A few months ago, we defended Baileyâ€s collection (after all, at least he made an attempt to take advantage of modern technology and business practices), but for his Fall 2011 Burberry Prorsum show, which took place this week in London, we thought there would be no need for Signature9 to come to Baileyâ€s defense. The clothes he turned out are overtly fall (Cathy Horyn at The New York Times dinged Bailey for ignoring spring influences in favor of clothes that could be worn right away last season), colorful, 60s-inspired and overall quite charming (love the cow print!). It seems, though, that many fashion critics are still unimpressed by Burberry and still complaining that Baileyâ€s embrace of technology has left his creativity in the dust.

Booth Moore at the Los Angeles Times said the show was “cute” and that “Bailey was right to keep the focus on outerwear,” but criticized Baileyâ€s clothes for being too far from the seasonless looks shoppers crave these days, which is funny considering Bailey was criticized last season precisely for being seasonless.

Suzy Menkes at The New York Times said Burberry was thinking too big, writing that “what [Burberry] gained in bombast, the once-quirky line lost in charm, cheek and irony that the designer Christopher Bailey has previously brought to the Burberry Prorsum brand.” She also said, “Burberry has to be careful that its brilliant and forward-looking embrace of the Internet does not leave too much behind — especially that ironic take on tradition, the British countryside and the brand heritage that Mr. Bailey can tweak so well.”

Looks like we need to weigh in again. Lucky for Bailey, though, it seems the general consensus among smaller fashion bloggers is that Burberryâ€s recent collection was highly impressive, and not just in comparison to the last show. We know we little old bloggers arenâ€t Anna Wintour or anything, but Fashionista, for instance, called Bailey “a master of the brand he has brought into the 21st century with ease.”

We wonâ€t go on a rant about the importance of digital technology and the urgent need for fashion types to make like Bailey and embrace it already, but we will say this: thank goodness for Christopher Bailey. The showâ€s coats looked warm and realistic for winter, the tweeds and tights were just what we want to be wearing come fall and there was the perfect amount of bright colors mixed with snowy whites and neutrals – and Baileyâ€s managed to do this all while catering to the modern need for instant gratification by making the collection available very soon, not months from now like most other brands†clothes. Bravo, Bailey!

If youâ€re one of those people who likes to buy an item of clothing, wear it once, then return it to the store, beware: retailers are on to you, and they have now developed a way to track “wardrobers.”

Retail Equation is new software that allows stores to pinpoint “serial returners,” or those who practice what retailers call “wardrobing.” Retailers certainly needed this software, as stores lost an estimated $14.8 billion last year due to shoppers who brought back gently used items. {WSJ via The Cut}

We’ve all made the routine impulse buy that can’t be justified a few days later, but people who “wardrobe” on a regular, continual basis has to be beyond annoying for retailers. Anecdotally, we’ve always heard about serial returners who’ve received “thank you for your business, but don’t bring it here” letters, so the idea behind the software probably isn’t completely new.

The prospect of lessening this practice is not the only good news here, though: some stores are adopting more lenient return policies for shoppers who don’t push the return policy rules since they can now track “wardrobers.” Among them are Macyâ€s, Toys “R” Us, OfficeMax and Best Buy, which recently eliminated its unpopular 15 percent restocking fee. {WSJ}

Itâ€s still not clear exactly how the software will work and what will be done to offenders (we vote for barring them from returning worn or used merchandise indefinitely) but hopefully there will be a way to distinguish repeat returners who are “wardrobing” from those who just happen to get a lot of misfit holiday gifts.

The situation is definitely a win-win for retailers, since studies have shown that consumers buy more when return policies are more relaxed and less risk exists in purchasing an item they are unsure about. {WSJ via The Cut}

Kind of cute

Christmas is fast approaching, and if youâ€ve still got some last-minute shopping to do, you can find gift guides galore online and in magazines and newspapers to help you come up with some great present ideas. The following product, though, is one weâ€d suggest skipping as a holiday gift this year. And every other year after this one, for that matter.

Glamour reported via The New York Times last week on a new handmade doll called MamAmour that is pregnant and can give birth – vaginally.

Kind of creepy

Weâ€ve heard of baby dolls that cry, pee and drink from a bottle, but a mom doll that gives birth to a baby doll? Thatâ€s certainly a new one. While weâ€re all for young people understanding child birth and discussing it openly as a natural part of life, these discussions should probably be reserved for those that are not young enough to play with dolls.

