66 Day-After Sales (and Kat’s Top 10)

48 Comments

1. To repost a useful thread….

   Please post when you find that perfect staple/classic on deep deep discount this week! That perfect Tshirt that is part of your uniform, that cardigan you have in all colors, the perfect boot etc….

   Last year you guys found me my land’s end tshirts that we’re down to $5 that I still wear constantly!

2. Only tangentially related to sales — What is the service called when a person comes to your house, looks at your closet, and helps you come up with new outfits or helps identify gaps in your wardrobe? I tried googling “personal stylist [my city]” and I’m not really coming up with the right thing.

   1. wardrobe consultant? personal shopper?

      1. Thank you! These turned up a couple of options — I think there just aren’t a lot of these people in my city.

         Has anyone ever used a service like this online? I am intermediate at putting together outfits, but I’m in a rut. And also I think it would help me to have some sort of goal or theme or something for shopping.

         1. I haven’t, but please report back if you do!

            I did read a book called You Are What You Wear by Jennifer Baumgartner, a wardrobe consultant. She went through the stories of some of her clients and breaks down rules and ideas based on these examples. It might be helpful to you. I think she might have included a section on how to find your own consultant, but I’m not sure. Overall I thought the book was just ok so I’d recommend looking for it at your library first.

         2. There’s this one blog called Style Your Life. The author does this service, in person and on line. The problem is that it used to be a lot better. I haven’t liked her stuff in a long time.

            1. I just checked out that blog. While I do like some of the outfits she posts, she frequently uses “that” when she should be using “who.” For example, “This gift guide is for the gal that lights up the room.” I just can’t.

            2. The main thesis of the blog– hideous grammar aside– is that you should wear cute shoes, purses, and lots of jewelry. Probably a blazer, too. So really you don’t need her.

         3. I think tcfkag does something like this? Maybe check out her weebly site.

   2. Image consultant, as well.

3. “Elsewhere on the Jersey Shore, Wildwood officials banned saggy pants on the boardwalk, pressing their crusade for decency with the threat of a $200 fine for pants that sag more than three inches below the waist. To those who invoked their right to wear low-slung pants, Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said: “I have a right not to look at your rear end.”

   http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/23/us-usa-odd-idUSBRE9BM0DJ20131223?feedType=RSS

   1. And I read that JWOWW is pregnant. Woo hoo!

   2. Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin’ like a fool with your pants on the ground . . .

      1. “So okay, I don’t want to be a traitor to my generation and all but I don’t get how guys dress today. I mean, come on, it looks like they just fell out of bed and put on some baggy pants and take their greasy hair – ew – and cover it up with a backwards cap and like, we’re expected to swoon? I don’t think so.”

         1. Love it.

         2. Cher Horowitz will never not be relevant.

4. Anyone have any experience with DUO boots? I’m looking into investing in a pair of really well made boots that will last for 5-10 years, but the $300 price tag makes me uncomfortable. I was looking at Naturalizer or Fitzwell, but the leather on those boots always seems so cheap, and they tend to break or wear through in a year. And the cross-continental shipping is a PIA.

   1. I”ve had a pair of JCrew boots for 10 years but i’m not sure if they are still as well made. It might be worth looking depending on what styles they have.

      1. Unfortunately, I have wide calves. J.Crew’s “extended calf” sizes, hilariously, are under 16″, which is where most boots start their wide calf sizing.

   2. I’ve unfortunately had a not-great experience with Duo. I have narrow calves and was able to get the calf measurement right (yey!) but the first pair I ordered were ridiculously too big (in the shoe part). I returned – which cost $20 and was a PIA – and reordered a size smaller. The smaller size was way too narrow, to the point that I didn’t think I could break them in, and my feet are not particularly wide. At the same time, the foot part was still too long. So they went back again (another $20). But the quality of the boots was great, and the customer service was great too. They always have coupons and promotions, if you get one with free returns it’s probably worth a try.

5. I know we’ve talked about what books we read this year and recommended so for a slightly different idea what books are you looking to read next and why?

