicts Anonymous follows four women including a politician’s wife, a woman in immense debt due to her obsession with eBay, a phone sex operator who is also suffering from agoraphobia (the fear of going out in public), and a nanny for a family from hell. These women meet every Tuesday night to trade their designer shoes and open up about their very different lives.

I would recommend these reads to anyone who is waiting for new episodes of Desperate Housewives to start airing again. I think these books are just as equal if not better as a great filler for our Wisteria Lane withdrawals.

So….What have you been reading this summer?

Gone Batty

Sometimes I think that down deep inside I have minor physic abilities and these abilities often send me little messages that I don’t get. Then something happens like what I am about to write about and suddenly I get the connection or is it déjà vu? I’m sure many reading this will know exactly what I mean. So the other night after a long hard day at work, I decided to relax by looking through some of my magazines, catalogs and such that had been piling up. I was feeling pretty relaxed and thinking about some of the great new clothes I’d like to buy for the Fall season (of course had my Chadwicks catalog with several pages marked......loving the favorite new tees). I then picked up the newspaper and truly don’t know why but read this article about bats and how they are dying off due to some type of bacterial disease and to watch for them. I didn’t think much more about it after that because why would I ever look for bats, yikes!

Later that night I was awakened by our cat Zeeky making loud noises, meowing and jumping at the bedroom door. All I could think of is that stupid cat is going to keep me up all night now. You have to understand that Zeeky was my husband’s idea to bring home, not mine! I’ve never really been that fond of him (I’m a dog lover). Well, after getting up and down several times to let him in and out of the bedroom and meowing, I had enough. I said to my husband “If that darn cat does not stop, I’m throwing him out of the house”. Of course, he said “Just ignore him he’ll stop….go to sleep”.

Finally, at 5:30 am I got up and was about to strangle the cat. I opened the bedroom door and all I saw was Zeeky running down the hallway and a brown blur flying at me! It all happened so fast that it flew into the side of my head and then into the spare bedroom with Zeeky still in chase. I slammed the door shut and screamed for my husband that a bird was in the house and Zeeky had it in the bedroom! He quickly got up and went into the room and closed the door. Needless to say, all I heard was the cat, the bat (which I still thought was a bird) and my husband making a lot of noise. I yelled “what’s happening?” from the other side of the door. He replied “We’ve got a bat not a bird”. Of course, I started screaming more because now I realized it had hit me in the head when it flew by! “Get it, get it!” I yelled.

After about 5 minutes, the noise stopped. My husband opens the door asks for some gloves from the garage and lets me know Zeeky has it trapped in the bookshelf. I hand him the gloves, he closes the door again. I wait…..he opens the door with the bat in his glove squeaking still and says “hurry, open the window”. I run and open the window and he throws it out and believe it or not, it flew away! I then turned around and looked at Zeeky lying on the floor panting heavily, tongue hanging out and most likely thinking “what did you just do……I worked all night for that bat”? Bottom line, I kind of like Zeeky now and lessen learned that you should always listen to your pets when they are acting up.

Who knew that reading an article about bats would lead to a bat encounter that same night! Weird, right?

Martinis and martini bars have become a huge craze in the past few years. The standard martini before this new trend was some gin and dry vermouth, garnished with an olive (yuck!), but now you can get an array of yummy martinis! As a part-time bartender I have the pleasure of making a lot of these fun drinks and usually try them to make sure they taste good! The latest martini that I love is one made with Bubble Gum vodka, it is delicious! It can be used with so many different things, no matter what you mix it with it always tastes good. I like it with sprite and a little splash of grenadine. Martini bars/lounges are also popping up everywhere offering a lot of these specialty drinks. The thing that I like about martini bars is that you can enjoy a drink while talking with a few friends without loud music and chaos all around. These types of bars create an atmosphere that is pleasing to a person like me who likes to dress up in a little black dress and go out to enjoy a few drinks with friends but not have to go to a night club! So, what’s your favorite martini?

by: Coco

Fashion in Film

Let's face it fashion inspires the movies or is it the movies inspire fashion? I can't decide.
There are so many great movies that the clothes the characters wear are just as important as the actors in them. Think about it would Sex and the City been half as fun if our favorite foursome strutted the streets of Manhattan in flip flops and sweats? Would that aspiring writer really have forgotten about her cute boyfriend and that her goal was to be a hard hitting journalist if the Devil wore the Gap? I think not.
Movies are my favorite source of inspiration for clothing. I love how costume designers tell us who every character is by the color and the cut of every wardrobe change.

