On Black Friday and the Culture of Consumerism

Black Friday is a polarizing retail concept. Some of us love the opportunity to get up early and hunt for the best deals on items available in limited quantities. Black Friday has become for plenty of Americans, it's own annual tradition. But others loathe that each year seems to bring out even more appalling, sensationalistic tales depicted on nightly news broadcasts as the worst elements of consumer greed, materialism, and competition. Although I have shopped many Black Fridays with my mom and siblings, I have felt empathetic to both perspectives.

And as Black Friday encroaches earlier and earlier into the week, subsuming Thanksgiving Day and in some cases, even the days preceding it, it becomes difficult not to notice a growing contempt for this shopper holiday.

What is most interesting to me is that the bulk of the ire toward Black Friday gets channeled at shoppers, themselves. And it's no wonder because the setup creates conditions in which the shoppers become very easy targets. People camped out in sleeping bags the week prior. Lines stretching around already expansive strip malls. The fights between warring customers over the last available hot toy from that year. The ugly, depressing video footage of the hoards of shoppers rushing into big box stores as soon the doors open, often trampling one another and/or bedraggled workers in the process. All of it makes for a sensationally unattractive portrait of American consumption and material life. But when I discuss Black Friday with friends and colleagues, and they rail against the shoppers I find myself becoming defensive. This is not only because I have shopped Black Friday in years previous, but also because the discussion rarely evades what I regard to be a rhetoric of classism. The anti-Black Friday argument is usually some version of the following: "I don't care about saving money enough to deal with the crowds," and "If you can't afford it any other day, you don't need it/shouldn't be buying it on Black Friday." These are both arguments that have merit, for sure. But in my experience, these arguments come most often from people who are able (socioeconomically speaking) to afford easily to opt out from Black Friday and its savings.  

For better or worse those of us in America currently inhabit an incredibly materialistic cultural moment in which notions surrounding consumer "needs" get blurred with our desires and "wants." People who are financially struggling aren't living in social vacuums and aren't exempt from the pressures of holiday "performance." Regardless of class status, for many of us a successful December holiday is measured by the ability to effectively lavish loved ones with material appreciations of their choice/by their request. The process of making a gift list and checking it twice isn't one only reserved for the North Pole. Gifts and the process of giving matter to people. And the holidays are (particularly for those of us that do not practice religious rituals) an opportunity to make memories that matter with loved ones. Those memories are sometimes of the material variety. I don't think that is terrible or contemptuous or greedy. I also don't consider it to be a cultural practice that should be reserved for only the middle and upper-strata of our socio-economic hierarchy. I have incredibly vivid memories from different points in my life of giving and receiving gifts. And I am sure this is true for the bulk of the American public, regardless of their bank accounts or annual salaries.

Anti- and pro-Black Friday shoppers will likely agree that the gifts we buy should be what we can afford. Anti-Black Friday shoppers might also say that we shouldn't be so greedy as to want something we can't otherwise afford. But on Black Friday that elusive concept of "afford-ability" becomes a bit more malleable than usual, with steep discounts to lure in deal hunters. So of course, those shoppers who need to stretch their dollars the farthest will encompass a large portion of those tempted to shop Black Friday. Rather than begrudge people the chance to fulfill most efficiently the wishlists of those around them I propose we direct Black Friday related anger and contempt toward the driving forces behind this shopper holiday's colonization of Thanksgiving.

Shoppers aren't the ones making executive decisions regarding store hours. Shoppers can't require employees to leave their families for work rather than eat dinner and give thanks. Shoppers don't assign doorbusters or distribute store circulars that say "no rain checks," "no price matching," and "only x number of item available per location." The driving motivation behind doorbusters and Thanksgiving Day hours and early deals are most certainly the stores themselves. Each among the participating mega companies/brands/stores stand to benefit from their own manufactured demand by providing consumers with more and earlier times during which to consume.

