What was She Thinking? Preppy Sale Update #3

Hello-hello, is everyone excited for the weekend?

Before we do anything else we simply must say ‘Thank You’ to several generous, witty and oh-so-fun bloggers who were kind enough to give The Princess special recognition! We are flattered to be recognized; thank you for making us feel special!

Getting Here from There is an excellent writer; her “Ode to Allergies” is a must-read and Little Bow Prep is a brilliant teen with such exquisite taste she is a member of Coutorture. Those two both passed along their Sisterhood Awards to us! Whoo-hoo!

Thank You!

The Gifting Gumshoe, she of the awesome preppy finds, flattered TP with this honor:

Thank You Gifting Gumshoe!

The always-fabulous Muffy Martini generously shared the Queen Of ALL Things award with The Princess.

Thank You Miss Muffy!

You are all just too nice.

We also want to publicly share our appreciation for the one and only Miss Janice, who so graciously commented about the Lilly Pulitzer Party Pack she won in Muffy Martini’s Great Bloggiversary Giveaway.  You are always the epitome of grace Miss Janice, and forever a Southern Lady in our book.

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Today have a “Help Us Understand” moment, one that is actually tied to Gossip Girl actress and star Blake Lively.  But first we must explain the annual ritual known as the television upfront.

The upfront is held every year at this time. Each network reveals their fall programming schedules to potential advertisers, using clips of the shows accompanied by the trotting out of warm props presence of as many stars from said shows as they can muster.  Having participated in these, we can unequivocally state they are bizarre events, somewhere between a seance and a carnival sideshow.

Which brings us to Ms. Lively’s appearance at the CW’s upfront yesterday. In this:

PHOTO: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Dollfaces, yours truly is confused, and seeks your guidance. You must advise us on the appropriateness of the attire, as we ponder the possibility it is our old age and senility causing us to recoil in horror upon seeing such an egregious crime against fashion.  Or, is it just. plain. wrong. (You are correct, it wasn’t really a question, rather an affirmation of our distaste. Harrumph.)

Princess readers are possessed of the knowledge that good taste is not determined by decade, or popularity with the masses.  Generations pass accompanied by their ensuing cultural shifts, but basic grace and manners do not change with a whim and a wink, following the latest trends. Therefore, we eagerly await your wisdom on the topic as we are certain we can learn something, we always do.

EDITORIAL NOTE: The Princess Consort just proofed our post and while reading he suddenly gasped, “Oh my God, what was she thinking? It looks like something they used to wear in the girls gym class!” We offer this merely in the interest of fairness and transparency. Obviously.

As mentioned, stars are big winners at the upfront show and tell scene:

PHOTO: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The CW Network

Above, most of the Gossip Girl cast at Madison Square Garden yesterday: Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Taylor Momsen, Jessica Szohr and Ed Westwick.

Why does Ms. Meester look far more elegant than Ms. Lively? (Below, Ms. Meester with Jessica Szohr.)

PHOTO: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Or is it our skewed and skeptical viewpoint that is the problem?

As we are catching up on the G2 news, we have word that Ed Westwick will star in the remake of Wuthering Heights.

PHOTO: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Does he look like Heathcliff to you? While not an enormous fan it does appear to be a combination that could work.

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A few quick sale updates, beginning with Best & Company:

We believe the sale prices are in effect at the Greenwich store as well as at Bergdorf Goodman.

Bargains are also available at Sak’s:

Others offering discounted price points:

• Lands’ End is doing their “30% Off Summer Favorites” promotion
• Polo Ralph Lauren is offering up to 50% Off; their spinoff brand Rugby is doing the same
• Old Navy is being very smart, selling $1 Flip-flops on Saturday with a limit of 6 pairs

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One more tidbit before we sign off with a ‘there’s a reason for the season’ moment reminder…

PHOTO: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Monday’s National Moment of Remembrance happens at 3pm. No matter where we are physically, TP is guessing our hearts will all be in one place.

This is Scary, Saks Shipping Offer, More J. Crew Problems, Suri Cruise is ‘Best’

Hello-Hello from Snow Central!

The Princess is trapped, unable to make her flight to Denver, thanks to a foot of snow in The Great Midwest. Harrumph.

It may be considered good news or not-such-good news depending on one’s perspective, but the weather does allow us to do a fresh post.  We start with an event creating a knot in the stomach and an awful sense of foreboding: the jewelry sale at Saks Fifth Avenue.  We thank the Madison Avenue Spy for the tip on this one. The sale includes this Judith Ripka Pavé Diamond Enhancer:

 

Judith Ripka, Saks Fifth Avenue

Many may be stupefied at TP’s negative anxiety about a sale. At Saks. But many also know upscale department stores like Saks, Bergdorf’s, Neiman’s, etc., do not have jewelry sales. Not. On. Fine. Jewelry.

Not on David Yurman.

 

David Yurman at Saks

Or Ippolita.

 

Ippolita Ring at Saks

If a store is financially healthy it would never put an Ippolita 18k Gold Two-Diamond Ring on sale. Would. Not. Happen.

