Brand Of The Week – 8.24.09

24 08 2009
Banana Republic

Banana Republic

My Brand of the Week of 8.24.09 belongs to Banana Republic, whom I have had a great “relationship” since 1999.

If I can say one thing I love about Banana Republic, it’s their classic blend of style.  A healthy mix of contemporary feel with modern sensibilities, “BR” has a great way of appealing to various body types.  I love their choice of color palettes, the texture and style of their clothing, and the feeling of comfort and ease that I get when I wear their clothes.  A very good brand that has much to offer in terms of mixing and matching attire to perfect that day-to-day look.

Rock on with your bad self, BR.





Father’s Day

9 06 2009

Father’s day is coming up soon, so here are some great ways to get great gifts (and save $$) for the father(s) in your lives!

With the “new” Bing live and running, I’ve checked out some cool electronics for all you gadget dads out there.  I personally would get an iPod, but I wouldn’t discount the Zune products either.  Coming from the land of Microsoft, it has very cool features that most iPods don’t have, but I would still get the iPod anyway LOL.

And with summer being on the horizon, check out the summer sales that DSW has for you fathers out there.  There are some good shoes on sale here that I wouldn’t miss buying!

Let’s not forget Your Personal Shopper’s favorites, like Armani Exchange’s summer sale event.  Up to 70% off of your latest Armani fashions!  Check out their Under $29 sale and their Tees selection as well!

Here are some more places to get great deals on your shopping spree :)

  1. Shopittome.com
  2. Bluefly.com
  3. Zappos.com
  4. Nordstrom.com
  5. Macys.com
  6. Brooksbrothers.com
  7. Bananarepublic.com
  8. Armaniexchange.com
  9. Shoes.com
  10. DSW.com
  11. Saksfifthavenue.com
  12. Shoebuy.com
  13. Endless.com
  14. Kennethcole.com
  15. Piperlime.com
  16. Express.com

So go get shopping for your Dad!  Just do me a favor: don’t buy him Crocs, okay?





Christmas is near!

8 12 2008

For all those who are looking forward to Christmas but can’t put themselves to spend more than they can afford (and I am totally there with you), let me assist in helping you out with some sweet links meant for the bargain shoppers in mind. Some are online coupon sites, and others are straight up sweet online ecommerce sites that partner with brand name manufacturers.  I’ve categorized them for you for easier access :)

For Moms:

General stuff:

Shoes:

Retailers:





A Must-Have Look

5 09 2008

Looking good is just as much an attitude and mental perception than it is your outfit and how you wear it.  But it doesn’t hurt to have a great outfit that makes you feel good and helps your mind feel good about what you wear.  Having the perfect combination of cut, texture, tailoring, color, and style will always hit the mark in giving a person that wonderful sensation.  The outfit I’ve shown below is a great example of how to get that sensation.

Express Curdoroy Suit

Express Curdoroy Suit

This corduroy suit from Express.com is a perfect blend of sophisticated and classic look with a modern flair. The 5-button vest playfully shown underneath the 2-button corduroy jacket provides that classic 3-piece-suit-look without straying too far away from the more contemporary design. The buckle belt gives this outfit a subtle hint of modern wear without being overtly modern, which makes this whole design more versatile than one would think.

Next, add a solid or lightly striped 1MX shirt to make the jacket and vest pop out.  Look for strong and light hues of white, purple, blue, or red to enhance the look that you are trying to achieve.  Stripe patterns are also great with the look if the occasion calls for it.  Since this is corduroy fabric, depending on the wale patterns and size, offset large patterns with more subtle tones, widths, and lengths to balance the design.  And if you’re bold enough, you can even add a bold black button-down shirt with wide pinstripe patterns in lighter gray, purple, red, or off-white colors to get that modern-ish craving.

Add a flat-front corduroy Producer Pant to round out the outfit.  If you are looking into getting pleated corduroy pants, make sure to check the wale patterns of the corduroy and see how the strong the pleated lines are.  You want to ensure that the wale patterns are not obtrusive enough that it distorts the pleated lines, which will screw up the pant’s role of slendering your body.

Of course, I can’t finish this without my friends from Shopittome.com, who have supplied me with sweet deals on shoes. As always, I’m going to look for quality, stitch, style, and comfort when picking shoes. There are going to be some brands that people tend to love and others tend to hate. Pick the brand that you know that is going to last you a long time, that will look good as it grows on you, and that it will be as versatile to your wardrobe. With this in mind, I’ve always trusted Kenneth Cole to get the job done, and here’s how I am taking care of business.

