Until yesterday, I’d never seen Simply Vera Vera Wang up close. That’s because until yesterday, I’d never before set foot in a Kohl’s. There’s still a JAP in Cheap JAP, after all . Some field research resulted in multiple surprises – some good, some bad, some reallyfuckingugly.
Overall, Simply Vera’s a line of decent quality [...]

Now lookee here, I’m all about beauteous designer shoes – they’re pretty, I like to look at them. I appreciate the craftsmanship that undoubtedly substantiates their $1000 price tags. I’m just not about to pay for it, and neither are you, and that’s precisely why Jimmy Choo for H&M and Pierre Hardy for GAP exist.
Let’s [...]

Is Burlington Coat Factory a slightly creepy brands-for-less chain? Yes.
Is Burlington Coat Factory a place where you can buy a season’s worth of hosiery and socks for under forty bucks? Also yes.

Back in June, I made the mistake of cutting the feet off of every single pair of tights I owned. I wore them with [...]

The Yiddish term “schmata” can be applied to a multitude of material things; Mom and I use it to describe garments comfortable to the touch and heinous to the eye. Think muumuus.

This uber soft, unstructured cropped tee toes the line between shawl and shirt – wearing it feels a bit like donning a blankie. [...]

There are only two kinds of sale signs in this crazy mixed world, and one of them stinks like poo. Sale signs of the percentage ilk are designed to hint at a deal when, in fact, there is no deal. Case-in-point: TopShop. Bold signage screams 30% OFF, 50% OFF and 75% OFF, until you move [...]

When you’re the product of a sartorially spoiled upbringing, you tend to think of yourself as above stores of the obviously-budget ilk. The first time I set foot in a Kmart was two years ago – even then, it was only to buy cleaning products and paper towels in bulk. I knew they sold women’s [...]

The LBD is oft referred to as an Investment Piece by industry peeps who write coffee table books to con us into spending more money.
Um, negative.
I’m all for rocking a staple like a little black dress, but staple isn’t synonymous with Investment Piece.
I know this because my staple of an LBD cost me [...]

I spent some time clicking around Simply Vera Vera Wang and came away incredibly confused. And by confused, I mean I experienced a strange mix of bewilderment and betrayal and oy effing vey I’m having problemos with alliteration AGAIN.
I was initially confounded by the pricetags; $128 coats, $74 skirts, $58 tops? Vera, are you [...]

Now, I’m using Old Navy for price-point comparison here. This is not to suggest that the brand doesn’t have its fair share of boring and/or nausea inducing clothing. But while Old Navy’s hit or miss, it’s got one thing going for it that GAP better embrace, and fast, if it continues to produce the crap [...]

For some reason, I associate The GAP with the coming of Fall. Perhaps this is because I shopped there for first-day-of-school outfits when I was fifteen and didn’t know how to dress. When I stopped in the other day and wasn’t just disappointed; I was appalled. If the chain’s tiresome neutrals, conservative shapes and ho-hum [...]

Urban’s sale racks often bother me; the stuff up for grabs is always cheap, but mostly fugly. Twice a year though, Urban cleans house and slashes the prices on the good stuff, and it’s happening right now at their Upper West Side location. Photographic evidence below.

The turquoise silky top is $29.99, reduced from its [...]

Hey high-end designers! Think you can bullshit your way through your budget line and get away with it? Think again! Every week (or whenever I feel like it), Designer Slumdown pits the wallet-friendly lines of two high-end designers against each other, and sees who slums it best.
Rogan Gregory for Target vs. H&M x Marimekko

Sooo, [...]

Shopping’s the sheez, fo sho. But it requires serious energy that we sometimes can’t muster. This doesn’t mean shopping should be reserved for when we’re at our most bright-eyed and bushy-tailed; it just means we need a way to navigate around exhaustion, PMS, boy drama and/or any other hindrances to our purchasing prowess. When we [...]