cheap thrills

I'm usually pretty free towards month end, and unfortunately/fortunately, my office is conveniently located close to fifth avenue in midtown (meaning a lot of free browsing time during lunch).

Point 3 in Mary Woodward's article "What I've learned from 40 years of shopping" for The Guardian notes that: There are two main types of clothes-buying. One, the everyday, picked-up-in-your-lunch-hour kind, tends to be local and should always be cheap. Never spend more than a tenner on this kind of shopping. As Karl Lagerfeld says, "go either very cheap or very expensive. It's the middle ground that is fashion nowhere."

I generally go by that rule. (Of course, the concept of "very cheap" and "very expensive" varies from people to people.) Luckily for those in the states, the return policy is pretty lax, and therefore, even if you have made a shopping mistake during your lunch hour it is easily correctable.

Some of my recent "picked-up-in-your-lunch-hour" goodies -



Zara tank top: I picked up a high-waisted work skirt, a beach cover up and this size L tank top from Zara. The only piece I ended up keeping is the tank top for $9.99. I couldn't find a size XS, but I love the face on it. It's so large that even after knotting up the straps it can almost work as a dress, but it works great with skinny jeans or leggings!

Express maxi dress & Express leggings: I am usually not a big fan of Express, but since I had a $25 off every $50 coupon, it is almost like an additional 50% off, so why not? I managed to find a perfect casual maxi dress on the sale rack ($29.99) and also a pair of long black tights (overpriced at $24.50 but whether or not I get it I still pay the same amount since the $25 coupon nets it out). However, when I got to the counter, the dress actually had an addtional 30% off. The cashier was nice enough to let me use the coupon even though the two items only added up to $45.49. So for $20.49, I managed to get a deep plum maxi dress and a pair of tights! (Which as you see below, I had a lot of fun twirling in.)



On a completely unrelated note, the photo of the railroad in the pictures is from a framed photo that I picked up on the streets last Tuesday! It was lying on the streets with the garbage bags from the building next door. There is a bit of a mark on the top center and the bottom of the frame is scratched from sitting on the streets, but I still love it!

-G

bcbg2

Sorry posting has been slow! It's been a busy week. Here's my haul from BCBG minus a cream romper. Here they are worn with my favorite Giuseppes:

I'm also really into collecting crazy rings now

- S

bcbg

While at work last Thursday, S told me BCBG is doing an additional 30% off. I always had a thing for BCBG dresses, probably because BCBG has always been my go-to place for occasion dresses (graduation, formals, and etc.) So after work I made a trip there. I managed to pick up 3 dresses, 2 for work and 1 not. Here are my 2 work dresses, the other one I'll save for later :)



BCBG draped cami contrast dress with B. Fendi black patent peep toe pumps. Probably need to throw on a cardigan for work.



BCBG silk contrast dress with Ferragamo black patent Varina.

-G

finally some outfits

I think I'm actually sick. I thought it was just a sore throat for a while, but it's become a full blown cold (swine flu?) so since I'm stuck in the apartment I decided to put together some outfits :)

Bebe shirt worn under a QI Cashmere long cardigan with a skirt I bought last year from Shibuya 109, and these cute bow Louboutins.

Banana Republic, Japan silk shirt worn under an Intermix blazer over a Betsy Johnson skirt. Shoes are satin Valentino bow slingbacks.

self-altered top made from a simple white dress shirt worn with a beautiful Ann Taylor lace skirt (bought for a Christmas party years ago.) Shoes are patent Jimmy Choos.

... and now the shoes!

This is completely unrelated, but I'm excited to share with you our giant case of beer :) boyfriend found out that there's a store over on the east side that sold Ebisu beer! Which is our absolute favorite; so much so that we've visited the Ebisu Beer Museum AND I've paid visits to the shrine dedicated to the god Ebisu. After we lugged our giant case of booze home, I made us some sukiyaki and had ourselves a wonderful evening.

the park! sorry I like to play with Photoshop too much :p

- S

saks sale (cont.)

Two posts ago, S showcased some of her goodies from Saks' spring/summer sale, here are mine!

I went by Saks around a month ago when they first did their additional 33% off and scored a pair of gorgeous Chanels. The reason why I didn't wait for the next markdown was because I knew they wouldn't last till the next markdown (and if they did, I can always return them). Last week, I made away with 2 pairs - a pair of Chloe Terry Kid sandals and a pair of YSL Tribute sandals.




One thing that bothered me originally is the iridescent patent. The whole glittery look reminds me of little girl's shoes, but unless light is directly shining on to them, you can barely notice it on the black. It is more noticeable on the white, but mainly just the tip. I love the classic black/white combination, and the details on the heels!



We checked out Saks the day before the additional 50% markdown and I was lusting over a pair of black, 4 inch high, Chloe sandals. Unfortunately, the front two straps were made of jelly, and that really turned me off. When I showed T them, she told me to wait and brought this pair of white sandals.



At first J and I both liked the black ones more, but these white ones started growing on us. Soon after, even J wanted a pair! Luckily, we managed to find another pair. These actually remind me of a pair of Ann Demeulemeester's sandals (I LOVE her shoes, but they are way too pricey and they never make it to further reductions).



Day 2 T picked up these YSL Tributes and I fell in love. Instantly. She said it wasn't her style, so they became mine.





For the mean time just pics of the shoes before I start ruining them (by wearing them). S and I have been too caught up with shoes the past two weeks, but we will definitely get to some non-shoe posts!

-G

giuseppe zattoni sample sale

Even though all the department stores are doing further reductions, it's hard to pass on sample sales, especially sample sales for shoes. $100 Manolos, $50 Sergio Rossis are unheard of, of course, unless when one is in New York City. This time, it is $100 (and up) Giuseppes. The sale happened this past Wednesday from 10am - 4pm. Unfortunately, I had work that day, but fortunately, the sale was only a few blocks away from work. Much to our surprise, when J, S and I got to the sale at around 11am, there was no line whatsoever. I understand it is during normal working hours, but New Yorkers are crazy about sample sales, the Jimmy Choo sample sale a month or two ago started forming at 10am, 3 hours before the sale started! (I am definitely not complaining about the no-line situation!)

The sale was located at Giuseppe Zanotti's showroom and was very organized. There were two rooms of shoes and all the shoes were neatly displayed in rows, with their corresponding shoe boxes stacked below. Lucky for me, one of the rooms were just size 7s (while the other sizes shared the other room). I usually wear a size 6.5, but for $100 Giuseppes, I will make do with going through the trouble of getting a pair of insoles for them! I scored a pair of red pumps with black heels that I can spice up a black dress with for work, or can be worn with denim for a night out.





I have yet to get some insoles for them, so no modeling pics yet!

Unfortunately for S and J, the selection for size 5-6 was pretty small, and they both ended up not getting anything and saving their money for Saks (as you've seen).

-G

day at the park

Going to spend the day at riverside park with boyfriend. I think this is would be perfect with my gray-felt wide-brimmed hat.

except that those beautiful Miu Mius aren't entirely mine yet. J technically claimed them first, but I bought them because they couldn't be put on hold any longer and J wasn't around to buy them. So she has a few more days to claim them from me. But aren't they so beautiful? Here's a closeup of the color and details, and some more I took last night under some weird lighting:

-S