Tag Archives: ecommerce

Indulge your inner retro-sexy Happy Homemaker with Tie Me Up Aprons

22 Mar

If you’re like me, you probably do a fair share of cooking.  And if you’re even more like me, you’ve probably ruined a shirt or dress or something else while you were cooking.   My Mom always used to tell me to wear an apron while cooking, so that I wouldn’t ruin what I was wearing.  So when my friend, photographer Bruce Barone, posted some pictures he took for   Tie Me Up Aprons , I  thought I’d died and gone to clothes preserving apron heaven!

Anita Senkowski, proprietress of Tie Me Up Aprons, creates her unique confections from out-of-production and

NEW!! The REAL Krispy Kreme Girl Apron. A Tie Me Up Exclusive!!

vintage fabrics.  She has a great eye for color and pattern and assembles her aprons with a certain je-ne-sais-quois  that will make you say “hey, that’s wicked cool! I’ve got to have it!”

Considering the new season of Mad Men starts on Sunday–well, you might just need one of these to protect your perfect Betty Draper party dress while serving era appropriate hors d’oeuvres!

If you order now, enter the code HIGHFASHION1 and you will receive a 15% discount on any apron, including the made to order Zen Charmer (from a very limited fabric) This offer extends through March 31, 2012!

Tie Me Up Aprons are hand crafted in Michigan, USA, and ships worldwide (so no excuses you people in the UK, Australia, and everywhere else.)  Tie Me Up takes PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.

“Like” Tie Me Up on Facebook and follow for the latest updates on the new fabrics Anita’s getting plus other cool news from Tie Me Up.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Barone Photography

Luxury Flash Sale sites fall victim to consumer boredom

2 Feb

Really now. . . how many L.A.M.B. purses, seasonless Hugo Boss dresses, and gourmet cheeses can anyone afford these days?  Apparently, not too many….

no, this is not today's gourmet cheese offering from Gilt Group, but oh, if it was! ;)

BetaBeat reports that several luxury flash sale sites have sustained substantial layoffs in the past few months, including Gilt  Group, the American imitator of Ventee-Privee.  The article gives a heads-up on what’s what at many of the top, and not so top, flash sale sites.  Are they retail flashes in the proverbial pan, or will they have staying power over the long haul of our recessionary times??

Honestly, I signed up for Gilt, Hautelook (owned by Nordstroms), Ideeli, and several others in order to see what was under the hood, so to say.  And here’s my take: they’re boring.  Item offered on a continual basis are handbags, shoes, shoes and handbags.  Maybe some jewelry, maybe some cute underwear (perhaps not in my size.)  There may even be clothing from time to time, but the really good items sell out quickly–or there aren’t any good items to begin with.

The thing is, shopping, for me anyway, is a way to satiate that old hunter-gatherer instinct.  There’s something incredibly satisfying about getting out of the house to go hunting and gathering–so much more funthan pointing and clicking.  Sure, I can send something back if it turns out not to be what I want, but I’d rather make that decision before an item gets into my home.  Once an item crosses the threshold, I don’t want to concern myself with packing it up and sending it back, even if the return shipping fees are paid.

The appeal of luxury flash sale sites must be to the suburban McMansion owner who works long hours, lives off credit cards, and believes that status is conferred on those whose wardrobes are branded with big names.   Because, honestly, in small towns we don’t really care about status brands.  And in big cities, status brands are, literally, just around the next corner.

If you really feel the need…

As our economy shifts, the suburban McMansion owner may no longer have the spare credit rating to own a litter of  L.A.M.B. handbags,  let alone care about the status conferred by private vineyard wines and artisanal cheeses.

So, who knows what the long-range is for these sites–some may last, and some may fold.  But since I really enjoy the tactile sensation and hurly burly of hunter-gatherer shopping, I think I’ll spend more time at the malls and outlets and ditch my “memberships” to these sites.  That certainly will cut down on my daily spam intake for sure.

Swivel virtual dressing room to relieve the pain of long lines and virtual mishaps

13 Jan

You know what it’s like to stand there, and stand there, and stand there waiting for someone to come by and open the dressing room door, or perhaps you just don’t feel like taking something off to try on one lousy blouse…

That’s where Swivel, the virtual dressing room, could save you a whole lot of aggravation.

