Did You Know . . . ?

That Corina Craig, representing our fabulous CLT Department, owns 15, yes FIFTEEN, pairs of pajama bottoms? I didn’t either and I find it both scary and interesting all at the same time. Corina loves to create a little weirdness with statistics like these:

1. These are only bottoms people, apparently pajama tops do not hold that special place in her heart like the bottoms do.
2. She can recite each pair that she owns from memory.
3. She never wears them to bed (and she owns them why??)
4. She hates pajama capris (interesting).
5. 99% of the time she wears them with a Hollister hoddie and a pair of Chucks (I can attest to this).

Now, I couldn’t let Corina go without her reciting the list for me and I know all of you are curious to know exactly what design is on each pair, so here we go:

1. Men’s red with the Trix bunny.
2. White with 3 penguins in a row.
3. Baby blue with penguins that have scarves wrapped around their necks (love the detail).
4. Red, burgundy, and silver plaid.
5. White, pink, and plaid.
6. Pink, red, and white vertical stripes.
7. Gray with “Aero” written in green.
8. Gray with “Aero” written in pink.
9. Pink and green with white polka dots.
10. Pink and green with “Hollister” written in yellow.
11. Green with “Hollister” written in yellow.
12. Orange with “Holister” written in pink.
13. Pink, yellow, and white vertical stripes.
14. Gray with “Hollister” written in turquoise (Nice job remembering a vague color!!)
15. Blue with white and green polka dots.

Wow, what an adventure! We now will leave you with three pictures of Corina in a few of her favorite pairs of pajama bottoms. Join us next week to find out how many pairs of slippers Abbie Morris owns; I know, we can’t wait for that one either.

If being neutral was a crime, some of you’d be in prison for life. Yes, I am talking about you. You are the person who buys everything in tan, cream or brown so you ALWAYS fit in and match. You probably are ecstatic now because you found out through that neutral is the new trend. However, before you start doing flips, learn the rules.

Yes, there are rules that apply to dressing in neutral. These rules are designed to help you use all of the colors that fit in this category to your advantage. They will help you avoid looking bland and washed out. So, ready to learn them? Here they are:

Mix Up Your Neutrals
Forget about buying tan in the same color and mixing it all together. This look will guarantee that no one ever notices you. Who are these no ones? They are your boss, significant other and any store clerk at Macy’s. So mix it up! Wear creams with tans and make each neutral color stand out.

Add Splashes of Color
Add bright colors accessories or tops or bottoms with your neutrals. It will help bring out their color and liven up your outfit. Which colors should you go for? Think of orange, pink, yellow and blue. With a neutral offset, you can get away with wearing almost any color.

Go for Crisp Material
One of the worst things in the world to see is a pair of wrinkled, tan pants. The dullness of the color alone makes the outfit look worse. So, don’t do this. Iron out your neutral clothing or buy material that doesn’t wrinkle. This way you’ll avoid looking like a haphazard professor.

If you follow these rules, the neutral you wear will work for you. You will look smart and stylish.

Well, it doesn’t have to be THAT lazy! Be ready for wherever the day takes you – from the gym, running errands, taking the kids to the park, even just hanging on the couch. This ensemble of an Asics lightweight jacket and t-shirt and Insport athletic style pants will pull you through any and all of it with ease. And don’t forget the core item: those kickin’ Puma sneaks!!

See another outfit featuring all the core items!

We know you want to look cute running all around town! It’s easy! Start with a classic pair of core 7 For All Mankind jeans and pair them with an incredibly comfortable Three Dots tank and a trend-of-the-moment Splendid boyfriend cardigan. Add some coveted Frye boots and turquoise tote from Nine West and you’ll be the envy of all the other grocery shoppers!

See another outfit featuring all the core items!

While it took a little longer to build this skate park than anticipated, the Ed Austin Skate Park of Jacksonville, Florida, finally opened its skating complex in May of 2008. At a cost of $425,000, this 7,500-square-foot skate park is a welcomed addition to the 141-acre Ed Austin Regional Park.

