The Siren Song Of A Sale:
Dollars Saved Justification
January 26th, 2012 By

Know what I miss about New York? Century 21. For many years, I lived just a stone’s throw from the downtown outpost, which means I had ample time to wander through the happy jumble of aisles every weekend. And sometimes after work. (One friend used to make a morning pit stop on her way to the office, and legend has it that she managed to befriend one of the security guards at the door who would keep an eye on her coffee while she shopped. No drinks and food allowed.) Anyway, one of the brilliant things about Century 21 is that the largest graphic element on the receipt is the number of dollars you managed to save—and when you’re dealing in high-priced designer gear, that number can be staggeringly high. For dollars spent, my friend Emily was super pro at maximizing that number (I don’t think she ever left without hitting at least a thousand)—in part, because she was super pro at finding that lone, pristine Balenciaga blazer amongst the racks that had somehow been put on triple clearance and was priced at $69. To this day, when it comes to sale shopping, she’s kind of like a truffle-snorting pig. But really pretty.


So what’s the point of this ramble? You can bargain hunt on Beso, too, without the physicality. (If you’ve been to Century 21 you know how aggressively physical it can get.) There’s a Sale tab on our homepage: Click on it, and the category of your choice, and then click on the Stores tab on the left to refine by your favorites (otherwise the search returns will be too staggering). You can also choose to see things that are at least 20, 40, 60, or 80 percent off. It’s dangerous territory though: If you’re anything like me, you see that 72% off banner and feel compelled to give the item a home. Meanwhile, I’ll be compiling my finds in this collection right here. In Century 21 style, if I buy the four items above, I’ll have saved $1,302.50. Isn’t that like paying myself to shop?

clockwise, l-r: THEYSKENS’ THEORY PAX FALM PANTS, $88.50 (from $295.00), Shopbop; DOLCE & GABBANA WATERCOLOR SKIRT, $125.00 (from $490.00), Bluefly; NICOLE MILLER STRAPLESS GOWN, $178.00 (from $550.00), Bluefly; NANETTE LEPORE “DIVINE” FLORAL PRINT DRESS, $239.00 (from $598.00), Bergdorf Goodman.

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Introducing…
Emily Hsieh
December 22nd, 2011 By

When I arrived at Lucky Magazine as a brand-new, lowly Editorial Assistant—many, many years ago—Emily Hsieh was a well established Assistant Editor (i.e. leaps and bounds ahead of me…getting an “editor” in your title is arguably the hardest won promotion in the magazine world). We circled each other warily for awhile: She had an enviable shoe collection, perfect hair, and her West Village apartment had been photographed for the magazine; I was still in a phase where I was making my own clothing, I was working a hairstyle that was a crazier version of the Ashley Judd, InStyle, April 2002 cover, and I was sharing a loft on Canal Street with a bunch of insane people (I say that affectionately). Emily just really had it together in a way that seemed far out of my reach: She has perfect, classic, reliably great taste, and that’s pretty much always been the case. She’s the person I call when I’m looking for the ideal striped shirt, or the most effective vacuum cleaner, or a crowd-pleasing wedding gift. To prove this point, you can see some of her stories for Beso here, and here, and here.

As the months ticked on, we became friends, and I knew it was for real when she actually let me reorganize her closet (admittedly, I’m an ace at closet organization), which was a great leveling ground: Beneath the exquisite veneer, Emily can actually be kind of messy! Ah good times.

Anyway, these days Emily lives in San Francisco with her husband Mike, and their undeniably adorable daughter, Nina where she writes stories for a lot of magazines and makes Meyer lemon pasta and eats Bi-Rite ice cream. Sounds pretty dreamy, right? For Beso, she’s going to write about it all, from baby gifts to nautical tops to hands-down, good-looking home accessories.

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Miss Summer? Meet Chance. November 2nd, 2011 By

So I was trolling my friend Emily Hsieh’s twitter feed (Emily! Tweet more!), and she directed me to this beach and stripe-centric clothing line called Chance, which seems to be about all the good stuff in life: Simplicity, clean lines, classic shapes. I kind of want everything, because in many ways, I’d like to be the kind of girl who looks like she knows how to sail a boat (I decidedly don’t). The striped shirt looks just about perfect, right?

clockwise, l-r: STRIPED BOATNECK TOP, $60.00, CHANCE; BEACH SHORTS, $42.00, CHANCE; ZIP-TOP CASES, $32.00-$38.00, CHANCE; TINA FREY NECKLACES, $180.00, CHANCE.

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