July 26, 2006 – Losanjealous

Cher: the biggest press event ever
Cher: I’m still waiting for my Kathy Griffin moment
Cher: I couldn’t win a god damned thing at the charity auction
Cher: WHERE MY GAYS AT???!!!!

CherCon. 10,000 square feet of wall-to-wall Cherâ€¦Woodland Hillsâ€¦a Saturday afternoon. I arrive with our star intern Shane and report to the media check in. Shane is sporting a new tie and I am donning my best Lois Lane attire. As members of the press, we are shuffled off to a holding area. I recognize some of my peers from the White House Press Corps. Anne Kornblut from the NY Times, Christopher Cooper from the Wall St. Journal and Nedra Pickler from AP are all there. This is going to be big. When I spy Liz Smith from the NY Post I get a sinking feeling we might be scooped. Shane and I are hard at work trying to procure a wireless signal to no avail. We manage to break into the ELAYNHUNTCORRECTIONALFACILITY wireless account but service is sporadic and corrupted. Inmates are in our IM. The messages start flying. E.L. Woody strolls in with the TMZ guys and they ask to borrow a pen. Hmph.

I’ve worked with the media coordinator before. He’s generally in charge at the James S. Brady Media Briefing Room in the White House. I try to catch his eye but he keeps telling us to sit tight. So far he’s only come to personally escort reporters from LOGO TV in. I start to get antsy. We’re going to get scooped. We’re going to get scooped. My computer keeps saying SHAKE YA ASS! WATCH YA SELF!

While buzz has been steadily building about the imminent arrival of clothes retailer H&M to the Los Angeles area, clothes retailer Forth & Towne have quietly been laying the groundwork to open not one, not two, but–count ’em–THREE Los Angeles area stores this Fall. Century City, Canoga Oaks and Thousand Parks–consider yourselves warned!

You might be asking yourself who Forth & Towne are? What’s their deal and why should I care? Perhaps it will be easier if we just let Forth & Towne tell you who they are:

At the heart of our story: inspiration. It started with a group of women. Or more importantly, a new generation of women, determined to find current, wearable fashions in fits that flatter. Women who have grown-up, grown into themselves and want to look as fabulous as they feel.

That’s great, you say. But tell me about more about the F.A.T. woman. I’ll let Austyn Zung, Head of Design, take it from here:

We know that women lead rich, full, busy lives. They’re juggling careers, families, friendships, community work. Their clothing is an expression of themselves and their multi-faceted, busy lives required a multi-faceted wardrobe. With that in mind, we started designing the collection by breaking it into four pieces, via four distinct brands to serve the many sides of a woman.

So you’re starting to get where they’re coming from spiritually. But what are the clothes actually like? More from Austyn Zung, Head of Design: