For the Love of Fashion
• June 2, 2011

Sitting smiling, talking on the phone at a desk in the back of Saks Jandel amid racks of stunning Armani creations, Harriet Kassman seems to have shaken off much of the heartbreak the last few months have thrown her way. Flipping through papers
with hot-pink nails that match her lipstick, the Washington legend, renowned for dressing area celebrities and politicians for the last 35 years, looks comfortable amid the luxury labels. Though perhaps not quite as comfortable as she would have looked a year ago, among her own hand-picked designer goodies.

“I’ve come full circle, I’m right where I’ve started from,” says Kassman, looking around Saks Jandel.
Kassman worked at the high-end clothing store for two years when it opened in 1975, but then set out on her own adventure. In 1977 the spunky grandmother, standing just a shade over five feet tall, opened her namesake luxury store: Harriet Kassman.

For 35 years she did business that seemed more like pleasure: perhaps a cool aunt helping to dress friends and family in garments that happened to be stunning couture. But in September of this year, the crumpling economy got the better of Kassman’s revenue stream, and she had to shut the doors. “I didn’t just open a store, I put my whole heart and soul in it,” says Kassman, stopping smiling for a moment, “and when you lose it it’s like losing part of yourself.” Though understandably deeply affected
by the loss of her beloved store, Kassman refuses to wallow. She allows herself only a few moments sadness to ponder the year’s events, a solemn reflection not at all bogged down by self pity. “I’ve learned over the past couple months that you’ve got to go on, that you cant just live in the past.”

And boy has she lived by those words. Instead of moping about past misfortunes, Kassman
has thrown herself into a new venture: consultant for her onetime rival Saks Jandel. The owner of Saks Jandel, Peter Marx, is the same age as Kassman’s middle son Nicholas,
who worked with his mom at the boutique since graduating college. “He’s such a nice human being,” Kassman says fondly of Marx. When he heard that Kassman’s store would be closing, he did something many people would never have even considered. “He walked up to my store and said ‘what can I do to help?’” says Kassman, “And you never hear that from people.” Marx’s generosity
has given the 88-year-old Kassman a new lease on her lifetime in fashion, something
she is deeply invested in.

Kassman’s career in fashion began in her home town of Daytona Beach, FL. Then twenty years old, she began a lifetime among famous designers in her father’s dress shop, and in the intervening decades her desire to work in fashion hasn’t wavered one bit. “Some people just work at their job, and other people have a passion,” says Kassman, looking around at designers whose names have become something like family: “I have a passion. Where it came from, I don’t know, it doesn’t matter. But I like it.” Her love of beautiful clothes has lasted for nearly seventy years, and not even the economic collapse forcing Kassman to shutter the doors on her beloved store has dimmed that passion.

So now Kassman lends her expertise to another renowned boutique in D.C., and so far is loving it.

“I’m so pleased when somebody walks out in something that’s beautiful, and they love it and they get compliments on it,” says the effervescent grandmother of seven, looking around at the Vera Wang bridal boutique in Saks Jandel. Adorned with two long rows of frothy tulle confections and stunning lace numbers in white, ivory and cream, this is one of the most high-end rooms in the store.
But, insists Kassman, there is something at Saks Jandel to fit every price range. “I mean, you can spend $5,000 if you like, but you can also spend $200,” she insists, pointing out lovely autumn cashmere pieces that are a priced quite reasonably. Citing quality as one of the premier factors in deciding which brands to buy, Saks Jandel focuses on stocking beautiful clothes of exceptional quality, regardless of the number on the price tag.

Kassman’s boutique featured many of the same designers as Saks Jandel, and many of the clients she worked with have now come to do business at Peter Marx’s store, which Kassman couldn’t be more pleased about. Pulling a stunning red Valentino cocktail dress off the rack, Kassman looks right at home. It would be unfathomable for her to consider retiring: she simply has too much fun in fashion.

“When the clock runs down, you’re finished,” says Kassman, smiling around, “But I’m not finished.”