And so, the concept of Black Friday has generated for big corporations both a domino effect and a retail race to the bottom. I remember a time when opening at 6am on Friday seemed somewhat inhumane but enough to generate a buzz. In the last few years the landscape of competition has been such that one store announces that they'll open at midnight on Black Friday. The next one-ups things by opening at 11pm on Thanksgiving Day. Before you know it, the standard becomes opening at 8pm or 6pm (prime dinner hours) or even earlier on Thanksgiving, drawing both workers (out of requirement) and consumers (out of the desire to get the best prices) away from their loved ones on a day when we are supposed to count our blessings and be thankful for what we have.

If it seems ugly that's because it is ugly. The ideology of consumerism under a capitalist marketplace can absolutely be ugly. But in this example, make no mistake: it is an ugly that stems more so from corporate greed, rather than consumer greed. Corporate greed configures a system in which the specter of consumerism becomes magnified and monstrous.

If and when store executives consider opting out of Thanksgiving hours, they might feel compelled by the bottom line: most consumers have finite amounts of holiday shopping dollars. The competition for those dollars in a neoliberal marketplace is such that very few big players will opt out. Black Friday will marshal forward, continuing to produce an easy consumer scapegoat. And it will further colonize the month of November. But I for one won't be holding the shoppers to blame.

*props to those companies that announced they will not open on Thanksgiving Day. It's telling that at this point stores must announce that they *won't* be open on a holiday.

Professorial Pregnancy part 2

I've tried to approach my pregnancy wardrobe with practicality and caution. It makes little sense to invest in a massive amount of money into attractive and yet temporary clothes. But logistically and as a person who works outside of the home, I need clothes that fit, that are comfortable, and that allow me to maintain some sense of visual academic professionalism expected by my students, colleagues, and supervisors. Thankfully, an academic professional context is fairly forgiving and I didn't need to acquire a rotation of maternity suits or traditional business clothing.

I knew all along I would need to buy actual maternity clothing. My Pregnant in Anthropologie series has been fun to execute, particularly during the second trimester and a few pieces still work for me at this stage. But my body didn't start off so "small" in the sense that I ever hoped or expected to forgo "maternity" clothes entirely. I admire those who can with the help of their own creativity, but I also think the possibility of pulling off a maternity-clothing-free pregnancy is body specific. And it is out of the control of the individual because every body adapts to pregnancy differently.

Accumulating some attractive pregnancy clothing wasn't something I expected to enjoy, despite my penchant for shopping. I resented the notion of spending on temporary clothing because I believed that "maternity clothes" were automatically not attractive. Thankfully, I was mistaken! I have managed to locate a number of pieces, designers, and boutiques that still feel very much in the style of pre-pregnant me.

Now that I'm in the third trimester, my body speaks of this pregnancy on my behalf. It announces itself to the world before I have a chance to confirm or deny. It needs no hand-on-belly "tell" for people familiar with what I looked like pre-pregnancy to understand what is happening.  This nonverbal announcement preceded by that period of "in between," can feel liberating for some. But I never forget that it is also separate and distinct from my own voice. And when you are a part of a smaller campus community, the fear is that your body will become fodder for gossip.

So far I haven't experienced much negativity with regard to my pregnancy but I have at times disliked the lack of control I have over this stage of visual "announcement." My maternity clothing has helped me to continue to feel like myself amid significant physical and emotional changes. So although I might have been able to get by with less by repeating much more, I am glad to have shopped carefully to secure deals on everything I've acquired.

To clarify, I will indeed be repeating my maternity pieces with some frequency, but I also need to admit that I've acquired more maternity clothing than I initially thought I would ever buy. This is due in part to gifts, sales, and stackable promotions at both mass and boutique retailers.  But I would be kidding myself to deny that the lack of control I've felt over my body's transitions has influenced my desire to shop, at times for retail therapy purposes. Clothing for me has always been a venue for exerting relative control amid otherwise stressful or challenging circumstances. My pregnancy has been normal and healthy but it is still a relatively new, disorienting, and temporary state. I don't necessarily recommend this method of coping, especially if there's not room in an ever-tightening budget, after all expanding one's family can be quite costly! But my maternity wardrobe budget has remained a lot smaller than what I have spent on myself in previous sale cycles and my partner and I are saving with even more aggression than usual, in anticipation of what's to come.


