The typically cited definition of Petites is: Women under 5′3. For those of you who always need to shorten your pants or jacket sleeves, the relief of finding a petite line that fits can be overwhelming. But when this does happen, going home the day you make a purchase (or when it arrives in the mail) and wearing it right away leads to immediate satisfaction! Let alone saving the $$$ you would normally need to shell out for alterations.

Many brands offered by Shop It To Me carry Petite lines, and you can include Petite sizing options as part of your profile. So what brands carry Petite lines? Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor Loft, and Banana Republic are among the most well-known. Also be sure to select Theory, Juicy Couture, Michael by Michael Kors, C&C, Design History, A.B.S., Tufi Duek… I think you’ll be pleased with the selection!

Our Trendsetter serafina, a petites focused blog, gave some advice. Editor-in-Chief Lisa Connelly said, “My petite readers love Theory, BCBG, Macy’s INC, Raven Tailored, AprilMarin, Rag & Bone, Rebecca and Drew, LA Made, Ksubi, Joe’s Petite Provocateur Jeans, Trina Turk, Kasil, Karen Zambos, and Fernanda Carneiro. The list goes on, actually, which is great news for us petites! In general, the designers I recommend tend to run shorter or smaller in the shoulder, arm, waist, and leg. My advice? Find the brands that work for you and stick with them!”

Located in sunny Los Angeles, Lisa stands 5′4″ and is a size 00P. “Living in LA, I am continually inspired by our superb selection of designers and brands. And I’m devoted to helping my fellow petites find designer clothing that fits!”

We’re thrilled to have Lisa and serafina on-board as part of Trendsetters!

Have other Petite advice? Share it here.

2 Comments, Add Yours

Don’t wear white before Memorial day. No open toed shoes after Labor Day. No wearing white to weddings. No black either. No mixing navy and black. No mixing pink and red.

How many rules do we have to follow? I personally think rules like these were meant to be broken!

As long as any chosen outfit is weather-appropriate and put together, the calendar should not dictate what you wear. Out here in San Francisco, the weather in the summer is colder than in the winter anyways. Yes, I think there’s a time and place for tradition - but when it comes to fashion rules, I personally prefer to throw them out the window!

So, hopefully these new sale arrivals will arrive at my door before the season changes…

Trina Turk - Mrs. Robinson V-Neck Dress Reg $298.00 Now $177.90

Banana Republic Sheath half-moon back dress Reg $140.00 Now $99.99

BCBGMAXAZRIA Cotton Voile Tier Babydoll Dress Reg $280.00 Now $139.90

2 Comments, Add Yours

Here’s an extended version of a press-release that we sent out today!

San Francisco, CA — May 8, 2008

Markdown analysis from Shop It To Me can make you a savvier sale shopper!

Everyone loves a sale, but the day of the week you shop for clothing can make a big difference in the price you pay:

• Searching for the lowest price on jeans? Shop on Friday and get an average 41% off full price.
• Want the best deal on swimwear? Wait until Saturday and you’ll save 46%.
• After a new men’s sweater? Shop Monday for discounts of 40% off.

These are just a few of the price-saving revelations of a new study on the best days of the week to find the best deals on different clothing items. We compared prices on more than 150,000 clothing items that went on sale between January 1 to December 31, 2007 for 70+ leading online apparel and shoe retailers.

“You can find great deals on various types of clothing every day of the week,” says expert sale shopper Charlie Graham, founder and President of Shop It To Me. “But if you have only one day to shop, make it Friday. Our analysis revealed that’s when approximately 25% of all women’s and men’s clothing items are marked down.”

If you want the best deals on specific items, however, Graham offers the following tips:

• Shop on Friday for jeans, skirts and dresses, men’s shirts and outerwear.
• Shop on Saturday for new shoes, swimwear and intimates.
• Shop early in the week for women’s handbags and men’s sweaters.
• Shop Wednesday or Thursday for Petite or Plus Size clothing. 65% of all Petite Clothing and 57% of all Plus Clothing goes on sale on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. So if you need it right away, snag it on Wed or Thurs.