I Want to Hold Your Hand
•

The year was 1963, and the place was Washington, D.C. It was the year Martin Luther King Jr. inspired the country with his “I have a dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. A few months later, the unthinkable happened when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas and the nation recoiled in horror and grief. For three days, people sat in front of their television sets, watching the memorial services for the fallen president unfold in front of the White House, the Capitol, through the avenues of the city and finally to the cemetery at Arlington. It’s hard to believe that all of this happened almost 50 years ago.

To illustrate just how long ago this was, take a look at prices. The average American home sold for less than $20,000 and a gallon of gas cost 30 cents. In the pop music world, Elvis was the undisputed King, and teenage girls swooned by the thousands when he came on stage. But popular music fans in this country were barely aware of a new musical group called The Beatles, who were taking Great Britain and Europe by storm.

A Washington teenager named Marsha Albert heard about this group and couldn’t figure out why we weren’t listening to their music here in America. She wrote a letter to DJ Carroll James of WWDC radio and asked him to play their records. When he asked around, the DJ found out that while Capitol Records had the rights to release their music here, the president of the company didn’t think “foreign bands” did very well on this side of the pond. Even worse, when Capitol asked for the scoop on The Beatles, a music critic told him that they were “a bunch of long-haired kids” and to forget about them. And so Capitol Records put the group on the back burner. That is, until the DJ and the teenager took matters into their own hands.

Carroll James found a friend who knew a British stewardess who agreed to bring a Beatles record back to the U.S. with her. And so, at 5:15 p.m. on December 17, 1963, the 15-year-old Marsha Albert announced on WWDC, “Ladies and gentlemen, appearing for the first time in America, the Beatles singing “I Want To Hold Your Hand.” The radio audience response was overwhelming and James said his switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree. He played the recording all week and the listeners loved it.
Capitol heard about the phenomenon and decided to bring the record out on Dec. 26. It went to the top of the charts. In fact, it became the fastest selling single in recording history and eventually went on to occupy all five of the Top Five positions on the Billboard charts, something which hasn’t been duplicated or surpassed since.

In February, the Beatles arrived in New York to be on the Ed Sullivan Show, where an unprecedented viewing audience of 73 million people tuned in to see the group. But their first live concert was here in the District at the Washington Coliseum. They couldn’t fly into National Airport because of a snowstorm, so they had to take the train to the then-dilapidated Union Station, where a screaming group of 2000 teenagers waited in the snow behind police barricades to welcome them. They drew a full house at the Coliseum, where tickets, by the way, started at $3.50 apiece.

The Beatles went on to dominate the popular music scene around the world for an amazing two decades, and Washington gets the credit for giving them their first introduction to what turned out to be a huge American audience, thanks to a determined teenager and an enterprising DJ.

The Battle of the City Budget
•

They argued about it some and they fussed about it some, but in the end the much anticipated city council debate over Mayor Vincent Gray’s controversial proposal to raise the DC income tax on earners over $200,000 didn’t really have much of a chance.

Ward 2 City Councilman Jack Evans had said as much a couple of weeks ago, when he described the proposal as “dead” and “not going to happen,” along with several other parts of the mayor’s budget proposal that attempted to bridge an estimated $300 million budget gap for the Fiscal Budget 2011-2012.

While some new tax proposals were part of the 2011-2012 budgets recently, given a preliminary approval by the city council, the income tax raise 0.4 percentage increase (which was expected to raise an additional $18.7 million) did not survive the vote.

With Council Chairman Kwame Brown opposed to the measure along with most of the rest of the council, the council approved the budget minus the income tax raise. Still, several council members—at large councilmen Phil Mendelson and Michael Brown among them—noted that it seemed unfair that a resident making $40,000 was taxed at the same rate as someone making over $200,000. Evans, who voted against the increase, agreed that the council should address the imbalance of the individual rates at some future date.

The council also dropped the mayor’s proposal to initiate a tax on theater tickets, which was heavily lobbied against by local performance arts groups, including the Helen Hayes Awards.

While some of the debate became a little intense, there seemed to be less of a sense of urgency on the budget and its shortfall, with much talk of expected additional revenues that were not specifically identified.

