How to make your next shopping trip (semi) pain-free:
Despite what countless romantic comedy movie montages have led you to believe, not all women love a shopping spree set to a catchy Top 40 song. If you’re like me, you commit to your time at the mall the same way you commit to an afternoon with your significant other’s grandparents. It won’t be fun, but you’re going to get through it…
Style Girlfriend readers get 15% off their first purchase at men’s shopping service, Bombfell
Last year during a particularly busy stretch at work, I enlisted my best friend as a personal shopper. Armed with great taste and a less-than-demanding job, she had both the time and the wherewithal to take my list of fall must-haves (skinny cargo pants, navy wool v-neck sweater, wedge boots) and find them for me. I gave her my credit card info (because she’s my best friend and because I check my statement online most days so I knew she wasn’t booking trips to Cabo with it), and every couple weeks, a package would arrive on my doorstep, checking off another item on my shopping list. Even better? Everything I bought felt like a present…even though I’d paid for whatever it was with my own money.
The guys behind Bombfell took this idea – stocking your closet without having to shop – and removed the need for a bored-at-work best friend from the equation. So far, it seems to be working… (MORE)
J.C. Penney wants to change the way you shop
My grandma is going to be so disappointed.
In a presentation to investors this week, J.C. Penney announced they’d be doing away with the sales, coupons, and deep discounts my grandmother so proudly details after her latest shopping trip to the stalwart department store.
Starting February 1st, the store’s merchandise will be permanently marked down by at least 40% to a new “everyday low price.” There will still be sales – but they’ll only be held twice a month, and only on select items. (MORE)
Style Girlfriend + Style Owner
A start-up savvy reader gave me the heads up about Style Owner, a new site that allows you to create your own online store for your social network. Users curate their “inventory” from the 2,000+ brands the site partners with. You can even play stylist, creating personal recommendations for a given shopper.
The site already has some of my favorite “beta wardrobe” brands - those companies whose clothes you graduate to after your first cycle of buying your own clothes. When you realize paying more money for clothes does, actually, get you better clothes (usually). Like Steven Alan, whose crisp dress shirts I love. Or Burkman Brothers - if you ever get bored looking at bare wrists, you cant go wrong with their bracelets. Both are favorites of mine for a guy looking to class up his wardrobe, and both are featured in my storefront.
It was fun to go in there and be really picky - choosing this pair of boots, but not the same style in another color, or that pair of jeans, but not their slightly skinnier (hipster-er?) cousin.
Take a look, and let me know if you like what you see. I’ll be happy to keep it up if it feels like something people could get something out of. My goal on here is always to provide you with the shortest, fastest route possible to good style, and a virtual store seems like a good channel for doing just that.
Right now the site is geared more towards women, but they say they’re getting more guys’ stuff in soon. Let me know also, what brands you’d like to see featured, and I’ll keep my eyes peeled for them as the site grows.
Full disclosure, I receive 10% commission on purchases, but that’s not why I put that $700 leather jacket in there. That thing’s just badass.
(This is what I imagine Black Friday looks like. I’m not that far off, right?)
Thanksgiving is almost here. Since the holiday serves as a welcome reminder to reflect on what we’re grateful for, I’ll get the ball rolling early. I’m grateful to live in New York City as the biggest shopping day of the year approaches. Why? Because Black Friday doesn’t really exist here. Or if it does, it’s not nearly the same.
Since our little concrete oasis is devoid of malls, we skip the whole, wake up before dawn and camp out in the Best Buy parking lot to get your hands on a flat screen TV with a manufacturers’ mail-in rebate experience that’s a part of so many suburbanites’ holiday weekend. (And for all you NYC-sticklers, don’t try to tell me Manhattan Mall is a “real” mall. One JC Penney’s and an Express do not a mall make. Where’s the food court? Where’s the funny-smelling novelty store that still sells lava lamps?!)
Is my adopted hometown any worse for missing out on this? I don’t think so.
Now, I don’t begrudge people their traditions. I know plenty of folks for whom this yearly retail pilgrimage is as important to their Thanksgiving holiday as overdosing on pumpkin pie. In fact, I have my own traditions I’d never think of giving up. My favorite? Sleeping. I like it so much, in fact, that I celebrate it every single night, usually for upwards of seven hours at a time.
Apart from the desire to sleep off my food coma, I have to ask: are the deals even that amazing? Since I purposefully ignore the flyers alerting me to “SALES DEALS AND STEALS!”, maybe I’m missing out on the chance to buy a brand-new bedroom set for just a dollar or some such extraordinary savings. I don’t think I’m alone, though, in saying the last thing I want to think about after toasting our country’s founding with half a turkey resting comfortably in my stomach is a strategy for navigating an angry mob of discount shoppers. Or how best to bundle up for a pre-dawn frost.
And at the risk of offending those still dealing with a dial-up connection, do these Black Friday dwellers realize that the mall stores offering these “doorbuster deals” are the same ones you can find by typing their name into your internet browser’s search bar? Meaning, I can roll out of bed, open up my laptop, and buy the same stuff in my PJ’s as you picked up in your parka. And for those who’d argue that the deals aren’t as good as those you find in stores, I’d remind you that Cyber Monday is quickly closing that gap. Once you factor in the cost of convenience, I’d argue it’s even closer. My sleep is worth at least the cost of a discounted DVD player.
When it comes to footwear, the “Business Casual” dress code fails miserably in accounting for a change in seasons. If your office frowns on showing up to work in flip flops (and, of course, most do), this might be a great time to go shopping for some new dress shoes. Because if your toes can’t see the light of day, they should at least be hidden from the sun in style and comfort.
There are two criteria a man should follow when selecting footwear: how the shoe looks and how it feels. Too often, you wind up with one or the other. This doesn’t have to be the case.
As good shoes can be a big investment, remember this: the most expensive shoes are the ones that end up sitting, unworn, in the back of your closet. So make sure you really like a pair before you bring them home.
After the jump, a few tips to keep in mind before you head out shoe shopping:
Welcome to my men's style blog. I'm Megan Collins.
I love helping guys look great; that's why I'm here to give you the female perspective on men's style.
Got a question? Ask away.
