Oh Mothership, you let me down.

Classic Mothership Holiday Packaging

Project Good Life followers know how much we adore the Mothership.  We rarely criticize the Mothership in these pages. We wait with eager anticipation for the mailing of its catalogues, including the famed Christmas Book, and we defend the Mothership from its attackers (be them hipsters or housewives who think the store is overpriced).  We looked the other way when the Mothership had to go corporate and when it started carrying lines that appear to think that terry-cloth is an appropriate fabric for clothing. This is because at Project Good Life we are loyal and we appreciate that there are only a few "real" department stores in this day in age and the Mothership is one of them.

Each year, at the holidays, PGL, naturally, relies on the Mothership to provide her with tasteful and elegant wrapped gifts for her loved ones.  There is nothing like a beautiful Christmas tree with packages from the Mothership underneath.  The Mothership packaging is classic: a box either in gold or silver, tied with a satin ribbon, and some holiday embellishment, such as a miniature Jay Strongwater frame or metal object that can be used as a key chain or Chirstmas ornament.  This is how it has been for years.

Fabric Pom Pom Embellishment 

So, it is with sadness and regret that PGL has to report that the Mothership recently let her down.  You can imagine the disappointment that PGL felt when her packages arrived this year.  The Mothership is still using its classic box and satin ribbon (thankfully), but, for some reason, this year's embellishment of choice appears to be fabric pom poms.  Yes, people, fabric pom poms.  Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against fabric embellishments -- but, when one has a package gift wrapped by the Mothership, one is not expecting an embellishment reminiscent of something that one would get at Anthropologie or a vintage craft fair. No, we expect classic elegance. And, fabric pom poms do not meet that standard.  PGL believes in redemption and is also fiercely loyal, so we are not giving up on the Mothership just yet (although we are flipping through our Gumps catalogue a little more frequently these days). For years, PGL and her followers have relied on the Mothership to be one of the lone dissident voices in a world being taken over by hipsters and luxury haters: a store that is still brave bough to sell fur, leather, high heels, and clothes for "ladies," and so we ask that the Mothership will hear our plea and that it will think twice before it ever again embellishes its packages with ornamentation only appropriate for a girl scout party or a stitch and bitch.  In the meantime, PGL hopes that her loved ones will not judge a book by its cover (or, in this case, a gift by its packaging) and trusts that this Christmas that they will still enjoy their gifts with pom pom packaging and all.