Additional taxes—instead of the income tax increase—were expected to restore funds for homeless shelters, affordable houses and other social services, which had been scheduled for big hits under Mayor Gray’s budget proposals. The vote hearing was heavily attended by housing and homeless advocated and activists from all over the city.

Chairman Brown appeared to be a key figure in the debates. Not only did he vote against the income tax hike and the theater tax hike, but proposed other tax measures to offset the cuts, including a complicated, obscure but very real plan to tax non-D.C. municipal bond. Those are bonds for other jurisdictions held as income by DC residents, including seniors living on fixed incomes. The proposals appeared confusing to many in attendance, and its passage remains in doubt.

A proposal to tax drivers using parking garages appears to remain in the budget, on which the council will hold a final vote

Noticeable in the running commentary on individual issues during the morning discussion of the debate was the profuse praise for Chairman Brown, who has been seen by many observers in the city as being in a weakened leadership position. Agree or disagree, almost every council member praised Brown for his work and effort on the budget and working with the council as a whole and individual members.

Some of the social programs for which funds were found were in Ward 2, which Evans represents. “I worked closely with the Washington Interfaith Network, and fought hard for preservation of the Housing Protection Trust Fund, the Community Benefits Fund and the Neighborhood Investment Fund, “ Evans said. “I am grateful to my Council colleagues for recognizing their importance to my Ward and the city.”

The budget at $11 billion plus, is the largest in the city’s history.

Michael Brown, Councilman at large, said, “I understand the need to balance the budget. But I still feel that when there is considerable pain felt throughout the city because of the economy and the deficit, then it should be shared equally. And the tax rates are not shared equally. It just doesn’t seem right that someone, say, who makes $400,000, should only pay the same rate as someone making $40,000.”

Several council members questioned the bond taxes. Ward One Councilman Jim Graham, who advocated strongly for not cutting programs for “those who have the least,” including the homeless, said that such legislation was passed in other years but never implemented, “So I don’t see any point in doing it again.”

Phil Mendelson also questioned the feasibility of implementing such a tax. “Where’s the infrastructure to do that?” he said. “However, I’m glad we chose to defend and support critical services for the homeless and those in need.” Evans also questioned the tax on the interest on municipal bonds.

Jack Evans Report
• May 31, 2011

This has been a very busy time at the Council. On Tuesday, May 24, the Council passed the Fiscal Year 2012 budget for the city. Mayor Gray submitted his FY 2012 budget to the Council on April 1. During the six weeks that followed, the Council held hearings on the budget and each committee considered and marked-up its portion. Chairman Brown then met with each Councilmember and put together a revised budget, which was passed on a first vote on Tuesday. A final vote will take place on June 14.

The budget, at over $11 billion, is the largest in the District’s history. The Council wisely repealed Mayor Gray’s attempt to raise the personal income tax, keeping the rate at 8.5%. It also rejected the proposal to tax live theatre. A number of safety net cuts made by the Mayor reducing funding for homeless and housing services were added back by the Council. Finally, the Council increased funding to the Metropolitan Police Department to ensure we have at least 3,900 sworn officers on the force.

The one item I disagreed with was the Council’s decision to tax the interest on municipal bonds. In the original Chairman’s budget, the tax on the interest would not go into effect if we have a revenue increase in June. Seven of my colleagues repealed this provision and, as of now, previously untaxed municipal bonds will be taxed at 8.5%.

Finally, 50% of our anticipated increase in revenue will be placed in our reserve fund to build this back up again. Although I believe the City spends too much money, the budget overall addresses my concerns for this year.

The other major item that was moved forward on this week was the District’s redistricting plan. I, along with Councilmembers Brown and Mendelson, have worked very hard to put together a plan that redraws Ward boundaries to conform with the new Census data. The plan was released on Tuesday and passed by the Subcommittee on Thursday. It comes to the full Council for a vote on June 7. More information on this process and the outcome will be forthcoming.

Business Ins & Outs
•

Reiss Limited at 1254 Wisconsin Avenue, which originally replaced Armani Exchange in 2007, has closed. Though the UK-based clothing line was worn by Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, when she met the Obamas at Buckingham Palace, Georgetowners will no longer be strutting the streets in this apparel unless they order it online.