A few classics;
Ali McGraw's preppy peacoat in Love Story.











Meg Ryan's classic blazer in When Harry Met Sally.

Uma Thurman's crisp white shirt in Pulp Fiction.

Audrey Hepburn's little black dress from
Breakfast at Tiffany's!



We have a few takes on these great ideas in Chadwick's. Take a look at some great ideas to dress every part of your life!
My all time favorite fashion moments in film come from one movie Auntie Mame - The 1958 original with Rosalind Russell. Her clothes transform her throughout the movie and inspired this girl to pursue a career in fashion. To quote Mame "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!"
Luckily for us Chadwicks offers a great selection of clothing that will keep our fashion cravings well fed every season!

Behind the Scenes!

My coworker (we’ll just call her KT) and I have been so busy getting ready for the Balancing Act to visit! We had the hosts in to do a fitting yesterday where we selected their outfits for the segment. KT and I are just soooo excited…along with everyone else in the building. We all have a chance to be on TV…KT already is definitely making an appearance. The picture you see here is what we have been busy setting up in one of the conference rooms. We have set out about a million pairs of shoes on the tables in both sizes for the hosts and there are wardrobe options all over the room! Today, we filmed the segment and I got at VIP seat to witness it all! We shot footage in the design area and our model fitting area. You do not want to miss this! I am not sure when this exact segment will be aired so you will just have to watch all episodes. We would love to know what you think!

Be sure to watch (or dvr) our first segment of the Balancing Act on
August 17, 2009 at 7:00 AM EST on Lifetime.

By LB (shown in the picture to the right)

To buy or not to buy

Purchasing a car is one of my least favorite things to do. I’m not a car enthusiast to say the least. Personally, I think it’s one of the worst investments a person can make. I respect the fact that people like to reward themselves for hard work and others enjoy it as a (very expensive) hobby. Most of my friends are into cars in a big way, used and new.

So it’s time to replace the nine year-old minivan, and I’m not looking forward to a new car payment that I have been avoiding for 5 years. With the kids getting older now, a new mini van was pretty much out of the question, although it was always there in the back of our minds. Our goals were to get something that was safe, not too expensive, had seating for 7+, high trade-in value for the future, and somewhat stylish. Other hopes were to by American (even with all of the problems in the industry), and to take advantage of the cash-for-clunkers program. Unfortunately, we had no luck on the last two.

Personally, I think the Ford Flex is sharp looking for a family car (especially the cinnamon color with the white top). It also has plenty of room for the family. My wife thinks it looks like a hearse. She’s driving it most of the time, so the Flex was out right away. We also looked at the Chevy Traverse. The space was tight and my wife couldn’t see well out of the windows when backing up. When we went back to look at it a 2nd time, the price went up two grand! No thanks. The Mazda CX9 was just as small, and the Toyota Highlander (the only car that qualified for our “clunker”) had a third row that was an afterthought when the car was constructed.

After three hours at Honda last night, I signed on the dotted line for a Pilot. Nice car, smooth ride, reliable, safe, plenty of room and good car to trade-in down the road. The funny part is that every dealer I sat down with was willing to go below invoice, except for Honda. Did I get ripped off? Probably. But I did read that the average customer is pretty much paying MSRP (sticker price) for this car, which blew me away. At least I feel we landed a pretty good deal after seeing that most of the cars on the lot were sold and I did get close to invoice. The next purchase will most likely be a hybrid of some sort once the technology gets to the next level. My family loves the Pilot, and I don’t mind driving my 1998 Mercury Sable with 155,000 miles. As long as I can get from A to B, it’s all good. Are you thinking about buying a car?

