Want Skinny Uniqlo Jeans?

I've had these under my desk for too long, so that means...GIVEAWAY.

Once I broke these in, I loved. But it took a couple wearings.

Are you a size 29 x 32? Do you want a pair of the skinny jeans Uniqlo priced at $9.90 for their opening of the 34th Street store? Leave me a comment with an email (if there's no contact info linked to your user name) so I can easily contact you, and we'll do a drawing! US only please.Contest up till Tuesday, January 17th at noon.

Tweet this daily with @fashionherald till next Tuesday and you get another entry (only one tweet per day, please). Post it on your facebook page with a link to Fashion Herald's facebook and you get another entry (one post only, please). Or like I said above, just tell me you want them and they might be yours!

And don't forget, Uniqlo has a lot on sale right now. The +J is still discounted, and if you haven't tried on the last +J  collection for Uniqlo, now is the time to do it.


Uniqlo 31 West 34th Street just east of Sixth Avenue

The Elusive Ugly Holiday Sweater (and How to Win a Pair of Southwest Airline Tickets)

Our 34th Street correspondent Sarah stalks the city's vintage stores for ugly holiday sweaters after striking out on 34th Street. The ugly holiday sweater is now hard-to-find and is going for a premium in vintage stores. I blame all the Ugly Holiday Sweater Parties, like the one our sister company, Bryant Park, is having tomorrow night: Show up in your ugly holiday sweater at Southwest Porch, pose for a photo, and beg all your friends to vote for you on the Bryant Park Facebook page. The photo with the most votes wins a pair of tickets on Southwest Airlines.

Kmart and JCPenney had a few options online, but none on 34th Street (and this awesome godawful vest is sold out). Obviously, we're a little too high-brow for holiday ugliness. But designers should start thinking now about a line of ugly holiday sweaters for next year, as they are getting harder and harder to come by. I'll let Sarah take it from here...

In anticipation for our Ugly Holiday Sweater Party tomorrow night at Southwest Porch, I trekked across hipster fashion central of Manhattan, the East Village, after striking out in 34th Street. Only afterwards did I realize thrift shopping in EV is a Catch-22. The East Village has the best concentration of thrift stores because of its vintage-loving inhabitants, so unfortunately most of them are sold out of those elusive sweaters. 

My first stop was No Relations Vintage. The selection is slightly better for men than women, but the prices are extremely reasonable all around. I managed to find a delightful “ugly” hat with the fullest pompom I’ve ever seen! I tucked it away in my basket right away even if it doesn’t fit my head. I didn’t have much luck with the sweater rack, but found a monstrous holiday-jacket on the coat rack.  

Buffalo Exchange on 11th Street was the next stop. This is one of the busiest thrift stores I’ve been in, rivaling H&M crowds on 34th street. Thus, as expected, I did not manage to find any ugly holiday sweaters. I got distracted from my mission and scored an American Apparel nude blouse and a silk jumpsuit for a total of $50 bucks.  

I headed back east to Second Avenue thrift store, where they had a huge selection of clothing; alas they were also sold out of ugly holiday sweaters. At Salvation Army I finally scored some festive scarves and a cheap holiday sweater that had a decent amount of ugly. 

Back in the office, my colleague Kati showed me her loot, which includes hideous snowman sweater and a gloves sweater both with sequins! She snagged those at Monk Thrift Shop, where ugly sweaters are going for up to $100 dollars! 

We’ve ended up with a pretty great selection of sweaters for the party, but I’ve definitely learned my lesson here. Ugly sweater parties are definitely the most popular party concept in Manhattan this year, and next year I will start shopping for hideous holiday sweaters in July.

Be sure to drop by the party tomorrow night from 6-8pm! There will be holiday drinks for $5 and a lot of ridiculous holiday props.

Best 34th Street Gifts, The Last Day: Lanvin for H&M Giveaway!

Win this Lanvin for H&M t-shirt!

Happy Holidays means Happy Giveaway, and this holiday season on Fashion Herald we're giving away this fabulous Lanvin for H&M "Sexy legs" T-shirt seen I tried on here:

Sadly, we have no fabulous Lanvin for H&M skirt to give away with the T-shirt...

...but I'll throw in the wardrobe bag!

It's a medium, and it's long, and it's so much more cute in person than I could have ever imagined. So here's the deal: Leave a comment on the blog saying "I'm going to miss Intern Craig," and you are entered to win (US and Canada only).* Yes, Intern Craig is leaving me the end of this year so I'm in mourning.

