Fashion and Gadgets Mix

Staying true to my geeky-side, and mixing it up with my good fashion sense, I'd like to reveal my latest creation http://www.myfashiongadgets.com/. It's a fashion gadget portal made for the fashion-forward sophisticated computer-age girls like moi who are always on the look out for the next great outfit.

If you ever wondered what those little windows are on my blog containing fashions from different stores, they're the latest Google gadgets I've written just like the ebay gadget, it allows you to go through in this case fashion websites without ever having to leave your home page, so you can window shop and compare before buying anything. These gadgets also give you the ability to save anything you like with just a button click to a site that I maintain. It's a easy way to see how the different pieces you chose would go together because you'll get to see all that you've bookmarked on one page. You can see all my fashion gadgets here http://www.google.com/ig/authors?hl=en&author=lpan.feedback%2B---vs%40gmail.com The picture in the upper right hand corner is an example of the bookmark page
Enjoy. Feedbacks are welcome at lpan.feedback[@]gmail.com.

Easy way to search for fashion on Ebay

Staying true to my geeky side, I wrote this little gadget that can go on your google home page. It let's you search ebay and many other classified listings all in just one little rectangular area. Take a look. The fact that I don't have to open a million windows to browse through different sites is pretty neat. You can add it to your Google home page by following this link. Another great way to shop for fashion.

Purple

I dig the Purple collection from Arden B better than their Red collection from a while ago. Maybe I'm just a purple gal, but the pieces look less trashy ... I suppose you can't go too wrong with the color of the royalty.

J Crew October 2007 Catalogue

Gosh ... they never seize to amaze. I dumped their stock a few days ago for a small profit because I think in the short term their stock is over-priced (I know, I know ... market timing isn't a good thing to do, but considering the whole retail sector isn't doing so well right now, more likely than not, J Crew would not be immune from it all. At least I luckily bought low, sold high). Then today I openned their October catalogue, and once again it made me drool. BUT ... it's one of those catalogues that make me go "If I have lots of money one day, I wanna dress like that". As far as catalogues go, it's the best of its kind out there. As far as the prices go ... ouch and unfortunately that day may never come ... or come way down the road. It's a good thing that they've figured out the formula for concoting the most addictive catalogue because I'll be hooked on this one for the next couple decades, and maybe one fine day in the next couple decades, I'll be rich enough to buy the whole store. I bet that's what they're betting on too.

The store definitely targets the young, the chic and the career-gal types. They understand the audience well, so well that everything about the clothes fit this young/chic/career-gal image to a T. That's the upside, that they do what they do well. The downside is that I think the store would only do really well in the major metropolitan areas, and perhaps some rich college towns at best. Last time I counted on Craigslist there are 23 major metropolitan areas in the US, so they already have a pretty good coverage on those. They can grow ... but only to a limit. I don't think J Crew would ever be as ubiquitous as the GAP. The middle America can afford the GAP, but not J Crew. I still think this stock would be a good long term investment. But I don't think you're looking at another GAP by any means even though it's now headed by a former GAP guy.

Another positive about J Crew is its new Crew Cuts department. As the young professional gals evolve into professional women with little ones spring up (such as moi), they will naturally love to dress their little ones in the same trendy style. I can't wait till my baby hits the 2 year mark.

Are anorexic models out?

Look at the fall 07 catalogue of shopbop. Their models actually have some meat on their stomach, looking almost womanly. The red head looks like she gained some weight for the better. Finally! I complained about their skinny models a couple years back, and they told me that they'd take it into consideration. I guess they did after all! The clothes look hotter than ever because the models look their best humanly possible without reminding me of match sticks. I have to say that I am more likely to buy their stuff now than two years back.

J Crew Shares Tumbled, but the upside ...

J Crew shares tumbled last Thursday after it missed analyst expectations. The share price continued to lower Friday and Monday. All this is good news to me because I've been eyeing this stock for a while now for a good buying opportunity. There is essentially nothing wrong with the company, and the recent selling was nothing more than the result of the herd mentality. J Crew did well last quarter, but not as well as some expected. One source attributed the off the target results to the fact that they stocked too many dresses which did not sell well. I'd agree. I wasn't crazy about their dresses over the summer, it was a lot of nothing, but your can't overlook the rest of their tantalizing summer line without drooling. Many of my friends and I have been loyal fans of J Crew since our mid-twenties, loving its clean and chic design paired with top quality fabrics. Need I mention the vibrant colors? Now that we're turning thirty, while we've out-grown the GAP, and Express, J Crew has remained at the top of our favorite list. Overally speakings, the company has got healthy financials, and a Fall Collection to die for. Is it too obvious that I'm recommeding a Strong Buy for this company?

