Once Upon a Time in "Apple"- the step into Clothing Realm

Out of inspiration, I have been stalking Steve Jobs for a while, and guess what I came across? Few amazingly insane pictures of a clothing line by “Apple”. Yes you read it right!

The tech monarchs launched their clothing line in 1986 and called it “The Apple Collection”. It is surprising how this collection brackets with the present T-trends and funk craze, and how similarly funky and minimalist designs are currently resurfacing.

I am not sure what made the Apple designers to take their talents right to the closets, but these outfits are definitely funky. Lets have a look:
                                   

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The clothing line did not receive much applaud (thankfully, because then focus must have been shifted to making smart pants instead of smart phone, *chuckles*), but I would have definitely bought one of these, and you?

Stop this Beauty Madness

The other day, I was reading news online and scrolling down Lupita’s pictures, a ten year old cousin of mine loath fully said, eeeeee she is ugly! And I abruptly said, “No she is not”. Later on I felt, to some extent we are responsible for what the kid believes. She only follows our stereotype of beauty.
I have quoted this instance for recently coming across a campaign “Stop the beauty madness” launched by “Be Who You Are productions” with the aim of breaking universal beauty stereotypes.

I am not sure how many of you happened to catch a glimpse of this campaign, but it made me rethink my perception of beauty. What caught my attention is the point that conventionally, social change endeavors focus on "how should we behave" instead of reminding us “how do we behave”-something very well conveyed through this campaign. The message is blunt, and rightly hit a nerve with the jarred images. Though the campaign targets stereotypes most prevailing in the west, but at some point, we also must have stumbled on these clichés. After all, labeling beauty is a universal habit. So let’s have a look.

I am glad someone is saying all this out loud. This campaign is explicit, and intense, but honest at the same time as it encourages women to love and accept themselves the way they are.

The heart throbbing Wizard in "What if"

So here is the good news for the fans of Daniel Radcliffe. His new movie "What if" is going to be released on 1st August 2014. "What if" which was initially named as "The F Word"is directed by Michael Dowse starring Daniel radcliffe and Zoe Kazan. The story revolves around Daniel and Zoe who meet in a party and find themselves attracted to each other, but he has had enough failed relationships and she already has a serious boyfriend. Given this, they try remaining friends ....... the rest, we will know in August. Although Daniel switched his wizard wardrobe with jeans and casual shirts, we will definitely like him, won't we? Lets have a look at the cast and the stills.

From right: Screenwriter Elan Mastai, Daniel Radcliffe, Adam Driver, Zoe Kazan, director Michael Dowse, and Megan Park

 

Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan

The Princess who recycles her dresses!

I have literally gone gaga over the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. Probably, this is why she is leading off my celebrity gossip section. I am habitual of stalking her like an ex boyfriend would, and one fine day, engrossed as I was in peeping into her royal life, it occurred to me that she recycles her outfits. Yes you read it right; the duchess of Cambridge recycles her dresses bringing life to them every single time.  I could not help but sharing this with you! Let’s have a look.

Kate wore this black laced dress before and after the birth of Prince George and she looked equally stunning in both the events. 

I am not aware of the detailing of this dress (I am not a fashion or style pundit), but she delightfully wore this gown to two separate charity events.

This red skirt blouse was worn by her twice, once during her visit to Christchurch, New Zealand and also during one of her trips with William to St. Andrews. I personally fell for this outfit! “Dreamy”. 

And apparently, Kate’s favorite is undoubtedly this navy Zara Blazer which she had worn thrice. Once during the London Olympics, at the Royal New Zealand Air force base and also during her royal trip to Canada.

What does this habit portray?  General opinion might be that Kate must give away the already worn dresses to a good cause, but I believe she is forwarding herself as being approachable and human. She is already famous for being a street fashion lover, and no matter how she is dressed, we always find her breathtakingly gorgeous.

Next time before whining over having to wear the same outfit again, remember that there is a charming, trendsetting princess who recycles her outfits like any girl would.  I am anticipating this habit going viral among other celebrities. What do you say?

The lost heroes?

They say if you still watch cartoons beyond the age you are supposed to, you are a nerd.  They just do not know how amazingly conceptualized and presented those cartoons were which still keep us expecting the same fun with the new ones. But, every time I try watching a new cartoon, I drown in an inexplicable misery and want to bang my head against the wall out of despair.   

The other day, I was having a conversation with my friend about the cartoons used to air in our not so distant childhood (yes, we are still not so old).

Do you recall those?

