Variance/ Trend Assignment By: Marija Pejkovic
Department Store
When choosing a department store, I thought it
would be a great idea to go to Macy’s because they are the second largest department store in the country. They carry many different brands and they have twelve floors of merchandise. Trend-‐ Color Gold
A trend that stuck out to me right away was the color gold.
In the makeup department gold played a big role in Mac’s Spring Colour 4 Forecast campaign. There were colors described as precious, excessive, golden and amber within the collection. These colors were seen within the lip stick, gloss, eye shadows, blush and nail lacquer. Within the bedding department, linen sheets in gold were in contrast with a navy blue cover, making the trend pop even more to the consumer. In the accessory department, a BCBG golden ring stood out among the many other jewelry pieces.
I determined that gold was a trend for the season because I kept seeing the color
reappear within many different departments of the store. I knew that it was different because it’s not a regular gold that is very bright and flashy. This gold had an earth tone yet a bit of a speckle to it, which grabbed my attention right away through each department. 2
Trend-‐ Ruffles
Another trend that was noticeable within Macy’s was
ruffles. In the shoe department, Badgley Mischka had a pair of heels that were ruffled along the heel and sides of the foot. In the lingerie department, a bra that grabbed my attention was one that was very simple yet it had a ruffle effect to it by Calvin Klien. Within the Women’s designer department, there was a mannequin in a very loose, airy, draping outfit, with a mid length sleeved top and minor accent of ruffles along the trim of the top.
I selected the trend of
ruffles because they haven’t been introduced within retail stores for quite some time. This jumped to me as a fresh, new trend. It’s an old idea that was revamped, making it look more modern by adding it as a design element to regular everyday items a consumer might by. 3
Trend-‐ Sequins
Sequins adorned the store from left to right. As soon as you turned around at almost
any given point of the store you were bound to see something with even an accent of sequin embellishment. There were three sequin pieces that caught my eye at once. Each of these pieces was fully covered in sequins and they glistened within the light of the store. I knew that this was a trend because I haven’t seen it anything so wild, out there or flashy in a long time.
A department in which I found sequins grabbing my
attention was at the Coach Handbag section. For their new Poppy collection geared towards a younger crowd, they had a silver sequined purse that shined unlike the rest of the bags. Another department in which I found sequins was in the juniors clothing. There was a short gold sequin skirt ready to shine on the dance floor. Within the Contemporary women’s clothing department I found a Herve Leger by Max Azria dress that was completely bejeweled with gold sequins. 4
Trend-‐ Flowers
All of the flowers surrounding me within the store
definitely made me think of spring! This was the most obvious trend of the season, weather the flowers were a print on an article of clothing, or an actual flower made out of fabric and then placed on a piece. Flowers themselves represent spring and to use them as a trend itself is really cleaver. Almost every single department I had visited at Macy’s had some type of merchandise for sale with a flower on it.
As I walked into the fragrance
department of the store, the bottle of Marc Jacobs “Lola” perfume stuck out to me. Usually perfume bottles are in a rectangular or square shape without much of a unique design element. This one was different, its bottle was in the shape of a thick stem, and the cap of the perfume was in the shape of petals, making a flower. I had also spotted flowers in the juniors department on a draping, cut out blazer. These flowers were made out of a sheer fabric and then placed onto the fabric of the garment. Believe it or not, flowers were even in the furniture department. There was a chair with a flower print covering. As well flowers were found in the children’s department on a Ralph Lauren girls dress and on a pair of pumps in the women’s shoe department. 5
Trend-‐ Plaid
Plaid was seen through many different
departments in Macy’s. Three departments in which plaid was mostly recognizable in were in the men’s, children’s and the swimsuit department. In both the men’s and children’s department plaid was mostly seen on button up shirts, dresses and skirts. Both of these departments carried an array of different plaid colors mostly red and blue. They were a classical fit, mostly long sleeved. Within the swimsuit department, plaid was mostly seen on the bottoms, especially for men’s swimming trunks. There weren’t many plaid swimsuits for women, therefore plaid dominated men’s swimsuits.
This trend just came to me without me really noticing
it within the first two departments I had seen it in. After thinking about another dominant trend this season, plaid came right to my mind because it kept reappearing within every department that I visited. I knew that this was a trend because it was in numerous departments of the store, weather it was contemporary women’s clothing, juniors or children’s department, men’s clothing or swimsuits, plaid was everywhere.
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