Thought I’d pass along a cool deal from Best Deal Magazines. Don’t know how long this will last, but for the price of 1 issue, you get a years subscription to either Harper’s or Elle.

Harper’s $4.69 (1 year)

Elle $5.95 (1 year)

-Eva

Yesterday I embarked on a project I’ve been meaning to get to for some time now - I took a blazer that fits me well, but seemed a bit bland style-wise, and gave it some edge by replacing its buttons with woven leather ones that I picked up at the local fabric store for $2.75. The new buttons give the blazer a completely different look - more unique and more, well, me.

Buttons are a little accesory that pack a lot of aesthetic power - you can transform a standard jacket or coat into a military style with rounded gold or knitted buttons, or add some ethnic flair to a blazer with buttons made of shell or horn… or even wooden toggles for a coat. All for a few dollars and half-an-hour of your time.

Just make sure they fit the button holes for the item you will sew them onto (take it along to the fabric store with you) and that you sew them on securely, in the same place where you removed the previous buttons from.

Check out As Cute as a Button for a variety of button styles (included those featured here).

-Ali

With Thanksgiving a few days away I have had no thoughts of the Christmas holiday. So yeah I have had a few gingerbread latte’s from Starbucks, but that doesn’t mean much. I was on the NJ Turnpike this morning driving down to Maryland when I passed a truck of pine trees all ready for the Christmas tree sales to begin. When I arrived in Downtown Baltimore, not only did I see lights and decorations; but also Santa and house were there. And yes there was a line to see him. My grouchy best friend even downloaded that Wham Christmas song, and was upset that Itunes didn’t offer Paul McCartney’s song (“ simply having a wonderful Christmas time”- you know the song) Can we digest Thanksgiving dinner before we jump into this? It seems like Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year. What do you think? Are you ready? I like to think about it the second week in December just enough time without getting extremely sick. But I can’t wait until Charlie Brown’s Christmas comes on.

Being the resident male at Papierdoll, I normally stay behind the scenes and primarily make sure the check is in the mail. I just felt the need for this one time only to speak on Almost Girl’s Black Friday Blogging.

It’s about time… damn it.

Every **expletive** year, I see women (the ones I know in particular) leave their homes early Friday morning after Thanksgiving with fire in their eyes.

They *will* be the one to get that dress, TV, special gift. Some hair pulling, slapping, choking, dropkicking might have to occur, but that item, whatever it is, *will* be theirs. If some unlucky male (husbands, boyfriends, sons, brothers, cousins) happens to accompany them, they must know their place: in the corner, out of the way, sitting with the other schmucks who are wondering how they got involved in this mess.

The plotting and planning begins the night before, after the dinner. Women strategically plot entry points, must-haves to can-do-withouts-if-necessary, immediate access to communication devices: cell phones, walkie talkies, text messages, etc… to alert fellow comrades before the enemy (other women not on the team) find out. The day of, they go through various permutations to ensure maximum shopping success. It’s a finely crafted plan that gets scrutinized and glossed over until it’s second nature.

Those that have gone through it before -and survived- know exactly what must be done. It’s a polite war where etiquette may sometimes go out the window for that last Marc Jacobs coat.

If there is a break, it’s for lunch, and even then, there has to be some sort of complex plan based on The Art of War that must be followed through to exact detail. This way, they don’t miss anything, they get everything they need and they won’t have to give up their firstborn if everything works out.

This is all because “the man” says that’s what needs to happen. My 2 cents: “the man” needs a good talking to. That man has messed it up for the rest of us men, who would rather be watching football, playing videogames or doing whatever other stereotypical thing it is that we do when the warriors are out holiday shopping. I say holiday shopping because Christmas is sooo last year.

So congratulations Almostgirl, Final fashion, Kiss Me Stace, Fashiontribes and the rest of you BlackFriday bloggers. You’ve made my dream come true. I hope.

-Sam

Got this newsletter e-mail from Estee Lauder so I thought I would share. Between now and the 27th, when you shop at Estee Lauder, you will get 4 free samples and free shipping. Just enter code “members1105″ at checkout and wait for the package at home….

The 4 free samples include:
- Perfectly Clean Splash Away Foaming Cleanser
- Perfectionist [CP+] Correcting Serum for Lines/Wrinkles/Age Spots
- Graphic Color EyeShadow
- AeroMatte Ultralucent Pressed Powder

Click here to start shopping