Of course you do, so how about a flash back? *yes drum rolls please*

Captain Planet: The father of all superheroes to me who used to appear mostly in the last few scenes of the episode when needed desperately by his stunning team of five "planeteers", but those last scenes were worth waiting for. Interestingly, no matter how much I loathed “blight” (the Vam), her hideous bangs and curly hair always stunned me. (Note: I did not need any campaign to teach me environmental sustainability, captain planet was enough, and I do wear “bangs”). 

Thunder cats:  As I write these lines, my brain repeatedly plays the very catching thunder cat soundtrack. Fearless lion-o was yet another star, who when teamed up with Cheetara could turn evil upside down. Besides, we did not care much if Cheetara wore not so modest clothes (trust me; today’s kids will not go indifferent to Cheetara’s apparently adult costume).  

Johnny Bravo: My first crush indeed, the muscular, gaudy, woman chaser did not irk me at all despite his despicable behavior. Instead, it was always amusing to watch his failed attempts and undying desire to go on a date, and the girls beating him up when he attempted so.  Would kids enjoy watching him today? My gut feeling says, why not? 

Looney Toons: With this name, all I can recall is daffy, bunny, porky, Sylvester, road runner and tweety playing witty pranks against their better others.  Most of my kinky behavior and wit is taken after them, so yes, blame them!

Jonny Quest: Ok, it was the most sophisticated sci fic cartoon of all of them, showcasing the future of science and information. We are living in one! Tada! This science fiction adventure taught one thing for sure,“Seek and never let go”. 

Well this is not all!

Wacky races-the one where mutley dog spell bounded us with his wicked laughter, Powerpuff girls, Courage the cowardly dog, Dexter-the know it all dude and the most infuriating creature on earth, Dede. Them and umpteenth others earned the fondness and love of kids.They were not merely cartoons, they were stars, idols, superheroes, bestest buddies, inspiration, love mongers and no less than a family. Oh yes, I wear my heart on my sleeve when it’s about them, so pardon my nostalgic, tear jerking and a very much melodramatic tone here.

Some of them like courage and Power puff are still aired but, do we ever see kids today going la-la over them ? I guess no! The fact is even if these kids are made to watch those cartoons again; they might not enjoy them as much as they enjoy the violent ones.  The graphic violence today show kids how they can do things, and indirectly this violence allows them to inflict harm for no reason just because their cartoon hero did so. (The one where a good guy starts a brawl with a bad guy just because the good guy does not own a state of the art “bey blade”).

Probably, this industry needed to adapt itself with time, but unfortunately it has not remained successful in holding onto the element of innocence, lesson, and fun. But we can always suggest the kids few good old cartoons to watch and befriend with. I hope they could carry forward our legacy of cartoon nostalgia *feeling old *.

Lo and behold, it’s the mirage of vanity sizing!

“I am glad I wear the same waist size as I used to back in college”? Said a 25 years old friend of mine.

And I wondered, is it possible that her clothes grew along with her or did she herself stop growing? Obviously not!

You must have realized this at some point that you have three pair of jeans of different sizes and all fit you well. Ever thought, where does variability in clothe sizing comes from?

It’s simply the practice of vanity sizing which refers to adding an extra inch of fabric without changing the size tag, or labeling of larger clothes with “size small” tags. However, an absolute measurement means if your waist size is 27, then the waistband should exactly measure 27 inches.

But what made the retailers adopt this strategy? The answer is clear, requirement of a large size by a consumer is a threat to appearance self esteem, and unfortunately this is very much embedded in consumer psyche globally.

The mass retailers have made vanity sizing a norm assuming that they can encourage shoppers to buy clothes merely by re-labeling them with smaller sizes. And the reality also favors this trend because small size is considered attractive and is highly valued. This tactic is rather frustrating for the consumers as they have to look for the right fit every time instead of setting for a uniform measurement.

The issue of vanity sizing may also affect the shopping habits. For example, consumes may not be happy with the variance in sizes which exists from store to store and this uncertainty is the reason why they prefer sticking to the stores where they will find the right fit (I tend to do the same J).

Even I was impervious to this selling strategy until I came across this term on one of the consumer forums. So when you shop next time, following are some of the things you may keep in mind about vanity sizing:

Always try on the clothes ignoring the tag size

It is better to look at the actual size of the garment, try it first and put the size tag aside. Remember, stores introduce smaller sizes to fit petite women and perhaps this is the reason why we see size XXS.

