This story category covers fashion trends, clothing and accessories—plus shopping and shops.

The Awesome Baggu

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Why I’m replacing my cache of nonwoven polypropylene shopping bags with ripstop models from Baggu.
  Baggu Bags

 

BUY RIGHT | It was cleanup month around here so I tackled the buildup of shopping bags that had threatened to devour my closet. I don’t know how it happened, but over the past two years I’d managed to accumulate around 50 reusable polyester and nonwoven polypropylene “billboard shoppers” (so called because they often display a company logo) in every size imaginable. These shoppers are awkward and bulky even when folded and gang-bagged, and they easily turn into an unwieldy space-stealing mess when stashed in the back of a car or cupboard.

To add insult to injury, nonwoven polypropylene bags are no better for the environment than those disposable plastic bags they’ve come to replace. Read more

Five Tips For Returning Store Purchases

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What you need to know about taking purchases that don’t work out back to the store where you got them.

Woman shopping

 

SHOPPING SMART | It takes me a long time to make up my mind about buying something so I have always tended to take things home, think about them and then return them once I’m sure they’re not right for me. I do this even more since I started shopping at stores such as T.J. Maxx  and Winners where there may be only one of something so it’s best to grab it while you can.

Here’s what I’ve learned about returning merchandise back to the store where you bought it. Read more

Hello Moto

Hello Moto: Where To Find Jackets Now

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If you have been thinking about adding a motorcycle jacket to your wardrobe, now would be a good time to do it.

Hello Moto

SALE ALERT | Everyone’s favourite bad girl jacket—the moto—was a big deal on runways in this past fall, with innumerable high fashion players putting their own spin on the snaps, zippers, ribbed leather panels and belt loops that characterize this iconic piece of outerwear. Naturally ready-to-wear followed suit—and sure as Christmas rolls round in December, the purveyors of these less expensive versions have now put their jackets on sale.

If you’ve been thinking about adding a little biker chick chic to your otherwise girly wardrobe, here are a few great value motorcycle jackets we found for your consideration. Read more

Shopping On The Tablet - iStock

Go With What You Know—And Other Rules For Shopping Cyber Monday Week

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Shopping online for extreme deals during Cyber Monday Week is not without pitfalls. Here’s what you need to know before going in deep for cheap goods.Shopping On The Tablet - iStock

 

BUYER BEWARE | What seems sweet on the surface, can be bitter underneath. The internet is at all times crawling with scammers, but they’re out in full force during Cyber Monday Week (like Black Friday, Cyber Monday is no longer a 24-hour blowout) when online shoppers are apt to let their guard down. Here’s what we know about cyber shopping this week. Read more

Joe Fresh Goes Monochrome

How To Layer Deep Vee & Scoopy Crew Tops

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As necklines plunge, top fashion brands offer a variety of ways to layer up their deep V-necks and scoopy crews.

Joe Fresh Goes MonochromeHave you noticed how the necklines of pullover sweaters have all gotten deeper this season? While there’s nothing wrong with showing a little skin, some of these necklines may be too impractical and drafty (not to mention unflattering—protruding collarbones, anyone?) for daytime use. Read more

Design Sponge No-Buy Guide -M Pessaris

Here’s The Best Way To Do Black Friday Week

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Here are 11 good reasons to avoid BLACK FRIDAY and 10 no-buy gifts to pull together with all your new free time

While we would never say no to getting a great deal, we do think that unless you are in the market for something specific and you know for sure that it will be on sale at a shockingly low price, shopping on Black Friday weekend can be a colossal waste of money and time. Read more

Now For Something Completely Different

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High-fashion rebel Martin Margiela moves down market with a wonderfully unconventional collection for H&M. (LOOKBOOK)

Martin Margiela for H&M

 

 

CULT FASHION ALERT | I’m a grown-up woman with grown-up kids and I can’t believe I just called my local mall to ask about the protocol for camping outside overnight. Because that’s exactly what I’ll need to do if I expect to acquire a single piece of the—“wonderfully weird and wearable,” to quote WWD—clothing from Maison Martin Margiela debuted at select H&M stores November 2012.

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Fall Topshop 2012

New Topshop And Uniqlo Stores Open

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Two top international fashion brands cast their nets ever wider with new shops on the west coast, one in Vancouver, the other in San Francisco.

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CULT SHOPPING ALERT | It’s no secret Frugalbits loves Uniqlo; we’ve spilled enough digital ink to prove it. The Japanese fashion behemoth has captured our hearts with inexpensive, well-made fashion staples such as cashmere sweaters in a dazzling colours for $50 to $89 (take that, J. Crew), barely there ultralight down sweaters and coats for $50 to $90 (take that, Patagonia) and crisply executed men’s long sleeve dress shirts for $30 (take that, Brooks Brothers). Read more

Merino Sheep

Wool Power: Merino Tops At A Killer Price

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I came for the goat but went home with the sheep: high-quality merino wool sweaters at a bargain basement price.

 

BIG DEAL | On the hunt for inexpensive cashmere, I trekked out to Costco last month to see whether their most recent shipment of Kirkland brand cashmere sweaters included the V-neck version in navy I’d been pining for. Sadly, it didn’t, and I was resigned to returning home without new apparel when I spotted a display table piled high with shockingly inexpensive V-neck sweaters in 100 percent merino wool. Read more

JOE FRESH PEA COAT FALL 2012

It’s Pea Coat Weather! Our 6 Top Jacket Picks

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Fall is pea coat weather. Here are six hot jackets that can handle the oncoming chill. (LOOKBOOK)

JOE FRESH PEA COAT FALL 2012

 

BUY RIGHT | While it may not possess the enduring absolutely-have-to-have status of an archetypal trench coat, the classic pea coat (it’s actually a jacket) is one of those iconic fashion items that enjoys recurring cachet. Read more