   I’ll go first. I read The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle this year and have become fascinated by the learning/talent/mastery idea. For Christmas, I received a bunch of books on the subject and am having trouble deciding what to read first! Here is the list of what I’m really looking forward to though:
   So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
   Mindset by Carol Dweck (this is referenced in every book I’ve read on this topic)
   Flow by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (also referenced in all the other books)
   The Straight A Conspiracy by Hunter Maats and Katie O’Brian
   Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

   And a few unrelated books:
   Double Down by Mark Halperin and John Hielmann (I really enjoyed Game Change)
   Vagabonding by Rolf Potts (I’m hoping it will be inspiring in a way similar to The Alchemist)
   Zealot by Resa Aslan (I read The God Delusion this year and realized that I don’t know as much about the bible as I thought despite nearly 16 years of going to church 3 times a week and that I’d like to know more about the historical person of Jesus aside from the religious version from the bible).

   How about you?

   1. I need to get my head down and actually power through the six (SIX!) non-fiction titles I picked up in the past year and started reading but never finished. They are:

      Guns, Germs, and Steel
      Essential Agrarian Reader
      The World According to Monsanto
      Snobbery, the American Version
      American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson
      Yours Ever – People and their Letters

      I’m also reading McCulloch’s John Adams biography, but that’s an Audible book and is pretty easy to get through, since it’s audio and I just listen on my commute. I think I might make it a habit to listen to non-fiction instead of trying to read it, since it keeps my attention better.

      1. Oh hey, these are some good recommendations. I looked up a few of those and added them to my list. Going to try to read (listen to) more non-fiction in 2014 and stop wasting my commuting time.

         1. Yes, they’re all really good (The World According to Monsanto starts out slow and dry, though), but I am just a fiction junkie. Also strongly recommended: Salt, A World History; In the Footsteps of Eve; everything by Michael Pollan; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. And anything by McCullogh is going to be fantastic. He’s a great storyteller who just happens to be working from history.

            1. I just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I loved it, although it makes me want to quit my job and go live on a farm. Minus the slaughtering of turkeys part.

      2. I have taken up the practice of listening to non-fiction via Audible, particularly when doing chores around the house or driving distances, and I find it makes it much more efficient to get through the books, and chores and driving much more enjoyable, too.

         1. Now that I’ve finished the Outlander Series, it’s easier to make myself listen to non-fiction, but when I was in the middle of those, it was impossible to resist! It’s fun listening to racy stories about hot Scottish men in a crowded metro train, knowing no one has any idea what you’re listening to!

            1. Oh my god, you just brought back such memories with that series. I received the first 3 books (?) from my boss (female) for my college graduation so I could “finally do some fun reading!” I spent a whole summer with Jamie and it was awesome (except for what happens to him when he gets captured – very not cool).

               I am usually more a fiction reader, but on my reading list:

               Just read the Flamethrowers (hard to get into, but ultimately very enjoyable);
               Reading The Cookoo’s Calling (the JK Rowling mystery under a pen name) (easy, fun read);
               Got Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking (memoir) and & Sons, really looking forward to reading both.
               Oh, and maybe the best of all: started reading What Do Women Want? Adventures in the Science of Female Desire on Dan Savage’s hearty recommendation and it’s quite interesting – good winter vacation reading.

      3. Great picks! I loved Flow and Snobbery: The American Version. I’m adding many of the others above to my list…

         I asked for books for Christmas and the family listened, so this is what I have lined up next:

         The Lowlands — Jhumpa Lahiri
         Daily Rituals: How Artists Work — Mason Currey
         Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City — Russell Shorto
         Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found — Suketu Mehta
         Rules of Civility — Amor Towles

         1. The Daily Rituals book is on my list too, I just haven’t bought it yet. I’m fascinated by that sort of book.

            I’m adding a bunch of these books to my always expanding list!

   2. I’m in two book clubs, so I usually read those books before getting to anything else. Or at least I make a good-faith effort at reading them! I’m totally putting your mastery books on my fun list, Sydney Bristow. Those look quite interesting.

      Also on my list are some books I’m reading for work at the request of the partner I work with most. Something about making better PowerPoints and a few books that are big with plaintiffs’ lawyers. Probably not very interesting to most people, unfortunately.