For extra entries, one must jump through hoops and do the following:

• Follow me on Twitter and tweet "I'm going to miss Intern Craig" (be sure to @fashionherald)
• Like me on Facebook and comment on the page "I'm going to miss Intern Craig"
• Follow me on bloglovin' and tell me about it
• Follow me on Blogger and tell me about it
• Go to our home page and submit your vote in our poll and tell me about it

Good luck and happy, happy holidays!


*Contest is up through January 2nd, 2011, and winner will be announced on the 3rd. Please check back if your contact information is not readily available, and email me if you've won. I'll give the winner until the end of the day on Wednesday, January 5th, to contact me. If the winner does not contact me by the 5th, the T-shirt goes to the runner-up (and so on, and so on...).

H&M Herald Square, 34th Street just east of 6th Avenue

H&M 34th Street, 7th Avenue and 34th Street

Attention Kmart Shoppers et al.: Chickdowntown Giveaway

It's Friday, so there's a lot going on. First, our friends at chickdowntown.com contacted me again with another irresistible offer: post this contest and I get a $50 gift card from chickdowntown.com. Which means one of you gets a $50 gift card from chickdowntown.com! It's like a play within a play, but the contest version:

1. Win a Tibi mini green dress by leaving a comment on the chickdowntown giveaway blog post.

2. Then leave a comment on this Fashion Herald post, and I'll put your name in a hat and Kati will draw the lucky winner next Friday, April 24th. Everyone qualifies (brilliant news, they ship international now), except our last gorgeous chickdowntown.com winner/rocker of the boyfriend jeans, Sister Wolf! Next time, Ms. Wolf. Here she is in her fab boyf jeans.

3. Hurry, go to the Tibi mini green dress giveaway blog soon and comment, as the chickdowntown.com giveaway ends over tomorrow! (My bad, lost giveaway email in massive inbox....)

Update: Winner announced! Congrats to The Preppy Princess!

Now back to 34th Street. Remember the Give and Get campaign? Gap raised 1.5 million, with proceeds going to such charities as the Leukemia & Lymphona Society, Feeding America, and the World Wildlife Fund. Well done, shoppers!

And last, some Attention jackets from Kmart on 34th Street, $34.99 (left) and $39.99. Very cute and practical spring items, because I doubt April showers are finished with us yet.






















Gap, 60 W. 34th Street between 5th & 6th
Kmart, 250 W. 34th between 7th & 8th

Box O' Lashes (and Fake Nails)

Perhaps some of you also were contacted by Revlon to test some of their products? Well, as Revlon is carried in probably all of our pharmacies* on 34th Street, I asked for the lashes and fake nails. Honestly I was hoping to test some serious press-on nails. I can't resist the press-on.

Here's what came to the office this morning:










I thought I'd be getting maybe two pairs each. Nope, 112 pieces like these:

Fantasy Length lashes, "Chic," "Defining," and "Lush." Think I"ll put Lush on top of Defining;

and these, decorative french manicures, YES!










As one of my favorite guys said upon viewing above box, "We need some trannies." Seriously. I plan, of course, on testing them all and will post a review later. But soon, I'm sure, my office-mate will tire of me gluing on nails and lashes in our shared space. So some major giving away is in Fashion Herald's near future to anyone and everyone who wants to sample. Don't forget nieces and younger sisters. Remember when you, too, were obsessed with Lee Press On Nails?**

*Favorite 34th Street pharmacies: Irmat at 2 Park Avenue when I want highbrow, Walgreen's in the Empire State Building, just to be buying shampoo in the basement of the ESB, and Duane Reade on the corner of 34th & 5th, my go-to snack stop.

**warning: none of these nails are actually press on, you've got to use the glue. But I do have several self-adhesive fake lashes.

Size 8? Win Shoes!

Don't forget and click on the left to win those boots! Contest ends at midnight.

Comme Give It Away

Look how perfect Jamie looks in this CdG for H&M blouse:













And this is a size 8, which is big for her, but it still looks great on her. I'm proud to say I bought this and she drooled over it so, naturally, it had to be hers. But don't think I'm some kind of saint because I was going to return it anyway.

As it's been a while since WendyB got her 'wichcraft $$, let's make this giveaway a good one. Here:


Size medium, red polka dot CdG for H&M cardigan. Just comment on this post, because I can't think of anything good for a contest. If I was a web tech person I'd design online games for us bloggers, like those crane games at carnivals that torture little kids and never pick up the dang stuffed animal. My husband and I used to play one at our laundromat endlessly and it would bark at us: "There's no limit to what you can win!" Wrong, we almost never won. But the one time he actually got a stuffed animal, he gave it to the toddler had been watching him play, mesmerized by his superior crane technique. Instant deification/gratification!

