Online Shopping

Fashion news: Rodale enters retail market

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Mark your calendars for May 20th, otherwise known as the day Rodale is debuting its online store, Rodale’s. The publisher of health and wellness holy grails Women’s Health, Men’s Healthand Prevention, will sell close to 500 ethically sourced products from the likes of Eileen Fisher,Melissa Joy Manning and Gabrielle Sanchez.
Chairman and chief executive officer of Rodale Inc., Maria Rodale, said in a statement that given the company’s focus on providing its audience with solutions, it’s only natural for those solutions to extend to e-commerce merchandise. Rodales.com will offer women’s clothing, specialty foods, toys, beauty products and home goods. If their venture into retail is anywhere near as good as the recipes and ab exercises offered in the magazines –- I’ll be counting down the days. For more information read the full-length article on Women’s Wear Daily. 

Dispatch from NYC: 5 things I’m loving this month

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After a winter that seemed destined to swallow up spring without allowing us so much as a glimpse, May is finally upon us and it feels more or less like, well, May. To fete this occasion, I’ve decided to do more than simply shave my legs — I’m sharing five places/things I can’t get enough of to help you jumpstart the season. It’s astonishing how much happier I am after basking in a little sunlight and swapping my parka for a luxurious leather jacket and lightweight scarf. So read quickly, then hurry along and get a lil vitamin D action. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen.

1. Hu Kitchen (5th Avenue between 14th St. & 13th St.) While no one can accuse Manhattan of lacking healthy food options, Hu Kitchen has managed to carve out a niche for itself — one I’d be happy to curl up in and feast for days on end. The restaurant and market is based around the philosophy humans ought to return to a pre-industrial diet. While I won’t go into the fascinating (no sarcasm intended) details of “The Hu Pillars” (there are eight total), in essence it boils down to eating minimally processed foods with recognizable ingredients that  benefit us and the environment. Kudos to them for listing the ingredients in every dish and for substituting sugar with either organic coconut sugar, unfiltered honey or maple syrup. At Hu, the entire menu is gluten free and everything from chicken, to chocolate chia pudding, to kale salad and smoothies are offered. My go-to has been 1/4 piece of organic chicken with three sides: roasted pineapple, dairy free cauliflower puree and roasted butternut squash. Ringing in at $20 and change, it’s pricey, but it’s positively divine and you know what you’re paying for. Take it to go, or park yourself in the rustic seating area reminiscent of the Berenstain Bears’ house
 — only, you know, significantly swankier. And no matter what you do, don’t leave without trying an Hu handcrafted in Brooklyn chocolate bar. It. Will. Change. Your. Life.

One of the must-try chocolate bar flavors at Hu Kitchen

2. Tenoverten.  (Two locations, one at the Parker Meridien and another in Tribeca). Whereas most mani/pedi spots operate with the efficiency of a production line, at tenoverten you’re not just another number. But even more important than the stellar customer service is the end result; the technicians are better (in my humble opinion) and totally worth the slightly higher price (manicures start at $15, pedicures at $35). The minimalist decor exudes calm, and I dare you not to find the perfect polish among a bevy of choices that include Nars and Chanel at no extra charge.

3. Bathtub Gin.  (9th Ave between 19th St. & 18th St.) No, you don’t have to be a gin drinker to enjoy this Chelsea bar because I for one certainly am not. I came here on a first date recently, and embarrassingly walked by it several times before my date (who was watching me look lost the entire time), came to my rescue. Here’s the thing, to enter Bathtub Gin you have to walk through a fully-operating coffee shop, the name of which escapes me. Once in, you’re greeted by a bouncer at another door. This door has no name which is a tell-tale sign you’ve reached a “cool” destination. The atmosphere is that of a posh speakeasy, and there’s a retro bathtub in the center that begs for some Instagraming (you have to hop in of course). Food wise, I only tried the duck spring rolls and they were an A-.

4. Brunch at The Dutch (Sullivan St. corner Prince St.) Whether you’re craving a decadent brunch (hot fried chicken, cornmeal flapjacks) or prefer to air on this side of healthier — there’s something mouth-watering for everyone at The Dutch. Just do me a favor and order the lobster cocktail if you’re a fish lover because this is one mouth party you won’t want to miss.

