World class shopping... who really shops there? (Orange, Newport Beach: sales, buy)

[Curbed Enthusiasm]

Orange County has some of the most wonderful retail in the country. South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island has every high end designer store you could ever hope for, and there are beautiful department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bloomingdales, and Nordstrom - all within a stone's throw of one another. With all this amazing shopping that rivals New York City, who buys? Most people in Orange County seem perfectly content running around in lumpy sweats, old sneakers, flip flops, or other unfashionable clothing - much like people do in most parts of the country. I would have expected that people in such a fashion mecca dress a bit nicer than they do. It's such a strange dichotomy to see so many dowdily dressed people in the shadow of countless high-end clothing stores. So who shops at all these stores?

[Coldjensens]

Those stores are four tourists so we can collect sales tax from them. We shop at Target aand St. Vincent De Paul. Are you not aware of what it costs to live in Orange County? There is no money left for fashion.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Im seeing a huge lack in style lately. Many of the locals are beginning to dress like Midwestern Tourists with their sleeveless t-shirts, Ed Hardy Designs, MMA/Tap-out Designs, and worse of all the flat-brimmed ghetto baseball hat (with all the manufactures stickers left on)

10 years ago, SoCal still had its own style which the rest of the nation copied. Not seeing much innovation and style lately...

[Curbed Enthusiasm]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Those stores are four tourists so we can collect sales tax from them. We shop at Target aand St. Vincent De Paul. Are you not aware of what it costs to live in Orange County? There is no money left for fashion.

I wasn't saying that people in Orange County should be spending a lot of money on clothes. What I was surprised is that the clothing that people wear looks so dowdy. You can buy fashionable, well fitting clothes at Target, Kohls, JC Penney, or even Sears. However, walk around a grocery store on any given day and it's clear that 80% of the shoppers woke up and put absolutely no thought whatsoever into what they wore. It is very easy to be casual, comfortable, and fashionable at the same time, but most people aren't.

[Urban Planner]

Originally Posted by Curbed Enthusiasm

I wasn't saying that people in Orange County should be spending a lot of money on clothes. What I was surprised is that the clothing that people wear looks so dowdy. You can buy fashionable, well fitting clothes at Target, Kohls, JC Penney, or even Sears. However, walk around a grocery store on any given day and it's clear that 80% of the shoppers woke up and put absolutely no thought whatsoever into what they wore. It is very easy to be casual, comfortable, and fashionable at the same time, but most people aren't.

Its cool bro! I don't see the need to go out and wear really expensive clothing, unless its an important event, or a place where you need to look good in order not to look stupid. Most of the time, im just wearing simple things, especially when i go to the grocery store! Go to a mall in the afternoon, that's when you won't see the casual "i don't care what im wearing" right now.

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by Curbed Enthusiasm

Orange County has some of the most wonderful retail in the country. South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island has every high end designer store you could ever hope for, and there are beautiful department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bloomingdales, and Nordstrom - all within a stone's throw of one another. With all this amazing shopping that rivals New York City, who buys? Most people in Orange County seem perfectly content running around in lumpy sweats, old sneakers, flip flops, or other unfashionable clothing - much like people do in most parts of the country. I would have expected that people in such a fashion mecca dress a bit nicer than they do. It's such a strange dichotomy to see so many dowdily dressed people in the shadow of countless high-end clothing stores. So who shops at all these stores?

Who shops there? The Got-Bucks in Newport Beach who dress like they haven't got five bucks to their name. (Very old tradition.)

[Twinkle Toes]

I shopped both malls when I was growing up/living in the area. I shop those malls occasionally now, when I get to the area. Thing is, most people when just out and about doing their everyday, mundane stuff aren't dressed to the nine's. I shop for really nice clothes, but I have certain places/events/reasons, etc. to wear them, which doesn't necessarily involve wearing them while I'm grocery shopping, or getting the car washed, or going to the post office. For those things, I want to be comfy, casual, and throw my hair in a tail and not wear any makeup, and heels are out of the question.

[bowneline]

I think South Coast Plaza gets a decent bulk of its sales from tourists, especially from Asia. Fashion Island seems to mainly rich housewives from Newport/Laguna/South County.

Either way, many of the fancy stores at both malls sell clothes that have such enourmous mark ups, that they don't need a ton of business to be successful. Prada probably makes more profit selling one suit then Target does selling 200 T-shirts.

It's hard to generalize about the dress of people in a County with 3 million people. But, there certainly are times/places in OC where you will see stylish people, and I think young people (especially high school age) are much more stylish in OC then they are in many other other places.

As far as the adult population, especially in the inland areas, many of them are not from OC originally anyways. And, its the suburbs. People raising familys and working 9-5 generally don't care that much about looking stylish, regardless of where they are from.

When it comes to clothes for young people (especially young men), OC still is a hot spot. Brands such as RVCA, Quicksilver, Hurley, Volcom, Obey, Billabong, Rusty and Vans are very popular with young men around the world. I've always found it interesting, however, that Oakley is an OC brand, but not very popular in their target audience in OC.

[temazepam]

People here love the casual look. Flip-flops and sweats everywhere. Jeans even on a nice date. What I don't get is how even during the coldest winter days here, I see plenty of people around wearing shorts like it was summer or something. I'd love to get away with shopping at the malls in my sweats and a ponytail and no makeup, but I always get much better service when I'm not so frumpy.

[jwblue]

Cargo pants and tee whenever possible.