An interesting blog post on why not to shop at Forever21 can be found here. 39thandbroadway.com makes a good point about Forever21 being cheap because of sweatshops. Something to think about! I hate to say it, but no more shopping at Forever21 for me until they clean up their act.

New giveaways to enter:
Sweeps: Win $15,000 at myRecipies - enter daily
$2500 giveaway at Tada - enter once
$1000 ideeli giftcard - you have to sign up for ideeli, a sample sale site, if you haven't already. This giveaway ends soon!
REVOLVE facebook favorites giveaway - add stuff to your REVOLVE clothing favorites list, as one winner a day gets something from their favorites!

Giveaways I've mentioned before:

Win a $1000 urban outfitters giftcard - enter daily until Dec 23

Add an item to your victoria's secret wishlist DAILY to be entered to win $250 VS giftcard until Dec 21

6pm.com holiday blitz - only need to enter once

The Beauty Bean's 17 of giveaways - on facebook and twitter

Denim Debutante's $200 Beyond the Rack GC giveaway! Enter now!!!

All of popsugar's giveaways, which are conveniently located on one page! Make sure you're logged in for your entry to count!

Good luck!

I am totally swooning over the nOir for DC comics collection. It is just. so. awesome. JUSTSOAWESOME

I love their campaign:

Everything is modeled to die for.

Here is my list of must-haves from this collection:

OK, to do this right, you need like 10 of these long catwoman claws. That's gonna cost a pretty penny because they're $280 each. But what are you going to do with less than 10 of these? I mean, I guess you could do like Nicki Minaj does, but... really you need 10.

You've got a little something on your finger. Oh, it's just GOTHAM CITY, NO BIGGIE! My bf thinks this is brilliant, and I do say, I must agree!

This batgirl/batman cuff bracelet is totally gorgeous and amaaaaazing! Maybe if you wear it and then raise your arm in the air, batgirl/batman will mistake it for the bat signal and come to your aid! One can only hope.

AHHHHH!!!!!! This wonder woman cuff is so divine. You know when you go into the mall and put on a golden cuff and pretend to block lasers it and make corresponding "pew pew!" sounds? I know I am not the only one that does that. With this nOir cuff, it will be all the more convincing! You'll need two though... $185 each, geez!

Well, that concludes my must-have nOir for DC Comics list! "But, April!", you might say,"You don't have anything from Superman! Could it be that you're a Batman fangirl and if it was Batman vs. Superman you'd pick Batman all the way?" And the answer is...... well, duh!

To spread the holiday cheer, I'm going to post some holiday giveaways you MUST enter today:

Win a $1800 vintage Chanel handbag on SeenOn - you will have to make an account. giveaway TODAY ONLY!

Win a $1000 urban outfitters giftcard - enter daily until Dec 23

Add an item to your victoria's secret wishlist DAILY to be entered to win $250 VS giftcard until Dec 21

6pm.com holiday blitz - only need to enter once

The Beauty Bean's 17 (well now 16) days of giveaways - on facebook and twitter

Denim Debutante's $200 Beyond the Rack GC giveaway! Enter now!!!

All of popsugar's giveaways, which are conveniently located on one page! Make sure you're logged in for your entry to count!

Good luck!

So this is a continuation of a previous post on my want for long skirts for the winter.

So Jones New York totally has my back on this, so I'll post a sampling (yes, sampling) of my favorite long skirts from them. They are still out my price range (helloooo, grad student!), but they're allllllllllmost affordable for destitute me!

Left, top: Long center seam skirt, $95.99 ; Right, top: Another long center seam skirt, $129; Left, bottom: Pleated skirt, $109.99; Right, bottom: Plaid Mitered Gored Skirt, $109.99;

Images from www.jny.com

Left, top: At the knee but I love this belted pencil skirt, $99; Right, top: Gorgeous, flowy long gored skirt, $76.99; Left, bottom: I guess I must really love these long center seamed skirts, $95.99; Right, bottom: a bit short for a long skirt but definitely a must-have classic - navy pencil skirt, $99. Images from www.jny.com

Also, I tried this skirt on in person:

Floral Pleated skirt, $37.99

and, unfortunately, it didn't work. While the print is beautiful, it's a mite old lady, and the shape feels too 1950s. It also feels like there is too much material in the skirt. OH WELL. I don't recommend this one. The one good thing - it feels well made and high quality.

Along with JNY, MANGO has some **FrEsH** new options for long skirts. However, their website is a pain in the a** to navigate. Just sayin'. Here are my faves:

dark orange silk skirt, $149.90; toasted yellow silk skirt, $149.90;

black "Louis" skirt, $109.90; plaid skirt, $99.90;

paisley skirt, $109.90; Maxi skirt, $59.90;

pocketed skirt, $99.90; button-front skirt, $79.90 - this tie belt is genius, I'm going to start using ties as belts. Images from shop.mango.com.

And that concludes my journey through skirt insanity!

What I want now:

Christian Louboutin shoes. Le sigh! Christian Louboutin has my heart. The patent Rolando can be found at Neiman Marcus, which is where the image cred also goes. The denim + gunmetal Pigale can be bought from Net-a-porter, which is incidentally where the image cred goes. I figured I might as well shout out to the retailers from where the images are.

I LOVE gunmetal spikes... why is it so hard to find them to buy for my own craft projects?!?! Can anyone help me here?

miu miu belt

So now that it's getting pretty winter-y, being December and all, I have become obsessed with past-the-knee skirts. OBSESSED. And, living in Colorado, it is unfathomable to me WHY, at this time of year, stores are still stocked with 98% minis! Like.... REALLY!! I feel like I've visited every online retailer I know, typed in "skirt" in the search, and find one past-the-knee skirt for every 49 miniskirts. Who is coveting a bland micromini at this time? I mean, I don't need 70 metallic over-the-knee skirts! Yes, I know, they're great with leggings/tights and heels or long socks and boots, and I'm not saying there aren't some amazing miniskirts out there right now, but I can't wear a mini every day! Sometimes it is just too cold to wear a mini - CRAZY, I know. AND I don't particularly like wearing a miniskirt+leggings to lab. It's weird. Also, I don't own tall boots right now.

In case it's not obvious, I'm having a RIDICULOUSLY hard time finding long skirts. Even if I manage to find one, it's not usually affordable - of the long skirts I'm coveting are wayyy way out of my price range. BUT OH WELL, I will just have to DROOL and wait for forever21 or something to get a clue (isn't it cold in Korea?!). Here is my current covet list:
Rag and Bone Edith skirt, currently ~$350 on shopbop. Image credit: shopbop.com.


I've shown these two skirts before, as I'm coveting them from ASOS. Carin Wester Crepe Maxi Skirt With Split (left), $179.30; Richmond X Hammered Silk Maxi Skirt (right), $413.76. Image credit: us.ASOS.com

I'm a little picky about my long skirts - I don't like to feel like I'm constricted (I still want to be able to kick people in the face... or at least the crotch area) nor do I want a million miles of tulle/gauze/mesh on top NOR do I want it to be sheer. I managed to find one at Forever21 that I liked:

although I have to get it hemmed. Damn my being short. Or that clothes are made for tall people. Whatever.

I'm surprised that Free People and Banana Republic/Gap have totally failed me in the long skirt category. I figured they'd have my back on this! Free People does have a couple long skirts, but they be ugly/have too much gauze. Urban Outfitters has several, but many of them do this puff thing from the waist that I find to be unflattering for my figure:
close but I'm not liking the puff at the waist.
But maybe this skirt would suit ladies of other figures.