5. Stella McCartney Sunglasses. I won’t deny, I probably put more effort into choosing a new pair of shades than I did my online dating profile. The thing is designer sunglasses are ridiculously expensive, and I have two perfectly good pairs, so to justify a new purchase they had to be “special”. Fortunately, I found a pink cat eye shape from Stella that’s unlike anything I own, and at $225 — I was spared shopper’s guilt — a win-win if I’ve ever seen one.

Blurry shot of me in my Stella sunnies. 

xoxox

Val

Instead, we use organic coconut sugar, unfiltered honey, and maple syrup.

My favourite things: Dealuxe online shopping site

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My relationship with online shopping is best described as a love/hate one. It was love when my 13 year-old self discovered that Abercrombie and Fitch delivers to Canada, but it quickly turned to hate when my $30 t-shirt wound up costing me double thanks to a little something called customs duties. The love was re-ignited when I realized I could ship to my friend’s homes in the United States, but it quickly dissipated when the pair of Miu Miu’s I was salivating over went down 50 per cent and none of my friend’s were going to be in the U.S. anytime soon to retrieve them. Sigh. To this day I can still recall the joy I felt upon hearing that Amazon and Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic had opened Canadian shopping sites. However, said sites cannot account for our lack of mid to high end shopping destinations like Shopbop.com, net-a-porter, Gilt and myriad others that U.S. citizens can call their own.

Though the scales remain tipped disproportionately in favour of our Southern neighbors, I am pleased to report we are getting warmer. Take SSENSE for instance. It’s a luxury online retailer that ships worldwide, but since it’s based out of Montreal – we Canadians pay low shipping and return costs and we avoid the real killer: CUSTOMS DUTIES! SSENSE stocks dozens of “it” brands for men and women, including some of my personal favourties: Rag & Bone, Loeffler Randall, Lanvin, Guisseppe Zanotti, Diane Von Furstenburg and T by Alexander Wang. And while prices are still a little lower in the States, SSENSE has seasonal sales. Plus, they have a store in Old Montreal and they allow you to phone the site and order an item(s) to be delivered to the store the following day for you to try on without any fees or obligations. Take note, however, the retail location is small and only carries high end designer labels.

Call me needy, but the problem with SSENSE is neither shipping nor returns are free. These are just two of the reasons why I love Dealuxe, a Canadian women’s fashion, beauty and accessories site that prides itself in superior customer service and regular deals. The lines available are great, though not as high end as those on SSSENSE (think Joie, Velvet, James Perse, Pink Tartan, Autumn Cashmere etc.), and the selection not as abundant, but the nascent site grows daily.

All orders arrive in a shiny red Dealuxe dust bag that’s perfect for packing your shoes when traveling 

My first Dealuxe experience was when I bought a pair of red skinny J-Brands during a two day 25% off sale. They didn’t fit and I was worried that if I tried to exchange them for a different size, I wouldn’t get the discount since the deal had ended. However, when I called, the girl I spoke with was so nice and gave me the deal, and of course the return was free. Another time I ordered from them, my package arrived with a $25 gift card to spend on purchases over $100. Of course I liked a top for $98. Knowing my promotional code wouldn’t work online, I phoned and explained my conundrum and without any hesitation the customer service rep let me use my card on a $98 top. Canadians are known for being nice, but at Dealuxe they make a business out of it.

At Dealuxe,  there’s always a “daily deal”, whereby one item is offered at a discounted price, but there are other types of deals too. For instance, a couple times a month there will be something along the lines of buy one top get the other 50% off, or all bottoms will be 20% off etc. With those kinds of deals, your savings are equivalent to those you’d get in the States. Good, no? Moreover, as a member (anyone can become a member), I receive daily emails informing me of deals and new arrivals. There’s also an online magazine featuring celebrity looks, editor’s picks, trends and general fashion updates.

Dealuxe can never reach the level of say Shopbop, because their primary market is Canada and there aren’t that many Canadians, whereas Shopbop caters mainly the the U.S. as well as International countries. Still, the site’s dedication to customer care and its consistent growth and improvement is excellent news for all fashion-loving Canadians whose two least favourite words in the English language are CUSTOMS DUTIES! Check it out and tell me what you think.