Macy’s launches a hijab collection

It may have been a long time coming, but it’s here—United States department store chain Macy’s is launching on its website next week (Feb. 15) a clothing line for Muslim shoppers.

The chain partnered with the boutique Verona Collection to sell a selection of dresses, separates and hijabs online, according to a post in The Business of Fashion website.

“The brand was developed by Lisa Vogl, a graduate of Macy’s minority- and women-owned business development program, which aims to offer more fashion diversity,” the post read.

This move to address the specific needs and requirements of Muslim shoppers was pioneered by Nike in March last year when it launched Nike Pro Hijab.

The garment—cut from the sports brand’s most breathable fabric—was designed to tackle performance problems associated with wearing a traditional hijab.

“Hijab” refers to the Muslim women’s general practice of covering their faces and bodies. It is also the most widely used head scarf.

A few months after the Nike launch, in June and July, Somali-American model Halima Aden appeared on the covers of Vogue Arabia and the US edition of Allure—wearing a hijab.

For the Vogue shoot, she wore black-and-white outfits and patterned head scarves while on the cover of Allure she wore Nike’s (partially hidden) hijab.

The outspoken model, who is the first Somali-American to compete and reach semifinalist status in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant, told Vogue about her goals.

“[I want to] send a message to Muslim women and young women everywhere that it’s okay to break stereotypes and be yourself. Always stay true to who you are—barriers can and will be broken!” she said.

With Macy’s new collection for Muslim women, it seems the industry is finally listening and taking action.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Kylie Lip Kits Were Restocked and Sold Out In Just 20 Minutes

When Kylie Jenner announced that she was restocking all eight of her Kylie Lip Kit colors, we figured everyone got their cash and credit cards ready in case it gets sold out fast again like the last time. Well, unluckily for some, the restocked lip kits are also sold out and it only took 20 minutes.

Aside from individually selling the lippies, Kylie Cosmetics also decided to sell a set of all eight of them in the box. This was probably enough motivation for everyone to start crowding the website because it eventually crashed because of the amount of shoppers that were ordering and hoping to get their hands on their own Lip Kit.

This may be sad for those who have been vying for their own lippy since day one, but hey, you can still get dupes that are as good from your nearby cosmetic store while waiting for the next restock.

[Bustle]

source: preen.inquirer.net

JCPenney #CyberMonday Deals & Cyber Busters

JCPenney is offering online CyberDeals through Monday, 12/1.  Save an extra 30% off $100 or more online with code CYBRMNDY.  If you are planning to shop in-store, you can still save 20% off with THIS COUPON.

There are hundreds of CyberBuster deals.  Shop through 11:59 on 12/1.

source: moneysavingmadness.com

Black Friday shopping crowds thin after Thanksgiving rush

WEST HARTFORD, Conn./CHICAGO - Mall crowds were relatively thin on Black Friday in a sign of what has become the new normal in US holiday shopping: the mad rush is happening the night of Thanksgiving and more consumers are picking up deals online.

Most major retailers now open Thursday evening and are extending holiday deals rather than limiting them to one day. The result is a quieter experience on what has traditionally been one of the busiest, and sometimes most chaotic, shopping days of the year.

"It just looks like any other weekend," said Angela Olivera, a 32-year-old housewife shopping for children's clothing at the Westfarms Mall near Hartford, Connecticut. "The kind of crowds we usually see are missing and this is one of the biggest malls here. I think people are just not spending a lot."

The crowds normally reserved for Black Friday morning appeared on Thursday night. For instance, more than 15,000 people lined up for the opening of the flagship store of Macy's Inc in New York on Thursday. Retailers also said they were capturing more of the holiday budget online.

Shares of Macy's, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Target Corp were all up from 2.2 percent to 3 percent on Friday afternoon as investors saw encouraging signs in the long lines on Thursday night and with executives making bullish comments about demand. Lower gasoline prices were also giving the shares a boost, analysts said.

"It's off to a good start," said Charlie O'Shea, a retail analyst at Moody's Investors Service, about the shopping season after visiting nearly two dozen stores in northern New Jersey over the past two days.

Police arrested 11 people associated with the OUR Walmart group for blocking traffic in front of a downtown Chicago Wal-Mart store. The protest was one of 1,600 planned across the United States by the group, which is pushing for higher wages and benefits for the retailer's employees.

"Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart you're no good. Treat your workers like you should," a crowd of several dozen shouted outside the store.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said: "The crowds are mostly made up of paid union demonstrators, and they do not represent the views of the 1.3 million associates" who work for the company, the largest private employer in the United States.