Another one bites the dust at the Georgetown Park mall: The National Pinball Museum, which opened in December 2010, will be closed in two months. The museum received a letter May 18 from the mall owner Vornado Realty telling the non-profit that its lease would expire in 60 days. The move, though a surprise to the museum, was within the legal boundaries of its lease. Admission was originally set at $20, but it’s now down to $3. Get your fill of these national treasures before it closes!

Serendipity 3 opened over Memorial Day weekend, in the former spot of Nathans at M and Wisconsin. The original New York restaurant, opened in 1954, has famous dishes such as foot-long hotdogs and decandent sundaes, and the D.C. store will feature D.C.-exclusive dishes.

Though Dean and Deluca at Potomac and M St. has been around for 17 years, there’s recently been a new element mixing things up: Janie Mathieson. She’s been in the restaurant business for a while; before she came to work at Dean and Deluca she worked for a year as the manager at husband, Jonathan Krinn’s three-star restaurant, Inox. Before that, she was at 2941, where her husband was also the head chef. She was drawn to Georgetown and Dean and Deluca because she wanted to find something different and new to work on.

“I first found out about Dean and Deluca when I was living in New York,” she said. “It was the place to be and shop. Now, adding the catering side, we take that great product and prepare it and bring it to people. It’s a true match.”

Mathieson brings with her a history of hospitality that she has grown into a blooming catering business for Dean and Deluca. “It’s a new business we’re developing. We do a lot of outreach to businesses and knocking on people’s doors.” She attends a lot of networking events, from BID and GBA meetings, to society affairs. With two children, ages four and seven, she has a busy life. And as she says, no day is ever the same as catering director. “It gives me a good balance. I get to go home and be a mom and then come here and put on great events for people. This is the opportunity to build a business.”

More trouble for Georgetown Park?
• May 23, 2011

The financial troubles of the Shops at Georgetown Park just seem to be getting worse.

The Washington Business Journal reports that the scheduled June 3 auction date for the mall, the second attempt to sell it in a month, was again postponed by Capmark Finance LLC, the lender in charge of unloading the luckless property on a buyer after it foreclosed the property in April. Capmark cited a need to market the property more aggressively before it went to auction. Commercial real estate agency Jones Lang LaSalle will spearhead the effort to entice more potential buyers.

The mall’s owner, developer Herb Miller, had worked for years to make it profitable by establishing a department store anchor tenant to lure smaller tenants into setting up shop there. However, several national retailers, most recently Bloomingdale’s, have been spooked by the litigation Miller has been enduring for almost a decade with rival developer Anthony Lanier. At the time of foreclosure, over half of the mall’s tenant space remained unclaimed.

Lanier, credited with revitalizing Cady’s Alley a block west of the mall, is known for creating European-style projects that encourage pedestrian traffic. If he is able to get his hands on the Georgetown Park property, he is expected to apply a similar vision to the struggling mall.

Ward 2 Sees $103 Million in Fiscal Spending
•

 

-Critics continuously slam Mayor Adrian Fenty for favoring prosperous neighborhoods when allocating fiscal spending, yet recent Washington Post data shows Fenty has poured a substantial amount of money into many of the poorer communities over the past 3 years.

According to the Post, “Records show, for example, that predominantly black Ward 5 received more school construction funds — $152 million — than any other ward in fiscal 2008 and 2009…Wards 8 and 2 followed with $117 million and $103 million, respectively, crushing the idea that when it comes to school construction, wards were favored by class and race.”

Georgetown, which is located in Ward 2, has seen Fenty allocate $1 million a year on the Circulator bus service, $23 million to rebuild the burned-down library and $30 million to help fix Hardy Middle School.

Voting in Virginia
•

 

-After the BP oil spill disaster, some citizens are demanding change and action from the government. Today, Virginia residents have the chance to use their voices and express their opinions by voting in the 2010 midterm elections. Voters can participate in the congressional primaries and in elections for a number of local and statewide offices. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. So hurry home from work and vote! A polling address can be located all over the state.

