Fashionology LA - An Honest Review of A Kids' Fashion Concept - 90210-style

THE CONCEPT

Fashionology LA is a fashion destination on Canon Drive (that's two blocks east of the famous Rodeo Drive) designed for "tweens." Now, when I was first asked to review this fashion concept of a store, I said "My daughter is only 6 1/2 - is she really considered a tween? Please say no."   Well, thankfully they said a "tween" officially starts around the age of 8, but the folks at Fashionology LA said she was still at a good age to give it a try. Whew.  That was a close one.  No need to get myself all worked up thinking my 6 1/2 year old was being labeled with a word that too closely resembles the word "teen."  Yikes. 

Moving on....

Fashionology LA was explained to me as kind of like "Build-A-Bear" but with clothes instead of well, bears. And I was like "Stuffed clothes?" How fascinating. Finally a store not focusing on that disturbing message to young girls that you need to be thin to wear hip clothes but instead was actually working on making tweens gain a few pounds with their stuffed clothing. 

Well, suffice it to say, I was wrong. Fashionology LA is not about stuffed clothing at all. There's nothing stuffed about it.  But that's not to say either that they are trying to push the thin message - they're not at all. Is anyone following my line of thinking here?  Or am I out here on my own?

Moving on...

Fashionology LA is a cool, hip, 90210-zip coded store, where little girls and tweens can go and design their very own piece of clothing. And not only can they design it, they have an actual hand in making it.  Sounds cool, right?  Well, it is cool. No doubt about it. What I love about this review business is having the opportunity to experience some truly fresh, innovative products and concepts, and Fashionology LA is definitely paving an original path in the world of children's fashion.  

THE EXPERIENCE

Over the holiday break, my daughter and I were invited to trek on over to Fashionology LA for a Beverly Hills afternoon.  Now let me be clear, I am not a frequent visitor to Beverly Hills although they do have a massive Crate and Barrel which I am known to wander through when I'm in the wandering mood.  But we had a task at hand so stroll into Beverly Hills we must. A mother-daughter outing, shopping, lunching, skipping hand-in-hand together past the Armani, Gucci, Prada, and Harry Winston storefronts to partake in a one-of-a-kind hands-on design experience.

From the moment we set foot in the store, we were jazzed to give this a try.  The vibrant, funky, energetic design and friendly staff got our creative juices flowing.  I mean, it got my daughter's creativity flowing because this was about her right?  Oh yeah, right.

Colorful cotton tees, tanks, pants, skirts, and dresses hung bare and ready to be personalized by my budding fashionista.  We were led over to Fashionology LA's signature touch-screens where my daughter first had to choose the design theme that fit her "fashion mood." 

And because my 6 1/2 year old daughter is not quite a "tween," her mood was best described that day as "POP."  What?  You think that's a sign that she's actually already a "tween?"  NOOOOO!  I just think she liked the pink colors of the word "POP."

So "POP" was her name and a cool purple dress was her game.  Now all she had to do was click and drag all kinds of goodies onto her garment to get the vibe she wanted.  The possibilities of all kinds of 'big looks" (iron-ons) and "thingalings" (pin-ons, clip-ons, bling-ons, and sew-ons) are endless.  At least it seemed endless. To me.  The mom standing by watching all the fun shake down.  Now is there any way I can be considered a tween?

This virtual playground dubbed the "Design Pad" is the true brilliance of Fashionology's innovation.  My daughter simply could not get enough of hanging out at the huge design screen. 

Actually it was hard to get to her commit to the kinds of goodies she wanted to adorn on her purple frock, she wanted everything.

And she wanted to design multiple items in all of the themes.  And I don't blame her.  I wanted to, too.  But oh yeah, this is a store for kids, right? Oh yeah, right. 

But in the end, after preaching all kinds of self-restraint and "No, honey, mama doesn't have enough money for all of that bling," (yes, our visit was complimentary but practical me was in no way going to let her take advantage of the situation), she finally committed to her design.  Literally, we could have been standing there for hours.

The U-Bar was our next stop where we received a print-out of our design and a friendly staffer, aka our "fashionologist", gathered my daughter's choices to prepare for garment implementation.  

