Cyber Monday Sales 2012

I’ve been lamenting to anyone who will listen that I’m rather underwhelmed by this year’s Black Friday sales. Le sigh and le big sad face. After an exciting order of two bags from Shopbop last Wednesday, I’ve been in a state of indecision and nothing’s really inspired me to click that “submit order” button. Main issue? The deals just weren’t quite at the level that I remembered from last year.

Luckily, Cyber Monday is here!  And I’m happy to report that stores are giving something just a little extra than they did at the Black Friday sales (but some just changed their codes).

Most of these are one day offers and only valid with US shipping:

Codes: 

• Origins – $10 off orders of $25 plus free shipping with code TENOFF
• J. Crew – still 25% off everything with the code MONDAY
• J. Crew Factory – was 40% off everything, now 50% off everything with the code YOURGIFT
• Loft – was 40% off everything (then 40% off selected items only), now 50% off everything with the code TODAYONLY
• Ann Taylor – was 40% everything… still 40% off everything with the code MONDAY
• Banana Republic, GAP, Old Navy – was 25% off storewide, now 30% off storewide with the code CYBER
• Piperlime – still 20% off with the code CYBER
• Urban Outfitters – $15 off $75 with the code SUPERCYBER

No code necessary:

• Kate Spade – surprise cyber sale
• Nordstrom – new markdowns
• Barneys – new markdowns and free shipping on orders over $200

My favorite of the bunch is this Kate Spade tote (was $425, now $199).  The only way this could be better if it was half the size!

A good friend also alerted me to a Chloe Marcie bag – small in nubuck leather which is newly marked down from $1,895 to $1,136 on Nordstrom… tempting, but I’m still holding out for the mini version!

Net-A-Porter (US Site): Sale on Now!

Technically I could’ve updated yesterday’s post, but this kind of needed a post of its own.

So normally I get Net-A-Porter sales notifications a bit late.  Maybe a few hours after it starts, sometimes a whole day.  And if you’re familiar with the world of online sales frenzy, a few hours is like a lifetime (half joking, maybe).

This time around, I was prepared.  I created a wishlist. I lurked. I checked my wish list throughout the day, and it paid off because before any emails or even before it was announced on the homepage, I discovered that some of my wish list items had been marked down!!!!!! I felt like I had beat the system!!

…except I couldn’t find anything to buy.  I considered this Mulberry Small Bayswater which is down to $945 (reduced by 30%).

I ooh’ed over this small Chloe Paraty.  It’s 40% down to $1077 (and I preened because I bought it in black last year at around the same price).

I aaah’ed over these Mulberry patent heels, reduced by 40% to $300.

At this point I realised I was probably just attracted to the colour orange and should not make any sudden purchasing decisions.  Another site in the “to be revisited” list.

P.S. Shipping to Australia is $55 from the US site.

Net-a-Porter Sale (US site)

The much awaited net-a-porter.com sale started today, and I had to hold off posting about it because I was in the middle of deciding whether or not to buy these Chloe two-tone leather pumps which are currently 50% off:

I love the minimalist look of these heels, and I’ve tried them on in store so I know they’re super comfortable as well. For the time being, I’ve tentatively decided against buying them, but who knows what will happen in the next few hours… or half hour… or 10 minutes….

P.S. If you can’t see the sale, you’re probably on the UK website.  Click the country in the top left-hand corner to select the US site by choosing United States as the location.

A Burst of Colour!

The sun is out, the sun is out this morning!!

I don’t exactly leap out of bed most mornings (and I didn’t today either), but I did get a nice burst of energy when I stepped out of the house and felt the natural sunlight on my sunscreened face, the sea breeze in my hair… the sound of nearby traffic reminding me that my bus was due any moment now.

I did however find a spare moment to photograph my outfit today, inspired by in my shoes‘s photos of her outfits, as seen from an “in my shoes” viewpoint.

Wearing: silk floral dress by Warehouse, cyan coloured heels by Hobbs, and cerise mini shoulder bag by Reed Krakoff (you may remember this bag as the other half of a tumultuous love affair that started in Boston).

And to my shopping buddies on the trip: yes, the heels and bag are filed under “C” in my mental shopping Filofax!

Speaking of shopping, Harrods has a 10% off offer available to Rewards members this weekend. I’ve been trying to decide on a colour in the Chloe Elsie mini bag, and this sale is just the push I needed to make a decision!


My heart says coral but my head says I have too much coral, so go for the skylight blue. (Net a porter says papaya red, which I’m not entirely sure is a different colour, but there’s no sale there so it doesn’t get a vote).

This is too much to deal with on a Tuesday morning!

The Woes of Credit Cards (while in San Francisco)

Before I left for my trip, I joked that I was only bringing $200 in cash and 3 credit cards. I ended up bringing 2 credit cards (packing light, you see), with heavy reliance on my 28 Degrees card. Which is why I was so distraught when, while trying to buy a Chloe Aurore satchel, that card was declined.

The pretty culprit:

Me: What?? We haven’t even reached the shopping destinations yet!!

(As part of the trip research, it was decided that LA and SF would not involve designated shopping time because the sales tax is relatively high. It was also inwardly agreed that shopping would occur everywhere despite this official plan.)

Apparently, my card had been sent to fraud protection because they had picked up a suspicious pattern of spending. (There was no actual fraud, I’d just bought a pair of Ferragamo flats about 20 mins earlier.)

So that’s how I spent about half an hour standing inside the Bloomingdales in Westfield, being transferred from one MasterCard representative to another, until I was told that my card would be cleared in 3 hours. For the record, I still think they just needed to press a button.

Unfortunately, when I tried to buy the bag again 3 hours later, it was still declined. Apparently the person who needed to press the button was “on lunch break” so the delay was taking longer than usual. I took this as a sign that I shouldn’t buy the bag, especially since it was seasonal and might go on sale, or at least to sleep on it until NYC (where there is 6 in stock) or on the Harrods website (where I’m sure it would be cheaper).

So I bought these Marc by Marc Jacobs rose gold heels instead, before quickly heading back to the hotel and stuffing it into my luggage and heading to the airport. You can’t see the heel, but they’re almost a cylinder or tear drop block heel.

Shoe tally = 4

Also bought some clothes and accessories, my favourite of which is this jacket and bangle:

All in all, I give San Francisco a 7 out of 10 for shopping. Their sales tax may be relatively high, but their Bloomies applies the 10% visitors discount to Ferragamo shoes.

Sightseeing

As for the sightseeing, I also visited the Palace of Fine Arts, Golden Gate Bridge (from a distance, at various distances), Lombard St, Alcatraz, made the long walk up to Coit Tower, and ate lots of food including this shrimp/prawn in amazing Worcester sauce at Town Hall, which is an American restaurant with southern influences…. Yum. Also ate what seemed like a family bucket in fried chicken.

Here is the proof:

This is the hill we climbed to get to the base of the Coit Tower (where we were met with… the stairs).

Next stop: Boston