Rag and Pony

1. Robyn, “Body Talk”: That pop tart we all listened to in the 90s, then forgot about, who came back, and was so amazing.

2. Broken Bells, “Broken Bells”: First heard the album in a Chinatown apartment. Sounds just as good in Charleston. Haven’t stopped listening.

3. Nikki Minaj, “Pink Friday”: I’m a sucker for strong female characters. Nikki Minaj is the very definition. While I’m more a fan of her collaborations with other artists (yeh, even “My Chick Bad”), her own album is not too shabby.

4. B.o.B., B.o.B. Presents the Adventures of Bobby Ray : Don’t hate. Sometimes you just want a bouncy, poppy, hip-hoppy bucket of fun.

5. The Arcade Fire, “Suburbs”: After three years, I wasn’t disappointed.

Honorable Mentions: MGMT “Congratulations”, CocoRosie “Grey Oceans”, Crystal Castles “Crystal Castles”…I guess Kanye should be on here, too.

Best Song: “Vaporize” by Broken Bells (when feeling generally sour), “Massive Attack” by Nikki Minaj (when in the mood to dance)

Worst Song: “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train.

Back to where I moonlight as a bartender.

It’s the holidays business is generally slow as most of the student population has hauled ass out of this city. Last night though, there was a decent pop of business: a full bar, full tables, and lots of guests ordering proper cocktails.

There was a table of three children.

I say children, but they were really maybe just a year or so younger than myself. That kind of fresh 21 year old state of mind where you still order Midori and sour and don’t realize the amount of sugar that will certainly go from glass to your thighs in about two years.

They ordered drinks, and dinner and were fairly entertaining.

Upon bill presentation time, the hostess of the table asked to have it all on one bill. Not to offer flack to the set just younger than myself, but I’d resigned myself to accepting that although this table had been generally polite…they weren’t going to tip.

Coming back to the table after their card had been run, she handed me the receipt book.

“This is for you.”

People rarely make a point of handing you the receipt.

I looked down, and noticed the $40 tip circled with a smile penned next to it.

“That’s a really big tip you know…” I said, nearly certain it was a math mistake. I work at the sort of bar where people usually try to con you into selling them drinks for below the prince. The sort or bar where people too often don’t tip so well.

“I know. Merry Christmas,” she replied, beaming.

Alright world, you win this round.

For Charleston designer Anna Lassiter, a lot has changed over the past year.

Until last January, Lassiter was almost a novice with the sewing machine.

Now, she’s working on her second clothing line and has just shipped off her submissions to Fashion Group International’s Rising Star competition, which is responsible for discovering the likes of Jason Wu and other young fashion standouts.

So, to say the least, it’s been a busy year.

“Anybody can do what they want to do,” muses Lassiter from her design studio and home in Wagener Terrace.

Hailing from Folly Beach, Lassiter was an established interior designer in the Holy City before picking up the needle just over a year ago for her own fashion line. After a double showing in the tents in Marion Square for last year’s Charleston Fashion Week — as both an emerging designer finalist with her Anna Boheme line and retail participant with Eden Boheme — Lassiter’s designs became a staple of the Charleston fashion set.

And after myriad fashion presentations throughout 2010, she is ready to turn a design hobby to a profession in 2011. Lassiter left her business venture with fellow designer Lucinda Robinson at Eden Boheme earlier this month to focus solely on transitioning her line into production.

Already known for her rich textures and blending of bohemian and romantic sophistication, her new label, Lassitera Designs, will build on these previous aesthetics for an overall more refined aesthetic.

Lassitera Designs will make its debut early next year.

And while she’s looking forward to growing the production and business portion of her design work, Lassiter is keeping to her roots and keeping it local by focusing the production of her line within the Charleston economy. After all, she wouldn’t have gotten to this point in her career without the initial support of the Charleston design community.

Heather Koonse, master seamstress and owner of Lower King Street’s The Rose Knot, will head the production of Lassitera Designs for her fall 2011 collection.

But that’s just the first step in a long transition of turning her design work into a full fledged business.

In preparation of the label’s launch, Lassiter already is working on the look book for her fall 2011 collection to be sent out to buyers across the country.

She plans to start big, with the heavyweights of the fashion buying world already on her list.

Additionally, Lassiter is prepping for a runway fashion show in September in New York City while looking for a small upstairs retail and studio space in Charleston.

With her goals of establishing a local production network and selling Lassitera Designs for 2011 under way, Lassiter doesn’t show an ounce of anxiety about what the year holds her. She simply sticks to her goals.

She says, “2011 is about establishing production and selling pieces.”

It’s that kind of store.

The kind where clothes are neatly pressed and hang smartly on hangers.

Where you sip bourbon, poured neat in your tumbler. 

That rare find of a store, where the clothes are designer and the prices are so unbelievable you’re speechless. Although, maybe that’s just the bourbon.

Don’t call it a thrift store. We hesitate to even call it a consignment store. Just think of it as a mecca for lightly worn and still immaculate apparel.

Oh, and it’s a boys only club.

For owner Brannen Daugherty, the consignment gene is in his blood. As a child, Daugherty spent summers working in his mother’s consignment store but he never thought he’d one day own one himself. Now, after noticing how few options there were for men’s consignment in Charleston, he steps up to the plate, opening the doors of Worn this Saturday.

“Men in Charleston love to dress, so they should have a consignment store that caters to them,” says Daugherty.

And cater he does.

The store is small – tiny even – at only 400 square feet and nestled into the quaintly hip South Windermere neighborhood in West Ashley. It’s a well appointed, comfortable shop that doesn’t just carry consignment clothing. Here, well dressed men can find the best of the best including accessories, a hair and skin care line, as well as a new clothing line coming in 2011.

And don’t even think about finding last season’s big-box-discount-chain-elastic-in-the-waist-band khaki pants here. Worn will only feature the highest caliber of designer men’s apparel.

Simply put, Worn is an updated haberdashery experience for the modern man.

“Men like their shopping experiences to be easy,” adds Daugherty. “They typically shop knowing exactly what they need and Worn will make it easy for them to do so.”

So bid farewell to the days that consignment meant musty sweaters in funny colors with less than savory lighting. And say hello to Worn.

Worn opens to the public (and consignors) this weekend.
WornInCharleston.com

Via CHARLIE Magazine