F21 sale shopping

When I visited this week, Forever21 was having a half-off already reduced sale prices, which was awesome!

I did my best not to buy too much, and I am proud of my restraint (though maybe I should have gotten that sparkle dress or that yellow top after all).

The tough thing about fast fashion is that I can't seem to find much of what I got on the website, but of course there are plenty of other good buys I do see.

Here are the things that caught my eye, on sale online now:



$15.96 Bow front sweater
 This has angora rabbit fur in it, so some people find it itchy.
But it is very pretty.




 $15.96 Stripe trim cardigan
Nautical and fresh looking. This would also be great with a red pencil skirt.




$17.36 White piped open blazer
More comfortable than a real suit jacket, but looks polished and clean.



$19.99 Quilted shaft boots
I like the caramel color of these, and the quilting adds a nice design without relying on hardware like buckles that can clash with an outfit or make it seem less fancy.
They are only left in size 9 and 10 so I am out of luck, otherwise I might try these.



$16.99 Circle sequin dress
I saw this one in person and kind of regret not getting it. The color is a nice nude blush that goes with lots of skin tones and the high neck makes the sequins un-slutty. The problem with the ones I saw in person was that the stitching on the shoulders was starting to fray. No surprise I guess that these aren't super well constructed.




$8.99 Piped button down
Pajama type tops had a short moment in the sun this year, and while I can't quite bring myself to wear them or recommend them, they are sometimes cute.
I saw these in person and the material was a crappy polyester so I didn't get it, even at half-off, but the colors were good.




$43.77 Spiked shoulder moto jacket
I am a big fan of pleather jackets, especially in cool rainy weather, and this one is awesome with the studs and spikes.


$2.99 Sparkling beads compact mirror
This is a cute little gift to have around in case you need one suddenly.
Who doesn't want a special mirror?

 
$1.99 Knit beret
This slouchy hat would be perfect for a sweater and jeans and bad hair day



$4.99 Bejeweled bug clip ons
Clip on earrings are great because you can use them on your ears (duh) or on your shoes or on the collar of your shirt or a belt for some extra pizzazz

Lands' End Canvas Classifieds

In addition to their sale section, Lands' End Canvas sometimes has this weird "classifieds" section where you can get extra discounts on a small selection of items.

Right now they are offering some pants and sweaters and the prices keep dropping throughout the course of the week. The goal is to wait til Friday when things are 75% off, but then again what you want might be sold out by then.

Here are the pieces I have my eye on in case they are still around on the super cheap day:


 
Draping shawl collar sweater (originally $89.50, now $30.50)
The belt they have this with is all wrong, but you can use whatever belt you want (or none!) and a more fun shirt underneath.

 
Plaid and leather belt (originally $79.50, now $20.50)
E would love this. And wear it with mismatched plaid shirts and pants. But a sane person would use it as an accent to gray pants or to cinch an oversized white shirt.



 
Plaid winter shorts (originally $59.50, now $20.50)
Don't wear these wool shorts with the belt above, but they are fun over tights with a button down or slouchy sweater.

Travel electic toothbrushes

Violight makes some cool electric toothbrushes that look perfect for travel because they come with their own case.


They come with 2 brush heads and a AAA battery so you can use it right away, which I like.


 
$12.66 Violight stripe toothbrush
I think I am going to get this one!

 
$15 Violight bead toothrush
This one is my second favorite design




 
$19.95 Violight brown python toothbrush
Ooh, classy snake pattern, very hip right now.


 
$19.99 Violight Girl power toothbrush
OMG so hideous!
This would be a great bachelorette party favor because it is so tacky, and yet so useful that people will end up bringing it with them on trips and hating themselves for it. 


There are also plain silver and blue and purple ones if you want to be boring.

Bluetooth gloves handset

$69.99 Bluetooth Handset Gloves

Ok, this is hilarious.

These gloves come with bluetooth receptors and a speaker and mic in the fingers so you can literally "talk to the hand" on your phone.

It's kind of impractical because it's not hands-free and you have to still hold your hand up to your face the whole time, but it's a really funny idea.

Especially if you want to hand the call to someone else and say "it's for you!" and just shove your fingers in their face.

You can get them in women's or men's sizes and in gray or black.
Nice work, Thinkgeek!

Here is their description:

Call me!