Ed Austin Skate Park – Unique and Organic
What makes the Ed Austin Skate Park a unique place to skate is that, unlike many skate parks, it was designed to provide skate features that had a natural architectural feel. This means that the features like benches, rails, ledges and planters that are positioned within the skating complex look like real benches, rails, ledges and planters that you would normally find in urban settings.

In addition to a great, realistic street course, the Ed Austin Skate Park also offers vert features. One of the highlights of the vert complex is the wide brick quarter pipe. This park also has concrete bowls of various depths and shapes and a modest selection of ramps and flow elements.

Staying Safe at Ed Austin Skate Park
Just like skateboarding at any skate park in the world, you are responsible for your own safety at the Ed Austin Skate Park. This means that you need to wear the appropriate clothing for the weather and for skating, that you wear a well fitted helmet with a chin strap and elbow and knee pads. You will also want to be aware of your surroundings while in the skating complex. Just because you know how to navigate your skateboard through a maze of people and obstacles without a scratch or how to stop on a dime, doesn’t mean that others using the park have the same skills.

Finally, be respectful of the skate park and its features. At a cost of nearly a half million dollars, this community-operated skate park was an expensive investment made for skaters. Don’t tag the concrete or wood structures, pick up after yourself and try to keep this park in as good of condition as possible so that it will serve skaters for decades to come and encourage local communities like Jacksonville to continue to invest in skate parks.

Account by Lynsey C.!

January 21st

5pm Touchdown, Salt Lake City, grab our bags and head to the taxi line. This taxi line has proven difficult in the past, so we’ll see this year. Last show, Andy and I received a reprimanding from the line coordinator on how to properly wait for a cab ;)

530 Checking in at Grand America; I love this hotel. Every afternoon you are greeted with warm chocolate chip cookies!! Over warm cookies we have a slight confusion on rooms and end up switching roommates to “do more with less, core value #7” and save good old Zappos an extra night hotel.

January 22nd

7am Wake up call

715 Reality check that it’s 29 degrees outside and I packed for more like 70 degrees. I knew it was cold, but just didn’t really think about it at 5am while packing the day before.. Confirm that Tara (New Yorker) totally packed for cold weather.

830 am Bump into Steve from Zappos on my way out of the hotel. Salt Lake City offers a great little tram that runs about every 10 minutes and will take you from just outside the hotel to the convention center. Well, 10 minutes in 29 degrees with a thin cotton hoodie and leggings sounds like frostbite.

9am While waiting at the booth to meet with Brad and Jerry, another Hi-Tec employee and myself get to chatting about Twitter. He follows Tony and quite a few other Zappos employees. We exchange Twitter names and are destined to Twitter to one another someday soon! Next, Meet with Hi Tec team. I’ve been asking for more pink additions to the girls offering of the kids’ line and this season they have it! We review their Magalog spot last year and discuss our options for 09’. Overall, great meeting and partnership.

10am Swing by Life is Good to grab a catalog for our apparel buyer, Holly. Jimmy Ho and I share a tear that I no longer will get to work with him on apparel and then immediately after make plans for beers later.

10:20am Check out White Sierra for apparel group. Dom schools us on the Good/Better/Great method of buying.: ) Head over to Hot Chillys booth with Dom to discover that he won Rep of the year!! Dom received a very nice plaque that he flashed off for a second as well as a glass paper weight (at least that’s what I think it was) with Chillys on it.

11am Check out Baffin and Bogs with Greg. After two years of buying cold weather boots I still can’t figure out what kid goes into 60 degrees below-zero-weather.

12pm Lunch, beat the sandwich line rush and stake out a spot on the floor. Next, Teva with Barney and Liz. WOW, fall product looks amazing! Get to talking about European exclusives and special color make ups for Zappos. End up meeting the design team and marketing team. Great people. Meet the guy that started the Teva Mt. games! Run over to Birkenstock to recap with Scott about our ’09 plan. Everything is solid, so on to next appointment.

