No, a self-loathing problem.

Chances are you got this “Reimagine You”  supplement tacked onto one of your magazines this month – it came with everything from Cosmo to Popular Mechanics. And inside, the magalog steadfastly refuses to associate itself with Sears – the very company that put it out.

Let’s put our cards on the table: This is a giant Sears tie-in. That “O at Home media room” spread? Filled with Ty Pennington furniture. The Redbook spread of ladies sharing cosmos and appetizers? All wearing Apostrophe. The “love list” of must-haves? Kenmore and other Sears exclusives.

And yet, there are no references to Sears on any of those pages — not even in the product descriptions, where usually it’s helpful to tell readers where to pick up the items featured. Only a reference to reimagineyourself.com.

Sure, there are full-on ads, which conveniently tie into the “reimagine yourselves as … (suburban legends, the alpha neighbor, the green Samaritan)” theme, but even those use the Sears logo only in a small, inch-long variety in the corner of a page.

To me, this says: “We’re embarrassed that we’re Sears.”

To put it another way: Nobody is going to go through the smoke and mirrors and emerge at the other end, delighted that it turns out they can buy these items at Sears. They’re going to say: “Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?”

And the people who already know … well, they’re going to see through the façade and think that Sears has tried to trick them into shopping there.

And if Sears doesn’t believe in itself enough to promote its brand– “hey, we’ve got some great stuff you probably haven’t noticed before!” – why would readers believe it’s worth spending their money there?

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 3/20/08
The sweater: “Luxury blend” V-neck (Banana Republic)
The shirt: V-neck T-shirt (Old Navy)
The pants: Pinstriped sueded-cotton dress chinos by Banana Republic)
The shoes: Snakeskin loafers by Taxto (Last Chance)

sammit

(Posed and re-created for the camera? Not at all!)

Fatima says being in bottom two was “shocking.” You might say she had … a close shave? (Apparently not … but more about that later.) We see her practicing runway and poses, while Dominique practices talking about herself in the third person: “I believe in Dominique. Dominique’s going to win this competition.” I believe Dominique is seriously annoying.

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So, here’s the trouble with promoting your eco-friendliness: It just sets you up for scrutiny.

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Tonight designer Ralph Rucci will present his Chado Ralph Rucci luxury fashion line to an invitation-only crowd at Phoenix Art Museum — the first and only time the Paris-based designer will do so in the United States this season.

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My niece Heather, who found these Miu Miu heels in the Saks Fifth Avenue “Want It” catalog, says she thinks they look like part of a devil’s costume. “Instead of the devil wears Prada, the devil wears Miu Miu,” she wrote.

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(Read part I here. The short version: I ordered mini-versions of some scents online.)

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For the past few weeks I’ve been thrusting my arms under the noses of unsuspecting co-workers and friends, forcing them to smell the various scents that I ordered from The Perfumed Court, a Web site that sells fragrance decants so you can get smaller quantities of scents on the cheap.

And I’ve also apparently developed a habit of raising the back of one hand or the other to take a quick whiff about every two minutes or so, to the point that one of my friends asked me, “Why do you keep wiping your nose? You’re not even sniffling.”

No, it’s research! My takes on the first two fragrances are after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Another sterling design for Tiffany: The Open Torque necklace ($1,850) by Frank Gehry for Tiffany & Co. definitely makes a graphic statement: Interlinked askew pyramids and cubes of sterling silver seem to tumble into each other repeatedly for 27 inches. They’re asymmetrical but harmonious — just like the architect’s buildings like the Experience Music Project in Seattle and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Luckily, we only need to travel to the Tiffany store at Scottsdale Fashion Square.

Get your minerals for beautiful skin: Scottsdale resorts do a beautiful business in Susan Posnick’s eponymous line of cosmetics, especially ColorFlo mineral foundation ($64), which comes in 13 shades in a self-dispensing, refillable brush. That’s not the only cool packaging, though: I love how ColorEyeDefine ($26) puts a twist-up liner with an angled square edge on one end of a pencil-sized wand, and a harmonious shimmer shadow (that also self-dispenses via spring-loaded sponge applicator) on the other. The line is sold at the Mondrian and Spa Avania at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale.

Bond No. 9’s sweet Pop Art Perfume: If I had to pick a celebrity who personified Andy Warhol Union Square ($135-$195), the eau de parfum Bond No. 9 introduced this month, I’d say Scarlett Johannsen. Scent and starlet are on the voluptuous side and overtly feminine, but with a cool accord that keeps them from becoming too cloying and sweet.

Inspired by Warhol’s “Flowers” silkscreens, which were created at his studios in (where else?) Union Square and are reproduced on the bottles, the Big Apple perfumers blended lily of the valley, sweet blue freesia and white birch wood with amber and musk. It and other Bond No. 9 scents are available at Moody Blues boutiques in Chandler and downtown Scottsdale.

Want to win it? I’ve got two 1.5 ml samples to give away. Click on this link to send me an e-mail message with your name and mailing address — and the subject line ANDY WARHOL. I’ll pick two winners from the entries received by noon Friday, March 21. Good luck! UPDATE: Congralations to Leanne Lacey and Valerie Gardner, whose names were chosen as the winners.

ammit

WHAT SAM WORE: 3/14/08
The shirt: Olive green polo shirt by Lacoste (Last Chance, 2007)
The pants: Wheat-colored low-rise khakis (Old Navy)
The shoes: Suede chukka boots by RJ Cole (Last Chance, this day)

sammit

So, rather than recap every little thing that happened on “America’s Next Top Model” tonight, I’d write a haiku — you know, the poem with 5 syllables, then 7, then 5 — about each of the players in the episode.

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It’s a gem of a fund-raiser: The 47th annual Jewel Ball hopes to raise a million dollars for the American Cancer Society with ticket sales and auctions of packages from spa and golf treats to vacations and dining experiences.

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