Vera Wang for the masses & screw top wine

When exactly did Kohl's start carrying a line of Vera Wang designs? I know, eventually lots of famous names end up on clothing labels and are carried in stores frequented by "regular people." This is not what I'm talking about. Vera Wang is a serious fashion designer and in an entirely different league than most of these people. And now I can run out to my neighborhood Kohl's store and pick up something with her name on it. If I want. Which is weird because even though you can sometimes find something you enjoy wearing at this store, high-end fashion is not what it's known for.

I'm apparently late to this discovery, which I made this weekend during my first Kohl's visit in months. Alas, I did not choose one of Ms. Wang's pieces, marketed under the name, "Simply Vera." For one, the colors weren't right for what I needed. For another, the only piece I actually liked might have been good for wearing to work or to meet a friend for coffee, but it was too scratchy. It's a fine weave sweater and I'm thinking wool. With the added pressure to find a thin piece to wear underneath to protect my sensitive skin from the itchiness, I decided I didn't care that much.

So we've remarked for years that what we see on the runway never makes it to the places "ordinary people" shop. Now it seems they're trying something new and things feel pretty much the way they did before. I still buy what I like. Sometimes I know the name on the label; other times I don't.

Meanwhile, I returned home that night to an even more disconcerting discovery. That familiar bottle of Big House Red I'd purchased the night before? It has a screw top lid. No cork. Just a regular, run-of-the-mill lid I can twist off without the aid of any fancy tools. And while I'd heard that this, too, is a trend some of the vineyards were intending to employ, I less expected that than I'd imagined running into Vera Wang in my Saturday evening shopping rounds.

Fortunately I still liked the wine. I'm just trying to figure out if there's the tiniest little bit of snob in me that might be unwilling to take a bottle of screw top wine - even Big House Red - to a future dinner hostess.

What important stuff I'm pondering in my little middle-class, suburban brain this Tuesday.

Comments

[Dena]

It speaks well of you that didn't know about Vera--it means you don't watch that much TV. They've been running those "Simply Vera" for forever now.

The screwtop wine lid is something I read about recently that is indeed becoming more of a trend and is not supposed to affect the quality of the wine. But I'm with you... I'd feel a bit odd giving it as a hostess gift. Rates right up there with "box-o-wine."

Cheers,
Dena

[Lynne]

Melody, I have to give you this perspective on screw-top wine. A friend of mine bought a $40 bottle of wine that we decided to drink after Bob Dylan's most recent concert in Charlottesville - a special treat, don't you know. The concert is over and we're ready to open the wine, but I can't get the corkscrew to begin its work. Eventually I realize it's because the wine - the $40 bottle of wine -has a screw top. I'm not sure of the moral or if there is a moral, but all screw tops are not equal when it comes to wine apparently. And should a future hostess question your bottle with its screw top, feel free to share this story.

[Melody]

Dena, sadly I don't deserve this much credit. I watch tons of (even bad) TV - perhaps just not at the right time to see these specific commercials. Hm. Glad to know I'm not the only one with this sort of hesitation over wine bottles you can unscrew. Never mind I'd read about these and knew of their existence - even from mighty-reputable sources. Alas... old dogs and new tricks and all that business.

Lynne, I LOVE your story! And yes, if I ever get past my issue with these lids, you'd better believe I'll be telling your story to my hostesses. Sadly, I'll probably just keep looking for bottles with corks. "For the time being" anyway. :)

[Carolyn]

well, first, of course, it was non-cork corks. Mayhaps we could tone them up by saying the corks were PLASTIQUE, emphasis on acquired French-ish accent. Nevertheless, plastic. Now we've moved on to screw top wine. Baby boomers may have to die out before we can achieve this second transition, as our memories go to these fine wines: Ripple, 20/20, and Boone's Farm. Somehow, though I recognize their viability, their lack of ability to rot, and supposed ease of removal (questionable--w/arthritic hands, I'm better off w/my french waiter's corkscrew)--IN SPITE OF THESE THINGS, I like a nice cork.

Will not comment on Vera Wang, whose couture complemented THE WEDDING--of which Melody knows. Yeah, I've heard of her, but I heard of L.L. Bean first.

[Leslie]

How timely you are!

On Nov. 18, CBS Sunday Morning ran a story on "stelvin closures."
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/18/sunday/main3518227.shtml.

I wonder if our presidential candidates have any cork in their platforms...

[Margot]

Being a total non-wine drinker (for reasons too complicated/boring to discuss here) I had heard (probably on NPR) that even the hoity-toity wine makers are going to screw tops. Apparently the corks can taint the wine?

That's all I got on that!

Nothing to add on Vera Wang. Coldwater Creek doesn't carry her clothes so no Vera Wang for me.

[Ryan Madison]

Recently I bought a Houdini Wine & Beverage Chiller from Kohl's store on Couponalbum.com & saved 35%........!!!