Prada 2009 Crumpled will be in next Spring. Both Burberry and Prada must be listening to our inner souls. Clothes that can manage much and not show it, finally.

Etro 2009 Mix ‘n Match Patterns. This showed up in New York, London and Milan.

Jil Sander 2009 Suits that include shorts. Marc Jacobs showed this in New York too.

Fendi 2009 Lace. Both traditional and contemporary, lace continues as a means to offer texture, depth, and interest to an otherwise neutral or black color palette.

Optimism (more here).

Images Style.com

Sometimes when things get rough it pays to just stay close to home. The events of last week were pretty intense, leaving me feeling fairly spent, both literally and figuratively speaking. How bout you?

So, today, especially with the weather being as sensational as it is, 83 and sunny, I took the dog, Miss Chloe, and a camera to visit the places in our fair city that are (and have been) under construction, for months now, in downtown St. Louis.

(The below, City Garden, is what the above will look like)

It’s hard to know if our downtown is experiencing a revival or a downturn…..there are sooo many lofts built (during a housing boom not so long ago, I’m sure) it’s mind boggling; but I will say not enough services by comparison or companies (read, jobs) to support the numbers of lofts available.*

(The above, the Old Post Office Plaza will look like the below when finished)

The Mayfair Hotel is on the back side of the Old Post Office Plaza and North of the Arcade Lofts. Roberts Towers, a 24 story 55 luxury condominium, is to be built next to the Mayfair.

Mayfair Hotel and Chloe

Construction for Roberts Towers and Old Post Office Plaza across from “The Old Post Office.”

Roberts Towers Site Plan
Arcade Lofts across from west side of Old Post Office Building (now holding offices, a Webster University Campus, St. Louis Library Express and a Pasta House restaurant).

There’s starting to be movement at the park construction sites but timing for when these sites will be complete is uncertain.

Ball Park Village (above) sits across from Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals and has been sitting there for awhile because a development company, Centene, backed out. There are new owners now and they hope to finish with the park next spring. Cardinals fans can look forward to restaurants, more parking, retail shops and services when done (plans below).

Cordish Development Company and the St. Louis Cardinals are 50-50 partners on the village. Retail and entertainment venues are expected to be finished in Spring/Summer of 2009 with office and residential spaces finished in 2010. (Cordish Ball Park Village page for more images)

So my question is whether or not St. Louis as a city understands that there is a potential “cratering” of the economy that could reverberate throughout the world? Speaking to a satellite office of one of our state senators, Claire McKaskill, Democrat Missouri. I’d say no. While I complained profusely to someone who was a regional director, she listened without saying anything nor offering anything close to what I would’ve hoped to be a statement of some kind that suggested that at least her office was aware of it and was about to bring jobs, businesses, and therefore a better economy to our state.

It didn’t come. If anything the woman’s obtuseness to the current situation left me surly not to mention discouraged. Whew! Where do they find some of these people? Or just maybe our Congressmen and women really are that sheltered and out of touch with what is going on.

One wonders. Next week, on October 2nd, there is to be an open house so to speak of the lofts available with special events and promotions at differing retailers/restaurants including a viewing of the vice presidential debates at the Robert Orpheum Theatre. Interesting timing. Will there be credit loosening up by then for people to get interested in buying one of these lofts? This program has been on the docket for about a month now. It’s either really good timing or really bad timing.

Robert Orpheum Theatre (sits alongside the Old Post Office Plaza opposite end of block from Mayfair and Roberts Towers).

Further investigation by going to Downtown St. Louis Partnership Programs website reveals that there is another $925.5 million slated for development in 2008 and 2009. The projects listed above are part of that as well as some other hotels and residential projects. The city is working with the Regional Commerce Growth Association and St. Louis’ Economic Council to create programs to further incentivize development. Mayor Francis Slay just rescued one of the largest companies, a law firm, with over 500 employees from moving out. I will say once Ballpark Village is finished that is slated to bring some 3,000 jobs to the area (not to mention taxes), but that won’t be until sometime in Spring of 2009.

Chloe in the fountain at Kiener Plaza.

What about you? Are you noticing improvements for your state or things going to pot or like I am noticing here, nothing but mixed messages?

*Update: I spoke with the Downtown St. Louis Partnership Program and was corrected and my comment about jobs to demand services. Turns out downtown St. Louis has the most jobs per area than any other in St. Louis, 90,000, and plans are on to attract a minimum of 10,000 more within a given period of time.

Marni Spring 09 a welcome relief from the market’s irrational exuberance fallout.

Even with America’s greatest financial bailout since the Great Depression looming large over our heads, life goes on, thankfully for most of us, mercilessly for some of us.

Catwalks in Milan provided the backdrop for Wall Street’s theatre this week as well as Capital Hill’s. The contrast at times was eerie (just by virtue that the shows continued) and at other times, as we say in the biz, spot-on (as evidenced by Jil Sander, Fendi, Burberry, and Prada to name only a few).

The real question is, how will main street react to Wall Street’s reaction to Capital Hill’s reaction to main street’s reaction?

Burberry Spring 09 Arguably one of Christoper Bailey’s better collections to date.

If you think that’s ironic, consider this, Milan produced some of the more progressive fashion to hit the catwalks since, well, since the 80’s…..that other fabulously progessive time in our recent financial history.

If it’s true that fashion is a barometer of our times, does this mean that indeed next Spring’s wardrobes will find us on the path to recovery and financial prosperity?

We can only hope that our designers have indeed been able to divine that notion. Until then let’s just review the week, shall we? (pix and analysis to come…)

It was date night for me Friday night. Me and PBS, since Bill Moyers had a great interview with 2 New York Times columnists about what happened with Wall Street’s meltdown and the author, Kevin Phillips, of a book, Bad Money, he is recommending as a must.

The bottom line after all of the I confess heavy thought processing is that who knows? But Phillips has been forecasting this for awhile and goes back as far as both the Clinton and Regan administrations to find fault with even today’s situation. His point being, mainly, that all along the way finance was something Washington found in favor and never popped the bubble to take the bitter pill.

Doesn’t much look like we will today either with a $700 billion bail out, but hey, I guess it’s better than taking the rest of the world off a cliff with us.

Needless to say when Casablanca came on I was thrilled and it found in me a total willingness to cast my fate to the Marrakesh winds for the night, along with Bogie and “Play It Again, Sam” Sam.

So much water over the bridge this season, so much from real to metaphoric I wax nostalgic for simpler days.

Since there are so many references to Morocco these days, I went in search of Casablanca still shots because I saw so much in the movie that I am seeing in production now, not the least of which was an incredible room divider seen in Rick’s Cafe Americain that had the most delicious fretwork. But it was the doors to Rick’s Cafe that really got me. Maryam Montague of MyMarrakesh blog fame has really brought to life the doors of the region: these big heavy wooden rounded doors (image by Maryam).

Sigh.

So, the stills I found from the movie (though fantastic) didn’t bring me much in the way of product relief (except Maryam’s door!) but did bring me a boatload full of good posters and trivia surrounding the movie along with some of the most famous quotes ever…..go visit. You won’t be disappointed. But better yet, get the DVD, now that you can’t afford to go to the movies.

It wasn’t a simple time in the movie, but somehow even with the corruption that existed in Casablanca (the movie’s title city), the protagonists emerge heroes and overcome their cynical and selfish motives to somehow rally around a cause greater than themselves. It’s pure poetry and a tonic for our times.