Although I dedicated discretionary funds toward temporary clothing, I do expect that many of these pieces will transition nicely into postpartum times. A number of the items are nursing-friendly. And at this point (other than a pair of cords) I don't expect I will need much else to get me through the rest of my pregnant experience. I'm glad to have pieces that enable me to still feel like myself while I'm in front of a classroom or attending committee/faculty meetings. Even if I look different from the outside and feel different on the inside, having maternity-friendly clothes with which to assemble professorial outfits permits me to maintain my professional self-esteem. For working moms-to-be, that absolutely is value-adding.

Outfit details:
Maternal America scoop neck dress with floral tie waist
Wolford tights (which are surprisingly belly-friendly!)
Giuseppe Zanotti flats (current season version is sans captoe)
Kors watch

10 days late outfit post and Mr. Porter review

Manoush dress

BP Cardigan

Stuart Weitzman flats

This is what I wore on NYE in 2011/2012. Although NYE presents a great excuse to wear a new dress, this one wasn't new. In fact, it wasn't even new to NYE. I also wore it back in 2007/2008. When I was deciding what to wear, I remembered I hadn't worn my navy lamé Manoush dress for years. So I figured why not! I don't find many occasions where I can wear shiny fabrics without feeling a little over the top.

 

When I wore it on 12-31-2007

This dress was one of my first Net-a-Porter purchases back when they still gave you the black boxes (even for sale items). The recently launched men's fashion brother site, Mr. Porter has their own hefty merchandise boxes.

Mr. Porter Box

This one is shirt sized and has the texture and heft of the boxes that sometimes contain nicer perfume gift sets. I imagine the intent is to evoke an era and aura of by-gone luxury shopping unfamiliar to most (myself included)... i.e. when people bought hats and things and those hats and things all came wrapped up in branded boxes. This used to be standard practice for many now-defunct department stores.

 Department store shopping boxes from this etsy listing

I suppose a number of designers still box up their items with much fanfare and quality packaging (Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Balenciaga, and Chanel spring to mind). But it is rare for a multi-brand retailer to do so (unless you request the item be boxed for gift giving). The result is that the shopping experiences offered by Mr. Porter as well as Net-a-Porter and even (to a lesser degree with their reusable garment bags and zip totes) Outnet feel unique and indulgent. Chris ordered from the sale section and seems pleased overall. He loved the products he purchased (a sweater and a shirt). He likes the selection of brands which included Paul Smith shoes like these from Bertie. They ship via UPS but do not require any signatures for delivery, unlike the Outnet and Net-a-Porter. The included notes and branding also convey a sense of continuity similar to the founding sister site. Chris's first order came with a Mr. Porter stationary card addressed to Mr. hislastname, which was pretty charming. Orders arrived swiftly and although he didn't need it, the returns process seemed simple.

Overall, Chris is glad that Mr. Porter strives to fill a gap in the online retailer boutique landscape for stylish men. The prices are high when you aren't buying from a sale but the selection of brands and merchandise are vast and sales do happen. Chris is hoping for an expansion of their online outlet, Outnet to incorporate the leftovers from Mr. Porter.

Roundup of links worth reading

I wanted to encourage people who are still shocked and still interested in the Anthroholic Scam Scandal to read intelligent contributions by bloggers who are offering analysis, reflection, confession, and suggestion.

Carly of Strawberry Heels Forever is from Canada (so she was more tempted to use Kim's services due to shipping costs when ordering directly from US retailers) and she knew first hand the maneuvers and runaround that Kim gave to bide herself time (and let the timeline for filing paypal dispute/claims processes expire). So did Anthropologiesque, unfortunately. And I'm sure by now everyone is familiar with the frustrations In Pursuit of Hippyness shared that helped crystallize how lengthy these transactions could take.

Being a recently degreed lawyer, Jewish Girl weighs in with some a fantastic analytical perspective while providing a comprehensive synopsis of everything that unfolded over the last few days. Her suggestions for moving forward are spot on, particularly the one about reconsidering the function (and import) of constructive critique.