If you're a regular commenter and link to this post on your blog, I'll put your name in the pot 3 times. Although that will make it more difficult to win, so proceed with caution! The commenting section will be open till the end of the day on Sunday, and the winner (chosen by a drawing) will be announced Monday.

update: I'll even ship this one overseas, so this is open to all.
& update: be sure to let me know if you link, just in case I'm behind in reading.

H&M, 34th & 7th Avenue, &
H&M Herald Square, 34th @ 6th Avenue

Texting Kira

Kira Plastinina and I are like BFF. I mean, we like text each other all the time. Like just now I texted "Kira" to 79704 and she like totally texted me right back! XOXO, Kira!

Kira giving me 20% off because we're such good friends. And the Charms blow pop I got at her store? Totally free! Kira hearts me.

But, seriously, I have to say thanks to the Kira Plastinina manager on 34th Street because yesterday, when I dropped by to get shopping bags for our new 34th Street brochure cover, she was very lovely and accommodating. And Kira Plastinina has the best bags, I recommend them for everyone's brochure cover photo shoot:


The manager also told me about this texting thing. Naturally, Ancient Blogger Lady recently learned how to text and good thing, as I'm just in time to get 20% off my Kira Plastinina purchase. First up, these adorable black boots ($98) I found on her website:


I don't know if these are in the 34th Street store, I'll check on that later. In the meantime, everyone needs to text Kira like, right now! BFF Forever!






**Sting Sweater contest reminder** Any takers? It's all WendyB's if, by the end of the day, I have zero entries. She is the next degree of separation to the Sting sweater. Remember her scores at the Trudie Styler sale? And speaking of Wendy, don't miss this post. How to choose, I want so many! I think Kira needs a fruit necklace, I'm totally texting her right now.


Kira Plastinina, 22 W. 34th between 5th & 6th

Happy Election Day + Daffy's Giveaway!

I'm a voting nerd. I love it all, New Yorkers complaining if they have to wait in line even if it's only 8 people long, volunteers behind tables guiding voters round the elementary school basement, the inevitable confusion amongst voting officials: "Found the list, found it! Table 92 had it!" I love the clanging sound of voting machines and the gathering of locals exercising their democratic rights. And I will die happy if, when I retire, I'm one of those little old lady volunteers who count ballots by hand in a close election. "What's that you say? 80,652?"

Me in my fantasy future, taking off my gloves so I don't miss any of those ballots.
Speaking of politics, here's a great little article about the election inspired by one of my favorite city squares. I love his description of our little triangle park and its inhabitants.

And in other Herald Square news, check out Daffy's new website, launched just yesterday. Be sure to click on "Buzz" for news on recent acquisitions (yes!) and "Found It/Love It," their video testimonials. And guess what? All you Daffy's shoppers out there can submit a "found it/love it" video for their website. Nice incentive for those of you who have delved into the whole "vlogging" aspect of "blogging." (Are these words even in a dictionary?)

And the first Fashion Herald commenter* to post a video on the Daffy's site is getting some extra incentive: a $25 Daffy's gift card. I'd do $50, but what if someone actually finds the "sting sweater" photo? Then I'm way over budget!

*send me an email when you've posted video

Daffy's Herald Square, 34th Street @ Broadway

Leftovers + Sting Sweater Contest

I love leftovers. Nothing's more comforting than knowing I've got last night's dinner awaiting me in my fridge. Today, some last week leftovers in my pics folders:

No one in my family should be allowed to wear yellow. Thus my obsession with puffy yellow vests. I really want one. This is from Gap, $64, but currently vests and other selected outerwear are 30% off, so it's now $44.50;










Everyone should have a striped "Sting" sweater and I think this one qualifies (H&M, $34.90, black skirt $39.90). If you can find me a photo or the video where Sting, from early Police days, is wearing that yellow and black striped sweater, I'll give you a $25 'wichcraft gift certificate. Email me or leave on comments. If you're not midtown local and you're not addicted to 'wichcraft peanut butter sandwich cookies (me!), I'll get a $25 cert at Sephora or your 34th Street store of choice. Because last week I spent at least an hour looking for Sting in that sweater to a very frustrating no avail;



A little lace: Calvin Klein push up bra ($16.99), red Natori boy shorts ($9.99) and nude patterned stockings ($6.99) from Daffy's, 5th flr. All shot on my ironing board which is mainly used as an early morning coffee cup holder;







One of my favorite Muppets, because pretty much all drummers I'm acquainted with have Animal-like qualities. Find it on the 4th floor straight off the escalator at Macy's Herald Square;




Speaking of drummers and Police videos, click here for my first and best rock crush. Can't embed, grr, but at the end Stewart kicks Sting in the butt! Probably because he was flipping his hair too much. Me-n-Stewart Copeland forever, sigh!