MamAmour gives birth through an elastic vaginal opening and comes with a woven umbilical cord and a placenta. The baby dollâ€s mouth has a snap that corresponds to one on the mom dollâ€s nipple, so that the new-born can breast-feed.  Just when you thought it couldnâ€t get ant weirder, right?

The dolls can be custom-made with any skin, hair and eye color, which, along with being handmade, is actually a nice feature.

Hereâ€s what sticks the nail in the coffin for us, though: each MamAmour doll costs $130, with custom dolls starting at $145. Toys “R” Us sells baby dolls for $14.99, and those wonâ€t provoke awkward questions from a child thatâ€s too young to need to know all of the scientific details about birth. Apparently there is a significant shopping audience who disagrees, however: all of the pre-made $130 dolls are sold out through January 2011.

Perhaps the third time's a charm?

In terms of foot traffic the event was an overwhelming, mammoth success. People turned out in droves and created lines that wrapped around (and around, and around…) the block for some stores.

The financial success though? Well, mum’s been the word for a while. The financial results from the first year were underwhelming for certain retailers, and this year no one would comment. It’s not just our emails and calls that went unreturned, there’s been no mention in the Wall Street Journal, WWD or any of the publications we’d expect to report back with the hard numbers.

On one hand, plenty of successful ventures take a while to find their financial footing. Big buzz can mean big profits if it’s sustained. Look at any number of popular tech startups: Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, YouTube – all are going through or went through a period where user adoption outpaced revenue.

On the other hand, with the economy picking up and shoppers getting comfortable with spending again, do retailers really need to keep spending money on an event that generates traffic, but not as much in sales? Without hard numbers, it’s difficult to argue for or against the event to continue, but anecdotally, something has to change if the event is to become the Black Friday of fall. For all of the people out and about, we didn’t catch much actual shopping going on.

Part of it, we suspect, is that the event has become too much of… an event, and not one that’s about shopping. Crazy as it may be for some, people are pitching tents, buying diapers and lining up outside of stores in the wee hours of the morning on Black Friday to catch unbelievable deals and spend money. People on Fashion’s Night Out typically lined up to meet their favorite celebrity or watch the spectacle unfold, rather than shop.

If next year’s event is to be as beneficial for business as it is for buzz and branding, we have a few suggestions:

• Ditch the celebrities: While the crowds may not be as heavy, they’ll be there for the clothes and shopping, rather than the photo op.
• Break out the financial incentives: Yes, the event was created with the goal of getting people to buy at full price, but take a page from big box retailers who know the power of a doorbuster for encouraging shopping rather than gawking. Plus, we’ll bet that whatever you would have spent on celebrity security and crowd control will be just as popular if you give it to shoppers in the form of discounts or special gifts.
• Include an online component: Vogue UK tested the first Fashion’s Night In this year, and while reports on financial success have been similarly quiet to the night out, so many people turn to websites for decisions on where to go and what to buy offline that it’s plain silly to waste the attention. Especially for shoppers not in New York or a major city, it could also be a great way to boost online sales and give those who just don’t want to fight the crowds a connection to the event (and possibly, a reason to come to the store in person at a later date).

A new collection of shades from Prada will come complete with tiny letter, number and symbol squares that can be inserted into the sides of the frames where the brandâ€s logo normally sits. There is a heart, a star, a dollar sign and an exclamation point among other characters, and you can use them in any combination you want, if of course you have the $365 to spend on a pair of these sunglasses. {The Cut}

Sunglass Hut will have them on sale in black, tortoiseshell and white. The earpieces come apart to allow insertion of the personalization characters, but you can choose only two to put in each earpiece at a time. {stylemebad}

What do you think – are customizable shades cool or too teeny bopper? Do you like them but have no interest in paying $365 for something as fragile as sunglasses? We’re not sure what to make of it, but donâ€t think it will be a big enough hit and pump up Pradaâ€s sales. Let us know your thoughts!

Good news! You could win one of 10,000 pairs of jeans from the Gap by going on Facebook. The social network announced Wednesday that, with the help of a forthcoming Facebook app that will be similar to Foursquare, thousands of shoppers will receive free jeans for visiting Gap stores. The first 10,000 people to “check in” on a designated day will be the winners. {Fashionista}

Privacy - increasingly difficult to find on Facebook, but look at the positive side: you'll get free jeans or 40% off in exchange!

