The Fashionista is in - Fashion marketing

Before I dive into this edition of Fashionista, I have to mention that I completely neglected to mention one of my favorite models, the gorgeous Crystal Renn, in last week’s “Models 101.” Ms. Renn, along with several other plus-size models, features prominently in the latest edition of V magazine. I think it’s brilliant and advise you to check out a copy, but I think I bought the last one at Coffman Union.

Speaking of Coffman, I have just returned from a browsing of our handy-dandy campus bookstore’s fashion section, however scant it is. Unfortunately, I forgot that Kelly Cutrone’s new book, “If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You,” which I’m dying to get my hands on, comes out today. Expect a brief review of it later.

Kelly woes aside, I did notice that there are like three books about Michelle Obama’s style, which struck me as rather odd. OK, I get it, Michelle looks great 89 percent of the time, but I’m not sure she’s fabulous enough to warrant a small collection of books devoted to the fact that she wore Jason Wu to the Inaugural Ball.

Fashion people love churning out books. It seems that for every definitive volume, like The Sartorialist’s photo book that I’m still paging through, there’s another inspirational, aspirational guide to personal style. Isaac Mizrahi, I’m looking at you. Stick to being a TV personality. It’s much the same with magazines, a topic I’m passionate about. For every vapid and blasé issue of American Elle or Vogue, there’s something amazing, like my favorite, Love, which is run by British stylist extraordinaire Katie Grand. (The last Vogue, with Rachel McAdams on the cover talking about how normal she is because she gets up at 5 A.M. to do yoga, made me anti-Vogue again. Way to go, guys, I was totally on your side for a while there.)

Luckily Coffman has a bunch of these beauties, and they don’t ignore the dudes either. A certain BFF of mine stalks the shelves until they get in imports like Man About Town and AnOther Man, both of which I enjoy as an alternative to the relatively bland American men’s fashion and lifestyle magazines.

While I was in New York, I picked up my friend Lindsay’s copy of “Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail” and was absolutely fascinated by its content. I mean, I know that those of us born between 1978 and 2000 like to shop, know how to work the system and depend on technology to communicate about purchases. I definitely take pictures of myself in prospective purchases in the dressing room and picture message them to trusted friends. However, the authors of this book, a reporter and a consumer psychologist, have gone about their fairly standard research and made it fun and compelling at the same time.

Because we’re such a tech-based generation, of course retailers are making iPhone apps alerting us to sales at our favorite stores and re-tweeting all of our product mentions and endorsements. “Gen BuY” also talks about “marketing to Millennials,” which is the lame-ass nickname we’ve been pegged with. While I’m shopping, which is quite often, I forget that I’m constantly being marketed to. “Gen BuY” reminded me that the business of shopping is actually a business for more people than I’d thought.

And so I’m posing this question/challenge hybrid to all of you. I know people read Fashionista because I get letters to the editor about it, so help me out. I want to know the shopping habits of the University of Minnesota population. I’m fascinated by this. I want you darling readers to answer a few questions for me. Think of yourself as cute little guinea pigs that won’t wind up as an entrée at Chino Latino. E-mail me your answers to knesvig@mndaily.com. PLEASE.

The Fashionista Shopping Habits Questionnaire

1. Who are you? Age/year in school/major/gender.

2. How often do you shop?

3. What do you shop for?

4. How much do you think you spend per month on “unnecessary” things? (Think pleasure items like clothes, makeup, electronics, books that aren’t schoolbooks, etc.)

5. Are you influenced by technology-based marketing like Twitter promotions?

6. Do you read consumer-based blogs, be they fashion blogs, product review blogs, etc.?

This is something I’m really interested in learning about, so please, take five minutes off from your daily Facebooking and help out your friendly fashion columnist.