There are a few fairly universal pantomimes that everybody in the civilized world understands, regardless of culture. Shake your head for 'no,' scribbling in mid-air for 'check-please,' thumb-and-pinky held up to the ear for 'call-me.' While we're not sure exactly when it was that the 'call-me' pantomime appeared in our collective cultural jargonplex, we have it on good authority Bell's assistant Watson would surreptitiously make the gesture to Mrs. Bell, much to her husband's consternation.

It is embarrassing, then, to admit that it took 136 years for us to turn a universally recognized gesture into an actual working way to talk on the phone. Behold the telephone of the future, built right into your Winter gloves! Warm knit gloves woven with conductive fibers let you operate those touch-screen phones like Androids, iPhones, Windowsphone, and Blackberries - but with extra added Bluetooth capabilities!

In the left glove's thumb is a tiny speaker, and in the pinky is a wee microphone. By extending them both in the usual hand-gesture, you can chat with your friends for up to 20 hours on a charge! Gone are the days where talking into mid-air will brand you a crazy-person! Now you can show the world that you can actually talk to the hand, and with excellent sound-quality!

Desk Modification from Ikea

I've been thinking recently about all the cool things you could do with the keyboard trays that you see on some desks (store paper there, or your scanner...) but I don't have one of those.

However, I can get one, and so can you:


$9.99 Summera Pull out keyboard tray
You install this on the bottom of any thick, drillable surface (it says you need 3/4" depth) and then you can a cool sliding shelf.
I wonder if you could even put it in a cabinet and basically double your shelf space.
I guess you would have to store flat things, but spaghetti packages are pretty flat.

 
$6.99 Signum cable outlet kit
This is pretty neat. It's a circular saw drill bit that screws onto your home drill (you have one, right?) and cuts out a nice circle which just happens to be the size of the 3 outlet thingies it comes with!

 See? You can make your desk or table into something that can hold cords.


$10 Signum Cord manager
Here is another little device that can hold your cords and chargers under the table so they are out of the way.
 
 
$9.99 Kvissle Cable box
If your cables have to be out, at least they can be hidden stylishly inside this box

Wolford tights on sale!

There are some fun patterns of the durable Wolford tights that I like on sale now, check it out:




$39 Ariella tights (was $65)




$37.20 Fire net tights (was $62)





$37.20 Dolly Dot tights (was $62)





$31.50 Matte 80 tights (was $52)




$37.20 Elisa tights (was $62)






$39 Animalia tights (was $65)

What to buy from the 70% off at Calypso clearance sale online

You don't even have to be in NY for this one!

Online and in stores, Calypso is having a sample sale on their fancy clothing and accessories.

My picks:

 
$59.60 Sierra silk tiered mini skirt (was $294)
This is such a good party skirt! I can't believe how many are left. Maybe it fits weird?
The elastic waist band sounds comfy- you can eat a bunch and still not be inhibited.


$11.60 Lucille Lace camisole (was $60)
I like the many colors this comes in (there is also navy, light blue, gray, blush, hot pink) and the shape. It would be a great layering piece.

 
$59.60 Tammara printed tunic (was $195)
How many things do you own that are 100% baby alpaca?
Probably none, until now.

 
$56.90 Louise feather belt (was $325)
So if you can't tell what is going on in this small picture, it is a belt with gold leather around the outside and a collage of blue spotted feathers inside. Rockin!


 
$79.60 Ranya fringe bootie (was $250)
Gray suede pull on ankle boots with a fun fringe on the outside. They have sizes 37, 38, 39, 40 left so jump on it!


CASHMERE TIME!!!!!


$115 Cashmere Slopes throw (was $350)
I loooooove this. It looks so awesome and cozy. It comes in this color, cayenne, and blue, pink, or white.

 
$91.60 Margo cashmere sweater (was $295)
This looks like the perfect thing to throw on over your pjs when the mailman comes. And then to keep on after you put on real pants and want to go to brunch.

 
$79.60 Kimber cashmere henley (was $275)
A casual hangin around shirt, except that it happens to be super soft cashmere.
It's kind of boxy, but then again it's supposed to be relaxed so I guess that is ok.

Current Boot Obsession

$278 Maison Martin Margiella MM6 convertible boot (was $695)

Ahh, boots. Can you ever have enough?
I can't.
The perfect, easy to throw on, comfortable and able to be dressed up flat black boot is the object of endless quest.

For me, that search also involves finding a wider calf circumference and not too much hardware (which can make something look dated really fast).

