G'Day Bklyn

Walk Towards the (Lime) Light

When I gave up at the DVF sample sale opening day, I headed downtown along Sixth Ave, and checked out the hot new Limelight Marketplace. Inside the 163-year-old  church-turned-nightclub, the shiny new market (mall?)  is a candybox assortment of mostly high-end pop-up stores, with one of the prettiest and probably priciest “food halls” to boot. I picked up a new pair of Havaiana flip-flops at $18 but if it’s Petrossian caviar, Mariebelle chocolates or a bikini wax from J Sisters you’re after, the Limelight Marketplace has it. The marketplace is at 656 Sixth Avenue at 20^th Street. It’s open Monday to Saturday 10am to 9pm, and Sundays 11am to 8pm.

Score! At Swap Til You Drop Pop-Up Store This Saturday

Ever wish you could clear out all of your old, unused, unworn, unread stuff and swap it for fresh things, be it books, clothes or cool homewares: Well, get thee to BKLYN Yard this Saturday, May 29 for the next pop-up “free store” Score!

Here’s how it works: you take your old clothes, books, electronics and tsotchkes and drop them at the door, where volunteers sort them and distribute them to themed departments. Then professional curators – this time Etsy, Brooklyn hackerspace AlphaOne, vintage fashionistas Market Publique and the bookish crew from Desk Set are among the all-star curating team – pulling it all together and merchandising the unwanted items into boutique-like displays.

Then, you get to go shopping for NOTHING. And while you’re loading up on freebies, there’s music and other artsy carryings-on to keep you amused. Anything left at the end of the day gets recycled or donated to charity.

Departments this year have been expanded to include clothing for men and women, books + media, electronics, music, housewares, bikes, crafts and a kiddie corner. Start clearing out that closet, because the last two Scores! have drawn more than 1,000 people apiece.

The only catch is there is a $3 cover with RSVP here; and $5 if you don’t RSVP. But hey, think of all the stuff you can offload and the new things to take home.

Score! is on this Saturday from noon to 6pm at BKLYN Yard, 400 Carroll Street, between Bond and Nevins. In case it rains, the rain date is Saturday, June 5.

These Shoes Were Made For Talking!

Who knew that one pair of shoes could evoke so many memories and begin so many conversations. That pair of shoes being my Kork-Ease  Bette sandals in “luggage” with a suede-covered wedge heel. They are not especially fancy or expensive, but I love them all the same and have worn them on and off for the past two summers.

Kork-Ease wedges

This week I got to thinking what it is that makes a piece of clothing iconic and whether perhaps the classic Kork-Ease wedge meets the criteria? I must have met and chatted the past few days with at least a dozen people, mostly strangers – between Brooklyn and Manhattan, in stores, on the street and on the subway – about these very shoes.

This is generally how it plays out: firstly someone will point and comment to their friend or they’ll just come out and say “I love your shoes”; and then the stories begin. These wedge-heeled walks down memory lane have taken a bunch of my new acquaintances back to sixth grade or so when women recalled either wearing the exact pair of shoes, or begging their mothers for them.

One woman I chatted with on the R train revealed that she wore them somewhere around 1975; adding proudly that they were the first shoes she bought when she “left the projects”. Two older women on the F train and en route to the airport after a girls’ vacation in the Big Apple, said they’d considered buying my shoes during their stay but worried that the 4 1/4-inch heels and potholed sidewalks might land someone in hospital.

Kork-Ease, the company that started business in Brooklyn in 1953 as a “comfort” shoe brand, burst into the fashion scene as a must-have in the 70s. Outlandish fashion designer Betsy Johnson reportedly owned at least 10 pairs; entertainer and actress Bette Midler wore them; and to be sure, any hipster shy of 30 owned at least one pair. As the Kork-Ease Facebook page states, it was the shoe that stood in line at Studio 54.

Well, Kork-Ease is back making its famed wedges as well as an ever-growing range of comfortable sandals and shoes. They’re a little more pricey than in the 70s when they retailed between $25 and $40 but still much cheaper than designer rivals. The Bette heels that garnered so much attention were about $149 online, and pretty much all the big online shoe stores from Zappos and Shoebuy, to Online Shoes and Amazon offer at least some of the styles.

Surely if a pair of shoes can unite strangers, evoke fun memories of one’s youth, and still be current and stylish today, they deserve icon status?

Light Relief

It’s been a busy week. A stressful week even, but I finally got some light relief when I stumbled upon clientsfromhell.net, which has plenty of hilarious fodder.

Clientsfromhell.net is a collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from designers. It lists tales of amusing and sometimes unbelievable conversations between designers and their clients; from their bizarre requests and odd quirks to out-of-the box demands. The conversations are unedited, and oh so relatable.

One of my favorites, which had my husband and I chuckling from our laptops was the client seeking a “deeply spiritual” design for a website, including crosses and perhaps some images of Saints thrown in for good measure. When the designer declares he or she is an atheist, the client eventually decides it cannot work with someone in league with the devil. You kind of have to read the conversation to appreciate its humor.

If you need some light relief or have dealt with some hellish clients, check it out.