This seems appropo for this year.

May your holiday be filled with joy and all the blessings of the season.

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My crystal ball has lately been energized, feeling the need to make a prediction…..

Groundless it may be (at this point), but here goes:

Video games for xbox, wii and playstation.

IPhone stuff.

Plasma TV’s.

And, handcrafts. In particular fleece throws, scarves, hats, mittens. Fleece. We will all be warm this Christmas.

How do I know these things? Well, the electronic stuff is nearly a given; and with plasma tv’s on sale at the lowest prices of the century, everyone should be getting one. Now is the time. So, that seems like a given to me as well.

Nielsen did some online buzz tracking and their stats mirror pretty much what I’ve just said. Check here for actual numbers.

As for the handcrafts….the New York Times just did an article on how well craft stores seem to be doing for the season with people preferring to make their own stuff or even buying handcrafted items and why not? With the gild totally off the lily for stuff coming out of China…we have been saturated with poorly made representations of the real stuff. It’s a need I think the populace in general has.

Something real. Something from the heart and not the fabrications we have been being fed for so long, no one knows any longer what their real worth is.

For me 2008 was a search for the authentic…and for 2009, it will be a search for Rockwell. My nostalgia for all things American has gotten to me. Perhaps because we are so much in danger of losing it all.

My trip to Barnes and Noble revealed a similar kind of nostalgia…books on local interest (here, St. Louis), the Clydesdales, an actual book called In Search of Rockwell and Peppermint Mocha Hot Chocolate.

With that in mind, I hope you have a very merry Christmas for all of you who are believers, and to everyone a very happy new year. May 2009 bring with it all the hope we have put into it.

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I couldn’t resist. And some of you may remember me writing about this (here) before, but trust me, you will be thanked heartily for it.

Just buy a brick of Brix (the medium dark chocolate is excellent) along with a bottle of syrah and they’ll be eating out of your hand (if the chocolate is in it).
Depending on how much you want to spend, you can throw in a small cutting board and small knife to chip away at the chocolate with or just put the wine in a lovely wine stocking.

The chocolate must be served at room temperature and should be chipped into chunks to served with the wine.

The wine and chocolate is a pairing that makes for a taste you won’t soon forget. It’s devine (and developed by an Italian pulmonologist because both are good for your heart!) If you decide on the extra dark chocolate, that goes well with a cabernet or bordeaux.

You can find the Brix chocolates at a Worldmarket near you (as well as the wine and the cutting board and small knife).

Have a blessed party and carry a sober driver with you at all times or spend the night!

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Analyzying the Google data on Trendbites dashboard was an interesting exercise this morning. I wanted to know what was on people’s minds not just for the month but for the whole year and then their patterns throughout the year. Of course you have to take different things into consideration but let’s use some lists to cut to the chase.

Top Searched subjects for 2008 on the Trendbites blog:

1) Tattoos
2) Eco friendly water bottles.
3) Sarah Palin’s Wardrobe, designers and where can get it
4) Suzanis
5) Fretwork

Each one of these search terms can be elaborated upon because people used various terms to find info on these subject matters plus I would say that there were related items that fell into a sidebar of those topics, such as in fretwork also came Asian ornamintation….cloisone, champleve, etc., and they searched Benjamin Crutzfeldt’s name or his porcelain which is based on 18th century Chinese porcelain techniques but modernized.

As well several of these were either spiked by the news media, i.e., Palin’s wardrobe and this summer’s newsworthy research on the chemical in plastic water bottles being unsafe for people.

The very interesting one is that the tattoo subject is pretty consistent (throughout the year) as is fretwork, and suzanis…..a more recent though I expect timely for several reasons is the new Spring pattern for Pfaltzgraff’s dinnerware, Fruit Bounty. The Macys/Rwanda Project is also a big search item for December.

The remaining five of the top ten had to do more with star power, i.e., angelina jolie (who had more searches than Brad Pitt, fyi) but most of those searches came when they were getting ready to have their twins.

Then there was Heidi Klum’s red dress by John Galliano for the American Heart Association and Coke Sweepstakes promotion during the Oscars….again news timing.

And lots of searches for different industry color trends, a few in general trends for 2009-2010, BTS/BTC Dorm info searches, and finally named designer searches i.e., Oscar del la Renta, Dior, Moschino, Ralph Lauren and Nau (menswear for 2009 and the color of orange was searched specifically). I had a few for the timourous beasties wall paper and Scott Hill furnishings, the wallpaper or even furnishings from the movie Lucky #Slevin, and a few for the artists Damien Hirst and Richard Prince.

These searches can all be qualified by #1, I write about these items, #2, these are the things on people’s minds either professionally or because the news has spiked interest (TREND), or, and this one is special just because I went through the same thing, #3, very little otherwise is written about them such as Mumenshance the mime troupe from Switzerland. So they are one of the top five consistent trends but I know that that is a very special interest topic, not a trend per se.

Those top five as I listed them above are worth your consideration. My own bottom line is that if I wanted to make this a blog just about color trends and color per se in many industry categories, I would do very well with the blog….but hey all you out there I do write trends about color in depth and that info can be gotten in a much more specific manner, i.e., I use acutal pantone numbers by industry or even can create palettes!

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Well you know what they say about advice being worth what you pay for it…..and this is free. So use it with discretion.

That disclaimer said, my thoughts (and I know from where I am coming):

1) Create multiple streams of income (think ebay on a micro level and a new product line on a macro level, or an acquisition)
2) Export to Brazil (theirs is the only economy I haven’t heard was “cratering”)
3) Partner Up (Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto)
4) This is no time to be shy (the mantra used to be location, location, location: but with real estate values being what they are and once stable industries being stable no more, the new mantra is network, network, network).