Dea of Dea Diaries raises the really important point that part of why this happened is through the perpetuation of an internal hierarchy based on blogger popularity. I agree and also add (to reiterate Jewish Girl) that the intense moderation of legitimately constructive, critical,  red-flag raising comments was fierce on Anthroholic's blog. This led to a culture of silence because if victims couldn't issue their complaints on the owner's blog AND they didn't feel comfortable sharing negative experiences on other blogs (because of Kim's popularity leading to fear of ruffling feathers) then no one else was warned.

Roxy is hosting a great discussion about finances, blogging, budgeting, and shopping at Effortless Anthropologie that has a lot of people (myself included) sharing in the comments.

Little Girl Big Closet is speaking bravely and candidly about shopping addiction and personal struggles with with oniomania, which has generated productive discussion too. She also shares her own experiences (multiple and including positive and negative transactions) with Kim's personal shopping service. Similarly to Dea, Tara's words raise a significant question about popularity, power, and hierarchy in the blogosphere. How do we rebuild trust in one another while maintaining some policing mechanism to prevent this from happening again? When can we speak up even if it is about a beloved and popular member of the community?

Edited to add that Anjali of Goldenmeans shares her thoughts on why she was not that surprised or shocked that Kim did this. Instead, because she knew Kim's longer pre-blog history she's left feeling sickened and sad. I too knew Kim before she started her popular blog. I also knew this history making me unsurprised by Kim's actions. Both of us are confused that she didn't learn the lesson when she did this on a much smaller scale and was caught. Facing criminal charges and larceny will be a lot harder to brush under a rug.

The Mascarade also belongs to the forum mentioned by Anjali where all of us are members. She is weighing in on Kim's previous deceptions to members of the community. And she reminds us that many forum members tried to issue warnings to the community a year ago.

And finally, weighing in with some much needed levity are the hilarious ladies of Looks Good From the Back. 

Are there others? These were the ones on my radar but feel free to share yours or share more.

Pittsburgh Shopping Guide: Men's

Best of Men's Clothing Stores Article

Not long ago I was contacted by a producer at CBS Local to create digital content for the KDKA.com/CBSPittsburgh website. My first article went live today! If you are a Pittsburgher, ex-pat, or visitor who is interested in Pittsburgh shopping, be sure to check it out and share with your friends!

Shopping Destiny and Shopping Rituals

Today Anthropologie launched round two of the tag sale, presumably in preparation for the upcoming holiday weekend. Unlike last week when I wasn't interested in any newly cut items, I found myself longing for something. The Magellan Dress was reviewed in April and it was something I really adored. The printed mix was interesting and the fabric was very summery. But my size is sold out on the website. And I don't know (because I haven't allowed myself to make any phone calls) if my local stores (or any other stores, for that matter) have any left.

I've held back from calling because I'm still trying to cut back on my clothing consumption. Yes this dress would fill an arguable gap as I have nothing else like it. But I have way too many clothes and especially too many dresses. I have a lot of things that I still need to sort, sell, and donate before I feel comfortable shopping sales without reflection. Why does the desire for more continue to nag? Because the ideology of consumerism has penetrated my thinking so thoroughly! Buying is sold to consumers as a solution, a hobby, a way of conjuring status, a way of rewarding oneself, etc. Buying becomes emotional shorthand for a lot of people. I understand it and yet I am not fully able to resist its power.

Ideologies can function in defiance of rationality and accordingly, I find myself wondering if I should  swing by Bakery Square tomorrow. I convince myself that if they still have my size then it would be "fate." It is so silly. But I fall into this thought pattern even though I have a new dress that I am still undecided about (see yesterday's entry)! I wish my brain would be more cooperative. At least I have talked myself out of running a search with customer service. With the Tippy, I talked myself out of buying when it was in stock on the web. I caved a week later, after it was sold out. Part of me just wants to buy the Magellan now, to hold onto while I decide. Because if I do cave in a week the hunt will be annoying when most of them are long gone. Blah... I feel so silly but I really like that dress.