330pm Check out J-41 with Fred R. Women’s line; looks awesome, smaller kids SKU count but continues to evolve season to season.

4pm Walk the show for an hour while answering emails and recapping topics with Tara.

530pm Get ready for meeting with Fred and Steve.

6pm Recap meeting with entire Zappos team at show as well as our executive team. Great meeting!

715pm Wonderful dinner with Kamik team, shut down the Metropolitan (amazing service).

*January 23rd*

7am Rise and shine; wake up call

9am Kamik Team meeting. Product looks great, looking at two spots for Magalog next year. Also, talking exclusives with Dave and wide width snow boots!

12pm Keen meeting with executives and meet Tom. Great guy! Business is good and just wanted to focus on Magalog and marketing initiatives!

1pm Andy and Erika head over to Ahnu to check out kids line. I take off to say hello and thank you to some of our apparel vendors. Tag teaming!

2pm lunch!!! WAIT, Sorel and Columbia with Katie. Grab lunch and eat on the way! Columbia’s got pop colors. Love it and have been waiting for some fun colors and new shoe types.

2:45 Head over to Sorel. Line looks amazing.Logo changes and marketing initiatives are great. Toddler boots are great addition and overall, really stoked on everything we saw.

5pm Head to airport…..long story short; forget my wallet at Grand America, but soon is brought to me. All is well and on the plane home at 7:30 (delayed flight)

Iceland is probably known for its freezing cold weather more than anything else. Just because of its name, many people think it’s a land made of ice and snow that never thaws. That’s not exactly true! Iceland has seasons, just like anywhere else and, yes, people in Iceland do wear thick sweaters, jeans, scarves, gloves and down jackets. But they also wear modern lightweight fashion, just like in any other country and much of it is designed and made in Iceland. In fact, Iceland is known for its natural fabrics, handspun wools and handmade clothing – all of which are some of the best quality found anywhere in the world.

For true fashion, check out Icelandic fashion house Spaksmannsspjarir, which was created in 1993 by fashion designers Bjorg and Vala. In their newest creations, they use colors typical of Iceland’s winters to create muted, yet beautiful natural clothing in flowing shapes and styles. Especially designed for women who are free-spirited and independent, Spaksmannsspjarir has a style easily recognizable as their own.

Chic raincoats are all the rage in Icelandic fashion, because even though it really doesn’t get as much snow as you would expect, it does rain a lot! Most Icelanders will always have an umbrella with them. And don’t forget the knitted wool hats and scarves, which are necessary for the wind.

In Iceland, you’ll also see the famous Icelandic sweaters. Made from handspun wool and hand knitted, these sweaters and cardigans are usually designed in navy blues, grays, browns and off whites. With the traditional patterns around the neckline and bottom of the sweaters, Icelandic wool sweaters are true originals.

Another important fashion item is a sturdy pair of boots . Because Iceland does get a fair amount of ice during the winter, most Icelandic women will own several pairs of boots – but the small-heeled or flat kind, not the high-heeled ones you often see in the U.S. Staggering around in high-heeled boots on ice and snow would just make you stand out as a visitor.

For sheer drama though, you can’t beat Iceland’s Fashion Week, where Iceland’s designers showcase their designs. It’s usually held in odd places like up on a mountain or on a glacier, so Icelandic fashions look even more dramatic.

Yes, at Zappos.com, we do sell more than shoes! Our wonderful in-house singing trio is at it again, and this time they wrote their own clothing-themed song for the masses!

The song that they have written and performed for our blogs will soon be featured on our Zappos Customer Loyalty phone service. I would tell you more, but I’ll let the music do the talking. (And yes, that’s a very obscure Aerosmith reference)

Take it away, ladies!