I am following all of my own advice I might add.

Consider this, Your 2009 and Beyond Survival Kit, my Christmas gift to you brought to you by the family of creative minds from Trendcites, Trendbites and the kimbro agency (free shipping, free advice from a know it all expert, no wrapping paper, one size fits all, no discrimination…well maybe a little: I only mention one country to export to–but that could fall into the category of keep it simple–it’s sustainable, responsible, ethical and well, finally, it’s useful).

Your 2009 and Beyond Survival Kit and the contents thereof are copyrights of the kimbro agency. Feel free to pass it along though, just kindly mention the kimbro agency and that it comes along with a bonus basket of best wishes for your holiday season and even stronger ones for 2009!

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My friends at Nau, Inc. have alerted me to their extra special savings for the next week, and since I believe sooooo very much in their company I wanted to alert you. Besides the extra 30% savings between now and December 15th, Nau is boosting their usual 2% charitable giving up to 10% on every purchase you make (you get to choose who from their list).

Non-profits are taking a real hit this season due to the economy. With Nau’s practice of giving a percentage of every purchase to one of the non-profits you choose on Nau’s list, you get to cross off 3 or 4 things on your list of things to do at one time….

#1) Buy sustainable product from an ethical resource
#2) Buy your sister, girlfriend, daughter, son, husband, wife, friend some fantastic activewear from nau as a gift
#3) Give to a favorite charity for the season
#4) Buy responsibly…..get value for your money (save 30% on clothing through Dec. 15th, that will last for a long time!)

It hits all the right chords for me…Nau always has. Thanks to Ian Yolles, head of Nau’s marketing, for letting me know about these special savings this week so I could share with you (pass it on). Not to mention isn’t the above dress to die for? It’s the Flourish dress, a cashmere angora blend. Mmmm, doesn’t that just sound and seem all warm and cozy and soothing.

Visit Nau’s website for all the details and all the products…..here. Just put the promotion code GIVE in the order summary page…..that dress above for instance is regularly $248.00….with the 30% off, it’s $178 and 10% of that goes to a charity of your choice from Nau’s partner program list. On orders of over $150.00 you get free shipping. Talk about guilt free shopping!

Nau, nice, in so many ways.

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There’s no need for me to get into the politics of Russia per se…..besides their recent move into Georgia, the New York Times is reporting that they are also intending to take advantage of businesses in trouble (see “Kremlin Rules
In Hard Times, Russia Moves In to Reclaim Private Industries”).

When Cathy Horyn (New York Times esteemed fashion critic) reported on Karl Lagerfield’s recent Paris/Moscow collection for Chanel in her blog, On the Runway, I thought it fitting. Her regular commenters, whom I contend to be very insightful, felt the collection to be more theatrical than representative of our current times nor very representative of modern Russia.

My own thoughts on the Russian theme and how it will impact fashion is that it will. So while Karl Lagerfield has put his own spin on things, being more literal than not with the theme, the fact is that Russia is doing a lot of sabre rattling these days. Their presence is being felt. There’s a nouveau riche in Russia who is enjoying the fruits of quality designer clothing such as Karl Lagerfield and John Galliano, among others…..

That said I have recently found myself wearing a large, though faux, fur hat and a long coat with black boots (naturally), Cossack style, and loving it.

More to come, I suspect, on the Russian theme. As much as I depise the politics of Russia, Lagerfield has rightly pointed to a critical moment in fashion history….and let’s not kid ourselves, it’s fascinating. The bling is not American style bling. It has a heritage to the embroideries that merits a look see if not a repro, somehow. Mmmmm, a crafter’s delight, or rather a craftsman’s delight.

But for me, really, it’s the fur hats especially right now, and the boots and shearling coats that have me all agog.

Images above borrowed liberally from the On the Runway’s post. But see Chanel’s website for more of Lagerfield’s silhouettes from the collection. And I refer you to Susie Menkes’ article (the International Herald Tribune’s esteemed fashion critic) on the Lagerfield Chanel Paris/Moscow collection, and I quote:

The show that the designer called “couture for those who don’t need fittings” was filled with luscious clothes and accessories - not least the kokoshniks, rich peasant-inspired headdresses, made partially out of the models’ braided hair. Then there was the fur muff with the double Cs nesting in its fur; a bag shaped, Fabergé style, like an egg; and shoes with the Kremlin’s onion domes inverted as heels. These pieces were designed to showcase the talents of the “fournisseurs” - the cobblers, feather suppliers and embroiderers who are supported by the House of Chanel.

“I have done Russia before - for Yves Saint Laurent, for Jean-Louis Scherrer - but Karl is different and so clever in the way he mixed Constructivism with Imperial Russia and folklore,” said François Lesage, whose embroideries included delicate silver stitching on white lambskin.

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I’ve been thinking about this medium ever since Dale Chihuly had one of his blown glass installations at the Missouri Botantical Gardens.

While I’ve seen other works around, it wasn’t until I walked past my neighborhood Erker’s (that’s right, eyeglasses) that I’d found what was the answer. They had these exquisite, tall and in some cases, odd shaped vases in the window and I’d passed by them so many times wondering what the heck. Finally I stopped to find out the story.

The story is, they brought the pieces in originally for decoration in the store but had so many people asking about them they started selling them directly to people.

Found them on the internet and wanted to share. Their shapes, their colors, and their techniques all very unique and available (pricing is affordable….some of the four foot tall vases were only $400.00).

Makora Glass from Krosno, Poland. See more here.

all images of glass are Makora Glass

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