Shoppers will have to physically be inside a Gap store to “check in,” and those who are not one of the first 10,000 but “check in” anyway will receive a 40 percent discount on a pair of Gap jeans. To put this in perspective, the Gap has just over 3,000 retail locations worldwide, so about three pairs of jeans will be given away at each store. {The Cut}

It looks like the folks at the Gap are trying to wash the logo change fiasco taste out of the publicâ€s mouth, but apparently this is just one of many forthcoming giveaways and promotions Facebook will participate in. The Web site is gearing up to launch a “deals” program, which will be very similar to Foursquareâ€s “deals” program, whereby checking in at certain businesses earns you discounts for that business.

We absolutely love hearing about all the creative ways social media is being used for business purposes, and who doesnâ€t enjoy free stuff? It is a little creepy, though, to think about people “checking in” with Facebook – much like someone would check in with their spouse or boss at various points throughout the day. Then again, it does seem as if creepy has become Facebookâ€s middle name (anyone want to create a petition to change the name to Stalkbook?).

Location based social media has also already shown security risks, with one man reporting last May that his home was burglarized when he updated Twitter while on vacation, thus announcing the vacancy of his house. {azcentral} Facebook has an insecure login process that is not helping security matters, and a new Firefox plugin has made it easy to grab user logins over insecure wi-fi connections. {Valleywag}

In short, if you’re checking into your local Gap (or anywhere else) over a free wi-fi connection, there is a good chance that the busy-looking guy sitting on the nearby bench can see your password. While it might not seem like a big deal that a stranger can access your friends list, or that you’re a fan of cheese, if you use the same password for other accounts – like your email address or online banking - it can easily become a goldmine of information for stores in addition to online criminals and pranksters.

In case you’re still too enticed by the free stuff, weâ€ll be sure to keep you updated when a date is set for the Gap giveaway.

Donâ€t get too excited yet – Nordstrom Spokesperson Pamela Lopez said a day after the announcement was made that the store will be a thrift shop and will not carry the Nordstrom name, nor will it be Nordstrom-branded. It will be owned by the fashion retailer, but will seem nothing like a typical Nordstrom store to shoppers.

That's not it's name. Nordstrom's Manhattan store won't actually be a Nordstrom

It looks like a lot of the details have yet to be worked out, but the 11,100 square feet of the first and second floors at 350 West Broadway (between Grand and Broome) have been leased to Nordstrom for a shop that donates all of its proceeds to nonprofit organizations. {Racked NY} Nordstrom has never opened a concept store like this before – and as far as we can tell, no other major fashion retailer has ever owned a charity shop.

Lopez told Racked NY the project is something Nordstrom wanted to try based on a general spirit of philanthropy.

Exactly what type of clothing the store will carry and to what charities the profits will go has yet to be decided, but apparently the shop will not even accept Nordstrom credit cards. {The Cut}

A lot of businesses have found great success with cause marketing – or promotions that entice consumers by donating a portion of profits for a particular item to charity – so perhaps Nordstrom is hoping customers will enjoy guilt-free shopping in their thrift store so much that they will stop by regular Nordstrom stores as well. This may backfire, however, if the Nordstrom brand is nowhere to be found in or on the West Broadway store, as less fashion-news conscious consumers may not even know they are in a Nordstrom-owned space.

Because Nordstrom will not be using its name for the store, the retailer may simply be undertaking a purely charitable initiative.

Whatever the folks at Nordstrom intend to accomplish with this new location, they certainly have our attention – especially since we never thought Nordstromâ€s first Manhattan store would be anything other than a massive, long-awaited flagship. Weâ€ll keep you posted as more details arrive.

Simon Doonan at Barneys Co-Op in Brooklyn

This week, Barneys celebrated the opening of its first Brooklyn Co-op on Atlantic Avenue in the Cobble Hill section of town. The doors opened at 10 a.m. without a line of anxiously waiting shoppers, but a large crowd eventually made its way through the doors once they were open. {Racked NY}

Much has been made of what the reaction among Brooklyn residents will be to the high-end retailerâ€s presence in their neck of the woods. Brooklyn has become a hot spot for luxury fashion labels in the past few months, as brands like Swarovski Crystal and Anthropologie have been reportedly scouting out locations there, but it has been smaller, trendy shops like Jonathan Adler and Urban Outfitters that have actually been cropping up along Atlantic Avenue of late. {New York Post}

It is still too early to tell exactly what the lasting impact of the Barneys†presence among these admittedly cooler, more laid-back shops will be, but Barneys Creative Director Simon Doonan seems confident it will be a success.

“The Co-op has always had a certain edgy sensibility. The fit with Brooklyn is a natural one,” he said. {New York Post}

Doonan also told Racked NY that the store made no adjustments to its aesthetic for the Brooklyn Co-op, which carries all the designer brands like Alexander Wang, Richard Chai Love, Helmut Lang and Rag & Bone that you would expect to find at any other Barneys.

