Posts Tagged ‘catalogues’
Shopping for pretend: the Vermont Country Store
The Vermont Country Store catalogue is a work of mad, weird genius (and, ye olde and folksy though it may seem, a $100 million a year business): you may go in thinking its all for laughs, but before long you’re hopelessly down the rabbit hole, exploring an editorially scattershot world of arcane snack foods, charmingly retrograde beauty contraptions, and literal hope in a bottle—all presented with a generous topcoat of Yankee frump.
They’ve definitely cornered the market on modest Yankee sleepwear. Apparently at a certain point in many womens’ lives, they loop right back to the Lanz of Salzburg nightgowns of their adolescence. Which is something I might elect to skip, but I can’t say I’m not seriously kind of digging the robe. (Also: hidden among all of the granny panties and scary-sounding “posture bras” in the the undergarments section were these cotton camis: a great under-layer for winter and a steal at 3 for $24.)
The place where I really get lost here is the Health and Beauty section. They’ve got a Bigelow-worthy selection of esoteric items, but the real draw for a hopeless nostalgist such as myself is the endless parade of hard-to-find and discontinued products from decades past. Like Vitabath, which might have been the first “luxury” beauty product I ever bought for myself, and which made me feel very very European indeed, requiring as it did a loofah.
Yes.
Also this. There were so many great, short-lived gimmicky shampoos in the 70s, and I think I tried them all. Remember Body on Tap? Short and Sassy?
Basically, I love seeing any product with original packaging that reminds me of its old commercials.
I don’t even wear perfume (the fumes make me nuts) but I loved browsing through their selection of fragrances, most of which are of the fogey-and discontinued variety. Don’t you know somebody whose vanity is screaming for a bottle of Evening in Paris?
Likewise, I love the pale Hollywood pink of this White Shoulders dusting powder. It’s so lady.
Something else I’d love to buy just because I like the way it looks: a bottle of super old-school Dominica Bay Rum aftershave. Bay Rum is is how the guys in Mad Men would smell, if Mad Men were filmed in Odorama.
Can’t say I didn’t ask for it
About a squillion of you responded to my challenge to find a catalogue I couldn’t shop, and—as this photo makes abundantly clear—you really knocked it out of the park. In addition to which, you created the most amusing discussion thread in Girls of a Certain Age history. I’m feeling quite fortunate to have attracted such an lively and amusing Girl army, so please do stick around.
The winner gets a $50 gift card from our pals at Beso (which basically means any designer or store they’re affiliated with, which is, like, everyone). I’m calling noon tomorrow as the deadline for entries. And: excitement! This contest has a Part II, with an even bigger prize. Stay tuned for details.