Prefer to shop by brand name? The Shop It To Me analysis uncovered the following discounting patterns: Buy BCBG on Tuesdays and Thursdays when items averaged 42% off, but shop for Kenneth Cole on Monday and Fridays, for discounts averaging 40% of more. And you’ll find the best prices on Nine West items on Sundays and Tuesdays, for an average 42% discount.

Here’s a summary of the best days to buy each category… but if keeping track of all this data incites dizziness-simply register for a Salemail alert!

And the best days to buy men’s clothing…

3 Comments, Add Yours

We are excited to announce that earlier this week we served up the 2 Billionth Shop It To Me Sale item to our subscribers! Yes, our subscribers have now seen over 2 Billion personalized sale items. That’s a lot of good deals.

We’re not positive, but Claire from Roxbury Connecticut, we think it was in your Salemail :).

Add Your Comments

For many, the biggest frustration of shopping online for clothing is the fear that items won’t fit. But now, with stores making returns extremely easy, this can be less of a worry-some issue. A few words of advice when it comes to online shopping and returns:

• Check the return policy ahead of purchasing. The vast majority of stores do have a return policy. Occasionally during “Final Sale” moments, some will have non-refundable merchandise, but they generally make that very clear on their sites. Most of the larger chain retailers allow you to purchase online and return in a physical store if you prefer, eliminating the need to pay for return shipping (Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s, etc). Others that are online-only stores, such as Piperlime, Zappos, and Bluefly include a pre-paid return shipping label should the item not fit - you just drop off to a UPS or DHL location and the store pays for the shipping. (and note: items bought through Shop It To Me need to be returned to the individual store, not us…)

• When you receive your item, keep the invoice and shipping labels that are included in the box! Don’t be too eager when opening the package that you neglect to keep these pieces of information (I’ve done this and it’s a pain…) If you DO accidentally trash these goodies and then realize you need a return shipping label, you can sometimes either call the retailer and they will email you a version you can affix to the box, or find the form on their website that you can print off. But really, try to save these documents — it will make your life much easier.

• Consider buying 2 sizes of an item and returning the one that doesn’t fit. This way, if you’re unsure about sizing, at least you have a better chance of fitting into one and getting to keep the style you sought out at the price you wished. With returns being so easy these days, I do this all the time to ensure that the style isn’t unavailable or a different price when I go back.

• Take a chance. Once you learn your body-type and have a sense of what will look good on you, it’s sometimes worth it to take a chance. I recently bought some Lucky jeans through Shop It To Me that were on “final sale”…and they fit perfectly! Buying jeans online is a scary thing - until they arrived, I was on edge. I just figured that if they didn’t fit, I could take them to a re-sale store and recoup most of the money since the price I paid was so discounted, or sell/give them to a friend as a gift. Sometimes the best items come from taking a chance.

Check back soon for another post where I’ll highlight the return policies in detail for some of our retailer partners…

Add Your Comments

As the summer nears, it’s fun to jazz up that wardrobe with some new pieces. Most of us feel that we have something new to signal the fresh season…yet daily I hear of the need to save more money and go on a “shopping diet”….

Some thoughts on ways to spend a little and get a lot out of it going into the summer weather:

• Buy accessories to jazz up last year’s basics. Whether it is a great necklace, stand-out earrings, a fun bag, a scarf for the evening cooler weather, these are pieces that you can wear across seasons to get more for your money… and they often cost less than buying apparel.

Dotted Hair Band Reg $18.00 Now $9.95

Pieced Canvas Logo Tote Reg $32.50 Now $19.99

• Look for multi-purpose pieces. Can the tank you are eye-ing to wear to the park on a sunny day double-up as a cami that you can wear under blazers or sweaters during the rest of the year? Can the dress you’re now wearing with sandals be worn with tights and boots come early-Fall? Swimsuit cover-up also be worn as a long tunic over jeans? This approach will give your clothing more wearability…instead of only wearing these pieces June-August, you can stretch their life and make them live year-round.