Doo.ri

New York Fashionweek is underway. My favorite collection so far belongs to Doo.Ri. She makes the jersey, my least favorite fabricate, shine by using the most intricately designed cuts and layers, resulting in artful pieces of sophistication and romanticism. It's fashion rocket science at its best. Checkout http://www.doori-nyc.com/.

Vera Wang Interviewed by Wall Street Journal on Her Kohl's line

I look up to Vera Wang even though I have never bought a single Vera Wang label in my life. I admire her for her talent and hardwork, and her story is one of inspiration. The fact that she is of Asian decent makes me feel proud that Asian girls can make it so far in this dog-eat-dog man's world. So imagine how excited I was to read an interview with her in the Wall Street Journal. She's coming out with a collection called Vera Vera Wang for Khol's discount chain, at very low-end prices. In the beginning of the interview, she was asked about whether she thinks that it's a step down from designing thousands-dollar wedding dresses, and the several hundred dollar ready-to-wears that hold much prestige. Her answer was very Liz-Claibornesk, that it would be great to dress women of all ages and sizes.

It's all fine and danddy until we got to this question:

WSJ: Do you think middle America is getting more or less sophisticated about fashion?

Ms. Wang: I have been all over the United States in my fashion career, and one thing I noticed was how terrific women look today. I see the way girls are put together and how their moms are put together, and I am really pretty amazed. They know what the flip-flop is, the T-shirts, they have the shorts. They have a special jean. They have a great designer handbag.

... eh ... I think Vera Wang is just trying to be very nice here. T-shirt, flip-flops and jeans are pretty much the only things middle America knows. Of course she couldn't have said that or she would have sounded arrogant and have ticked off too many future customers. If being put-together means T-shirt, flip-flops and jeans, then Old Navy and the Gap would suffice. I certainly hope that her collection is more than just T-shirt, flips and jeans.

In any case, I will definitely check out Vera Vera Wang at my local Khol's. People go for the extra edge when they go for designer labels. I hope her collection will be as edgy as the label that comes with it.

Arden B. is having a huge sale 70% off

Make sure you click on the image to print out the whole coupon. I love their jeans, but not so much the dresses from this season ... I suppose that's been the trend this season, short short short. The retro style is too impractical for my taste.

Beware of their store policy of no accessory returns. They almost got me for $100 bucks when I bought an outfit, and when the dress wasn't what I wanted, they gave me a hard-time on returning the clutch that I got to go with the dress.

Asian fashion vs. European fashion vs. American fashion

My husband is of the opinion that anything from China or Korea or Asian fashion in general are no comparison to European fashion. As much as I hate to disagree with his sweeping assertion, I have yet to convince myself that Asian fashion can truly stand on its own in the world fashion Arena.

You can do your own comparison by checking out the two websites below
http://www.yesstyle.com/ for Asian fashion from designer to discount brands
http://www.custo-barcelona-shop.com/ for European designer fashion
Okay ... yeah ... sorry no comparison. As far as coutures go, Asia still has qutie a bit of catching up to do ... but I personally don't think that you need to be dressed in couture to look good.

I think the average ready-to-wears in Asia are more stylized than their US counter parts (not European counterparts), but perhaps that's because the average US shoppers have more conservative tastes (my DH is also of the opinion that US shoppers have no taste period). I'll admit that many things on yesstyle.com make me drool (even though custo-barcelona-shop.com makes me drool even more), and cry because they don't come in my new size after baby.