Kenneth Cole Sim-Plicity Moc-Toe Oxfords

Kenneth Cole Sim-Plicity Moc-Toe Oxfords

A great shoe to match this outfit would be something that 1) is not too pointed, 2) that is slightly arched on the front, but not too much that it looks like a flat-toe, 3) slip-on or laces, and 4) has a strong sole foundation on both the heel and the side. Kenneth Cole has never disappointed, and its Sim-Plicity shoe is an excellent choice to polish this outfit.

Other add-ons include square-shaped cuff-links from Banana Republic or Kenneth Cole, striped or solid pattern ties in various hues and colors similar to the 1MX shirt, and last but not least, sheer confidence.

Lots of it.





Tricks and Traits, volume 2

26 08 2008

Piggybacking on some tricks I blogged about, one of the greatest things that you can ever do when you shop for deals is to learn to build relationships and build them consistently.  The many times I hung out at Banana Republic, Kenneth Cole, and Pacific Place in downtown Seattle; and all the stores I frequented in Bellevue Square, Redmond Town Center, and Auburn Super Mall led me to meet many people behind the cash wraps who have helped me build networks upon networks that I possibly would never have imagined.  These networks provided me with a wealth of information and connections that opened my eyes to the retail world and how that world functions in the consumer industry.  To give you an example, if I didn’t check on the frequency of sales and updates on clothing in Banana or Kenneth Cole, I wouldn’t have met the store managers and district managers who helped me understand the business and clothing, specifically:

  1. The types and quality of clothing that typically goes on sale
  2. The types and quality of clothing that are being marketed heavily
  3. The types and quality of clothing that are not being marketed heavily
  4. Upcoming fashion trends, cuts, styles, and price guidelines
  5. What types, cuts, and quality of clothing that either stays in store or are shipped to Racks and Outlet Malls
  6. Featured events, sales, and markdowns, and where to find them
  7. Other general information, which includes basic information about their particular brand of clothing versus other products and brands, tailoring, etc.

Building upon these listed items, you have essentially a great handle on where to shop, when to shop, how much to pay for it (given the actual value of the clothing based on tailoring, cut, cloth, etc), and most of all, someone to give you a personal helping hand along the way.

More importantly, the relationships being established becomes more than knowledge of where to go shopping.  They serve as one of the foundations to which you can build upon as a source of knowledge, and is available to be an external resource on keeping up with trends, price values, and other factors that you think are valuable to you.

And what is more valuable than people giving you a plethora of informative advice?





Kenneth Cole Worlds Finest Ornament Slip-On Shoe

23 08 2008

I have to hand it to my man, Kenneth Cole.  I absolutely love his shoes.  Very modern, sleek, stylish, comfortable, and best of all, they fit well with any outfit.  Thanks to Shopittome.com, I received a Sale Mail that pointed me to the latest sales on the brands that I love.  Check out this tight KC shoe on sale at Macy’s.

Kenneth Cole Worlds Finest Ornament Slip-On Shoes

Kenneth Cole Worlds Finest Ornament Slip-On Shoes

Ok, how can you not go wrong with this? This is not your dad’s slip-on or your grandfather’s. It’s sleek, modern, and so in style. When you’re looking for any clothing piece, the general guidelines are that you want something that will be versatile, and Kenneth Cole pulls it off well.  Want to look polished?  This bad boy can go business as usual in the daytime and is an excellent addition to the water cooler Olympic discussions.  Pair this up with some dark Diesel jeans, crisp button-down collar shirt, and a black Banana Republic Pinstripe 3-button blazer, and this baby will turn heads in a swanky bar at night before you can order your scotch on the rocks.  As my man Mikey put it, “single malt, as long as it’s not a blend…”

The Rat Pack will be so proud of you.





Tricks and traits for shopping great deals, volume 1

15 08 2008

Every now and then, I’ll share some tricks and techniques on how to get great deals for clothes and accessories. Finding great deals take some detective work and memory, especially if you are shopping in person versus online. I’ve come up with a handful of online sites where you can find quality clothes for all budget levels, and then we’ll discuss a few tricks to get you started.

