KRISTIN, CAROLINE & JANNIKE

As I mentioned in a post earlier, I have been working as the manager of a clothing store since we moved back to BERGEN. The store is called EMIL  ..and it is kind of an institution here in BERGEN. When I first moved back I thought they only had one store, but it turned out they had 7 ..so I now work in one of those. When I first applied for the job ..and got it .. I have to admit I was a little SCEPTIC. Not of the workplace itself, but of the clothing I was going to sell. Coming from Bergen I associated the store with my mother..  or maybe even more so with GRANDMOTHERS. It turns out that I am not the only one with this association ..BUT it also turns out that I was wrong ..or at least partly.

A lot of the customers in my store are in fact SENIORS, seniors between 70 and 96 years old. We also have younger customers, but the seniors are without a doubt our most faithful customers. Many of them have been shopping in our stores forever.. and many of them buy almost all their clothes there. This is partly because there are not that many stores left that sell clothes that women their age want to wear ..or actually CAN wear.. skinny jeans and miniskirts, low necklines and see through fabrics are not for everyone. But after working there for a while I realized that their FAITHFULNESS most likely also has to do with the service, which is almost old fashioned, but the good kind of old fashioned. With all the online shopping I think good service is the future of 'in store' shopping. 

Anyway, so now to the things I was wrong about; THE CLOTHES. Our stores still sell clothes that older women like; the classics .. and jeans that are high waist and do not cling to your ankles. BUT we also have a lot of nice brands and clothes for women my age  ..and younger. A lot of the girls working at our store are in their TWENTIES and they have been pointing out this last season how they really like a lot of the clothes that we have in store right now. This knowledge together with all the answers I get every week from women in their 40's when I address them; 'no I do not need any help, I am just looking for something for my mother' made me suggest to my boss that we should do a PHOTO SHOOT, or a few, to show people that our clothes are for a broader and younger base than the ones we are currently selling to. And  I, of course, had an idea of how we should to do it..

In the photos I wanted to focus on the fact that we are a local company ... and I wanted to work with the girls working in our stores, partly because they work here.. but also because they are such beautiful girls ..and I love working with ordinary people in a laidback setting.. And I also wanted them to pick out outfits they felt that they could actually wear, and mix it with their own clothes to make it authentic.

SO these pictures are  the result a one great  SUNDAY hanging out in the sun with the sweetest colleagues one can have. Thank you Kristin, Caroline and Jannike!