I think a lot of the Asian stuff can look very cute on Western bodies if only they come in larger sizes. Even some Asian women such as myself have problem finding clothes in their own countries due to the size limitations, and I am by no means large. It's fortunate that I live in American, and buying clothes has always been a breeze for me, but in Asia, a size 6 or 8 would be considere big, and when it comes to shoes, I should forget about it, size 8 is as big as most brands would carry. I am sadly, 8.5, so it's not much fun shoe-shoping in Beijing or Shanghai when I'm faced with a dizzying array of selections and only to find that nothing comes in my size. But I digress. When it comes to clothes, an average sized American girl would feel large shopping in China. There is definitely an obvious size discrimination in Asian fashion. It's also quite unfortunate that I live in America for reasonably priced clothes here have no edginess; they make me yawn most of the time. A tiny bit of design would give the sticker price some shock value. Why can't we strike a balance?

My Facebook Fashion Application

Korean Modern Fashion 2

Also by the same Korean designer. It's fun and flirty, and great for the city life style. I can see Cary Bradshaw in this with a cute pair of Manolo. I think before Sex and the City had couture labels lending them costumes for the show left and right, they could have done very well dressing her in today's Korean designers.

Korean modern fashion

This dress is by a Korean designer. Isn't it lovely? It's got a very cute Asian sensibility to it. Why can't we get things like this in US. I love the light fabric, and the ultra-feminine style. The little bit of design in this dress would have allowed its price to be marked up to over 100 in US, but in Asia, you can get it for a quarter of that.

Online Clothes Shopping Guide

As much as I love the convenience of buying stuff online, it hasn't been a smooth sailing experience when it comes buying clothes online. In fact, recently I've sworn several times to never buy another piece of clothing online. But as you can guess, the convenience and the increasingly powerful digital advertising media keeps drawing me back again and again to the stores where I've made bad purchases hoping that this time around it's going to be different. However I can't say that all of my online-shopping experience has been bad, and there are definitely lessons to be learned and tips to note down, so I'd like to summarize my experience below in hope that it will help others in the quest for the perfect online clothes shopping experience. I will be focusing on those stores I frequent the most.

Victoria's Secret

Beauty is in the [fill in the blank]. My answer --- model. I don't think I'm the first girl to ask the question "why does it look so good on the model and not on me"? No actually I don't think it's just because the model is prettier and thinner, and have bigger boobs. It also has much to do with the quality of the clothes. Sometimes I'm just not so convinced that what I see on the catalogue is actually what I get in the mail. As far as clothing from VS goes (excluding lingerie), my overall impression is that they are made of poor quality material, and have just so so or below average workmanship compare to items in the same price range that you may find in department stores.

Lingerie on the other hand fares better, however you still risk getting sub-par quality items if the item you've chosen is not sold in the stores. It's definitely easier to pass off cheaply-made items for more than what they are online just by putting them on a pretty model since you can't feel or touch the material. The company knows it and takes full advantage of that fact.

Overall Impression: Unsatisfactory
Clothes - thumbs way down
Lingerie - thumbs up for in stores
thumbs up for online if item also available in-store, and is on sale
Return Shipping: $5

ASOS.com
My previous post rated ASOS very high in terms of their online-advertising effort, but this is a post about the quality of items sold, and I'd have to say that they too suffer from the same malady as Victoria's Secret. What rated ASOS so high in the previous post is what rates them so low in this post, because the glitzy pictures and run-way videos raise your expectations of the products so high that in the end the let-down is so great that it's almost unbearable. More often than not have I ended up buying poor quality items that can not be worn period, or can not be worn again after one wash. However, I have to say that I have been buying mostly their store brand stuff, which is much cheaper than the designer collection they have. Perhaps my cheapness got to me. But who's not looking out for bargains?

Overall Impression: I can't resist their website ... sigh. But most of the stuff on sale are better off left on the models. I'm sure you can't go wrong with their designer stuff, but I'd much rather just try them on in a store to make sure things fit if I'm going to blow that much money on a piece of clothing.
Sales: they are so very very enticing but more likely than not, you're better off spending the money on buying one good piece of clothe than purchasing many pieces of ill-fitting rags.
Return: They're in UK! So don't plan to return anything.


J Crew

I love J Crew for its quality in stores and online. The down-side of purchasing items online is that you can not return the clearance items period. So if you happen to get them in the wrong size, you are stuck with them. However, the quality never fails to impress me regardless of what I get. Their online items are as good as their in store items. However their in-store sales are much better than their online sales.

Overall Impression: Great Quality
Sales: better in store than online
Returns Negatives: can not return clearance items bought online

Gap
I think the quality of their clothing in general has been going down in the recent years, even though the price hasn't. And as in the J Crew case, their online quality is very comparable to their in-store quality because the items sold are more or less the same.