      1. If you want some others on the topic, I’ve read and recommend Drive by Daniel H. Pink, Focus by Daniel Goleman, The Little Book of Talent also by Daniel Coyle, and Mastery by Robert Greene. They all are different threads of the same general topic and I really enjoyed them all, especially Mastery and The Talent Code.

6. Guns, Germs, and Steel has been sitting on my Kindle for 2 years unread. I figure I’ll get around to it eventually!

   1. I hear ya. I just can’t get into it myself!

7. I would just like to say that the combination of a slow work week and light posting on this site is making me a very sad dessert confection. I miss all the chatter!

   1. I know! I have a million things to do but I am not being very productive here at work. I like to check in here every few hours to read about other people’s lives, and it’s throwing me off that there is no one to read about. This SHOULD help me cut back my addiction to this site, but instead it’s just making me miss everyone.

   2. Me too! I feel like I’ve reached the end of the Internet.

      1. Oh my gosh yes. This is exactly how I feel!

         1. DITTO. RAWR.

      2. There’s a remedy for that: cracked.com. You’ll never run out of Internet again!

   3. Would a “Post-Holiday Open Thread” really be that hard to post? Come on!

8. Anyone have any tips for finding or founding a book club? I know that there are some listed on meetup but wonder about going to one where it will be hard to develop a connection to other members.

   I’m not on facebook but I wondered about using linkedin or sending emails out to all my friends/acquaintances. I am short on time, so I’d want it in quick driving distance from my house. I am not picky as to genre or fiction/non-fiction.

   1. I would not use LinkedIn for something like this, but think sending an email to friends would work, and invite them to pass it along to others. The best way might be to just set a concrete meeting date to invite people too with the caveat that together you will decide what the books will be, how often to meet, etc.

   2. I know of people who have had success with different methods of bringing a book club together. One friend got to hers through meetup, and it just happened to really click.

      The most successful ones have been through email invites, though. In my experience, people usually will send invites to folks they think might be interested with a suggestion for the first book, meeting time, and promise of food. Those tend to be the best of the ones I know about.

      I’m in a book club that has been together for about 5 years (wow, it’s weird to type that) with the same members and no additions or subtractions. We were all members of a much larger book club and didn’t really like the book selections, so we broke off and started our own thing. It happened very organically.

   3. Email a few friends who you think might be interested and set a date and a book. In our book club, the hostess (rotates each month) generally picks the book or offers the member a choice of 2-3 . We have the meeting either at someone’s house or a coffee shop. We use a Facebook group, but I think email or evite would work just as well. Ours is low key. The only rule is that if you didn’t finish the book and you come to the meeting, you can’t get upset about spoilers from the other members.

9. Can anyone help me figure out what to wear under a leather jacket? I bought one for the first time ever (except for one of those silly Matrix-length ones I work 10 years ago) and am freaking about what to wear with it. It is similar to this one:
   http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/la-marque-leather-jacket/3584300?origin=keywordsearch-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=2375500&fashionColor=Champagne&resultback=167&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-searchresults-_-1_1_B

   But I got it at Nordstrom R-ck so it isn’t quite the same. I have read everything I could find on here about leather jackets, but need to find some shirts I can wear under it with jeans because I pretty much need to be able to wear this thing every weekend day for the rest of my life to justify it. I should probably return it, but the last 3 months have been the worst in my life professionally and personally, and when I tried this one I felt like I had some swagger back. And I need to go into 2014 with some swagger again. Any suggestions for shirts that I could wear under this silly thing would be appreciated!

   1. Wow, the jacket you linked to is gorgeous. I would keep the focus on the jacket and wear something simple like an off-white scoop-neck top like this: http://www.myadea.com/product/34-Sleeve-Scoop-Neck-Layering-Top. Maybe with a scarf? I’d be interested to see more adventuresome suggestions

      1. What a great idea — thank you! All my long sleeved t-shirts either have logos or have seen better days — may just have to place an order. In for a penny, in for a pound, right? :) Thank you!

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