SKIPPING MALLS FOR IN-HOME WARDROBE SHOPPING
By JENNIFER ERICKSON

Staff photos by Courtenay Nearburg

Shopping for clothes online may save time and gasoline, but deprives buyers of the opportunity to try garments or get assistance. But since assistance isn't even a guarantee at department stores or designer boutiques, some shoppers are turning to another option, the in-home shopping experience, which can combine the best of both.

Two Laguna women, Tina Tiezzi and Debbie Hild, have teamed up to offer their friends and neighbors such an opportunity as representatives of New York-based Casuals Etcetera, Inc., a women's wear designer that hires consultants to sell the line from their homes. The consultants earn a commission based on a percentage of sales. It's a highend clothing version of Tupperware or Avon.

Direct apparel sales seems to be flourishing at all price points along the spectrum. The Worth and Carlisle collections, for instance, offer luxury designs with prices to match, while companies like Modbe sell everyday clothing at discount prices. Doncaster, a North Carolina clothing maker on par with Etcetera, boasts quality fabrics and designs at a price point a notch beneath luxury levels.

1. Tina Tiezzi, left, hosts a trunk show of the Ecetera clothing line at her Three Arch Bay home. She and partner Debbie Hild, right, help friend and North Laguna neighbor Liz Kramer with the fit of a winter coat as Kramer's daughter looks on. 2. The Etcetera clothing line offers notebooks with an array of product styles and colors of their inventory. 3. Laguna mom Liz Kramer, right, consults with Lauri Wax of Pasadena, Etcetera's regional manager, about the merits of her selections from the fall line. 4. The Etcetera clothing line offers notebooks with an array of product styles and colors of their inventory. 5. Debbie Hild holds Etcetera apparel during a recent showing of the fall line in the home of her business partner, Tina Tiezzi. 6. Nancee Wells peruses the Etcetera clothing line, conveniently set up boutique style in the Three Arch Bay home of neighbor Tina Tiezzi, who represents the line with partner and friend Debbie Hild. Prices range from $95 for a knit tee to $425 for a winter coat.

"Direct to market sales are growing at triple the rate of online fashion sales. It's now a billion-dollar business," according to Marshal Cohen, chief fashion industry analyst for the NDP Group, a New York-based market research company.

Begun in 2001, Etcetera is a beneficiary of the trend. They now have hundreds of reps in 633 towns and cities in 45 states, and are actively expanding.

Tiezzi and Hild were copartners in another business venture, offering a series of bi-weekly cooking classes for the last three years. It had been a lot of fun, but it was tiring. "I've moved on to clothes," said Tiezzi, who used to be a sales rep for Quiksilver.

Etcetera comes out with new designs for four annual shows - spring, spring/summer, fall and fall/holiday. The spring/ summer and fall/holiday shows each build on the previous show, and staples such as blouses and t-shirts are carried throughout the year. Typically, reps will set up a home boutique of each new line for six days. They recruit clients by word of mouth and count on repeat clients.

When Tiezzi and Hild held their first show for this year's spring/summer line, they had lined up 25 appointments, but walk-ins increased the number to 35. For the fall show earlier this month, they had 45 appointments lined up. "We're excited about it," said Hild, adding, "We have a lot of fun."

Etcetera emphasizes the convenience of their point of sale in addition to touting the quality and originality of their merchandise. The fall trunk show at Tiezzi's Three Arch Bay home bore out the wisdom of this approach. On a Thursday morning between 10 a.m. and noon, about six friends and neighbors trickled into Tiezzi's home-cum-fashion boutique. While some were return clients and knew they liked the clothes, all were lured by expediency. "I don't have time to go to the stores," explained Laguna mom Liz Kramer, who showed up in a blouse she had purchased at the earlier show. "It's easy," said neighbor Lori Stanton, echoing Kramer's sentiment.

Lauri Wax, Etcetera's regional manager for Southern California, who was on hand to offer assistance, says that the company "really works at keeping the prices down and the quality up." Prices range from $95 to $195 for tops, $170 to $250 for pants and skirts, and from $275 to $495 for jackets and coats. But she also underscored the importance of the personal treatment offered by reps like Hild and Tiezzi, who know the collection and their clients and can save clients time by directing them to pieces they know will please. The women keep records of their clients' purchases, including images of the items, allowing them to help the client build their wardrobe each season by selecting new pieces that compliment the ones they already own.

"Tina and Debbie have beautiful taste in clothes," said Stanton, who added that she liked the way the clothing could be mixed and matched. Ellen Bosworth, a real estate agent and neighbor, liked the versatility of the line. "You can pick up some stuff that you can wear to work, but you can wear it here as well," she said.

Women popped in and out, tried things on, offered each other advice, made purchases and were off to their next appointment or errand. They knew Tiezzi and Hild from the neighborhood, or through friends. No one was a complete stranger. "We see each other on the beach with our dogs," said Nancee Wells, another neighbor and satisfied customer.

A large part of the appeal of the in-home shopping experience, besides the convenience, is the level of personal attention the shoppers receive. Dana Point clothing designer Heidi Brunswick largely relies on similar twice a year shows in her home to sell her clothing line, In Heiding, although she also sells through several boutiques. Brunswick, a single mom, sold her first designs to Laguna Beach's Tippecanoe's at the age of 15.

While clients keep returning because her clothing suits them, Brunswick says they especially "love it when they come here to my home." They like the fact that she helps them figure out what looks good and what fits them best. "I even tell people what underwear and bras to buy," she said.

Brunswick's one-day show of her own creations and Tiezzi and Hild's national clothing line, sold over a six-day period, have much in common despite appealing to different tastes. Both shows lured customers by word of mouth. Both generated a palpable feeling of camaraderie among the shoppers, women who often knew each other and could count on an honest answer to a shopping dilemma: "Does this make me look fat?"

To learn more about the Etcetera clothing line, visit www.etcetera.com. For information about Heidi Brunswick's clothing, visit www.inheiding.com.