The numbers are not always true

Try reclaiming your size and know that the size tags may not always be true.

Know that there is a difference in cuts

All the dresses displayed may be tagged “small” but they might have different cuts. So don’t blame your body for not fitting into the dress. If a certain clothe does not fit you, it’s not your fault, it is just the dress cut which is not designed for you. Do don’t be disappointed thinking you need to perfect your figure to fit into the label.

The best way not to baffle about the size you wear is to know how the fashion industry works. You need to realize that sizes on the labels are mostly purposeless. Vanity sizing must have been introduced to appeal the consumers and promote purchase, but I believe it is more a tactic of deceiving consumer. So next time, don’t fall into self delusion. Looking and feeling pretty into XL or Xs is up to you, and not up to the retailers. Cheers!

Ambiverts or Freaks?

Trivialtrivia owns this image

Often when they ask what my personality type is, my response is candid, “I am an Ambivert”. The biggest surprise for me is to know most of them muddle ambivertness with dual personality disorder and curiously ask me, “So you mean you have a dual personality disorder?”

After coming across this response several times, I started wondering, is it absolute to be only on one end of personality continuum (extroversion or introversion). 

The distinction between extroversion and introversion always leave me detested because I believe people can never be on their single mood extreme all the times and a middle ground does exist which directs our behavior.  For instance, on filling the personality type questionnaire, I am always unsure how to answer, “will you prefer reading a book or going to a party? All I think is “well depends on my mood, or the book of interest, or the group of people who threw that party”. A lot of you can relate with this I believe. Hearing and reading about the term “ambiversion” provided me clarity and a sigh of relief too on this disconcert. There is a little written about ambiversion, but as far as I have read, Ambiverts are those individuals who posses traits of introverts and extroverts at varying degrees.  However, dual personality disorder is characterized by more than one distinct personalities taking control of an individual. The unity of consciousness by which people identify themselves does not exist in dual personality disorder.

On the spectrum of social relationships, Ambiverts enjoy conversations with people, but at one point, they get tired of being gregarious. They try to have a balance between their social and personal time smartly. In contrast to extroverts, the Ambiverts seek time and space to make sense of information instead of fully relying on people. When observed in the perspective of job and person fit, Ambiverts can be ideal choice for the recruiters. The HR personnel have always been in search of the right personality types who are thoughtful, pleasant and gregarious yet self understanding, and all of it together lies under ambiversion.

People who know me well are aware I am the very definition of Ambivert. I enjoy all the hubbub and partying as long as it does not make my head pound and if it does, all I want is to be left alone to hum, read or to create imaginary characters in my head (yes I do). I feel comfortable talking to strangers but at the caution of not giving away too much of myself. I had been both sporty and a loner during play time at school, and sometimes what excited me most about play times was a chance to sit back and write short stories. All of this does not make me a dual personality freak. Does it?

And now some common sense?

There is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert. Such a person would be in the lunatic asylum-Carl G Jung. After all Carl Jung was not a lunatic to say so!

Grumpy yet Endearing-A viral success story

She is crotchety yet genuine, apparently a little grim yet fuzzy, and most of all grumpy yet endearing, yes! She is the famous grumpy cat who became a viral sensation in no time.

*Trivialtrivia does not own this image

Ever wonder how a mere cat won internet?

Tabatha Bundesen who lives outside of Phoenix own Grumpy. In 2012, Tabatha’s brother posted a video of Grumpy out of fun but the video went viral with 1.5 million people watching it within 16 hours of its launch on YouTube.  Ever since the ironic grumpy has been loved and followed by millions of people. Gradually, a whole bunch of grumpy accessories were also launched ranging from grumpy T shirts, cards, and a book named “Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book: Disgruntled Tips and Activities Designed to Put a Frown on Your Face” (my, my, envy grumpy? I do).

The success did not come to halt just after million likes, but the all so frowny cat brought forth an endorsement with Friskies (a premium cat food brand).  Since then, grumpy, no less than a brand, has collaborated with larger companies to promote various accessories.  Countless orders have come in for the Grumpy cat stuffed animal which will be released in USA soon.

 Grumpy is now so famous that she had to hire herself a manager, Ben lashes, who does not only look after the social media but also handles endorsements and public appearances of Grumpy. Grumpy is soon to be a Hollywood sensation most (probably leaving Angelina behind), as she is one of the few ones enjoying a lead character in “Lil Bub and Friends, a documentary about a kitten born to a feral mother. The documentary was premiered at the Tribeca Film festival Film festival in April 2013. Therefore, it will not be wrong to say that grumpy is no less than an icon and our very own “Manhoos billi” is also a replica inspired by the sullen grumpy cat I believe.