However I did enjoy shopping at Gap Maternity online last year. The clothes are very comfortable and stylish as pictured online. I also loved the return policy where you can return the clothes in any store free of charge.

Quality: thumbs up for maternity, but down for general women's clothing
Returns: good anywhere in-store

Banana Republic
The only thing I've bought from Banana Republic online ever was a belt since I wanted to test out the waters before doing any bulk purchases. To my dismay, the item turned out to be of lesser quality than pictured.

Nordstrom
Great sales for design brands. The quality is guaranteed by the fact that you are purchasing designer labels. They also allow you to return online-bought items to any stores. I would definitely buy from them again if I weren't so cash-strapped right now.

Shopbop.com
The items sold on this website are in general over my price range, however, it's still nice to see what kinds of nice things are out there. While pregnant I wanted to buy something to motivate myself to lose the baby weight after baby, so I went to the website and found a designer red dress which was on deep discount. When the dress came, of course I was too big to fit into it, so I waited and waited. Let's just say that in the end, the dress acted as a great motivator, and that was about it.

Fashion E-Newsletter Digest

Gap, Banana, Victoria's Secret, all step aside and make room for UK's ASOS. When it comes to fashion e-newsletters, the Brits kick ass of all that America has to offer, and maybe even make them look just a tad prudish.

As a fanatic of fashion e-newsletters, my subscriptions cover virtually all major US labels. Do I read them all? Not really, in fact most hit the trash as soon as I set eyes on them. I'd say that the average newsletter will command no more than 2 seconds of my attention before hitting the delete button. ASOS though, is definitely a dimond in the rough. Please note however that I am not comparing the clothing quality, or prices of the named stores. This article is written from purely a newsletter perspective.

What makes ASOS newsletter special? The obvious one is that it's eye-catching. The layout is alwasy pleasant and interesting to look at. The odd angles and diagonal lines section up the page in such a way to make the advertised items compete for attention with each other, yet prevent the page from looking over-crowded. My first reaction is always "wow look at all these cool stuff they have". Then my eyes quickly scan the page for those thing I like. The newsletter usually features several different styles of fashion and color schemes, so that there is always something for everyone, regardless of your taste.

Scroll it Baby
Some web designers believe that everything should be contained at the top of the page without the user having to scroll down. It seems that most of the US fashion newsletters adhere to this concept religiously, by fitting all that they can in just one screen. But in my opinion that's is gambling. Since your real-estate is limited, you have to pick and choose carefully of the things you can advertise, and since there are fewer things you can advertise, you can only guess as to what most customers would be interested in seeing. But what if you guessed wrong? Delete. I also think that this rule is quite old, at least I've heard it since way back in college when dial-up was still hot. It would have made plenty of sense back then because people didn't have the patience to wait for things on a large page to load. But with the advant of Internet technologies, having to scroll down the page has become less and less of an issue. If I subscribe to a fashion e-newsletter, I want to see lots of pictures. The more the better. It's all about the visuals. Plus if you make top of the page interesting enough, who wouldn't want to scroll down for more?

Case and point. Checkout the Victoria Secret and Banana Republic e-newsletters to the left. The former chose to go with the black and brown color scheme (I hate that dress by the way), and the latter went with the professional white (I'm not looking for office attires at this moment). Neither newsletters got a click-through from moi because nothing caught my eyes, whereas ASOS got at least two.

Having more is more and less is maybe well ... not at all

VS and Banana also lost out to ASOS on the frequency at which the newsletters are sent. You would think that having less content per newsletter would encourage the companies to send out the newsletters more frequently, but au contrar. ASOS sends them out daily, compare to the several-daysly or whenever we feel like it from most other companies. But perhaps the US companies are correct in not subjecting their subscribers to these boring uninspiring e-newsletters on a daily basis. Newsletters from ASOS however are the things I look forward to reading with my morning coffee. Keep them coming baby.

I suppose one of the reasons ASOS stand out so much in the digital print format is because this is their arena for they are purely online-based; having a fabulous e-newsletter is essential to attract new and old customers to their website. But wait, wouldn't the same hold true for pretty much all clothing labels with an online prescence?