*Update: oh, and Sting doesn't really flip his hair, that's more of a metal narcissist thing. But he does stare broodingly into the camera.


Macy's Herald Square, 151 W. 34th btwn Broadway & 7th
Daffy's Herald Square, 34th Street & Broadway
H&M Herald Square, 34th & 6th Avenue
Gap, 60 W. 34th @ 6th Avenue

34th Street's Le Chateau Giveaway

These speak for themselves, oui? Groovy suede fringed is $129.95, fab caveman fake fur vest is $85.95.










Quoi*, long, acrylic sweater for $79.95? The white fake fur vest ($85.95) is too short. I prefer the wooly mammoth cut of the brown fake fur vest. And that belt? Zut alors, so bad it's good!












I like this long, hooded vest, it's even got a little fringe going on in the front, but $80-ish for 80% acrylic? Non!

I was impressed with this denim dress and its adorable collar till I saw the $99.95 price tag. What? And look, cute as the collar is, the unfinished edges peek out. Quel horror!










I get nostalgic about Le Chateau. Growing up it was the lone, gleaming beacon in my Midwest town's only shopping mall. I aspired to shop what was to me an exotic and expensive store, and finally did during my glorious (cough) metal phase. On the sale rack I found a cropped, black patent moto jacket with a plaid lining that rocked my torn stockings and buckle skirt. All of which I suspect moms (#1 Fan) "misplaced" in the garbage.

Now I can shop Le Chateau on 34th Street. But while I might pay $80+ for cute fake fur and leather fringe vests, I will not pay that for acrylic sweaters. Hello, Le Chateau omnium? While you are digesting my little critique, I'll give away two of your scarves:

2 Le Chateau scarves on world's ugliest chair. Poor Martin!


Specify which scarf you want, green or brown, in the comments section and we'll do a drawing Friday, noonish. No limitations, anyone from anywhere can participate. Bonne chance for a little Le Chateau from 34th Street!



Le Chateau, 34 W. 34th Street between 5th & 6th

*I reserve the right to butcher the language of any store whose name begins with "Le."

Fit Flop Winners!

OD'd on pink? Here, to atone for all that teenage pinkness, I'll announce the winners of the FitFlop giveaway. My co-worker Kati once again drew names for me, and here are the results:

The fabulous enc of ObservationMode! Yay!

Who's the most entertaining preppy blogger? The Preppy Princess!

And lastly, very new blogger Katt of Love Want. She may have only two posts so far, but one is all about a chicken purse so she's won me over.

Nice draws, Kati! Winners, please email me (see "Call Me" on left) with your address and foot size, and I'll get the FitFlops to you by the end of the week. Visit the FitFlop site here to see sizing FAQs.

Many thanks to Lady Foot Locker on 34th Street between Broadway and 7th for donating the FitFlops. The store on 34th Street is newly renovated, so you all should stop by for a look-see. 34th Street has Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, and the old standby, Foot Locker. Good for all your tennis shoe needs.

And, because I'm just back from vacation, and in my heart I'm still in Iowa playing euchre and dancing contra dances, here's the final word on the sister wedding outfit showdown:

#1 Fan:

Moms is working the modern look well. She was also the first one with wine in her hand. I bow to the master.

"R:"

Nebraska clown, storyteller, former lounge singer, and always the last one on the dance floor. And yes, her dancing boots are to die for.

"E:"

The Dark Horse! While obsessing about R and how much turqoise jewelry she'd wear, we all forgot about E! The oldest sister at 82, E is wearing a fabulous vintage maxi dress she had made in 1968. Bravo, E!

Proof that style never gets old, it just gets better.

Fit Flopping

Lady Foot Locker on 34th Street is giving me 3 pairs of Fit Flops to give away. Thanks, Foot Locker! Really, it's thanks to Melissa from Foot Locker who graciously offered up the Fit Flops. She herself just got a pair. I admitted to her I was skeptical that wearing special flip flops will get you into shape, because there's always some new gimmick to convince women that we can magically lose weight. Let's review:

• diet pills: I'm sure we've all been tempted when faced with the specter of cellulite on our thighs, ass, or upper arms (thanks to my husband who pointed out that arm dimple to me in the gym last week. Thanks, baby!). But back to drugs: we think hey, excellent, I'll just take this and the fat will melt away! Till later you find out it's f**ked up your metabolism and once you stop you immediately gain like 20 pounds. Or you get addicted and, well, bigger problems ensue.
  