The iron-on portion was taken care of by our personal fashionologist and the rest was to be handled by the designer herself.

 

One of the highlights of our visit was when my daughter was taught to use the "bedazzler."  Now for those who read me, you know I am as far away from a sewing, crafty-kinda mom as they come, so this was my first time ever being near a "bedazzler" or even hearing the word "bedazzler."  I know, I know.

Well, let me say I did not know what I was missing and now I'm thinking of asking my dude for a "bedazzler" for Valentine's Day. Talk about fashionologist!! That's gonna be ME baby!

Oh yeah, this isn't all about me.  

Really though, the look on her face as she proudly mastered the "bedazzler" was worth every penny I was not spending. But would have spent just to see that expression of pride and satisfaction.

When the last sparkly blingy jewel had been bedazzled into place and the final charm clipped-on, our Fashionology LA experience culminated with another look on my daughter's face that almost made me well up right there standing amidst all that bling. (Yes, I am known to be rather emotional.)

In the back corner of the store, there is a mini-stage where my daughter got to strut her stuff after changing out of her well-worn Target clothes and transform herself into a runway fashion model. As she stepped into place, bright lights shone on her and the mounted automatic camera started snapping. I loved watching her as she started her first pose self-consciously but then gradually became more comfortable in her freshly-designed piece of art.  The hands on the hip came after a couple of tries.  I think the pose says it all.  At least to me.  Her mama.

After the photo session, she got to choose the pose she liked the most and the store emailed us a copy of that photo for our memory book.  Or for this blog if I could find the photo in my one hundred million emails.


And then as if an ending could get any sweeter, her chosen pose is added into the store's slideshow rotation and we stood and watched as she had her debut on the big, BIG screen that hangs over the store.  

There she is.  My not-quite-a-tween up in lights.  Hands on hips. Proud. Confident. Creatively satisfied.  And standing tall for all the world to see.

And that my friends is what Fashionology LA is all about. Empowering young girls to express themselves in a fun, innocent, age-appropriate manner. 

And let me tell you after we said our final farewell to our fashionologist and walked outside, my daughter had an extra spring in her step and just a little more attitude in her hip stance.  

Check it out. 

WHAT THE KID SAYS:

The kid says "Can we go again Mom?  And can we bring the lil' sis so she can make something too?"  (If you don't know, the lil' sis is 4 1/2 but acts more like a tween than her older sister.)

WHAT THE MOM SAYS:

The mom says I would love to take my almost-tween back to Fashionology LA and I would even consider letting her take a few select friends there to celebrate her 7th birthday if she was still on the fashion bandwagon come June.  The only downside to this entire experience for the mom was.....can you guess?  

Oh yeah, the price.  I can't say I'm doing an honest review if I don't honestly express my opinion on the pricetag of this stellar experience. 

As I said, I was adamant in making sure my daughter did not bling up her dress so as to cost a small fortune.  Her design would have cost me $84 and change. Believe you me, I had to stop her as she clicked and dragged her way well over the $100 mark.  And I had to painstakingly ask her to start removing things from her design.  

Maybe that's because she's not really a tween.  Maybe a tween would have had more self-restraint.  Mothers of real tweens, care to weigh in?

Now I realize that you're paying not only for the garment, but mainly for the experience but I just don't know many people in my sphere of LA moms who would spend this kind of money on a cute cotton dress with a couple of iron-ons, some bedazzled jewels and one clip-on charm. I would love to see this entire concept reach a wider audience.  All girls deserve an experience like this - I just think the cost needs to be more accessible.

Fashionology LA has been open less than a year so they are in their infancy really. I will definitely be keeping tabs on the buzz around this store and as they launch the online version in the Spring of 2009.  The concept is spectacular, original and so much fun and the actual store experience was well-thought out and smoothly executed.  In the end, I can honestly say that by the time my girls are really tweens, I hope we can head back over there to get bedazzled all over again. 

Thanks to Mom Fuse for their never-ending patience and to Fashionology LA for a fabulous mother-daughter outing 90210-style.  

P.S.  I found the photo emailed to me from the store.  It's sweet.