Posted on 10/07/2004 3:27:41 AM PDT by BigWaveBetty
I'm praying retailers are dead wrong. Wasn't a fan of the poncho in the 70's and my heart hasn't grown any love for them in 2004.
Please excuse the insult if you like them but they do nothing for me. And I've never seen a poncho that says, I'm the one, we'll look gorgeous together, buy me! Plus those annoying little fringes inevitably drag in the onion dip when I'm at a party trying to get a little nosh.
Hey! You got onion dip on my fringies! Well you got poncho fringies in my onion dip! *We pause to ponder the possibilities...*
The hostess and I let out a simultaneous Nahhhhhhh! Nothing good ever comes from combining poncho fringies and onion dip. However, the dog, trying to nip at the onion scented fringies did become my best friend.
Now from the experts on ponchos:
Apparel retailers across the country have been begging for something new, a fresh look that every woman doesn't already have in her closet.
This summer they got one: the poncho.
Crocheted with airy holes, off-the-shoulder or down to the knee, the '70s-era accessory has made a big-time comeback and is a hot product for clothing retailers headed into the fall shopping season.
Teenagers are wearing ponchos. So are their mothers and grandmothers. There aren't many fashion trends that can claim such reach.
Adding to the poncho's appeal, it disguises less-than-buff arms and comes in a friendly one-size-fits-all.
"Women got tired of everything being so body-conscious and bare," explains David Wolfe, creative director with the Doneger Group, a consulting firm that advises retailers on fashion trends.
Retailers from top to bottom have embraced the once utilitarian cover-up. At the low-end, Wal-Mart has them displayed front and center in refurbished apparel departments. At the high end, Neiman Marcus is showing a striped cashmere poncho in brown, black and gray for $245.
In between, Marshall Field's is offering a black open-knit poncho for $29.99, while Target is featuring a cheap-chic, flower-adorned pink version for $12.99.
The women's apparel industry certainly could use a boost. Sales of women's clothing fell 6 percent in 2003, the third consecutive year of declines, a reflection of the recession, lower-priced foreign imports and a lack of hot items.
Sales of women's clothing were flat through the first half of 2004, but they could jump 4.5 percent by year-end, predicts Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with NPD Group. If so, it would be the best showing in five years. Continue the Poncho Pitching
Here are some examples, some good, some bad, some just plain ugly.
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Bob's just got Mack's number - period...and, if we lose to you guys, Mack will take his gazillion dollar buy-out and go elsewhere, whereupon, we will hire Stoopes.
There's some really, really, really rich folks down here that put UT football before God, country, family, or eating.
I hope you do hire Stoops. That would be an incredible deal for tu. He's such a class A coach.
Now, prepare for the AGS!!!
Note: great insight on Kerry from Ann Coulter's new book:
Kerry was indisputably brave in Vietnam, and it's kind of cute to see Democrats pretend to admire military service. Physical courage, like chastity, is something liberals usually deride, but are tickled when it accidentally manifests itself in one of their own. One has to stand in awe of Kerry's military service 33 years ago. Of course, that's where it ends, including with Kerry -- inasmuch as, upon his return from war in 1970, he promptly began trashing his fellow Vietnam vets by calling them genocidal murderers.
But if Bush can't talk to Kerry about the horrors of war, then Kerry sure can't talk to anyone about the plight of the middle class!
Kerry's life experience consists of living off other men's money by marrying their wives and daughters. For over 30 years, Kerry's primary occupation has been stalking lonely heiresses. Not to get back to his combat experience, but Kerry sees a room full of wealthy widows as "a target-rich environment." This is a guy whose experience dealing with tax problems is based on spending his entire adult life being supported by rich women.
What does a kept man know about taxes?
In 1970, Kerry married into the family of Julia Thorne -- a family estimated to be worth about $300 million. She got depressed, so he promptly left her and was soon seen catting around with Hollywood starlets, mostly while the cad was still married.
(Apparently, JFK really was his mentor.) Thorne is well-bred enough to say nothing ill of her Lothario ex-husband.
He is, after all, the father of her children -- a fact that never seemed to constrain him. When Kerry was about to become the latest Heinz family charity, he sought to have his marriage to Thorne annulled, despite the fact that it had produced two children. It seems his second meal ticket, Teresa Heinz, wanted the first marriage annulled -- and Heinz is worth more than $700 million.
Kerry claims he will stand up to powerful interests, but he can't even stand up to his wife. Heinz made Kerry sign a prenuptial agreement, presumably aware of how careless he is with other people's property, such as other people's Vietnam War medals, which Kerry threw on the ground during a 1971 anti-war demonstration.
At pains to make Kerry sound like a normal American, his campaign has described how Kerry risked everything, mortgaging his home in Boston to help pay for his presidential campaign.
Technically, Kerry took out a $6 million mortgage for "his share" of "the family's home" -- which was bought with the Heinz family fortune.
(Why should he spend his own money?
I'm sure the average working stiff in Massachusetts can relate to a guy who borrows $6 million against his house to pay for TV ads.