Anyway, if you want to see what made it to second and third cut, check out Roxy's rundown and the community-submitted comments here.

Favorite Buys of 2010

Plenty of my favorite blogs have done year in (usually outfits) posts. To name a few:

Roxy of Effortless Anthropologie
Rosa from Love at First Shop
Anjali from Golden Means
Marianne and Adrien of Looks Good From the Back
La Historiadora de Moda of Fashionable Academics
Carol and Kathryn of In Pursuit of Pretty Things

And because my own blog began primarily as a place to reflect and analyze my habits of consumption, here I will overview my top ten (mostly sartorial) purchases of the year. A favorite outfit recap will follow.

10. My stockpile of Havaianas bought in Brazil. I choose these recent buys because in addition to wearing them everywhere, they made great Brazilian themed gifts to give to loved ones. I learned quickly why they're inescapable because they are by far the most comfortable of their genre.

9. Two Paths Trenchcoat by Idra (from Anthropologie). When I was sorting through outfits, I noticed this trench carried me through Spring, Summer, and Fall. Now that tiered jackets are everywhere, I am sure it will look very obviously dated from 2010 in a few years. But I'm going to wear it and enjoy it while I can!

8. My Vintage Coach Satchel. I bought this little bag off ebay in March of 2010 and I've carried it constantly since. Any time I want a no nonsense, small sling bag I reach for this. It is so practical but also so cute and it cost very little.

7. Similarly to above, my two map printed satchels from Alviero Martini (also bought from ebay). They're smaller in size than I normally carry which makes them great on the go bags. I throw in my wallet, keys, phone, and lipgloss and I'm ready. They get tons of compliments despite being so 90s (or perhaps because of it!). And they match everything and nothing simultaneously.

5. My Burberry Trench. It is a shorter length but still so classic and unlike anything else I own. As much as I love the Two-Paths trench, I know this Burberry won't look dated in a few years. I will be able to wear this decades from now.

4. This is sort of cheating cause it was a gift but one I picked out and received from my parents. My Dyson vacuum. It is seriously a quality of life changer if you have hardwood and throw rugs (and need to transition quickly and easily between them). It is a quality of life changer if you have an adorable shedding dog. It is a quality of life changer if you are a little ocd about stuff. It is worth the money which is easier to say when it was a gift. haha But I adore it and had to put it in the top five. Even if it isn't sartorial, it outfits my home so beautifully that it gets a mention.

3. Ferragamo Varina flats and Valentino rehearsal dinner dress. Tied because of similar fanciness.

2. Chloé and See by Chloé everything. This year I noticed a shift. Not only did I buy more Anthropologie, but I replaced my brand obsession. My ebay searching and sale stalking used to be colonized by Marc Jacobs. Though I still love the pieces I have, I definitely coveted more Chloé than ever this year. I specifically expanded my selection of shoes and dresses.

 

1. My wedding dress. I must be honest. I truly dreaded shopping for wedding attire to the extent that I postponed it for as long as possible. I presumed the genre to be confining and largely uniform. It isn't that I don't find all brides to be beautiful, but I feared deeply the way that a wedding dress could erase or supplant my own personal style. I wanted to still be me and not merely "bride." Some of the shops I visited confirmed my anxieties by imposing the tyranny of the majority on me and ignoring my plea for sleeves. But then I visited Anne Gregory for the Bride and found a dress that was as me as I could have fathomed. And by the end of the night, I was so sad to take it off, knowing I'd likely never wear it again.

All in all, 2010 has been a very good year for my closet. In 2011 I resolve to sort through what I have and donate/sell those lesser worn items. Focus on pieces that transcend trends and seasons. And as always, fight the lure of sale goggles, try to buy less, etc. Happy New Year!