Apparently Doonan was quite an active presence at the opening as well, chatting with shoppers and even helping to carry baby strollers down the staircase to the storeâ€s lower level. {Racked NY} He also tried easing the minds of skeptical area residents who worry that the store will bring with it a pretentiousness, telling the New York Post, “”It’s not like we’re opening a Chanel.”

We previously reported that Cobble Hillâ€s economics are not actually that far off from the more notoriously wealthy Upper East Side and Upper West Side Manhattan neighborhoods, and a Barneys should not be impossible to sustain in the area, though the state of the economy will likely create challenges even with wealthy shoppers living close by. Today, we feel there is one more barrier to success for Barneys: Cobble Hill may have the wealth for a Barneys, but does it have the right vibe? Just because a certain demographic has money does not mean they want to spend it on luxury fashion, and we wonder if people in Brooklyn even want to shop at Barneys.

Success at the Barneys Brooklyn Co-op will likely prove to be somewhat of a challenge. Doonan and Co. should be up for it, but only time will tell how they fare. We actually applaud Barneys for taking a risk in a time when the economy has many retailers in a panic – because taking chances on new ventures will probably be necessary to remain sustainable into the future for fashion retailers. Someone has to lead the way, and Barneys should be commended for stepping up.

Additional photos at Racked NY

How to keep yourself dry? With chic umbrellas and rain boots of course! Check out the options we found scattered about the Internet below:

This red and white Automatic Open/Close Floral Dot Umbrella from Target will match any outfit. Get yours for $24.99 at Target.com. {Target}

The Marimekko Unikko Compact Umbrella is a bit pricey for an umbrella at $40.00, but it is just so chic! It also comes with a button that releases and collapses it, which is handy when you have other things to carry. It comes in red and black as well, and you can score one at Umbrellas.net. {Umbrellas.net}

Keep one of these Totes Fashion Mini umbrellas in your purse at all times, and youâ€re set for any surprise rain storm! They come in any style you fancy, with dots, solids, florals, plaids and animal prints available for $22 at Macys.com. {Macy’s}

Though not quite as practical as the others for keeping dry, these ankle rain boots from Vivienne Westwood are absolutely adorable. They are a bit pricier than the others as well – $134 at Zappos.com – but if youâ€re down for a splurge, these are a great choice. {Zappos}

Animal prints are huge this season, and these Dirty Laundry Raindrop Rain Boots come in leopard and zebra. Get a pair from Macys.com for $49. {Macy’s}

Donâ€t even think about picking out solid black rain boots. These Gabriella Rocha RB Paisley ones from Zappos.com are way too fun to walk around in solids! Nice price too – $55.95. {Zappos}

Last yearâ€s FNO produced mixed financial results, with some retailers reporting the night was far more successful in terms of energy than from a business perspective. This yearâ€s event was, however, more promising, with 1,000 retailers participating to last years 800 and added pre-event buzz.

So how did retail sales fare this year?

Unfortunately, not much information exists on the topic. Apparently, many retailers did not measure the exact business results, with some admitting they were more concerned with the social aspect. {Vancouver Sun} We’ve reached out to retailers large and small, but are still awaiting responses on questions related to sales for the evening.

Here is what we do know:

-New York City foot traffic increased 50 percent after last yearâ€s event, according to research firm ShopperTrak, and this yearâ€s FNO is estimated by many to have attracted an even larger crowd.

-Seventy-five percent of FNO attendees bought something, according to a survey of 1,300 consumers by NYC & Co. {Vancouver Sun}

-The official site for the event claims only that FNO was a “huge success.”

-Anna Wintour said in a CBS News interview following the event, “We were thrilled. It was already a huge success last year. Last year we were really running a campaign with an unknown candidate. And this year we had the incumbent on our side, so at least we were talking about an event that people knew what it was. They were excited about it and they turned out in droves…If you walked through the streets, as I did, of New York on Friday, everbody was dressed up, they were having fun, but most importantly they were shopping.” {ShoppingBlog}

It is all very vague, and we suppose it may be a bit soon to say whether FNO had a lasting impact on retail sales. We just cannot understand, however, why so little information exists on the economic success of an event whose purpose was to be an economic stimulus. A search for Fashions Night Out of Bloomberg News, for example, yields no results pertaining to the financial outcome of the event.

Perhaps more information will become available in the coming weeks, and if it does we will be sure to update you.