Uniqlo to Open Second New York Location @ 666 Fifth Ave. (Between 52nd - 53rd St.)

Sept 3: Hickey Freeman Showroom Sample Sale

Showroom Sample Sale

September 3, 2009

10 – 4pm

At the hickey showroom

745 Fifth Avenue

Suite 500

Sample size 40 regulars and Mediums

Suits - $199

Sport Jackets - $150

Everything Else 80% off

Visa, American Express & Master Cards Accepted

Black Friday: I told you so

I really can't stand Black Friday, or perhaps I just don't really like Saks. I ran in there this morning to check out the coat sales, and if they had my size in an army green Searle wool jacket, I would have bought it - I think it was only $136 with all the sale reductions. But otherwise I'm just not into Saks, I suppose. There are other sales going on today - Lord & Taylor, Cole Haan, Century 21, Daffy's, Bloomingdale's...if you're into that kind of thing. However, I'm guessing that the sales will continue and even improve between now and Christmas with the state of the economy.

JEANS?!

So I went to no fewer than 5 stores this weekend looking for jeans (there's a story behind my search that I will disclose soon).
Maybe it's just the time of year, but it appeared all along 5th Avenue that there is next to no merchandise anywhere! And what is going on in Ann Taylor? It was like a color blind monster barfed in there. The work-appropriate apparel seemed all but gone.

BCBG Max Azria - 5th 'n' 40th

I have been scoping out the new BCBG Maxazria store on the northeast corner of 5th Avenue and 40th St., which used to house a Pier 1 Imports, if I am not mistaken.

Today there were boxes being delivered, the contents of which I do not know. But a quick peek inside the joint tells me that there's still a while to go until this latest palace of retail therapy opens to the public.

Sizes: Club Monaco vs. H&M

Well by now you all should know that I am a "Club Monaco Ho." I can't get enough of that store. I think it has to do with my undying love of the 80s, which I feel "The Club" regularly invokes. I tend to visit the one down on Fifth Avenue, fly back to the sale section and try tons of stuff on, then allow myself one or two "full priced" items from the front. Even when things don't fit me, I don't curse them for mal-sizing. I feel like the sizes are fair - the bottoms are true, if not a bit generous, and the tops are perhaps a bit on the small side, but I tend to need bigger tops than bottoms, so I should blame my hulking back and not the store.

Then, even though I have sort of dissed it, I sometimes run across (yes, I RUN, like the wind!) the street to H&M where I sometimes find pants worth the mere $35 that they usually cost. However, I find that H&M is a little skimpy on the sizing - I can barely squeeze into an 8, which I can usually do without much fanfare at other stores. Often 10s are even too small.

Ladies, for those not in the know, the cheaper a store is, the more likely the sizes are going to be skimpy. Well, at least when you're dealing with most American, mass-market apparel.

H&M Supports Me

OK, so although I have not been particularly kind to H&M in the past, I found myself at the Fifth Avenue/midtown location with my gift card in hand. Yes it was a total zoo, but I managed to buy a pair of pants, a necklace, a metallic leather belt and - perhaps the most shocking-yet-pleasing purchase - two bras. I would have never thought that H&M would provide me with that kind of support, but I have to say they fit me as good as, if not better than, most any bras I have ever purchased before. And for a mere $16.70 a piece, I intend to return and replenish the bra stock with regularity.

I wish I could provide you with photos of me wearing them, but I am shy.