Accessory Impaired!

I don’t know how to accessorize, I pretty much consider myself accessory impaired. Thank god for the girls I work with. The other day I was getting ready to send out some accessories to the still shoot. (In case your wondering a still shoot is basically a photo shoot for all the non-model photography). While I was packing the boxes, one of the girls commented on how cute our medallion belt would look with my outfit. I was wearing a tiered brown peasant skirt and a pink ballet-neck fitted tee with ballet flats, a standard outfit for me. Not a single accessory! Of course, I had to try the belt on to see how it would look…and voila! The girls were right, it looked great! So why didn’t I think of this myself?

Music + Fashion = <3

I went to the (I don’t even know what to call them anymore) music store last night and I saw an old school “must have had”: a portable compact disc player! It’s been so many years since I’ve used a CD player, let alone seen one being sold in a store.

How far we’ve come with technology - It’s all about the iPods and MP3’s! I consider myself pretty open minded when it comes to music – alternative/rock, pop, hip-hop, country, oldies - all resting comfortably in my little 30 gigs of technological wonder. And of course, since it’s gotta keep up with me fashion-wise, it’s got itself wrapped in a cool, funky little case. I’m thinking I’m going to have to get this case pretty soon, it’ll match my Chadwicks suede zebra flats! How do you accessorize your music?

Shhh....

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It's Clearance Time!

I have been so busy lately. We recently mailed our Early Fall book which has some great new styles in it and our next Fall book is due out in a couple of weeks. We also just mailed the Summer Clearance book and are in the process of marking down tons of additional Spring and Summer items at fantastic prices and moving them to Clearance. All the newly marked down items can be found under New Arrivals. I am still adding new clearance items, so check back often. As a matter of fact, I better get back to moving the rest of these items to clearance before I get another email wondering when the latest list will be complete. Happy shopping!

Reality TV!

I’ve always been curious about how many people out there really watch reality TV.  For me, it depends on what you consider reality TV.... do all the sports games I watch count? How about the news? It’s all reality, but its not like the popular shows American Idol or Survivor. If sports do count then 95% of what I watch it reality TV!

What made me really think about this is the one true ‘reality show’ I do watch every Friday night, Whale Wars on Animal Planet. I personally believe this is one of the best reality TV shows out there. The stars of the show are not trying to win money or gain a contract, they don’t even get paid. They are all volunteers on a ship to help stop Japanese whaling in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. This show just started last year and is only in the second season of filming. I think it makes for good TV, not to mention good publicity to the groups helping the whales. 

Some people don’t realize that the Japanese whaling fleet plans to kill 935 Minke whales, they also plan on killing 50 Fin (endangered) whales a year. The whaling fleets say they are killing the whales for research but in the end each whale is worth anywhere from $250,000 to $1 million. 

Besides my sports, to me this show is “really” reality TV. It actually makes you feel emotion. American Idol on the other hand, may be entertaining to some but the passion from everyone on the show is not there every night (yes when they get voted off they are upset, but if they are in the top 3 or 4 they are pretty much guaranteed a contract). The crew members of The Sea Shepherd don’t spend 2-3 months on a ship to get a contract when they get home, they turn around and keep volunteering more time.

Do you have a reality show you’re addicted to? How much “reality TV” do you watch every week? If you count sports, it’s around 7-8 hours a week, plus my one hour of Whale Wars and that’s it...for now.

I’ll be setting my Tivo soon to catch Chadwicks on TV! Don’t forget you can check it out too. We’ll be on The Balancing Act airing weekdays 7am-ET/PT, 6am CT, MTN-check local listings on Lifetime....while it may not be as intense as Whale Wars, it’s bound to be fun, enjoy!