what's better than shoes? more shoes!

i fell in love with Matt Bernson shoes a few years ago, when i found the absolute most perfect gladiator sandal EVER  the  love grew deeper as a few more pairs found their way into my heart and closet...  cut to today.  the "oldies" but goodies (the gladiator, and the superfantastic "love" sandals) are still available - and there are some really adorable new additions...  this little studded "barracuda" flat is super cute; i'm totally diggin on the espadrille thing, as you all know - and these are pretty much perfect.  last but certainly not least... it is inevitable that fall must come, and thus one must prepare... and what better way to do that than these clogs?  LOVE LOVE LOVE them. as a little icing on this cupcake (via People Style Watch)- enter the code "mbpsw10" at checkout on the website, and you'll get 20% off.  how's that for a happy tuesday?

financial aide

i know that the heterosexual males of our species do not exactly understand the pure, adrenaline driven joy that we ladies experience upon finding a MAJOR discount on a fantastic designer item.  there is not much that can compare to the feeling, quite frankly. 

in the effort to bring you such joy, and in an effort to ease the financial burdens upon us all at this crazy moment in time - i must remind you that Nordstrom Rack is FINALLY opening tomorrow in Union Square!!!  (Broadway and 14th St to be exact.) NY has always been a shoppers' delight - but this is like welcoming a long, lost friend to the party!

will i be there tomorrow?  let's crunch some numbers, shall we?  merchandise at up to 60% off, plus 25,000 pairs of shoes equals shopping delight.

cheap thrill - literally - cheap is in the name

a few years ago i made the startling discovery of a brand called Cheap Monday. no false advertising either.  they had the penultimate INK black skinny jean that i had been searching for - for a mere 60 bucks. those crazy Swedes really know how to knock it out of the park when they want to.  first ABBA, then IKEA, now this???  i mean COME ON.

cut to today.  not only are there a few patched up pair of jeans that i rather adore, but there is a new Spring '10 line of sunnies just out - the Clairvoyant Collection -that are ridiculously cute.  and cost THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS.  i put that in all caps, because, well if i were with you - i would be saying that rather loudly.  once i mastered how to not lose my sunnies, i became a bit of a collector.  and these just may weasel their way into the collection.  finding a good pair at a good price is a rare thing indeed.   they are a bit tricky to find, it seems... there is a store in Brooklyn called Alter that carries them, but if you are not there, it's well worth a little web-lookie-loo to score a happy score like this.

rodarte reminder!

sorry - these images are a bit wonky... they are a bit of the old iphone snap, cut and paste magic.

alors, the Rodarte collection for Target is comin', and it's comin' soon. i am saving up my pennies because what little they have allowed us glimpses of is more than a bit
drool-worthy. this jacket and belt are my faves thus far - and will be on my "dear santa" list without a doubt. (i will be playing the role of both child and santa in this scene). at $12.99 and $39.99 - how can santa say no??!?!!?

the entire collection tops out at $79.99 - which is pretty flingin' flangin' fantastic if you ask me. and since you are reading here, you have asked me.

there are some gorgeous mesh and lace lingerie looking dresses that all seem to run $39.99 - fabulous. and really sweet lace cardi's that run $29.99.

december 20th the collection will hit the shops and the interwebs. i will be awake early that day, coffee in hand and clickin' key ready!!!

(for more pics - check out December issues of Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle and People StyleWatch)

isn't fall in a "designer hits high street" mood...

yeppers. god, what tv show is that from? that will now drive me beserk the rest of the day

anyhoo it's true - love is in the AIR between designers and the high street stores (remember your Queen's english lesson? chain stores - not so expensivo...) Anna Sui and Target; Jimmy Choo and H&M; and as of Thursday - Jil Sander has a line at Uniqlo called +J. i'm pretty sure i have not gone off on a rant about Uniqlo yet... but it's pretty darn fantastic. i never wanted to go in - i don't know why - but my friend Mel dragged me in - and wow. kinda rocked my world a little. it's kind of like Muji, but fashion. she called it a Japanese Gap - which is pretty right on the money. it's well made basics, a few trends peppered in here and there - but mostly just basic stuff - well made and well priced. (regarding winter's approach - they have these thermal t-shirts - i suggest you buy one for every day of the week. they saved my thin blooded life last year. amazing things) now Jil Sander comes along and brings a whole new level of sophistication to the joint. it's not a huge collection - but it's very Jil Sander, and very Uniqlo - extremely simple but impeccable construction. perfect partnership if you ask me. some cute skirts and button down shirts, but thing that caught my eye the most were the coats. they are kind of gorgeous - and they are priced amazingly - all under $150. ok ok and maybe a nice cashmere cardi...i mean i do get chilly... so f you winter - we look fab!!!

pricing of the collection - pretty rockin, n'est-ce pas? go Uniqlo! go +J! go shop for it!