Swivel was demo’d this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  FaceCake Marketing Technologies, which developed the snazzy proprietary software is hoping that it will be used by virtual as well as mall-based retailers.  Swivel makes good use of motion-sensoring technology in webcams and Microsoft Kinect to scan your body and then fit you into the items you’d like to try on.

Here’s a screen shot from the Los Angeles Times video of how Swivel works:

Honestly, if I happen to be in a store, I’d rather just buy something and then return it if it doesn’t fit.  However, I can see this as a boon to online retailers.  I will often not buy from online retailers if I am not sure of  their sizes.  Size charts help but sometimes there are multiple manufacturers sold by one online retailer.  Sometimes they have manufacturer/designer specific charts and sometimes they don’t.  Product reviews help (esp. when they note if an item fits too small or too large.)  To have the addition of a visualization before ordering an item could certainly save a whole lot of return troubles!

Note:  I believe I saw Swivel, as well as some other and quite different virtual try-on software at the Fashion 140 conference in New York City last spring.

ShoeDazzle.com Update: 3 Reasons why I haven’t ordered yet

28 Dec

I joined ShoeDazzle.com back in May, and have yet to place an order.   There are 2 reasons for this and most of them came to me well before the rumors of a Kardashian sweat shop in China and child labor cropped up.

First, consider the $39.95 price.   After over six months of reviewing a variety of styles, most of the shoe materials are “man-made.”   When photos of products are enlarged to view them better, the quality of the workmanship appears to be comparable to a $24.95 pair of shoes from Payless.

Second, many of the heels are either incredibly high or incredibly frumpy.  It’s not that I’m such an “old lady” that I don’t wear high-heeled platforms.  In fact, I have several pairs of well-made, high quality platform shoes with 4.5 inch heels.  I’m not about to risk my ankles to a pair of high, high heels when the surface workmanship doesn’t appear to be all that stellar. And order a lower heeled shoe?  Have you seen them?  Many of the lower-heel styles look like they came from the back of my closet–in the 1980s.  I will make an exception for the flats, some of which are rather cute, but the site does not offer a view of the interior of the shoes.  With flats, I like to see how they are stitched and what the insoles looks like.  I may, however, take a chance with a pair of flats.

Third, many of the styles are downright ugly or appear more than once under different names.  Just look at Rika and Mayci.  Same shoe, different material. 

I’m less than impressed…..

As for other products on the ShoeDazzle.com site, well, the one purse that I thought I might like to order, a small evening bag with a skull clasp that resembled this Alexander McQueen skull clasp bag sold out in no time flat.  All the other styles of bags and jewelry have left me feeling, well, kind of flat.  Not anything I would necessarily carry nor wear.

Bottom line:  I’m not all that thrilled with ShoeDazzle.com, and my expectations for its products are not real high.  That being the case, perhaps I won’t be too disappointed.  Except perhaps by the price.

Product Review: L’Oreal Elnett Satin Hairspray Holds for the Holidays

22 Dec

Over a 30 year period I believe I’ve tried every single hairspray out on the market.  Everything from high-end (Bumble & Bumble) to ultra-cheap (Aqua Net) and found the results to run the gamut from failed-to-hold to frighteningly firm.  So when I heard all the raves for L’Oreal Elnett Satin Hairspray, I took them with a grain of something ozone-free….

But wow!  This is truly the best hairspray I have ever used!  Tremendous hold, even in humidity, and still I could comb it out and not break hair by the handfuls.  That was with the Extra Strong Hold–which I probably don’t need but was the only sample size available on my day of purchase.

I noticed also that it did not have a weird smell nor did it make my hair old-lady shiny.  The “satin” finish is very natural and it lives up to the promise of “unscented.”  So no clashing with my favorite fragrance.

While you’re checking out the L’Oreal website for more info on Elnett, check out other features like Special Offers and all sorts of beauty tips underneath the various tabs (Cosmetics, Hair Care, Hair Color, etc.)  Since some of my favorite products are L’Oreal, I’ll be visiting the site often for more information.

You can purchase Elnett at most drugstores and retailers like Target

ShoeDazzle.com Update…

24 May

I’ve decided to wait to see what ShoeDazzle.com recommends for me for the month of June. There were some great styles for May, but thought I might give it a month or two–or wait for something that really strikes me–before I place an order. When I do, you’ll hear about it!