There are tons of sales happening right now, as you may very well know.  Let’s get down to the nitty gritty…  Who is this Encarnacion?

Oops, my bad: good movie (Nacho Libre), wrong timing.

Here are some of my fave sales happening so far:

DSW’s $20 off sale and $29.95 boots

Express.com has a 25% off Everything sale

Kenneth Cole’s 41% off Black Friday Sale

Gap’s 50% off Sweaters sale

Armani Exchange’s $50 off every $150 purchase in-store or online

Nordstrom.com free shipping on orders of $100 or more (use HOLIDAY09 code)

Saks.com free shipping with HOLIDAY9 code AND 60% off Thanksgiving sale

Steve Madden: 30% off entire order plus Free Standard Shipping with code MADDEN30 at checkout! (Expires 12/7).  15% off orders of $50 or more plus Free Shipping! Use code SHOPIT15N at checkout.

I’m sure there are more happening, but you get the drift.  Enjoy the sales!

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

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.

After posting my tricks and techniques blog about fashion, I got a surprising email (and a fairly quick one at that!) from none other than shopittome.com, stating how they want me to send them my information to be a part of their Trendsetters team. How cool is that!

Well folks, what better way to help guys get on board in fashion and get marketed for it! I just sent my information and now I’m waiting on them to get back to me. I was told if they had my information by end of this week, my blog can be inserted by next week… Can’t wait! I already inserted their little badge of honor on my site to show how trendy I am Again… can’t wait!

So I guess there is my 15 minutes of fame, huh? Back to the drawing board!

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.