My emailbox is out to get me.

Is everyone else going insane from all the sales notices in their emailboxes? Or is it just me?

Between the sales notices and the cookies on my laptop (that appear to keep all of my selections permanently in every shopping cart I ever use on line), I've stumbled across some nice markdowns this weekend. I'm putting these up here in case anyone has something on their list that they'd like to order tonight.  Which, OK, is the next ten minutes. Anyway, this is where I was shopping.

J. Crew 

 

J. Crew's Bling Button cardigan, marked down from $72 to $59 to $41

I thought I'd missed out on a great J. Crew deal, because they were offering 25 percent off for Black Friday. At that point, I loaded up my shopping cart with some cute cardigans for my daughter, and then forgot to pull the trigger. Well, I went back to the site to discover that this weekend's sale--using the WINTER coupon code--was even better, with 30 percent off.

At the moment, it's back down to 25 percent off and free shipping.

Honestly, trying to keep up with on line deals is like telling time by looking at the second hand of a clock.

All I know is I got myself some button downs and my daughter the Bling Button cardigan for $41, marked down from $72.

Carson Pirie Scott

Carson's is offering 25 percent off everything in the store, and 10 percent off Beauty and Fragrance, with code FRIFAMNOV12. If you're interested in the Estee Lauder seasonal blockbuster or the Michael Kors/Estee Lauder collaboration, this is a good way to get it. 

This set features a cosmetics bag from Michael Kors, a compact blush with 3 shades of Pure Color Blush, a Pure Color Lipstick, a Pure Color Lipgloss, a Sumptuous Mascara, Intense Kajal Eyeliner and Pure Color Nail Color.

The Michael Kors set is available in three different colors, but each color is offered only by certain stores. Check out this post by GWP Addict for details.

Also, costume jewelry is on sale, which meant that I could pick out a cute Betsey Johnson necklace for my daughter.

Bloomingdale's 

OK, this is when it really got crazy. There was a combination of

• Free shipping on all on-line sales
• Loyalists receive double points
• Buy more/save more (10 to 30 percent off Women's, Men's, Home, Fashion Jewelry)
• Some kind of code they emailed me (X40936A7VCRK) for $25 off a purchase of $100 or more.

So I bought a bunch of clothes for my son--and a little wine cellar for Mr. Buxom--but you don't want to hear about them. I also picked up the Estee Lauder Blockbuster, because Santa likes to add these little goodies to the stockings she stuffs.

Estee Lauder's holiday blockbuster--better pictures and description available on Chic Profile.

Honestly, all I know is that it seems impossible to keep track of all these deals. It's worse than airline frequent flyer programs. All I know is that if I ever pay full retail for anything ever again, you can give me a good hard, internet spanking.

Merry Christmas shopping to all, and to all a good night!
 

I swear, it took less time to get ready for my wedding.

I spent the evening sitting around with Mr. Buxom. We watched some Netflix DVDs. We drank red wine and ate cheese and crackers and I polished off a few more Thanksgiving leftovers, leaving him breathless with my ability to pack in calories.

To do this, I wore cords, a white shirt, my (inevitable) Tory Burch Simone cardigan, and woolly socks. To chauffeur my children, I added my (just as inevitable) motorcycle boots and Purple Prada Purse. Oh, and the inevitable black leather jacket.

Hey, I repeat stuff a lot, which is one reason I don't include a lot of photographs.

The other is knowing who's really sharp around here.

Tuxedo, Joseph Banks; shirt, cummerbund and tie, Brooks Brothers; studs and cufflinks, c/o Mr. Buxom

Dress, Aidan Mattox; necklace and shoes (invisible) Betsey Johnson, hair by Tony at Pascal Pour Elle; nails by Lucy at Pascal Pour Elle, makeup by Poppy Buxom

There is no joy in Buxomville--

--Betsey Johnson has gone out of business.

OK, maybe not the line, but the stores are all closing. Everything's on sale, which would ordinarily be wonderful, but damn it, I'm going to miss those stores.

I've loved Betsey Johnson since the mid-1970s when she was designing for Alley Cat. Seventeen magazine ran these great little black and white ads that Betsey drew, and I loved them so much I carefully cut them out of the magazine and saved them.