Let's read the specs of these and all sigh together:

Instantly cool design of burnished leather, with a zip-off shaft for an optional ankle boot silhouette.

• Stacked heel, 1½" (40mm)
• Shaft, 16"
• Leg circumference, 16"
• Leather upper
• Ankle zipper
• Leather lining
• Rubber sole
• Padded insole
• Made in Italy

Did you catch that?
You can actually ZIP OFF the shaft and wear them as ankle boots!
That's, like 2 pair of boots.
So if you think of it as 2 pr, then each is under $150 and totally reasonable to buy. Right?

And the only size left is 37, which happens to be my size.

Fate?

Something to think about.

Clearance shopping at Target.com

Remember that Nieman Marcus and Target collaboration collection?
It's now 70% off!
That's pretty exciting if you ask me, since the prices were over my "eh, nice but that isn't worth it" boundary before.

The Kirna Zabete stuff is on clearance too, as well as some cute home items.

My picks (I got some of these myself):




 
$29.99 Roberto Rodriguez dress (was $100)
A super cute and fun party dress. If I didn't have so many already, I'd consider getting this one.


$5.24 Kirna Zabete fishnet tights (was $15)
I got these! I like the pattern and my patterned black tights just gave out on a business trip. Plus $5 for tights is as good as you are going to get pretty much anywhere.



$5.28 Bunny hat (was $15)
Kind of weird that there are no eyes, but you could draw those on with a sharpie I guess. I didn't get this one because I have a tiny head and I think it looks too long for me, but if you have a normal size head, it would be cute.



 
$8.74 Mossimo kimono sleeve maxi dress (was $25)
I would be all over this one if they had it in my size in coral. Looks so easy to wear and comfortable.
If you don't already have a black maxi and you are size XS or S, get it.


 
$20.99 Marc Jacobs leather pouch (was $70)
These are available in rose gold (above), gold, or silver. I like all of them.
It's a pretty good deal for a clutch. It's 8 x 10" so big enough to use as a travel case or whatever too.
I didn't get this one because I have enough clutches, but I am very tempted!

 
$53.99 Alice and Olivia Wheeled carry on suitcase (was $180)
This is very cute and I almost got it. I have had a cheapo wheelie for 10 years now and it has served me very well but I am worried about what I'll do when it gives out. This would make a great substitute.
It has 2 pockets outside and 2 on the inside flap as well as the main compartment. The insides are bright blue and the lime green accents outside make it easy to find at a distance.



 
$14.99 DVF yoga mat (was $50)
If you are in the market for a yoga mat, might as well make it designer. This is about the same price now as you would pay for any yoga mat at Loehmann's (where I got my plain teal boring one a few years ago).

 
$7.49 Tory Burch printed thermos (was $25)
The blue pattern is really pretty. I don't go anywhere anymore, but if you commute and need a thermos for coffee or tea or soup, this would be great. I also think it would be a good gift.







$12 Proenza Schuyler ipad sleeve (was $40)
This is on its way to me right now! It's a neoprene case that fits your ipad along with its cover or keyboard and will protect it from all the other crap in your bag. Plus it is a cool design.



$14.99 Altuzarra set of 4 double old fashioned glasses (was $50)

and


$14.99 Altuzarra shaker (was $50)
These two together would make a super housewarming or wedding gift. The matching set is classy in a Mad Men era type way. And all of that for $30 makes a much bigger gift that it would seem for that price.

Housing Works buy the bag is now on all the time

Once or twice a year, Housing Works had a sale called "Buy the bag" in which you'd go to one of their warehouses, pay $25 for a bag, and then be allowed to stuff it with as much clothing as you possibly can to take home.



This always sounded fun (if a bit hectic and nutso) but I've never been before.

Now they have this as an ongoing thing in their South Brooklyn warehouse so you don't have to be trampled by a million deal hunters (hopefully).

The space has apparently been reorganized.
Check out the picture below and see the review from LookingFlyOnADime where these pics come from



She has great advice on how to stuff your bag to maximize the space and get the most items in there:

Starting with your must have pile, take the bulkiest pieces {sweaters, coats, large purses, etc} and pack them first. Roll them as tightly as possible and place in your bag. With every layer of rolled clothes, push down on your bag so you have a tightly packed base. Now you can move on to less bulky items and repeat the roll and stuff process. For silk tops and dresses, belts and ties, stuff them in any remaining spaces.

Anyone want to go with me??

Housing Works 
Buy the Bag
159 28th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11232