• that machine that shakes your fat away: What happened to that, anyway?
• those tin foil sweat suits: I knew women who wore these under their clothes. Eww, smelly! They, too, melted away the fat and also caused women and men to faint, often in public and on the street. Watch out for that bus! I think they had to put some national warning out on TV about these.
• and, in the tin foil family, Saran Wrap! That's right, wrap up your problem areas like last night's leftovers! Which, unfortunately, also causes breathing mammals to pass out on city sidewalks.
  
• electrodes. Attach them to muscles and zap, you're in shape! Need I say more?
  

Now, I'll give the Fit Flop people some cred: they are encouraging their wearers to exercise in them. But still, the Fit Flop claims to "give you a workout while you walk" and "work your bum muscles more." I'm maintaining my skepticism until after I give away 3 pairs to you bloggers and hear this back from one of you: "OMG! My ass is like a Brazilian surfer babe's high water booty!" I am familiar with the term "high water booty" because one summer all I did was kick with flippers and a kick board in a public swimming pool (yes, in public!) per the advice of a ladies magazine and their "high water booty work-out." See, we're crazy!

If you want to enter to win a free pair of Fit Flops from 34th Street's Lady Foot Locker, just tell me in comments and we'll have another drawing. Deadline will be the end of the weekend. Please check back for winners on Monday as I'll need your shoe size and address to mail them out. No internationals, US only sorry! And if you've won anything from Fashion Herald in the last month, again sorry, you're (eep & Farren!) not eligible to enter.

Lady Foot Locker, 120 W. 34th between Broadway & 7th

Sephora Gift Card Giveaway

Window shopping, at 34th & Broadway.

Whoever can name this guy (!EMAIL ONLY! at fashionherald@gmail.com. Please don't leave your answer in comments) wins a $30 gift card from Sephora. The store on 34th Street is newly renovated. You must provide his blogger name. Contest closes noon on Saturday, and if I actually have more than one reader who recognizes him, I'll draw for the winner.

If nobody is getting it, I'll drop a big hint Friday evening.

(and previous winners can't play for another month, Miss Maria!)

Sephora, 130 W. 34th between Broadway & 7th

Daffy's Herald Square, 1311 Broadway @ 34th

Wash it Dry

For months now, my stylist (let's call her "S") has been extolling the virtues of not washing hair. And every time I'm waiting to get my hair done, one of her clients is gushing about what? Not washing her hair. "Oh, my god, S, you've changed my life!" or "Feel my hair, S, you're so right, that dry shampoo is amazing!" I'd just roll my eyes. I mean, camon, I lived through the days of Psssssst. My mom, having six daughters, wasn't a big fan of washing our hair but once a week. Can you blame her? And dry shampoo to me, a brunette, was a big puff of white, as if you'd accidentally shook baby powder on your head and the lid fell off.

But then I read an interesting travel tip on the Lucky beauty blog. A salon owner recommended an alcohol-free hand sanitizer (CleanWell, available at Whole Foods or Target) to "freshen" hair when flying. Crazy, right? This made me rethink dry shampoos. And it's been humid lately, and my hair is so sad when I get back in the office, that I decided it was time. I'm throwing in the towel (ha!) and buying a dry shampoo (I wouldn't use a hand sanitizer on my hair everyday, alcohol-free or not).

I know the dry shampoo technology has changed since the Psssssst days, so I asked S what to buy. Here's what she loves:

Rene Furterer Naturia dry shampoo. Available at Sephora for $24. And Sephora on 34th Street is newly renovated, with a "glammed-up" look, more space, and new brands like Lavanila, Kat Von D and GHD, seller of fabulous hair irons. How shall we celebrate? Don't miss Thursday's post for a little giveaway contest.


Oh, and what else does S have in her bag as an emergency backup? That's right, but shhhhhh, don't tell:







Sephora, 130 W. 34th between Broadway & 7th

Marimekko Giveaway

In keeping with yesterday's hair and headband theme, guess how much I paid for this:










Hint, bought on sale at H&M. I just felt so bad for it, the only feathered thing (ok, fake feathered thing) sitting on the sale rack. So if you're the first to post, on Tuesday, the correct or closest price for the black feathered spiderband, I mean headband, you win this:


Bought during the H&M Marimekko collaboration frenzy, it got lost in the morass that is my desk. But fate has revealed it to me again, so I thought "giveaway!" Winner to be posted on Wednesday. And I promise it will be mailed henceforth and straightaway and not sit any longer on my desk.*





*and as a bonus you'll also receive the black feathered spider, I mean headband!


H&M, 34th & 7th Avenue