  1. Shopittome.com — one of my favorite places to shop. It is a free site that functions as “your own personal shopper” (as they mentioned in their web site), where you can sign up to receive deals online for a lot of brands, including Banana Republic, Nordstrom, Tom Ford, Bulgari, Cole Haan, Christian Dior, Burberry, and more. You check which brands and retailers you want to receive emails from, in which this site will email you deals that they have scoured based on your preferences. You can also choose the frequencies of your emails as well, which is fantastic. 2 THUMBS UP!
  2. Bluefly.com — I also like this site for it’s overall quality value. Similar to shopittome.com, Bluefly is an online discount retailer of designer brands at discount prices.
  3. Zappos — A great shoe site.
  4. Shoes.com — Another great shoe site.
  5. Armani Exchange — Enough said!
  6. Saks Fifth Avenue
  7. Kenneth Cole
  8. Kenneth Cole – Reaction
  9. Endless.com
  10. Banana Republic
  11. Shoebuy.com
  12. Nordstrom
  13. Brooks Brothers
  14. Macy’s

One trick that I have found helpful in finding great deals is to conduct comparison shopping. This means exactly what it says, but in this case, you are not just comparing for prices; rather, you are comparing for prices in relation to quality, value, style, cut, and so forth. You are conducting your own research on what you think is best for you based on these elements, with the underlying concept that your research is going to result in the best possible long-term value and investment for you money. You want the BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK.

Here’s a scenario: you are looking for a pair of brown cap-toe oxfords for work, and you found them in multiple places: Old Navy, Macy’s, Kenneth Cole, and so on. Which one would you choose and why? Do you pick the shoe from Old Navy, or the selections from Macy’s or Kenneth Cole? Are you always going to take the lowest price possible, or are you going to compare the actual value of the shoe based on the quality and investment value of that product? While the answers really depend on your shopping habits, budget, and personality (to name a few), again you should always think about the long-term value and investment of anything you buy.

Another “trick” that I have used that has helped me tremendously is consistently paying attention to which stores have the best sales and which stores have them consistently. Using comparison shopping as a model, you can find the stores and products that have sales and compare them to other products and stores that have the same, if not similar, product. Try visiting one of your favorite stores for a few months and see what products you find are on sale most often and which ones do not. I remember visiting the downtown Seattle Banana Republic store quite frequently after work, checking out which products are displayed, which ones would be on clearance, what sizes are more likely to be on clearance, and how often such products go on clearance. And oh, the many outfits I have bought for very cheap. The things you see and the knowledge you gain by paying attention in one store will pay off in another, and after that it’s a snowball effect from there. Your eyes are going to open to new things. Kind of like the Matrix, but less freaky LOL.

Trust me, it pays off quite well.





Crocs: What a load of…

25 07 2008

Okay folks, I’m going to get down to the dirty dirty here.  One of the most recent fashion faux pas that I have continually seen is the amount of people wearing (and selling) Crocs.  One look at that thing and one would think that Crocs are, well, a load of crock.  Seriously.  I was at a local upscale mall this past week and stopped by RESTORATION HARDWARE and POTTERY BARN to check out the sales.  I noticed that a couple of sales associates who had cool outfits wore Crocs that “matched” their outfit.  I didn’t want to be rude, but in my mind I was crying in tears out of laughter as I walked by them.  I can understand that if you’re late for work, you’ll just take whatever shoe you find that is remotely in the same color of your outfit.  Fine.  We’ve all been there before, so it’s not a big deal.  But honestly, are Crocs THAT good enough to wear with anything?  Is it a shoe-for-all-outfit type?  Is it THAT comfortable than say, Hush Puppies?  Is it THAT sophisticated enough to wear for a “classier” retail establishment?  Hmmm….

So I did my own research a couple of months ago and, sad to say, tried out a few Crocs in a Hallmark store (yes they sell them at Hallmark!!) at an outlet mall in town to see what the fuss was all about.  Of course, they came out with any and every color and shade of the rainbow, including the almighty camo.  While I could see how one would think it was OK to get, it wasn’t at all attractive in any outfit (especially mine) nor comfortable after walking for a “long period” of time.  (My long period of time was walking in and out of the card aisles for a few minutes).  After my trial period ended, I found myself people watching in the mall, and to my surprise (OK, I wasn’t THAT surprised), I saw more guys wearing them, and guess what is the predominant color for them?  You got it.  Camo.

Now granted, budgets can also be a part of the reason why people buy this crap.  I would refute that argument and say that there are better choices for every budget that would actually make you LOOK better in the long term, and make you feel a bit more sophisticated than wearing Crocs.  For example, I bought a pair of black leather sandals from BANANA REPUBLIC Outlet for $15, and I love it.  It’s casual enough in look to wear with jeans and tee, button down shirt, or any combination, and “casual-formal” enough to wear a nice pair of herringbone slacks with a freshly pressed button down shirt.

And in the end, I don’t look like a load of crock wearing it.