Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten: Something New at an Old Collegiate Apparel Retailer

I hadn't been in Steve and Barry's for a while; first off I found their nickel and dime approach to retail to be almost downright pedestrian and was a bit offended that anyone was offering clothing for as cheap. When they first opened I found that they were but the newest destination for $5 jeans; now Old Navy had filled this niche in specialty store retail years back when they first opened and what I had found there at the time wasn't much in the way of sophistication, but then again they were $5. While Old Navy had initially created consumers out of those looking for chic, yet cheap, clothing from the Gap they eventually improved in a lot of ways through aggressive marketing, improving their initial quality and becoming the flagship of the store, rather than a cheap and chic offering of the Gap.

So in time Old Navy proved themselves to be a serious competitor in retail; yet with Steve and Barry's the formula for doing so seems to be in having famous personalities co-opt their clothing and offer designer labels within the store that sell for slightly more than their own line. I checked out the store shortly before Christmas looking for deals; I have to say that out of the three designer labels they do have, EleVen By Venus Williams, Dear by Amanda Bynes and BITTEN by Sarah Jessica Parker, BITTEN is your best deal.

Keep in mind that EleVen and Dear are marketed towards a younger woman, the former towards young African-American women in particular. Yet there is something special to BITTEN that opens up the door for Steve and Barry's to appeal to an upscale consumer that would normally opt for H&M or The Gap. For one BITTEN has a universal appeal that none of the other Steve and Barry's offerings have; the attention to detail and the luxury of the apparel at this price point may catch some women off guard.