BTW, Saks is doing complimentary free shipping on all orders, as well as offering a gift box and their red ribbon at no charge. Seriously. Just use PROMO code SFAGIFT at checkout.  If you missed yesterday’s post ,it contains a goodly amount of sale and promo code information.

We are off to stir up a Prozac cocktail. A pitcher full.

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Another Gossip Girl star has landed a Teen Vogue cover. Leighton Meester is showcased in the February 2009 issue.

We thought you might enjoy her comment on headbands:

“I don’t wear headbands, ever.”

 

Teen Vogue February 2009

In March co-star Blake Lively graced the magazine’s cover.

Teen Vogue Blake Lively

In January’s Vogue Ms. Lively is named to a list of the 10 Best-Dressed Women; while the print version of the magazine directs you to the Vogue.com website for more on this (and other stories), we cannot locate anything on the site about this story.

Back to Teen Vogue, the cover promotes “The Punky Preppy Mix.” Hhhmmmm. Just this fall the magazine listed the Top 22 Preppy Essentials, including items from many of the standard stores like Lacoste, J. Crew, and Smythson, as well as newer players: Tory Burch, American Eagle Outfitters, Tommy Hilfiger and others.

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Speaking of J. Crew... (you know where this is going), we continue to receive email about technical issues and problems with J. Crew’s online store.

This story in Thursday’s Storefront Talkback confirms the continued problems:

“Having suffered outages during Cyber Monday, J.Crew again became unavailable—to at least some prospective customers—for an extended period on Wednesday (Dec. 17). “

The subhead on the article reads “‘Tis the Season to be Jolly, Unless You’re in Charge of J. Crew’s Web site.” Ouch.  The retailer is awarded a lump of coal:

“Over at J.Crew, though, no apologies were offered. For those who know the tortured history of J.Crew and its site launch this summer, perhaps avoiding an apology was wise. This time, the site advised visitors to “stay tuned” and added that “even the best sites aren’t perfect.”

True. But as far as uptime goes, it’s clear that some sites are less perfect than others.”

Double ouch.  While management may be frustrated, customers always have choices, as the fabulous Mrs. Newlywed makes clear in yesterday’s comment:

“…I tried to place an order today for a very much unneeded sweater. The site wouldn’t let me place the order.

So, because after I realized it wasn’t working I didn’t actually NEED the sweater I won’t buy it at all  That is $70.00 they won’t get.

The phone line wasn’t working either.

tisk tisk on J.Crew”

The experience shared by another favorite, Lisa at Very Busy Mom with 4, ended on a more positive note:

“After three calls, I finally got my Crewcuts stuff, and they ended up Fed-exing it. I think they are still having issues–their site is moving very slow! Still love my stuff though.”

Frankly, we remain more than a little stunned the problems are not yet rectified.  For those willing to risk it, this particular sale continues through tonight, offering an additional 20% off with complimentary shipping for orders totaling more than $150; the promo code is MERRY.

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Best & Company

At Best and Company the discounts are also deeper, making the childrens’ designer duds irresistable.  The Girl’s Cashmere Hoodie is only $35.90, discounted from an original $158 selling price.

 

Best & Company

The striped sweater is also available in Pink & White; both colorways appear to be available in a broad size range. According to the JustJared site, Suri Cruise is wearing Best’s Scallop Placket coat in this picture with her mother, actress Katie Holmes.

 

PHOTO: Humberto Carreno/Startraks

If in need of a darling wool coat in winter white, Best still has this one in a few sizes, now 50% off its $398 price.

 

Best & Company

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We leave you with the ever-so-snuggly Pink Cable Cardigan, on sale at J. McLaughlin.

 

J. McLaughlin

An absolutely divine store, J. McLaughlin is also in the midst of a wonderful sale.

Don’t forget to enter our final Giveaway of the year, by leaving a question for The Princess Consort.  Here is a portion of a comment from the Fashion Herald and part of TC’s answer:

“Dear Princess Consort Sir, how does one stop one’s husband from stealing the covers at night? Please help, it’s getting really cold!”

“My dear freezing Fashion Herald – I understand your concern about your husband and his proclivity for stealing the bed covers. In the long term this will cease to be a problem because of global warming. However, we have an immediate situation that demands our complete attention. I will assume your husband has a ______________”

To read what it is TPC assumes Mr. Fashion Herald has, just click here & scroll down through the comments.

We are off to frolic in the snow! Happy day to everyone!

Best Kids Sweaters, Sneak Peek at Brooks Brothers Next Perfume, Talbots Sale

Hello-hello on another lovely day in the Great Midwest, perhaps the weather is at least this wonderful wherever you are? But then we have this:

Getty Images

Rather than sit and fidget with glazed eyes watching CNBC or Bloomberg, we will simply move forward and do a Scarlett O’Hara: “….after all, tomorrow is another day…,” knowing that cooler heads on Wall Street and in the FiDi (Financial District) will prevail and the market shall correct today’s correction. Of the earlier correction. That preceded the….oh, never mind. Onward.