C&C California - Leigh V-Neck Camisole Reg $68.00 Now $40.80

Milly - Geo Print Shirtdress Reg $370.00 Now $147.90

• Closet clean! Go through last year’s clothing and put together a bag of items that are still in great condition but you’ve just had enough of them. Most areas have re-sale or consignment stores you can take these pieces to. Most have the option to trade in for store-credit or some have the option for cash (which I greatly prefer). The cash option allows you to take the money you just made by selling last year’s wares and put it toward something new and fabulous (perhaps from a Shop It To Me email?!)

3 Comments, Add Yours

As you may know, Shop It To Me has a ‘Trendsetter’ section of our site. This is a way to showcase some of our partners in the fashion and style blog world. So many great opinions and resources out there! You’ll be able to get fashion advice, ideas, and trend tips from these pros.

Take a look in our gallery of Trendsetters and see what inspires you. You’ll see our badge displayed proudly on their sites to signify that they are Shop It To Me Trendsetters.

Let’s check out what a few were up to this week:

CaliforniaStyle - gives you the latest on celebrities and their fashion choices, this week highlighting Christina Milian, Emmy Rossum, and Eva Longoria.

Grand Mademoiselle - this shoe blog will share commentary on the latest shoes, and focuses on larger shoe sizes. This week highlights MaryJane shoes, and shows you what clothing pairs best.

Economy of Style - shows you how to pair outfits together while sticking to a budget! This week includes great dresses and shoes!

For more information about becoming a Trendsetter, please email trendsetters@shopittome.com

1 Comment, Add Yours

We’ve just added DesignsbyStephene.com, a cute online boutique that has GREAT denim sales (and more)!

Today in my Salemail, I received updates that True Religion jeans went from $240.00 to$179.99, Joe’s Jeans went from $158.00 to $99.00, and wow — they don’t just sell jeans — tons of Splendid tees on major sale!

True Religion Jeans Johnny Straight Leg in Road Dog Reg $240.00 Now $179.00

Joes Jeans Cuffed Ankle Cigarette Stretch in Freud Reg $158.00 Now $99.00

Splendid Tees Light Jersey Cami in Emerald Reg $42.00 Now $29.00

I’m excited to continue seeing sale items come pouring in from this site –my selection just broadened (and my Salemail became all the more dangerous…)

And looks like they even have their own blog, Fashion Of The Stars for guidance on what’s new and in.

Add Your Comments

Looks like our network went down for a 1/2 hour today. Luckily our amazing development team found the problem and resolved it so quickly you probably did not know anything was wrong! But If you see anything unusual (besides our unusually great deals! :)), please let us know!

Add Your Comments

When does impulse-shopping most often get the best of you?

In his blog post last week, Scott Silverman, Executive Director of Shop.org, drew my attention to an entertaining and relevant article originally written by Monica Corcoran in the LA Times. “Shopping While Drinking: Retail Happy Hour” hilariously highlighted people who BUI - Buy Under the Influence!

Jokingly, Corcoran explained that for some, “Friday nights involve vodka tonics and a hot date with NeimanMarcus.com.” The article included great quotes from various women who make online clothing splurges after enjoying a few cocktails. My favorites were:

“When I drink and shop, I always think I am a size smaller, and I go for much funkier clothes than my usual black dresses”

“These boxes show up, and I am, like, ‘Oh, my God. I did it again.”

“It’s fun, and it’s the only thing you can do after a few drinks and not have any regrets…You don’t wake up in the morning and panic and think, ‘What did I buy last night?’”

Interestingly, roughly 10% of Shop It To Me emails are first opened in the night-time hours. Luckily, seems that not too many of you are insomniacs!

…But I do agree that perusing new clothing deals can be a great way to pass time on those restless nights….

Add Your Comments