The Fashion Apple

The Luxury Drop is coming to Milwaukee this weekend at 1319 N. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. They are charging admission though, $8, but they have 35,000 designer label items for sale at deep discounts.

I found this info about Luxury Drop:

LuxuryDrop, Inc. presents the designer sample sale to top all designer sample sales - the finest brands (in season), marked 60-95% off retail! Thousands of items from over 30 retailers include: True Religion * Marc Jacobs * Michael Kors * Joes * 575 * Rachel Pally * James Perse * D & G * Development * Roberto Cavalli * Vera Wang * Emilio Pucci * Nanette Lepore * Rebecca Taylor * Tracy Reese * Moschino * Joie * Sacred Blue * Lanvin * Valentino * Sergio Rossi and many more! Actual sale items:

-Women's Marc by Marc Jacobs Denim Jacket: Retail $300; LuxuryDrop Price $50
-Nanette Lepore Dress: Retail $550; LuxuryDrop Price $100
-Men's Just Cavalli Shirt: Retail $313; LuxuryDrop Price $50
-Men's G Star Raw Jeans:Retail $200; LuxuryDrop Price $50

The sale will feature high-end men's, women's and kids' designer clothing as well as shoes and accessories. LuxuryDrop, a division of ExpressDrop, Inc., is the premier seller of overstock for high-end retail stores nationwide. LuxuryDrop - The World's Best Designer Sample Sale. It Will Change Your Life (and your wardrobe)!

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 8:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

Drink some FREE champagne and buy some shiny new jewelry tonight at Sadie Bryner's Baubles and Bubbles sale. The free bubbly will be offered at their store tonight from 4-8 pm along with 20% off of ALL of their regular priced jewelry, including holiday jewels! And even though the champagne will only be poured tonight, the sale prices are good until Sunday (Oct 1). So come on down!

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments

Sorry about missing so many posts! My sister has been in town and we have been shopping for her wedding dress. She is engaged to my husband's best friend, and they are getting married in January! I am so excited. Anyway, we went to a lot of great bridal shops and salons in the Milwaukee area, but she ended up picking a dress at David's Bridal. It is the Galina Style VW8893. It is really beautiful on her, and I am so happy! And that means we get to wear halter-style bridesmaid dresses. Yes!

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 5:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

Oh Man, lots of stuff going on today...

I got a coupon from New York & Co today in my email for $30 off a purchase of $75 or more, which is a pretty good deal. If you aren't on their mailing list, you should sign up here . If you just want the coupon, email me.. and I will forward it to you.

Aeropostale has just put out a coupon code for 50% off of their clearance merchandise. If you know Aeropostale, you know that their prices are low enough to begin with, but 50% off clearance prices? Crazy! It would be a great time to stock up on fall layering pieces, such as camis and white t-shirts. Enter coupon code 50CLEAR at checkout.

Oh dear, I have no pretty pumps to wear! Stock up on ultra-high shoes now from Oh...DEER! They’re all 30% off. Enter code b01d6159c3 at checkout.

Want try a new shampoo? Don't want to shell out the cash in case it is a dud? Free samples, people! They are the way to go. Try Garnier Fructis' new Body and Volume shampoo and conditioner for free.

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 7:12 AM | Permalink | Comments

Coupons -
Banana Republic - A new coupon code for use online to save 15% off $75 or more. Code: YAHOOBR Expiration: 10/30/2006

Overstock - The "O" Day sale is going on right now, and you can get 15% off your whole. I believe this sale goes until 9/21/06. To get 15% off your entire order, click here.

JCPenny's Fall Weekend Sale - Take 15% off your order with your JCPenny Credit Card or 10% off with any other card. Go here for the deal.

Delia's - A $10 "gift" promotion. Take $10 off selected pants and jeans. Also FREE Shipping on $25+ online order with coupon code DQMW325

Freebies -
Sample of L'oreal's new Dandruff Shampoo Elivie.

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

I have been on a black and white kick lately. Mostly because most of the fashion world is pushing it, but also because the Fall clothes this year are so very nice. Here are two tops that I bought recently at the new Forever 21 in Milwaukee!

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 6:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

The discount superstore giant has decided to get rid of their layaway system for good starting on November 19th, with all layway merchandise payment/pick-up transactions to be completed by the end of December. I don't know what their plan is, but that seems kind of a bad time of year to do this, since most people use layaway for Christmas gifts. Now, this sounds to me like something that might potentially alienate a lot of regular Walmart customers and cause a lot of kids to have crappy Christmases, But what do I know? I am just a lowly blogger, after all.

Now in place of the layaway system, Walmart is proposing a system of (of course) credit cards. Apparently these will be store specific cards, like you get when you by furniture. They are proposing to have 0% interest periods of 6 to 12 months to help shoppers pay for all their stuff. I thought layaway was to help people out who didn't have or couldn't get credit cards in the first place?