• Outerwear: $39.50-$149.50 • Shirts: $39.50 • Pants: $49.50-$59.50
• Skirts/Dresses: $39.50-$49.50 • Cut and sewn: $19.50-$29.50 • Sweaters: $29.50-$49.50
• Cashmere: $79.50-$129.50 • Accessories: $29.50

H&M must be mixing in with today's oxygen

only an hour or so ago i was pontificating on the glory on online shopping with H&M. and happened to mention the Jimmy Choo collection coming November 14th... well imagine my surprise when upon the interwebs i did find a couple of pics from said line. seems mr. choo is expanding into clothing for this line, including this pretty adorable sparkly cardi. ($129) "hello Christmas parties!" but far be it from the magical choo to leave out accessories. this little bag ($99) is kind of ridiculously adorable and i want it. i can't wait to see what else is in store (haha) for us come November. and am i one of those people who will go on the first day? you bet your sweet buns i am!!!

the days of yore

back in the olden days, when i used to travel a lot for work, (and i do mean a LOT) i would have stops that i HAD to make in each city. partially it was for comfort - like a kid has a blankie, i would have my "stops". for some odd reason i had to go to Walgreens everywhere. it was comforting - they are the same in every city. (plus i really am utterly obsessed with drugstore shopping. i love it in a very odd way that i don't understand) and if the city had a mall - i would go. malls are the same everywhere.

that said, each city also had its own unique "stops" that made me happy. and long ago, kids, in the days before the interwebs was as shopper friendly as it is now, there were stores that weren't accessible to everyone. one such store was DSW. (they're in NY now, so the thrill is different. not gone - it's designer shoes at discount for god's sake. the thrill is inherent in the name) every time i went to work in Chicago, i had to go to DSW. it was made even easier for me by the fact that it was across the street from the theatre i worked at. no brainer.

now that the interwebs has brought the world to our laps, or desks, we can go anywhere any time. it is a little weird and a lotta wonderful.

back to DSW. i once got a pair of Prada shoes there for $80. tell me - just try and tell me how this store is not AWESOME. and right now - yes right this moment - they are giving us all an extra 30% off clearance items. do the math - it's almost free. just enter the code THIRTY at checkout - and there you go. thank you interwebs, you do nice things for us.

cheap fun on a sunday afternoon

i'm not sure if it's a good thing that i am so easily amused... i'm going to go with "yes".

this past weekend, my love and i decided to take advantage of the end of summer weekend feel that was in the air. took a nice long leisurely walk and browsed. people watched. popped into my favorite little local boutique BOC. (yep i have posted about it...) saw some fun fun fun jewelry there - but that will be another post. THIS is about my fingernails.

crossed the street from BOC and wandered into Ricky's. no real agenda - just felt like maybe picking up a cheap thrill to entertain myself for the afternoon. and oh baby did i ever. quick back story - (j., mel and karen will all testify under oath this is true) i am incapable of keeping on nail polish - only on my fingers. toes, we're good to go for as long as it lasts. finger nails? i give it 24 hours at best. i put it on (see post about Brucci polish - i love it - i do, i love it) and i admire how pretty it looks and how much more "finished" my hands look. then, invariably, a small chink appears. and i begin to pick. next thing i know, there are little peels of polish all around my general area. after i did my nails to look all pretty for the show i went to see on Thurs., i went to the Yankees game Fri. (walk off 3 run HR. AWESOME) and under the bright lights, i observed not only A-Rod's fine physique, but also a chip in my polish. and so i spent most of the game picking it all off. sorry to the guys who clean the stadium. that weird pile of sparkly brownish red stuff? yeah that's me.

my god i digress... SO - inside Ricky's i see a box of 100 fake nails. "that might keep me from picking at myself" i thought. $5.99 DONE. then i see this bottle of Essie mattifying top coat. i have been a bit curious about this whole matte nails trend. and i think "k - Sunday afternoon test drive". DONE. (i did also pick up a cheap-o brand of over-the-knee socks with skulls at the top. cute and silly and fun)

flash forward - 4 or 5 episodes of How I Met Your Mother later - and intensive decision making on the test color - (and because i'm a perfectionist, a rather exhaustive process of filing fake nails to look like my own) BOOM. color on - a nice burgundy. matte stuff? put it on like a top coat... i test one nail - sweep it on... it just looks like top coat, but... wait for it.... MATTE perfection. i fall in love with nail one and keep going... now, i know it's less than 24 hours, so i can't claim glory just yet. but i am LOVING what this looks like. (i still love my super shiny toes. that won't change) so if you're in the market for a cheap entertaining weekend - matte nails baby.

