Shopping around the World...

I wish I could say that shopping is a dirty little secret of mine but unfortunately, everyone knows and when everyone knows, it ceases to be a secret. I wish I could say definitively that my Senseless Desire to Acquire Syndrome (aka SDAS) was caused by one specific thing but it's probably actually several reasons: 1.) the thrill off the hunt, 2.) new hobbies that must be pursued to the fullest degree, 3.) I go from couch potato to fitness queen and back again, thus needing a wide range of clothes sizes/options, 4.) I'm trying to help the economy regain its footing singlehandedly, and 5.) i'm bored.

So apart from scouring the world of information for places to eat and things to do, I also make it my mission to figure out what I can buy in said parts of the world. Here are just a few of my favorite places to shop!

FRANCE

Marius Fabre (Soap Factory)
148 av Paul Bourret
13300 Salon de Provence, France

00 33 (0)4 90 53 82 75
M - F 9:30 - 11:30am; 1:45 to 5:00pm (4pm on Fridays)

E.DEHILLERIN (cookware)
18 et 20, rue Coquillière
51, rue Jean- Jacques Rousseau - 75001
PARIS
Phone: +33 1 42 36 53 13 - Fax: +33 1 42 36 54 80
Email: info@e-dehillerin.fr
Open on mondays from 9 to 12.30 and from 14 to 18 and on tuesdays to saturdays from 9 to 18. Closed on sundays and off-days

ITALY

Prada Outlet (Space)
Strada Statale 69
Localita Levanella, Montevarchi (Arezzo)
39.055.91901



Diffusione Tessile (Max Mara)
Via Goleto 13/B
Boretto (Reggio Emilia)Emilia Romagna
39.0522.964415

The Mall (various labels)
Via Europa 8Leccio/
Reggello (Florence)
39.055.865775




Il Salvagente
via fratelli bronzetti 16
Milan, Italy
02.76.11.03.28
Mon: 3 - 7pm
Tues - Sat: 10am - 7pm


JAPAN:
Depachika (basement of department stores)

Uniqlo

100 Yen Shop


NEW YORK:

Century 21 Department Store
22 Cortlandt Street
New York, NY
212.227.9092
M - W: 7:45am - 9pm
Th - Fr: 7:45am - 9:30pm
Sat: 10am - 9pm
Sun: 11am - 8:00pm

Clothingline
Sample Sales
261 W 36th Street 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10079

Shop Gotham
take the garment center tour! great look into sample sale/showroom shopping!


Uniqlo
546 Broadway
New York, NY
212.221.9037


I will continue to update this list as additional places come to mind (or if I find new places, of course!)

New York Welcome!

I flew into New York before 6:00am on a very rainy Friday. My heart sunk with the prospect of navigating my way through the city in pouring rain. Luckily, I had booked William, (718.775.2611) to pick me up. He was awesome - prompt and communicated with me from the time my plane landed until he found me in front of the terminal. He was a bit difficult to understand due to his thick Columbian accent but was extremely polite and professional. (Case in point: Jelp. He had picked up a client who was an owner/investor in Jelp...you know...the company in California. Oh, right...Yelp.)

Sheraton Manhattan Times Square. I really hate that hotel. It is such a dump. Added to that was some ridiculous claim that they didn't have a single room available for me until that afternoon. It's one thing if I wasn't in the industry but the fact that I understood hotel speak and knew he was blowing smoke up my butt, added to the fact that i didn't sleep on the red-eye really nearly made me lose my mind....then again, I wasn't VIP or have any status with this hotel chain so what could I expect? He asked for a business card with cellphone number to call me when a room was ready. I gave him one...and got a call a couple of hours later to check in. That was better than I was expecting but it didn't change the fact that i was still tired. :(

I killed some time while i waited for Carrie to fly in by participating in my favorite past time - shopping. I decided to join a "garment district tour" (http://www.shopgotham.com/) at 10:00am. They handed out the list of stores we'd be hitting and I have to admit, I poo-poo'ed the list with a hint of snobbery. I know some of you are thinking, "wow?? jenny struck out??" Please...needless to say that in a group of 10 women - all complete strangers, I "won". Again. Added to that i kept spurring other women on with why they should buy what they had on (if it looked good). I did well for the shopkeeps. You can always count on me to upsell...well, when I'm not busy upselling myself.

My best buy was the Japanese crushed wool sweater above. Regularly, $540. I got it for a cool $40. I was going to get a basic cardigan that retails for $780 but I still couldn't stomach the idea of paying out $150 for it. No way.

These pair of shoes were on sale for about $110. I didn't pay that much...because why would i pay $110 for SATIN shoes?? Right. I wouldn't. What happened was that I bought a pair of shoes that were high heels, black leather that was almost biker chic. I tried on the right shoe and it was like I was cinderella. a perfect fit. I get back to the hotel to show Carrie my score only to discover that they were TWO right side shoes. I mean...at least if they were left feet shoes, I'd understand...and could probably work with it. As it was...not so much. *SIGH*...loved those shoes but these are infinitely more practical.

I'm sure I'd have PETA crawling up my butt over this but I bought this scarf. Somehow, midway through the freaking shopping trip, the other women realized that I was trying to upsell them or they thought it was funny that I was so mad that I was the only one "winning" that they told me how fantastic this looked on me. Unfortunately, it really was warm and comfy. I loved this thing. it looks ridiculous on the hanger but it really does look fabulous on.

Here's another sweater that I bought. Wool angora...it fit me like a glove. Other people tried it on but it just made them look short. *SIGH*. There was no way I was leaving without it.

I highly recommend going on this trip, if for no other reason than to just get into the showrooms of some famous designers. A good time to go is in the spring or fall when a lot of people are trying to get rid of inventory.

More Goods...

Other purchases that we made included products from Le Chateau du Bois - you saw their lavendar fields a few entries ago. I purchased this fantastic essential oil. I put one drop on pillow for its soothing effects a couple of days ago and I can still smell it!! It's fantastic!!

Carrie found some Lavendar essential oil at the Beaune market that claimed to have anti-aging effects. I looked at it and looked around the booth. I turned back to Carrie and said, "it doesn't work." she said, "how do you know??" I said, "Check out the woman who is selling the product." That woman was so wrinkled that carrie called her, "paper bag woman" and she didn't mean that she should put one over her head which would have only helped the situation. Needless to say, Carrie put the product back down and stepped away from the table.

In Switzerland, we thought, "hey...aren't the swiss known for their restorative facial treatments?? surely they must have good stuff." Then we discovered the fact that everything was about 15 times more expensive than any other country in the world. I said, "someone had mentioned that they picked up some 1 euro lotion and it was the best lotion they ever tried." thus became our quest to find this 1 euro lotion. We found it. this is one of the best lotions I have ever tried. and I'm sad to say that I only bought 2 tubes for myself...the rest for gifts. Anyone have any contacts (or go to switzerland) that can get us more of this magic cream??
We also wanted to pick up some drugstore variety of face cream. I decided on the eye cream because that's the area i need the most help. Louis Widmer is fantastic as well!! I love the consistency of this cream. Carrie is very happy with her face cream as well but I'm sure she may have a blog or two about that!!