So what does the success story of grumpy tell you? To me, the message is clear. If you are grumpy and you know it, you should not care!

P.S ever wonder what is grumpy's real name? It’s Tardar Sauce! Well I am not sure how to pronounce Tardar!

Have been waiting up? Carry on!

You were called for an interview. The HR executive assured you of communicating your evaluation within a week, but it has been a month since then. Should you follow up yourself? Would you sound desperate?

Wait! Why have not “they” followed up as promised?

This trend is often discerned in recruitment today and most of you must have gone through this several times. By follow-up here, I connote recruiters’ post interview follow through with the candidates to which even the top employers are often impervious. 

I am not sure how frequently this oblivion goes on everywhere else, but at least in Pakistan we do not frequently come across anything closer to employer follow up. Unfortunately, if not all, a healthy percentage of the recruiters fall into “hey I am the recruiter who does not ever follow up” category!

The question is, are we not habitual of always being followed up on how we did on evaluations or tests? Whenever we apply for a loan, the representatives follow up if we qualify or fail in availing the facility; similarly after every medical test, we expect our physician to follow up on our health. The examples may sound trivial but the same goes for interview follow-ups.

When I set out to probe into “no follow up” practice, I received interesting responses from a couple of HR and recruitment personnel: feast your eyes!

“Staff’s day is jammed packed. Follow up becomes an added responsibility”.

“It would not be economically wise to follow up especially on as many as 50 candidates who had been interviewed in a single time. It is one heck of a task!

             “Interview follow up should not be a big deal. It is just a simple courtesy which you receive, and if not, you find it rude”.

             “It always makes me sad to hear this. The candidates are obviously appalled by this silence especially when they have gone through several rounds of interviews. It leaves them frustrated and the recruiters earn a bad name at the same time! This is the reason we try our best to follow through!”

             “We do not want politeness to become an added expense. However, it does not in any case reflect we are unprofessional”!

Candidates expect to see the outcome of their efforts and most of them do not mind if they are politely told, “We are sorry, you lacked XYZ”. All that matters is to let them know if they are hired or excused for proceeding further. Recruiters make this mistake of thinking that candidates do not note this simple ignorance, when in reality, they do. In their minds, they can easily start blacklisting the recruiters who do not succeed in fulfilling this simple professional curtsey.

A pinch of humble advice to the Recruiters!

Candidates look up to honesty, even if they did not do very well. If the candidates' skills do not match with the desired position, tell them. If they do not turn out to be compatible, communicate their weaknesses for the position applied for, they might start working on the shortcomings right away. If contacting on phone sounds tiresome, you can always send a modest email. (For further convenience, you could have sent a pigeon with a post it note tied around its neck, but this medium is obsolete, pity!). Use any mean, it should fulfill the purpose of following up.

And for the candidates, the best way to deal with this silence is to keep looking for other opportunities without dwelling on the non-response attitude. Know that there might have been other reasons for which the employers didn’t contact you back besides the reason of non-compatibility.

Here I raise a cup (*of coffee) to the hope that next time, a recruiter will make me write on how well they followed up and failed to earn a name in my “non professional recruiters” black list.

TrivialTrivia: GEEKY CULINARY DELIGHT

TrivialTrivia: GEEKY CULINARY DELIGHT: How would you like to have meat for your scrumptious homemade kebabs coming from a lab instead of meat market? Sounds gross or electrifyin...

Neuromarketing! Peeping into Consumers’ Minds

What if I say our brains are being trifled by the marketers to make us buy only their brands? Some of you might simply say, “No, I am a learned customer, marketers may influence my choice but they can’t actually make me buy something”.

You are rather wrong!