Serial Returns and Compulsive Online Shopping

One of the limitations of living in a small city is that the lack of retail variety. Many of the stores here don't carry my favorite lines so I find myself lusting and coveting the mere opportunity to see a garment in person, and try it on. To that end, I will occasionally succumb to favorable online promotions, free shipping, and strong return policies, ordering things that might not be kept unless they are purposeful, reasonably priced, and flattering. Lately I've had a spate of bad luck and ended up returning a lot of things I knew were risks. The benefit of this method is that I won't be tempted by low ebay prices because I will know how unflattering these particular items were on me. Exhibit A:

I blogged not long ago about a See by Chloe dress called The Favorite, in a lovely sky blue with ruffled sleeves. I hadn't realized that the bubble shape was held together with an elastic gather placed uncomfortably around the upper thigh area. This caused the dress to hike up quite a bit during any movement. And an already short dress quickly moved into scandalous territory. Back it went to Bloomingdales.com!

But it left me feeling guilty. It is not as though returns are a victimless endeavor. Particularly when you consider the environmental wake of online shopping and transportation of goods. Why had I purchased something sight unseen, anyway? I didn't need a dress. I just wanted it. And that compulsive move goes completely against what my resolution for this year was: To WANT less. But I try to remember that this project is not linear and I have good and bad weeks because I am fallible and human.  It is a good reminder that consumerism can feel so instinctive and exigent when its roots and its objectives are completely the opposite of both those descriptors.  I guess my summer should be spent contemplating: How does one unlearn that wanting? And why/when am I nagged by consumer desires most?

Resolved: On Wanting Less and NYE OOTD

Dinner with family and a very fun party with many local and far away friends. Dinner was casual and the party could have been, but why be casual on NYE?

Twinkle by Wenlan dress 

I wore the Marc by Marc Jacobs Kaleigh dress seen above but with tights and different shoes but managed to forget my camera and take no photos with my phone. I had the most fun I've had on any NYE of this decade. And I paid for it with a terrible headache the following day. But my memories of the evening are fond and I am thankful to have them.

My shopping and style resolutions are simple: Want less.

I intend to 'shop my closet' and enjoy the wonderful things I already have. And I am fortunate to be able to make such a resolution with confidence. Knowing that I have no immediate lack for basics, occasion pieces, and interesting options that yield versatility make this decision obvious and easy on the surface. But patterns of consumption are often far more complex and irrational than the practical acknowledgment of needs and veto of wants. Above all else, I aim to curb my compulsory desires for all things new. New for the sake of newness is just not compelling. I am baffled by how persuasive it seemed for so long.

That said, I am far from perfect and know myself better than to institute an indefinite ban. But I've been practicing wanting less for almost the entire fall season. Although I may have bought plenty of superfluous dresses in the last few months as sales cycled through, I only focused on two pieces from the season. And those are the last two I bought. 

I hope that savoring what I have already, rather than obsessing over the chase and hunt for more will assist me in acknowledging appropriately the privileges and good fortune I am grateful to experience in so many arenas of life. Happy 2010!

Online Purchase Review: The Outnet

I made my first purchase from The Outnet last month. This is a review of my experience.

I decided to bite on some low priced items from their clearance sale.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I found an APC dress and a 3.1 Phillip Lim dress deeply discounted.

The Outnet's periodic Flash Sales and their steady stream of new, past-season-but-seasonally-appropriate arrivals make it well worth a regular visit, in my experience. The detailed fit information, numerous photographs, and fantastic styling of items make it as useful and enjoyable an online research destination as it's fancier sister site, Net-A-Porter.

The only thing that could potentially improve the already detailed information would be customer reviews. That would probably take away from the site's sleekness but because it is already a discount destination, it wouldn't effect the status of the Outnet brand.

I still couldn't see them moving in this direction even though so many websites have opted to allow customers to voice their opinions (Revolve, Anthropologie, etc.). Thanks to online marketplace pioneers that first to permitted consumers to voice their praise and critiques of electronic and entertainment items, sellers of clothing, footwear, and accessories, like Zappos and Amazon (which now owns Zappos), have ushered in a trend that enables customers to weigh in on fit, quality, value, comfort, appearance, etc. I cannot help but expect that more and more websites will follow suit, eventually compelling luxury etailers to cave to demand.