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

I mentioned in my previous post how I had gone to Mayfair this past weekend to do a little shopping. I was actually doing specific shopping, which can be some of the worst shopping ever. I don't know about you, but I get a specific picture in my mind of a trinket, shoe or cami that is going to complete my "perfect outfit", and I drive myself crazy until I find it. Only very seldom am I able to stumble across something that isn't "just good enough" but actually ends up being better than the original item I wanted.

But that happened this weekend.

I had a very classic outfit picked out for a wedding I attended last Saturday. It was a black strapless dress with small white polka dots that I got from Ann Taylor. Very chic with simple lines. Even though I bought it from last Fall's collection, it is very much in style this fall, because it has a large, vertically striped black and white ribbon across the high waist. But it was teetering dangerously close to "matronly", so I thought the perfect thing to spice it up would be a pair of red vinyl peep-toe shoes from Steve Madden. I found exactly the pair I was looking for at Macy's, for $75! Sigh. My clothing budget is already gone for this month (way to go blog! Make me shop more than usual), so I needed to come up with a cheaper option.

Enter Payless.

Another of my previous posts focused on Payless, and how they have changed their focus and started coming out with all sorts of changes, including guest designer lines and trendier, more comfortable shoes. I didn't believe it at first, but a trip to the store in Mayfair changed my mind. I didn't find a red shoe, but I did find a better option in the new black and bone "Oliver" pump from Abaete for $25.00. This shoe is sexy without any of the matron-feel that I was desperate to avoid. It was well-padded and comfortable, although after about 6 hours the cutaway heel started to chafe a little. And the actual heel is deceptively high. But it makes the leg so sexy!!!


And those Steve Madden shoes? Oh, they were there...in spirit.


This is the Payless knock-off a Steve Madden shoe, and I love it! It is the "Lolita" peep-toe pump and it is only $17.99. Besides black, it comes in red and blue. Good luck getting a red pair, though. I spoke to the staff at Payless and they said that people call every day to see if the red has come in, and the website is constantly sold out. If it is possible to have and "it" shoe from Payless, I think this is the one....

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments

On Friday night local clothing designer Shanel Reigier is having a collection preview party for her "Chicago's Calling" collection. It will be at Red Light (above Trocadero), 1758 N. Water St., at 8 p.m. The cost for this little mingle is only $2. Have some appetizers and meet Ms. Reigier, and take some time to examine great fashion pieces from her past and future collections.

Ms. Reigier has been invited to feature her Spring '07 collection at the "Fresh Faces" Fashion Show of Chicago's GenArt. She is one of only six designers to be featured. Congrats!!

For more information, call (414) 272-0205.

Thanks to OnMilwaukee.com for the info!

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments

Prime Outlets in Pleasant Prairie has just added a huge expansion to their outdoor mall. At first just a few stores were open and most of it was empty, but in the last couple months almost the whole addition has been filled with unique stores.

The best one? No, it isn't the stupid Coach outlet store. Blech. I am pumped that we now have a United Colors of Benetton outlet. Outlet!! Can you believe it? It is even better than an actual store. :) Our retail selections here in the Milwaukee area are growing by leaps and bounds.

But one thing to remember: First, make sure you frequent your local boutique or locally owned clothing store. But after that, you can head down to Pleasant Prairie for some discounted finds to complete your budget wardrobe.

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments

I was made aware of the Sadie Bryner website recently when my blog entry about the store was featured in their links section. The website doesn't offer online sales, but they do have an Ebay Store where you can buy previous sale items at even further discounted prices. This is a great way to get something that you really loved at the store without going over your clothing budget for the month.

The website also has a section for upcoming sales and a printable 15% off coupon for your ENTIRE PURCHASE. So print it off and check out Sadie Bryner in Waukesha!

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments

I was at Mayfair Mall on Saturday, taking my own advice for once and shopping at the "new" Macy's. While I was there, I tried to stop at Rampage. Tried being the operative word there. I was shocked when I walked into the store, picked up a really cute shirt and realized I could actually afford it! And it looked like it was the right size, too. Then I picked up another one. And another. Finally, I looked down at the tags on the shirt. They said, "Forever 21". Forever 21???? I stopped one of the many salespeople.

"What is going on? Where is Rampage?"

"Oh," she said, "This is Forever 21 now. It changed over a month ago."

A month ago? Where have I been? Not on the ball, obviously. So, there is now a Forever 21 in Milwaukee. There is no sign yet, but it is on the second floor of Mayfair Mall near Macy's.

I bought two shirts. I would have bought more, but the staff is still frantically stocking the store. It is almost comical, watching them try to cram the enormous stock of a standard Forever 21 into the smaller Rampage floor layout. But they had some great stuff out already. I got a sheer polka dot top and a satin kimono inspired top. They were both under $20, and look fantastic. I will post pictures tomorrow, along with some shoes I picked up at Payless this weekend!

