BLUEBELL BOUTIQUE

"Fear and Clothing" is a fascinating look at what Americans wear and what their fashion choices say about their values, lifestyles, and socioeconomic opportunities. Cintra Wilson travels across the country to experience regional styles and events, and describes it all in hilarious detail. Nothing is too "middle America" for this New York Times fashion columnist to visit; her list includes the Kentucky Derby, the Iowa State Fair,  and Salt Lake City thrift shops. She doesn't stop there, however, as some of the more esoteric designers in Manhattan and the most aggressively "anti-social" subcultures of San Francisco also receive her careful examination. Wilson is, above all else, an exceptional writer. She deftly describes the clothing and personalities she encounters along the way, and is unsparing in her judgment of both. Her strong voice grabbed me from the first page and kept me reading straight to the end. One of the passages I enjoyed the most p...

The answer to this question is the heart of Bluebell Boutique's existence. Why not just buy (and as a retailer, sell) what's cheap and cute, no matter where that comes from? Why shouldn't stores just give consumers super-affordable, trendy clothing that can be pitched at the end of the season? What does it mean to support American busines? Things Get Political "Buying American" has always had a political undertone to it, ever since the Revolutionary War. Professor Deirdre Clemente of University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was quoted in a March 2017 Business Insider  article that colonists stopped buying British goods, particularly textiles, as a way to demonstrate our economic independence. This continued well into the 20th century, but instead of showing that we could manage our economy on our own just fine, thank you very much, it was to show that we didn't need the cultural influences of Europe to look perfectly fashionable. Now, I dare anyone to say that th...