The Georgetowner’s David Roffman Honored for His Work
•

 

-David Roffman, a local journalist, philanthropist and former co-owner of The Georgetowner will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Georgetown Business Association on Wednesday, June 16. The award will be presented at a celebratory luncheon at the City Tavern Club, located at 3206 M St. from 11:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

The event will be hosted by former presidents of the GBA including Tom Bryan, Judy Horman, Billy Martin, Paul Cohn, Linda Greenan and Brad Altman. Tickets are $50 for members and $65 for non-members.

That’s A Wrap: DC’s Film Festivals
•

On June 22 there will be a little taste of Kazakhstan in Washington. Perhaps a little Korea or India better suits your taste? If you are looking for something a little rushed, there is a 48 Hour challenge, or if you just have a few minutes, some DC Shorts.

For those in the know, these don’t refer to restaurants or urban athletics but an underappreciated trend in the cultural life of our city. While nobody was watching, except for those who attended them, Washington has become something of a film festival mecca.

Each year, according to Jon Gann, organizer of the seven-year-old DC Shorts — in which all entries have to be under 10 minutes — there are approximately 75 film festivals in the D.C. area. Nobody seems to quite know many exactly because there are new ones all the time. “I get calls every week from someone saying, “I want to start a film festival. How do I do it?” He credits the cheap accessibility of technology, film schools pumping out people on a mission to make their great opus, and a thirst for something other than the latest canned Hollywood profit enterprise.

And it is not just film festivals. There are regular screenings and documentary award gatherings like the CINE Awards, Emmys, and Kennedy Center Honors awards. Perhaps the most prestigious U.S. documentary festival, Silverdocs, takes place in Silver Spring each summer, and the world’s largest documentary conference, RealScreen, takes over a downtown hotel each spring.

And all this in a town that traditionally “frowns on people who wear black,” jokes Lauren Cardillo, an independent film maker and one of the folks behind the CINE Awards. Award-winning documentary makers Sean and Andrea Nix Fine (Sundance-winning “War Dance”) see it as the difference between watching a movie at home and going to the film screening — where the audience has a richer experience and the ability to interact with the moviemakers themselves. “For us it is also an amazing experience to watch people react to our work.”

Susan Barocas, who heads the DCJCC’s 16-year-old Jewish Film Festival, which had 60 films last year, also says it provides an alternative route to get movies seen as the distribution network has consolidated, squeezing out the small filmmaker.

Credit is due to National Geographic and Discovery, which about two decades ago laid the foundation to make D.C. a hive for independent filmmakers. Yet, to quote comedian Rodney Dangerfield, we still get no respect when it comes to filmmaking, even though D.C. is closing in rapidly on L.A. and New York in festival stature.

Filmmaker Sean Fine says that when he is asked at festivals elsewhere where he is from, people seem reluctant to believe that D.C. could be a hub for filmmakers. But if L.A. has its Hollywood, and New York its Tribeca, DC has its Potomac, and these days lots of great little movies run through it.

The next time you see an eclectic mob strolling out of an embassy wearing a pensive smile, nod knowingly. Or wait for the next showing — another film is likely already being cued up.

Don’t miss these festivals coming up in Washington:

DC Shorts festival (September 9-16) — www.dcshorts.com
Truly independent short films, created by new and established filmmakers with a special focus on films by Washington D.C.-based directors and writers.

ReelAffirmations (October 14-23) — www.reelaffirmations.org
Films focusing on the GLBTQ experience.

Arabian Sights Film Festival (October 9-18) — www.filmfestdc.org/arabiansights
Offering the newest and most provocative films from the Arab world (an offshoot of the D.C. International Film Festival).

Washington Jewish Film Festival (December 2-12) — www.wjff.org
New and award-winning films from around the world, telling unexpected stories on the Jewish experience and debunking stereotypes.

Capital Irish Film Festival (December 2-12) — www.irishfilmdc.org
Featuring the work of contemporary Irish directors. Produced by Solas Nua.

Amos Gelb is the director for the George Washington University’s Semester in Washington Journalism program. Contact him at gelb@gwu.edu.
[gallery ids="99141,102759,102770,102767,102764" nav="thumbs"]