Kerry's campaign has stoutly insisted that he will pay off the mortgage himself, with no help from his rich wife. Let's see: According to tax returns released by his campaign, in 2002, Kerry's income was $144,091. But as The Washington Post recently reported, even a $5 million mortgage paid back over 30 years at favorable interest rates would cost $30,389 a month or $364,668 a year.
The Democrats' joy at nominating Kerry is perplexing. To be sure, liberals take a peculiar, wrathful pleasure in supporting pacifist military types. And Kerry's life story is not without a certain feral aggression.
But if we're going to determine fitness for office based on life experience, Kerry clearly has no experience dealing with problems of typical Americans since he is a cad and a gigolo living in the lap of other men's money.
Kerry is like some character in a Balzac novel, an adventurer twirling the end of his mustache and preying on rich women. This low-born poseur with his threadbare pseudo-Brahmin family bought a political career with one rich woman's money, dumped her, and made off with another heiress to enable him to run for president.
If Democrats want to talk about middle-class tax cuts, couldn't they nominate someone who hasn't been a poodle to rich women for past 33 years?
Don't forget -- John Kerry is strong on defense:
He voted to kill the Bradley Fighting Vehicle He voted to kill the M-1 Abrams Tank He voted to kill every Aircraft carrier laid down from 1988 He voted to kill the Aegis anti aircraft system He voted to Kill the F-15 strike eagle He voted to Kill the Block 60 F-16 He voted to Kill the P-3 Orion upgrade He voted to Kill the B-1 He voted to Kill the B-2 He voted to Kill the Patriot anti Missile system He voted to Kill the FA-18 He voted to Kill the F117.
In short, he voted to kill every military appropriation for the development and deployment of every weapons systems since 1988 to include the battle armor for our troops. With Kerry as president our Army will be made up of naked men running around with sticks and clubs.
He also voted to kill all anti terrorism activities of every agency of the US Government and to cut the funding of the FBI by 60%, to cut the funding for the CIA by 80%, and cut the funding for the NSA by 80%.
But then he voted to increase OUR funding for U.N operations by 800%!!!
Comment from another thread re: Botox Boy pic.
If he had pointed green ears there, he'd look a bit like Spock going for the mind meld. Don't *think* he wants to do that. They might run into thoughts like this:
(John Kerry: Remember, John, this frigid bitch is worth MILLIONS)
(Theresa: Mmmm, George Bush talked about wood, I'd like to apply for a logging permit in THAT forest).
My next thought was "what the f**k was Kerry doing trying to kiss Loretta Lynn?
Shoes are the tricky part of an ensemble, indeed. My poor old dogs can't tolerate heels anymore (or, as they say in these parts, high "hills"), so it's been a long time since I considered buying a nice dress, as most wouldn't look so swell with my sneakers.
I am a bit like you M.. Before coming to ohio, I was in careers that I was dressed up & wore hose & slick shoes every day,
I am pretty casusal now most of time with my active, outdoor activities.
When there is situation, I clean up okay and really love dressing up & going out in the appropriate manner but just the lifestyle changes make things different.. a good different btw...It is harder to justify expensive shoes for the rare times I use them..
Sweet goodness - now I have to go check out "pokeweed" for crying out loud.
Have a ball, Dolly.
I know nothin' of "Pokeweed",,, sounds naughty to me. Whatever makes you think I would know about these things?
The Inauguration is always on January 20.
Thank you, my dear.
How are things going? Are you able to catch a nap now and then?
I was up at 5:00am to go to the Federation of Republican Woman Conference and I have yet to be to bed.
I am ready to completely collapse, I can't wait for November 3. Let's hope it will be a very happy November 3 for everyone.
We don't have any of it here. I thought I had every weed known to man in my garden,,,, thank goodness this one is missing.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/30/real_estate/buying_selling/compare_homeprices/index.htm
the grass is always greener? until mortgage payment time.. now, would I really want to live in Montana or North Dakota (except maybe for one month in summer) ?
IT'S a shame Trey Parker and Matt Stone's hot new puppet flick, "Team America: World Police," has already gone through its final cut - the flick that skewers self-important Hollywood stars could have used a Sean Penn cameo.
The "South Park" duo were howling with laughter Friday when they received an angry letter from Penn, who was deeply upset after Parker and Stone blasted Sean Combs for his "Vote or Die" campaign. Penn was especially infuriated after reading on PAGE SIX about Stone's theory that the U.S. might be better off, and might elect better leaders, if apathetic, uninformed voters stayed home on Election Day ....
A pal of Stone and Parker, upon reading the letter, laughed: "This is the most self-important, self-inflated letter ever! It's exactly what the movie ['Team America'] is about!" Penn's rep didn't return calls.
Elizabeth Edwards got a round of applause when she visited the Apple computer store in New York City's SoHo Thursday. The wife of vice presidential candidate John Edwards stopped traffic in SoHo with her two SUVs and a troup of bodyguards. Even though her security forced all the customers to one side, the crowd started chanting "Elizabeth Edwards for president!" and snapped photos with their camera phones while she outfitted her Ipod. (NY Post)
Amazing - thanks for the pokeweed information.
Good morning, everyone.
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