A cross between Abercrombie & Fitch and Forever 21, www.Buckle.com, is worth a look or two. I haven’t ordered anything from here yet but am about to order the python flats below. $26!! I like how the site allows you to filter down the selections you’re browsing through by price, color, size, etc. Thank you Buckle.com for putting some thought into your website design!!

http://www.buckle.com/

Hey Manolo lovers and Jimmy Chooholics… need your help and input. If you’ve been around The Luxe Mix since the good old days when I first started this, you should recall a post I did about high heels and how to wear them comfortably. This is a topic near and dear to my heart. So near and dear to me that I actually invented my own shoe pad. Mmmmmm Hmmmm, that’s right ladies. I have the perfect solution to all your toe boo boos and foot owwies. I tried pretty much every shoe pad out there to try to make my life at work on heels a little more bearable. I’ve tried everything at the store and a ton more tricks that I had up my sleeve.. until finally one day I said screw it I’m going to make my own shoe pad.

Thanks to Choxie Snoops, who has stepped in like the ever-energetic and superpowered leading lady that she is, we are bringing these foot pads to life! We are just getting ready to soft-launch our first batch of them in a couple weeks.

You can get your very first sample of our shoe pad by filling out 10 quick responses on our Heel Habits Survey. This offer is limited to fill it our quick! We’ll be giving away pads to the first 100 respondents. Please be patient for your shoe pad sample as we will be sending these out when we soft-launch our first batch.

Launch Survey

Thanks for you help and participation. One day soon we will end foot pain for all.

I’m curious about where the in-bound traffic to my blog is coming from so I like to check what Google Search terms are sending people to my blog. Recently, I saw someone had searched "Is Forever21 helping or hurting the fashion industry".

Forever21 Rocks!

In my humble view Forever21 and similar discount (luxe for less, also referred to as "chic n’ cheap") fashion retailers are most definitely HELPING the fashion industry. In the short term higher end fashion designers and retailers are taking a big hit. I remember being in Forever21 one weekend and having to fight the crowds to no end and then walking over to Saks Fifth to find a completely deserted floor — on a Saturday! The reality is that people don’t want to have to pay premium prices to look good. As you know, I don’t believe they should either. Forever21 and discount retailers are turning the fashion industry upside down. What used to be a very elite and segmented market, is now opening up to the masses. Everyone and their Moms’ shop at Forever21. Ok so maybe the Moms need to stay away but they are there! That’s a sign that more stores ought to target mature women’s discount fashion.

Necessary Evil

I must admit that the shady things Forever21 does in terms of knocking off designs and such has to come to a stop… but I think that’s going to take a long time to figure out. In the meantime, it’s going to happen but I think it’s a necessary evil in order for the fashion industry to take a step forward.

What do I mean by a step forward?

Well, I’ve always thought that the fashion industry was one sided — to the point where it’s unhealthy. It bothers me that fashion designers live in their creative worlds and never think twice about who their loyal fans or just a normal consumer is. They design things on their own whim… and do they ever stop to think about what it is that WE want? Do they ever care that the beautiful things they make are friggin unwearable?? Perhaps there are some that do but the most talented designers I’m sure never needed to waste their time and effort on such trivial matters. With the rise of discount fashion, which in turn made fashion accessible to the masses, this placed some of the power back into the consumer’s hands – US! There’s more of us and we have choices. The more consumers of fashion, the larger the industry can grow. The larger the industry, the more competitive the market. I feel all of this will bring about a much healthier and improved fashion industry.

I welcome all thoughts on the topic!

My first "look" on ShopStyle.com…

Last weekend I met up with Grunchkin for some shop till we drop action in San Francisco (BTW Grunchkin = Grouchy Munchkin. We nearly did drop to our knees by the end of our round. I actually recorded a few videos that day which I’m still considering whether to post them or not

We started out at Wich’ Craft, the latest lunch spot next to Bloomies (opened by the Top Chef guy). It was mmmm mmm good. We then proceeded directly to the Forever21 on Market. This has got to be their Flahship store for Northen Cali if I’m not mistaken. It’s 3 floors! Tip: grab one of their shopping totes and cram everything you want to try on into the bag and head to the top floor — the lines are much shorter. Beware though, you end up picking up a lot more stuff!

I did some minor damage, spending about $250 there. For Forever21 that’s quite a load!

Here are a few of the things I got (found them on their site).

Striped Metallic Top — $15.80

Striped Tube Top — $18.00

Jersey Babydoll — $17.80

Stitched Jumper Tunic — $24.00

Cherry Blossom Tunic — $17.80

Plaid Linen Mini — $19.80

"Luxe" defined by Dictionary.com:

luxury; elegance; sumptuousness: accommodations providing luxe at low rates.

After talking with some people about my blog I realized I have never really defined what "Luxe" and the "Luxe Mix" is all about. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t even sure if the word "Luxe" existed in the English language. I’ve seen it used here and there in fashion magazine and such and I pretty drew my own conclusions of the meaning.

My own take on luxe…

"Luxe" — something that is luxury in style and essence. This is not constrained to luxury goods in my mind. I believe something that looks or feels "luxe" can be regarded or perceived to be luxury and does not necessarily mean it has to cost a lot of money.

The "Luxe Mix" –  a strategy I use in my personal styling. I don’t believe an individual has to spend exorbitant amounts of money to look "luxury."  There are some key goods that I firmly believe require quality investment such as handbags, shoes, certain jewelery and some beauty products. But other than that there’s so much great fashion and lifestyle products that come at incredibly affordable prices these days (see Luxe for Less).  You can see a huge shift in the fashion industry towards what’s referred to as "disposable clothing." Thanks to retailers like Forever21 and H&M, everyone can afford to look great.

I must caveat that my take on fashion and lifestyle goods works for me but wouldn’t suit others — especially my friend who I call "iRobot". iRobot shops much less frequently than me but anytime she makes a purchase it’s a life long purchase and she typically only buys the high end designer goods f’sho!! I on the other hand crave new things all the time. I get sick of things pretty quickly so it doesn’t make economical sense to purchase luxury goods at luxury prices.

So stay tuned to the Luxe Mix as I continue my quest for the life of Luxe without going for broke!

I head to Palm Springs this Friday for a quick getaway with my hubby so I’m thinking about dropping by the mall to scoop up some un-guilty pleasures — cheap summery tops from Forever21! It feels so good to buy something for less than what’s you’d spend on a nice dinner.

What I’ve got my eyes on…

Rainbow Hoody – $22.80

Trixie Tunic – $17.80

Floral Sierra Top – $24.80

Floral Polka Dot Top – $24.00

Jenny Top – $13.80

Lace Top – $19.80

If you can get beyond the cliche name this luxe for less accessories online boutique has some serious bargains. Not that I endorse knock-offs but this site has ‘em, or should I say designer "inspired".

Go to ShopSueyBoutique.com

My luxe picks for the day:

Gwen Sunglasses $14.00

US Mag has a deal on this pair. Spend $40 at shopsueyboutique and get this pair of shades FOR FREE. I like the unique gap between the lens and the curved angles of the frame. It makes the sunglasses sporty but ultra chic.

Lily Belt $12.00

I like these hardware details. I’ve been searching for a belt like this to cinch all the baby doll loose fit tunics I’ve OD’d on.

Bow Hat $20.00

Pauperish but cute.

Stripe Tote $50.00

Something about this bag just makes me want to buy it.