But what Outnet lacks in reviews, it makes up for in customer service. My items arrived swiftly (considering they came from across the pond) and were packaged not in the chic hard black boxes of Net-a-Porter, but in a practical, bright white, amply sized, reusable zip-top shopping bag, emblazoned with their colorful circle logo and slogan, "It's Chic-onomics!" The items inside were wrapped carefully and separately, in white tissue paper. When I opened my package, it hardly felt like discount shopping.

Gilt Groupe and Bluefly before them, had really cornered the market on making discount feel deluxe, with their special packaging and helpful customer service. Alhough I've heard mixed reviews about Gilt, they've always been helpful to me. Bluefly has always been extremely accommodating and still has the best return policy of any of these sites, even though they reduced it from 90 days to 60. Still, The Outnet is worth considering if you can find a good price on something. I haven't used my reusable tote because I have all those Baggus but it will definitely be useful at some point!

Pittsburgh Waterfront Shopping Report: Filene's Basement Closing Sale, TJ Maxx and Marshalls Clearance Sales, etc.

Speck, being the little pre-arthritic pup she is, was almost out of her joint vitamin biscuits so I had to hit up a Petco this week. I decided to go to the Homestead Waterfront to check out the Filene's Basement closing sale and other Waterfront staples.

First up was Filene's. I spent a LONG time lingering here because everything was obviously non-returnable and final sale so the items I contemplated had to be sure things. By now most of the stuff was picked over. They had a HUGE fur coat section which is really weird because I've never before seen A fur at Filene's, let alone an entire section of furs.

The clothing for women was pretty meh. There was still a decent amount of Vault stuff from Barneys (75% off the marked price) including a dress by Rachel Roy, some Kate Spade for Topshop, all of the ugly Armani, and a formal looking Missoni clown dress for formal clown conventions. I bought the last See by Chloe dress which I had tried on months earlier.

What was left in Men's was all inspired by Ed Hardy and hideous save for some nicer dress shirts and ties. No Barneys Vault stuff to be found for men.

They had some luggage at decent prices (extra 20% off lowest price). I got chris and I these carryons from the future.

One gray and one black. I almost got red but I already have red luggage.

The shoe section was probably the most fully stocked of the whole store and the prices weren't great so I am not surprised. Lots of overpriced nine west, steve madden, lots of blowfish, rampage, etc. etc. for an extra 20% off in addition to their regular clearance section in shoes which had no bonus discounts. Nothing that exciting in handbags (additional 20% off). A few lesportsac mini organizer bags. I got a striped one that fits my iphone. Hopefully it will prevent tragedies like the great screen smash of holiday '08.

I made my final selections and headed to the checkout, feeling pretty sad and nostalgic for the glory days of Filene's shopping. Then I hit up Target. On my way there I passed Dicks which had great painted windows in honor of the Steelers:

I went to Target to scope the new Orla Kiely for Target housewares and accessories.

Nothing was out yet. Boo! I did see the Hayden Harnett for Target stuff and contemplated buying the fantastic umbrella. I will wait for a sale.

Next were Marshalls and TJ Maxx, where I found pretty great deals on nice sweaters. I got three merino wool Design History boyfriend cardigans (black, gray, and purple) for about 85% off retail.

Shown with my See by Chloe Dress

I also found some cute, cheap cashmere cardigans for 85% or more off retail. I rounded out my purchases with some gifts for a few people with upcoming bdays.

I passed on a very cute $29 Theory dress from fall of 2007 and a few other random mid level designer odds and ends. They had a couple Le Mystere and Felina bras in random sizes for $13. And some very pretty and soft Vera Wang pajamas for $25. If you are looking for Le Crueset French Ovens in Blue, Green, or Flame (orange) now is the time to hit up TJ Maxx and Marshalls because they had a bunch in various sizes.

Shoes were marked down also. I got these funny double-strap maryjanes by dollhouse for $10.

They are not leather but heel height is nice and low (probably under 3 inches) so they will be good for teaching.

I stopped at Giant Eagle, Getgo, and Petco too. But those stores are pretty boring, except for when you get to pet animals at Petco.