Boutique retail on a lark

[reader79]

nymag.com/thecut/2012/08/claire-distenfeld-fivestory.html

Deep in the throes of their collective crises—one midlife, one quarter-life—­father and daughter began regularly meeting for lunch. “He’d be like, ‘What am I going to do?’ And I’d be like, ‘What am I going to do?’ ” They’d sit there like that, stumped. Then, one day at Le Bilboquet, Claire had an idea. “Why don’t we make a little, tiny store of gems and things from all over the world?”

Something about this story disturbs me. It's like she's playing the role of a real Buyer, without having paid her dues. They list her 'resume,' which was all of three internships or so. Oh, and she shopped a lot abroad growing up, so she knows retail.

I can't decide if they are being serious or mocking her at times.

These days, the mistakes are more manageable. Claire recently miswrote an order, and instead of supplying a single Ava dress (retail $4,000), the company custom-made and delivered an Eva dress (retail $7,000), which it then declined to take back. She’ll sometimes forget appointments or mess up an address or, endearingly, show up to a photo shoot in a shirt with ­smudges. But she prides herself on being an ­approachable boss.

Who uses the word 'endearingly?'

[Apple]

I've only made it through the first sentence of the actual article, and it already feels like the author WAY over-writes. You don't need to use a lot of big stylish words to write with style. Seems like the author is very young (so far).

ETA: I couldn't finish reading it. I don't know if it's because it's about high-end, or fashion, or the way it's written, but I just can't.

[midjd]

Some nights she’d come home so frustrated she would stand at the wall of windows in her boyfriend’s apartment and scream at Astor Place down below.

[Nazgul Girl]

Hunh. I guess to my midwestern senstiblities, the story seemed like the Real Housewives crossed with the Next Great Model show, only in print. I didn't think it was very endearing at all.

[milee]

Next time Loony asks why it's a bad idea to spoil children, we should link a copy of this article... wow. I do wish them the best and who knows, it might all be a wonderful success story. But to an outsider, it sounds like a great way to turn a large fortune into a small one. At least by the end, maybe Useless Girl will have some contacts or skills that will be useful in the real world.

[violagirl]

I didn't get the same as everyone else from the article it seems. Lot's of parents help their children get off the ground. Whether it is paying for college, giving downpayment for a house,letting them move back in...it is not unusual. What is unusual is the scale I suppose but everything is relative.

She comes across as maybe a little flighty in the article but in one part where she is looking critically at some dresses and thinks of whether they haveslips or not shows she knows her market.

[midjd]

Sure, but any other story about a late twentysomething whose father was bankrolling ______ would get the same reaction here.

[dividend]

I'm not gonna lie - I want her glamorous life. Or maybe I just want to try it on for a season, to know what it's like to have the effortless money to shop high end boutiques for fun, to not think twice about another pair of designer European heels, to be hip and beautiful and cool as I hang out with famous designers and jet off to Europe just to shop. Sure, she sounds vapid and absolutely horrible with money, but part of trying on that life would be that I wouldn't have to care about that. I wonder if having that reaction speaks to my inherent shallowness.