Another Meetup

The world of social media has many disadvantages regarding privacy but there is one advantage. It is a way to bring together women from different backgrounds and ages for the opportunity to network, socialize, and forge friendships.  Four different women did this very thing at another meetup, this Polyvore Meetup in King of Prussia.

In May I shared with you my adventure to New York City not only to see my daughter but to attend a Polyvore Meetup. I was inspired to organize my own meetup, this time locally. I decided on King of Prussia Mall, the destination shopping mall to host the event.

My family and friends all agree that I love to plan events. I thoroughly enjoy getting involved in the intimate details of crossing every “T” and dotting every “I.”  After a few months of planning, Saturday, September 19, was the date I selected for the Polyvore Meetup at the King of Prussia Mall.

With over 400 retail stores to choose from, I settled on contacting J. Crew, bareMinerals, and Spanx.  All three stores welcomed the opportunity to bring in a small group to share the new styles for the fall.  J. Crew welcomed the ladies with a continental breakfast and stylists were available to show us the latest and greatest that the retailer had to offer for fall.

We spent nearly two hours trying on outfits. I loved having a stylist among the Polyvore attendees who provided helpful hints when selecting clothing for one’s body type.  After I tried on what looked like a beautiful fitted silhouette tweed dress, I determined this may not be a good look for me after all.  Turns out that as a pear shape I should never purchase anything with stripes on the lower part of my body that will accentuate my larger parts. I do know that an a-line or fit and flare type dresses will accentuate my body type.  I settled on a glen plaid A-line silhouette that falls right at the knee.  At the knee length is a universally appealing length for women of all ages, especially women over the age of 50.  Once over the age of 50, unless dresses/skirts are midi length some dresses/skirts cut you off with the tendency to made one looks matronly.  We loved the J. Crew 25% off price points and especially the 40% off sale items.

All the year’s of shopping at my favorite store, Nordstrom, who knew there was a wonderful restaurant with healthy choices, a much wiser choice than a fast food court?

After lunch, we headed over to bareMineral’s for beauty wisdom and products.  One key anti-aging tip for women of a certain age is to periodically update your make-up to keep you current and relevant. Our resident stylist volunteered to be our model. It’s all about the tap and swirl with bareMinerals.

Perhaps the next stop was for me.  Every since Oprah listed Spanx as one of her “Favorite Things” on her television show in 2000, I have been a fan. The gracious ladies at Spanx provided our group with refreshments and we learned about all the different products available for body-shaping undergarments.

For the meetup at King of Prussia Mall, Polyvore was gracious enough to provide the group with branded T-shirts, and a MAC Cosmetics wine-hued lipstick called Dark Side. Great color and perfect for fall.

While social media provides interactions in which people create, share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks, to actually have a physical meetup where like minds come together to share and forge personal relationships that provide a support system to one another whether a jewelry store owner like Karen, a handbag designer on Etsy like Cynthia, stylist Toi Sweeney  or blogger like myself.

Thank you for the retailers that provided the venues for a fun day, thank you Karen, Toi, and Cynthia for sharing your day with me. Thanks to my daughter who captured every moment for what I hope to be the first of many Polyvore Meetups at the King of Prussia Mall.