Accurately understanding customer perception about buying has been a herculean task for marketers. There has always been a hunt for mediums that smartly meet communication purpose rightly,targeting customer’s needs in no time. For this, Neuromarketing is good news. Neuromarketing is the activity of recruiting functional magnetic resonance to analyze brain’s reaction to certain tasks or stimuli. Marketing researchers can now use the imaging tools to observe the areas of the brain that respond positively to the brands, campaigns, and taglines. Neuromarketing tools observe how the brain reacts to print ads, TVCs, packaging, and logos. In United States, about $1 billion is spent on the focus group activities to understand human psychology towards brand. Currently, Coca Cola has taken this initiative to use Neuromarketing in all its performance and quantitative projects by employing facial coding survey. Frito lays seconds this run and made the most of the Neuromarketing research services to remain abreast in understanding customers well.  Hyundai recently adopted brand image resonance services and conducted focus groups to track electrical activity in human brain. The purpose was to understand consumer’s product choice for Hyundai in comparison with the competitors' brands. Although the concept of Neuromarketing is not new, it is only recently that the brands have begun understanding the true potential of this idea. By knowing what exactly drives the customers, the researchers and the marketers can have a better knowledge of what really motivates the purchase decisions. Let’s hope that science can predict our buying behavior and perceptions better than before, but would we call it intrusin in our very personal purchase decisions? This is yet to be answered!

The Brand Contagion

Caution
There must have been times when you regretted buying a product or availing a service; likewise there must have been instances when you were overwhelmed by the idea of your association with a particular brand. Whatsoever, we all play the role of "consumer" infinite times in a lifetime. This post is about how fixated it is being a consumer today. This fixation might be with the brands, or with fads, and yet there are those who find it effortless to be a consumer. These reviews are totally impartial and solely depend on the individual experiences, so you have your due right to agree or disagree with me :)

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“Oh I bought this shirt for Rs 5000 from the New exclusive couture line (ABC), have you heard of it? How cool is that”? Said my friend, 25 years old. “But I bought the same from the mall next to my place for 2500”, it’s the same material and design,” said I convincingly. “But it’s branded”, said she triumphantly!

 It was obvious she did not feel any remorse for Rs 2500 extra paid for the exactly same item I bought, so what is this brand fever which has been taking its toll more than forever now! Let’s see!
For few consumers, all that matters is the convenience to shop at a less crowded place (the exclusive boutiques and stores) than at a common marketplace, for few, it is the peer pressure which compels them to go after brands, and for others, quality of branded items is way better than the unbranded products. However, the most significant trend is that, brands were never as invasive in Pakistan as they are today. The all so well set and happening integrated marketing is etching the significance of being branded in consumers’ minds. It is always worthy to be recognized as the girl who wears "Chanel" or the guy who owns a dozen "Mango" shirts. For example, a twenty three year old working lady says,“mostly I shop at Khaadi, Ego or Generations; the clothes are expensive yet pretty, but most of all, they fulfill my desire to wear designer outfit”. A thirty year old housewife says, "everything is branded today? what and how much will you avoid? besides, brands provide me a sense of promise and value". However, not all the consumers replicate the above view,

“Why would I pay for the brand, if I can find the similar item at low price, said a twenty four year old working lady”! A twenty year old student says, “It doesn't really matter if the clothes are branded, I buy what I like, it’s simple I guess!

So, there still are consumers who never have complex of not buying branded products.

Well, to succinct in, the feeling of buying a brand is proud and satiating but sometimes consumers become prey to excessive prices, and low product quality in the brand run and cannot really determine if what they are paying for is worth buying. This is true, the charisma of brands can never be undermined. At some time point all of us want a “me” fondness which is well fulfilled by brands, but don’t we become victims of brand blindness sometimes and feel remorse afterwards? Have you ever?

GEEKY CULINARY DELIGHT

How would you like to have meat for your scrumptious homemade kebabs coming from a lab instead of meat market? Sounds gross or electrifying? A little of both to me.

Well, this may happen in the near future. The news just struck me today that a team of Dutch scientist successfully produced meat in a Petri dish. The process goes on like this:

From the animal muscle tissues, stem cells are collected which are then fed nutrients to help them grow. The already tripled millions of these cells are then contained into a Petri dish where they are turned into small pieces of muscles and finally into frozen pellets. After having enough quantity, these muscles are deforested and compacted into a petty to be cooked.

 courtesy, http://www.washingtonpost.com, 2013, (blog) 

Here you go! Bon appétit Iron free, protein free and fat free meat, which must be good news for half of self inflicted fat deprived us.

The aim of scientist seems undoubtedly simple, that is: achieving the good of environment and economy, where rearing and slaughtering of animals is costly. Besides, the current worldwide meat production is on the verge of achieving its maximum capacity and standing in need of alternatives. However, it will still take twenty more years to have lab meat available at supermarket shelves. Right now, we can only anticipate if the morsels of this cultured meat are actually socially and economically approved of  in both Eastern and Western societies. Till then, savor your mouths with “nature made” meat as much as you can (no offense to those on diet)! And me? I think I just lost appétit; for meat at least, for a while!