well, i never! (ok, ok i do all the time)

once more, the sales come a-callin! and who are we to say no? the way i look at it, it's always worth looking through a sale, because there very well be something that is on your list, that you had on a back burner. and if it's marked down, then why not front burner that thing, purchase it cheaper, and cross it off the list! that's what i call EFFICIENT.

i have in the past blogged about Chickdowntown - it's a good little boutique site that offers a nice range of designers at an equally nice range of prices. i have e-purchased a number of things from them - and they ship quickly, and they wrap every purchase with a pretty, shiny black ribbon, which just makes you feel nice when you open it. (you can make fun of me. i don't mind.)
this dress is just one of a whole LOAD of lovelies on there... looking at this i just imagine wearing it and feeling like i'm in Palm Springs hosting a party out back by the grotto, feeling summery and lovely and sipping a nice cool beverage...

ahem, anyhoo - they also have this great habit of having sales. which, combined with the whole ribbon thing, is just kind of like a little slice of heaven. right now, there is a site-wide discount - 30% off everything. for those of you who are not math whizzes, that's almost a third off. not too shabby, right? all you have to do is enter the code SEASON30 at checkout. so go on, have a look...

some do-good spending...

it's back to school time. even if you're not in school, there's still that same feeling. try and tell me you don't feel it when you open the September issue of the mags... right?

'member that time when i posted about do-good charity tote bags? well, i'm gonna step it up a notch this time. Bloomingdale's is doing a charity shopping blitz. they are pledging to donate $75,000 to AMFAR. so what could possibly be bad about shopping the site in order to help them reach the goal???? and they are offering up all sorts of sales and price cuts. that makes it both a cheap thrill AND a do-good shopping spree. someone you know and love must be deserving a present, right? so why not buy it here. hey, maybe the someone is you. no rules against that.

i have lectured you enough. i think you know what to do.

NAILed

haha. cracking myself up.

in the vein of cheap thrills... i was at the drug store the other day and bought my replacement "favorite of all time toenail polish" and as i painted the toes this morning i thought to myself, what a wonderful thing that this little bottle of stuff, that cost $2.99 - yes, that's right TWO NINETY NINE can make me feel so pretty and so happy. then i decided to paint my fingernails, as i am i going to see my friend's play in the Fringe Festival this evening. (i styled the female lead!!!) so i whipped out the box o'polish - and there in the corner was this little dude i had forgotten about - an AWESOME color for pre-fall... and again, the $2.99 thrill brand. so i must share.

Brucci nail polish. they actually call the product"nail hardener". simply amazing. the color range is to die for - and they always get on the trends right away - and have pretty much an exact match to the Chanel color du jour. i don't know if they have them everywhere - but for those of you who are NY'ers - they sell it at every Duane Reade. this product rocks my little world. let it rock yours for 3 bucks. rock it a few times, baby.

(ps - in case you're wondering - Golden Red on toes - CLASSIC. i remember to this day, at the airport about 8 years ago with my gorgeous friend Karen, whom i worked with and traveled the world with at the time - we were in line to check in, and she looked down and said "your toes are much fancier than mine. you have lady toes". and my dears - Golden Red... and the pre-fall, hell i'll wear it all fall and winter, finger color i'm a bit in love with? Ava's Ave. no idea what it means. don't care. it's a brownish tinted burgandy with gold flecks. love love love.)

what the?!?!?! oh, and discount too!

i'm not sure how it's even POSS that i missed a cute shopping website. i blame it on the humidity, it has clearly affected my brain.

that said... shoprumor.com... i think i might like it here! not a huge selection - but a good one, for sure. i perused the "racks" as it were, and there were of course about 50 things that made me go "OOH i like that." - but this little bracelet made me have a few looks... i am rather loving the dangling gold chain at the end. i seem to be very into the dangling fray of late...

they do also have the Pleasure Doing Business skirts i spoke of a while back - and i must tell you my dears - size UP if you decide to get one. these bad boys do mean business. they suck you in like there's no tomorrow - so don't go all "if i buy a small it will make me smaller". no - if you are not in fact a small, it will make you pass out. enough said. i will be wearing mine with colored tights and boots...

so go shop shoprumor.com - have a look at least, and if you enter the code People09 at checkout you will get 25% off!! see how great Fridays are???

sale time! WHAT!

the hotter it gets - the deeper the sales get. it's like retail's way of making us feel a little bit less schvitz-encumbered. i, for one, appreciate the effort.

anthropologie. land of the pretty pretty things. every time i walk into anthropologie, my blood pressure goes down. it is a happy place. things for the house, things for your self - they have that. and when it's time for markdowns, oh the heart flutters.

if you happen to be in proximity to a store - i would say go. your soul will appreciate the pretty vacation. and if not - peruse the website and gaze at the prettiness on your screen.

see - hot and sweaty just got a little nicer, right?