The Princess is accepting she must acknowledge that the chill in the morning air is evidence transcending any doubt that the seasons are changing and Fall is here. Fine. We grasp the reality. Truly. See us digging the LL Bean catalog out of the pile and looking at things? Hear us speaking with Cook about the Princess Consort’s delight in slow-cooker entrees?

And just to prove how utterly in sync we are with the Weather Pooh-bahs, we share some of the following, Boys and Girls sweaters from Best & Co., with more than a few styles you may wish were available in Big People sizing!

The first is an argyle, irresistible for TP and also available in a beautiful blue. If this next one is not an all-grown-up-girl’s sweater with a definite ’60s-ish and Jackie look, TP doesn’t know what is!  The double-breasted cardigan would also work as a light jacket and is available in a great lipstick red. (We do hope it’s okay to use your name in this way Miss Lipstick!)

And while we have never been advocates for spoiling children, we don’t take issue with introducing them to cashmere as an integral part of one’s existence at an early age, so long as it is well appreciated and well cared for, that goes without saying. Having bored everyone to tears with that information, we come to the Girl’s Scottie sweater, all sweetness and snuggles and cuddles tied up with a pink bow around its neck.

And you know what the Princess is always saying: Life is better with a bow. It just is, and that is why it’s our mantra here at the Preppy Princess.

There are so many appealing looks for the little girls it is impossible to choose just one as our favorite.

Let’s switch to the Boy’s sweaters, equally fun to look at online IOHO. Best has wisely stocked up on a wonderful array of novelty sweaters for the little guy in your life. And look, each can have a Scottie sweater all their very own, but his is wisely made of wool.

We are also fond of the Crewneck with Terrier style, accented by nicely understated argyle trim.

What young man doesn’t enjoy all manner of vehicles? The Truck Crewneck is cotton, frequently a welcome change from all that winter wool.

There is also a superb rugby sweater for Boys, in a chunky knit, available in three colors.

As with the young ladies, there is also a plethora of attractive looks for the young Master at Best:

Well, after fifty years without introducing a women’s perfume, come mid-November Brooks Brothers New York for Ladies will hit stores. By its side, look for (oh, you already guessed!) Brooks Brothers New York for Gentlemen. Below, an early look at the packaging for both scents.

It’s doubtful readers will remember the mid-fifties womens’ perfume Brooks sold, taken off the market by the end of that same decade. Women really weren’t a priority for the company unless they were buying things for the men in their lives.

Some readers may recall the days when there was very little women’s apparel at B2. As in, “Oh really, if we must have something for the girls, fine, but we are a gentleman’s shop and truthfully, can’t be bothered waiting on them hand and foot…” etc., etc., etc.  There was almost no clothing or accessories or much of anything else in the store worth taking time to look at for females. And one must remember there were only ten stores in existence into the late sixties. TP remembers going into stores in the 1970s and 1980s, some into the 90s, where it was very much a struggle to be taken care of if you were “a girl” unless, as previously noted, you were purchasing something for the man of the house.

This does not take away from the fact that girls at Miss Porter’s wore Brooks Brothers Polo Coats for decades, first introduced to the US in 1910.  (The name for the coat is just too fun when considering one of the company’s largest competitors!)

The three existing Brooks Brothers men’s fragrances will stay on the market through the new scent’s launch; this includes the Signature, 1818, and Country Club colognes.

The bottles are quite nice, cut crystal with the company’s Golden Ox logo. The fragrances are being done by the same firm that does the Gap and Banana Republic “personal care products.”  BTW, if you do happen to pop in and visit the good folks at Brooks Brothers, there are some remarkable bargains available! The scented soap set as well as the boxed set of the Brooks Brothers scented candles in silverplated holders, are now $16, a substantial markdown from their original prices of $68 and $78 as we recall. Don’t let it be said The Princess isn’t looking out for your pocketbook in these stressful times.

If you haven’t yet received your “One Sweet  Sale” catalog from Talbots, look for it in your mailbox any day now, or head for your local store, or even shop the sale online. With pieces like this Stretch Wool/Silk/Jacket at price points 40% off the original selling price you are sure to find something you need, or didn’t yet know you needed, as sometimes happens.  Not everything is discounted at that level; the French terry zip-front hooded jacket is only 23% less than its retail price.

If some new clothing is on the agenda for the little ones or the man in your life, the Talbots Online Outlet is worth a visit, as they are closing out everything in the Men’s and Children’s lines. For example, the Quilted critter jacket in Sizes 2-7 looks darling (50% off), as does the Hooded dot-print raincoat in an oh-so-preppy pink is also (0% off; this looks similar to what we used to call a slicker.

Who can resist such stylish Argyle overalls for the newborn, or the Beary-Good Raincoat? It’s also for newborns and available in two colors.

Such cute clothing for the precious treasures in your life, with many more pieces available for your perusal online.