The Last of the List

One of the best things about writing the blog is the feedback. Thanks to the reader who let me know that one of my "lusts" from my "list" yesterday was on sale. The Frenchi slicker from J.Crew was just marked down from $165 to $69.99.....the little catch was that it was only the khaki and not the pretty papaya. Same for the 120's suit jacket, marked down from $230 to $180...but again, only the navy and not the black. They are now both in my online shopping cart...for the time being.



I read an interesting article this morning in the Wall Street Journal that discussed how designers are complaining about the deep discounts that department stores are giving even new merchandise. The gist of the discussion was that stores like Saks and Neimans are giving deep discounts on designer clothing in order to secure sales. This in turn is making it tough on the designers who count on the department store sales for up to 80% of their sales. These designers are literally begging the stores to at least stick with "scalpel markdowns", which are markdowns based on sales. A slow-selling item gets marked down immediately, while a strong seller remains at full price. This at least gets the designer or brand a portion of sales at regular price. Many designers are envious of Louis Vuitton, who literally rents space in the stores and has total control over their sales and pricing. Their sales rose 10% in the fourth quarter...and their goods were not discounted.

This is happening across the board. Every morning, I am deluged with advertisements of sales from the stores and products I use. Just this morning, in the 30 minutes I have been writing, J Crew, Cole Haan, Saks, Bloomingdales and The Body Shop have sent out messages touting daily discounts. (But wouldn't you know that Cole Haan refuses to discount those London T-straps...)

As a consumer, the irony is that although these sales are attractive...and would usually spur you to buy....it is just not incentive enough at this point.


Anyway, on with the today's subject, which is a wrap up/ summary of the Fashion/Beauty products list from the last few days, with a few other things thrown in for good measure:


1) One of the disappointing fall outs of this economy are the closing of many newspapers and magazines. One in particular that really made me sad was the closing of Domino Magazine. This was a fabulous publication that literally could have been entitled "Stuff Robyn Loves". It was well-edited and beautifully layed out. Each month was chalked full of very cool home decor which was moderately priced, yet interesting. There were pages devoted to new products, including home, fashion and beauty. One of my favorite sections was where they would show a model in an outfit...and then show a room decorated based on the outfit. The purpose was to show that people often dress like they decorate. It was always inspiring. The final issue is still on stands right now and well worth buying. Ines de la Fressange is on the cover, which was personally ironic to me since she has always been one of my favorites. She was a famous model and the Chanel "muse" for years. She had her own boutique shop in Paris that was full of the coolest clothes, shoes and jewelry you've ever seen. I still have a pair of pink suede ankle booties that I bought there 15 years ago, and they still look like new despite constant wear. She is now a shoe designer for Roger Vivier, a french shoe brand (that is priced equivalent to Manolo Blahnik). Anyway, if you have a chance to pick up the issue, grab it. I think these will be collector's items one day.


2) Orla Kiely's retro patterned mugs at Target...if these don't cheer you up in the morning, nothing will...(and especially at $2.49)



3) Perfume...This is always such a personal pick, but my top picks are Secret Obsession (Calvin Klein), Notorious (Ralph Lauren), Kelly Caleche (Hermes) ....the Obsession and Notorious were gifts, so I can't comment on price, but the Caleche I bought myself, and it was really reasonable considering it was Hermes...



4) Lysol- on -the- go Spray...strange pick, but my life is full of ballgames at baseball parks right now, so this should be self-explanatory...



5) Shaving Bar...this is the coolest item ever from smallflower.com. It is $10 and called Valobra. It suds up with water and makes shaving a breeze.



6) "Cool Jewels" ice tray from spoonsisters.com (a neat site)...this is a great party item for summer. The ice looks like little diamonds.



7) Le Pere Pelletier "Antiquite"..french lavender soap in a lovely tin "house"...$18 at frenchsoaps.com



8) petite fig tree from napastyle.com....so cute and you can get figs from it.



9) Personalized matchbooks at foryourparty.com...printed with cute little sentiments (some in french for the francophiles)



10) L'Occitane lavender body lotion...organic, creamy ....$24...I love this french brand...l'occitane.com



11) Oh gosh...the spring lipstick from Coach..it is so precious in the striped case..too much at $28, but if you want to look good putting on your lipstick, this is for you!



12) light blue pencils from seejanework.com......they will make you want to write...



Ok that's it for the list...and by the way....if you live under a rock and have not seen the You Tube of Susan Boyle singing on the British edition of Idol..please view it immediately...You will get chills and cry and feel all the wonderful feelings that make you happy!



So until tomorrow, when sadly, all good things must come to an end...