hey stud

(can't help it - but that title makes me sing "you're the one that i want" from grease)

i think i'm goin on a binge. i have the tendency to binge. those who know me, know this fact. i have put certain demons to rest, but i allow myself some little demons. everyone needs a vice. i am diggin on the studs. i always sort of have - a bracelet here, a belt there... sandals... but it seems they are studding everything that isn't nailed down right now. some of it is too much for me. not really into the studded jacket or pants... not my thing, perhaps it's yours, and if is - ROCK it.

this little bad boy however, is not too much. either in the stud department nor the money department... seems mister Marc Jacobs is coming out with another lower priced line Jacobs by Marc Jacobs. (how i love these designers that do this for us mere mortals. thank you marc jacobs. i thank you)

i haven't been able to find it yet online - but there's a number to call for info 212-924-6126. and this cute little guy is a designer deal at $47.

oh ricky's you're so fine...

hey ricky!! hey ricky!

anyone who is a ny product fiend (insert alternate terminology if you desire) is well versed in the shop Ricky's. in a quick word - it rules. like, totally man. and now - yes, i know your hearts are pounding - they are opening up a website. for those of thee who either cannot be bothered, or can physically not get there. consider your world changed in a beauty kind of way. they have a killer selection of products - from the high end, to their own brand of hair doodles, like rubber bands, barrettes, etc. (and yes, i do have a drawer full of them)

to make these even MORE heart fluttery - if you enter "luckybreak" at checkout, you get 25% off everything you buy. um, yeah.... awesome. (shout out once more to Lucky magazine. i love you Lucky. i do.) click now, you won't regret it... come on, everybody's doing it...

a little dealie

as you may recall - i waxed on about the boutique Intuition out on the left coast. it's kind of a great store. i kind of love it. but i don't get to go there too often, to see my bff OR go shopping. boo. they do have a website though - which softens the blow a little. and they have a lot of good stuff in there - they are always pretty much on top of what is going on. some cheap thrills, and some designer stuff as well. the whole shebang.

today - if you enter "PEOPLE" at checkout, you will get 20% off any item you purchase. and if you need a reason to shop - how about "it's only Thursday, i wish it was Friday" or "it's cloudy out"... i hope i have helped. that is what i'm here for...

sexy for a lot less

99.95% of the pictures you see of the celeb ladies in Herve Leger dresses, the comment you make, either out loud or in your head, is most likely something to the effect of "WOW". i'm pretty sure this man is a genius. the bandage dress idea is like no other - it just makes a girl's bod look BANGIN. sexy sexy beautiful woman-ness.

so, as the curious style hunter i am, i just had to try this for myself. lo and behold... it is not trick photography, it's not smoke and mirrors. these dresses really do make you look HOT.

one slight hurdle...the price tag. i'm not opposed to spending money for beauty. lord knows. but these do carry a hefty number on the ticket. i do, and will continue to, scour the interwebs and do my e-stylist hunt for these dresses on sale. and i vow to own one some day. until then - i offer to thee (and me) a substitute for about 1/10 the price. these skirts by Pleasure Doing Business are the same bandage design - and same principle for sexy. they sell them at a number of boutique websites, like Singer22, Chickdowntown, and RevolveClothing. sign me up!!!!

they just keep on comin'!

oh guest designers, how wonderful you are. and this one is a good one. no offense to any of the others - but this one really looks like a doozer. of the best variety.

from September 13 thru October 17, Anna Sui will have a line at Target. (i'll give a little holla when the time comes 'round, to remind us all...) this ad is a little teaser for you... it certainly got my pot stirring. these dresses look all kinds of adorable and i can't wait to find out what else is going to be in the collection. (and i'll even have an excuse, because it's right around my birthday, so i will of course have to look pretty....)

more happy cheapies!

Coming soon...to a Target near you... guest designer Rodarte. they of the edgy styling, unbelievably gorgeous detailing, and celeb devotees like Reese Witherspoon, who wore them to this year’s Oscars. as of December, we mere mortals shall be able to grab a piece or two. not that it means we'll be able to attend the Oscars, but hey, it's a start, right? they will be doing a 55-piece collection for Target that is set to arrive on December 20. i, for one will definitely be diving in the deep end on this one. their designs are stunning. and who doesn't want a little bit of that in their life? (and closet?)

beyond adorable

these bags are a) super cute and practical, as any good tote should be, and b) give 30% of the proceeds to a childrens charity. so, i ask you - what is not to love about THAT? hmmm... i'm going to add a c).
c) they are affordable, which plops them directly into cheap thrill territory my dear stylies.

i'm thinking this will be a perfect gift to give people - and i may just have to get myself one... if i behave. hey look! i behaved!

the website I am Beyond has a bunch of very cute things in addition to the bags - so check it out and do some good while you satisfy your itch to purchase!!! ( and then you can use the bag to carry all the other things you purchase!) it just keeps getting better. beyond better!