Some months ago, friend M. and I were passing through Bloomingdale's on the way to Out the Door, Slanted Door's lower-priced but still delicious inside-a-mall restaurant. (Oh, excuse me- it's a Shopping Centre or Center, not a MALL). It's hard to pass through Bloomingdales, walking a straight line from the door to the opening on the other side, for glittering lights, sparkling display cases, polished floors and heavily perfumed salespeople smiling alluringly at you beckon you from every direction. Hold your wallet closed and just look and walk straight ahead, if you can.
We couldn't. A display case of Juicy Couture charms and starter charm bracelets got hold of us and we stared at the amazingly detailed miniature charms in grudging awe. Juicy Couture-- the ubiquitous and played out velour tracksuit of years past, the rather vulgar logo "JUICY" spelled out across the buttocks of overly sexy pre-teens, with the legs of the pants terminating in pink Ugg boots... Ugh, indeed.
And yet, the charm bracelet! So charmingly heavy, so shiny, so tongue-in-cheek feminine... and the array of wonderful charms! Pegasus, headphones with miniature mesh in the earpieces, cherries that are twin tiny lockets, a black butterly with moveable wings, a roller skate with a rhinestone in each wheel (and the wheels roll!), a tiny treasure chest that really opens, with strands of pearls and gold chains inside!
Yeah, we were hooked like two largemouth bass.
For M.'s birthday in June, friend R. and I conspired to get her the bracelet and a few charms. R. gave her the green and white headphones, and I gave her a pink cassette tape, which it turns out is a pretty rare one, which has been discontinued.
My current obsession is looking for these charms on Ebay, where sellers post Juicy Couture charms that were discontinued before I caught the mania. I don't even have the bracelet yet and I just bought my first charm, a little deer or fawn, which I'm happy to say is long discontinued and rather hard to acquire. I also like the owl and the acorn.
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