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 8:07 PM | Permalink | Comments

The last couple of posts about Shag in downtown Milwaukee have put me in the t-shirt mood. I was checking out some sites and found a really great site for shirts. Threadless has a great gallery of shirts available for purchase that were designed by shmoes just like us. Well, maybe not just like me. Shmoes with talent. The recent submissions area showcases new designs that are far more sophisticated than anything I could come up with. But why shouldn't we profit from their genius? The edgy designs range from cute to sassy to...well...just plain weird. Prices range from cheap ($15) to not so cheap ($25), but the designs are all great. Here are just a few shirts:
Fake Panda's Have More Fun - $15 Men's

Big Fish Wins - $15 for Men's

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

This is it. If you want to shop at Marshall Field's, you had better hurry. Sunday the Marshall Field's at Mayfair is officially going to be changed to Macy's. Rumor has it that a lot of stuff is 80% off, so I would recommend checking it out, even if it is just to say goodbye to the familiar smart green stripes.

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments

If you have a Visa card (who in the world doesn't?), you can get some pretty good deals right now on purchases made with your Visa. All offers are good from 09/01/2006 to 02/28/2007.

Nine West - Take $10 off any purchase of $65 or more online or in stores, only with this exclusive offer when you pay with your Visa® card.To redeem this offer online, click the link below and enter promotion code VISA06 at checkout. To redeem in stores, customers can simply print this page and present it at time of purchase at the nearest Nine West Specialty Store.

Bluefly.com - Enjoy $15 off any Bluefly purchase of $100 or more when you pay with your Visa® card. To redeem this offer, enter code VISA15 at checkout. Valid: 09/01/2006 to 02/28/2007

Ebags.com - Receive $10 off your next purchase of $50 or more when you use your Visa® card. To redeem this offer, click here and your discount will be automatically applied at checkout.Valid: 09/01/2006 to 02/28/2007

Ice.com - Save an extra 20% off all jewelry items at ICE.com when you pay with your Visa® card.ICE.com offers the latest styles of diamonds, pearls, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings.Plus, enjoy FREE gift-boxing, FREE FedEx on orders of $150 or more, a no-risk 30-day money back guarantee, easy monthly payments, and a certificate of authenticity.To redeem this offer, click here and your discount will be automatically applied at checkout, or call 1-800-539-3580 and mention promotional code BCD20-378252.

Payless Shoes - Save $2 on any purchase of $9.99 or more at participating Payless ShoeSource® locations when you pay with your Visa® card. To redeem this offer enter code 20050 at checkout. Or, print this page and present at time of purchase at any participating Payless ShoeSource® location in the U.S. *Psst...use this on the new Abaete collection at Payless. And don't forget to they have a spend $50 and get free shipping offer online.

Skechers - 25% off and FREE shipping on your next purchase at SKECHERS.com when you pay with your Visa® card. To redeem this offer, click here, make your selection, and add it to your shopping cart. The discount and FREE shipping will be preloaded and applied to your order.

Urban Decay - Save 20% on your order of $50 or more at UrbanDecay.com when you pay with your Visa® card. To redeem this offer click here and enter VISA7 in the coupon code box at checkout. Be sure to hit the "REDEEM" button.

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 6:54 PM | Permalink | Comments

It seems I have been neglecting posting my outfits! So, to make up for it, here are three outfits that I actually remembered to take pictures of!!

Red velvet blazer with bow - Kohl's
Striped long sleeve shirt - Kohl's
Black pants - Banana Republic 

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments

Khakis - American Eagle
Long Sleeved Shirt - Mossimo, Target
Belt - Michael Kors, TJ Maxx
Shoes - Target 

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments

Shirt and Necklace - New York & Co
Gauchos - Kohls
Shoes (not shown) - Shell and beaded thongs from Target 

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

A whole week since an update! Ack! How time does fly when you are really REALLY busy. Sometimes I think that I get more rest on non-holiday weekends then I do during a so-called "holiday". But no more! I promise I will get better with the postings, and try to gather more info from around Milwaukee.

Speaking of which, thanks to reader Jim Guerts for the information about the update on Shag's website. If you didn't know, Shag is a new "build your own" t-shirt store in Milwaukee. If you want more info, you can read my inital post here or go to Shag's website.

The blurb on their website says: "Shag offers American Apparel clothing with a custom touch. Choose from thousands of transfers or create your own unique message on any piece of apparel. Shag offers many different fonts and font sizes in order to make your message shagarific!"

Shagarific, huh? I don't know about that, but they do offer naughty transfers and sayings for online purchase now. There are also other, non-sexual transfers available online such as a skull and crossbones and some cutsy big-eyed anime animals. The other option is the "custom text" option, which lets you write your own t-shirt phrase. Prices for the custom text range from $1-$2 per letter depending on the font, which include classics such as bubble letters or newbies like "nudie", which is basically a collage of boobs. (I wonder how many hits "collage of boobs" is going to get from Google?) In any case, go and check it out! Here is a sample of one of the naughty transfers:

Hmmm....classy? Maybe not, but it still is fun!

Posted by MilwaukeeGirl at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments