Bloomingdales Merchandises Marvelously

Merchandising is an oft-overlooked outlet of creativity. Most mall stores are content to dress up some mannequins in the current season's styles, but others create innovative, eye-catching displays that make you realize merchandising can be an art form.
As a rock climber, I was particularly impressed by Bloomingdales' presentation of men's athletic wear. I liked having mannequins in action poses, and the crumpled craft paper on the wall was a nice abstraction of a rock face. Additionally--and it's hard to see in the photo--they've hung some of the clothes on branches suspended by bungee cords. Very cool. Keep reading...

Atlanta's Gumshoes Are Sylish Dudes

A couple weeks ago I was reading the paper and came across this story about a murder in Atlanta’s main park. The crime was shocking of course, but what really caught my eye was the picture of the two investigators in the case.

If the paper didn’t say 2009 at the top, I’d have thought I’d come across an article from the 1950s. Both detectives were wearing stylish straw fedoras, giving them an air of gravitas that is rarely seen these days.

Then I realized I’d heard about this hat fad before, in a story the AJC did last year:
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Shorts as Indicator of Nationality

Despite the globalization of popular culture, from music and film to cuisine and fashion, most nations have retained surprisingly distinct dressing styles. Of course not all citizens of a given country adhere to the prevailing trends of their home; but when viewed in groups, they will exhibit striking uniformity overall.

One particular example of this is the length of shorts worn by the males in a given culture. Certain lengths of shorts are seen as standard in some, but viewed as only suitable for homosexual men in others. As an example, I have put together a handy diagram for using shorts length to determine nationality for Russia, the U.S., Australia, and Germany. Keep reading...