Apparently, I'm not the only person who did that. (Courtesy of The Paper Collector)

Cutting out the ads was the closest I was ever going to get to owning anything by Betsey Johnson. My mother was a New England tightwad whos was completely uninterested in fashion. She would never have spent that kind of money on me. I was her third daughter, and she's ruthlessly practical. Given the circumstances, frankly, I'm surprised my middle name isn't Hand Me Down.

(I'm sure this is why I rebelled and became the frivolous creature you know today.)

Call me an over-compensating Baby Boomer. Say it's the female equivalent of a red Ferrari convertible. But I've had such fun taking my daughter shopping in Betsey Johnson stores.

She's interested in Japanese street fashion and Vocaloid music, and I'm obsessed with Chanel and Hermes. But we found middle ground in Betsey Johnson's designs. To be in a hot pink Betsey Johnson store packed to the rafters with short, pink tulle skirts, leopard print, and rhinestone-studded skulls was for us, very heaven. We would ooh and ah over the girly, punky craziness of it all. 

This is true even though there is nothing like a Betsy Johnson store to make me conscious of the passage of time. The vintage-inspired dresses are exactly the sort of thing I would have loved to have worn at one time ... but now, they would just make me look ... vintage. I am womanly, and they are girly, which means they are officially Too Young For Me.

Luckily, they are perfect for my daughter. And I suppose that's part of the pleasure of buying them for her. Even as I try to find more ways to flatter my aging body, I rejoice in her ability to look fabulous in everything she tries on. Here she is, head to toe Betsy, for a dance she went to last February.

Betsey Johnson dress, shoes, cape, and bracelet.

(Just so you know, the tragic look wasn't unhappiness; she was disguising her braces.)

And yes, Betsey's prices are insane, particularly when you're young enough to still grow out of your clothes. But for fresh designs with a vintage point of view, amazing attention to detail, and tiny dressmaker details, there is nothing marketed to young women that can touch Betsey Johnson.

So the following came home with Miss Buxom and me:

For those times when you really need to get down to the Petite Trianon and milk the cows.

When it's time for Rosie the Riveter to go out dancing.

To audition for the role of Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street

We also brought home some jewelry. A set of stacking rings:

 

A two-finger ring:

 A nautical statement necklace:

Which would be perfect with this very Katy Perry bathing suit.

Betty Grable?

... eat your heart out.

30 Days to 10 years younger--10 minute tips. Tip 19: Be true to yourself

You know what's the problem with most fashion designers? They're men. Which means that they never have to wear their own clothes.

And that means they get to design anything they want.

Male designers know full well that a 14-year old giraffe-like supermodel will climb into whatever they design--say, a lucite rain barrel full of goldfish--stalk down the runway in eight-inch platforms, stare sulkily at the cameras, pivot, and stalk back. The rain barrel will never see the light of day again. At the end of the show, the designer will come out to take his bow wearing whatever he wants. T-shirt, jeans, khakis, Converse high-tops, bare feet--whatever. His fragrances, sunglasses, and purses will continue to sell.

This is not the case with female fashion designers. They have a sort of contractual obligation to wear their own clothes. That means their fashions have to be at least somewhat wearable.

So how do they dress?

I now present a sorbet, as a palette-cleanser between courses. Check out what these female designers wear. These are the most fashion-forward women on the planet. Right now they're occupied with coming up with the clothes that will be in stores in 2011. And they're not all young. Some of them aren't even thin. (Can you believe it???)

Ann Demeulemeester

Carolina Herrera
Betsey Johnson
Donna Karan
Nanette Lepore
Stella McCartney
Josie Natori

Miuccia Prada

Sonia Rykiel
Agnes Troublé (agnes b.)
Diane Von Furstenberg
Vera Wang

Vivienne Westwood

Do you notice something about these photographs? Each of these women exemplifies the spirit of her line. Vivienne Westwood and Betsey Johnson are eccentric; Josie Natori and Carolina Herrera are elegant; Donna Karan is sensual; Nanette Lepore is foo-foo feminine.

They've figured out their personal style. They know what they want to project, and they don't let age and figure flaws stop them. We shouldn't either.