Buchanan also said one of the demonstrators hit a customer at the Chicago store, prompting a complaint to the police.

Overall Black Friday online sales as of 1200 EST (1700 GMT) were up 6.4 percent from a year earlier, according to IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. Online sales were up 14.3 percent on Thanksgiving Day.

Wal-Mart said Thursday was its second-highest online sales day ever after last year's Cyber Monday, which is the Monday after Thanksgiving, when online retailers promote bargains.

Target CEO Brian Cornell said his company rang up a record day of online sales on Thursday, and was seeing brisk demand in its stores. He said the company was selling 1,800 televisions a minute between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Thursday night.

Heavy traffic caused the Best Buy Co Inc website to crash for a little over an hour earlier on Friday, but as of afternoon it was back up and running, a company spokesman said.

The National Retail Federation is projecting that sales for November and December will rise 4.1 percent to $616.9 billion, which would mark the most bountiful holiday season in three years. Holiday sales grew 3.1 percent in 2013.

Some shoppers said the price of gasoline - expected to go even lower after the price of crude oil fell to a multiyear low - could make them more inclined to spend.

"My budget is pretty tight this year and gas is a tremendous expense because I have to drive my daughter around a lot," Kristen Akeley, 46, who works at an elementary school, said while shopping for clothes at a Target in Connecticut.

"My gas expense has fallen from $150 a week to $80 a week and that is big savings at this time of the year." — Reuters

Apps aid fashionistas in tracking down desired clothing, shoes

TORONTO - Fashionistas envious of clothing, shoes and accessories worn by strangers or seen on websites can turn to new apps for hassle-free shopping to find, and buy or rent, similar items.

Like the music app Shazam, which identifies songs based on sound clips, new fashion apps use photos and image recognition technology to find similar clothing.

"People see items they like on the street but can't really go up to the person wearing them and ask where they got them," said Daniela Cecilio, the chief executive of London-based startup Asap54.

"Or they might see items they like on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook or Twitter, but can't really click through to buy them," she added, referring to the social media websites.

With the Asap54 app for iPhone, which was launched last month, users take a photo of an item, or upload an existing one, and describe what it is to help the app identify it. The app recommends something similar from more than 150 retail partners across the United State, Europe and other countries.

The Style Eyes app for iPhone and Android also uses a photo to find the desired or a similar item, which can be purchased from its catalog of 600 retailers in Britain and 300 in the United States.

Mark Elfenbein, chief digital officer of Toronto-based start-up company Slyce, said its image recognition technology integrates with retail brands so shoppers can find things by taking a photo with their iPhone or scanning an image from their desktop.

"The way brands are trying to communicate with customers is changing. Historically, they would lure customers to their stores or websites, but now we're seeing that brands want to create transactions in other places too," Elfenbein said.

The technology recognizes information such as how far apart buttons are, and fabric and stitching to help power visual searches.

But image recognition is still inexact and depends on the quality of the photo and other factors, such as lighting. To overcome the drawbacks Elfenbein said, Slyce uses a mix of technology and crowdsourcing to improve its search results.

Other apps making shopping easier include Pounce for Ios, created by Tel Aviv-based company BuyCode Inc. It allows consumers to buy items directly from retail advertisements from stores such as Lord & Taylor and office supply company Staples, Inc by hovering their smartphone camera over an image.

With the eBay Fashion iPhone app users in the United States and Britain can upload an image to find similar items available for sale on eBay.

For consumers more interested in renting than buying, Rent the Runway's iPhone app uses a photo of an item seen in a store to find something similar that customers can rent instead. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Online Christmas shoppers advised: Avoid WiFi, use SSL

Avoid online shopping via Wi-Fi and shop at sites with SSL if possible.

These were the pieces of advice from security vendor Bitdefender, which said the holidays may bring an increase in online offers.

"Taking precautions to make secure payments and choose reliable suppliers can ensure a successful online shopping experience that is worth waiting all year for," Bitdefender's Loredana Botezatu said in a blog post.

Botezatu cited a National Retail Federation survey showing that while people are likely to spend less this year than in 2012, “four in 10 (42.1 percent) indicated they shopped online over the weekend, or approximately 59 million shoppers.”


She suggested that online shoppers use their phone or tablet’s 3G network connection to make purchases when on the go.

"Avoid buying anything while connected to a public Wi-Fi network," she said.

Botezatu also warned shoppers against scammers who use discounts and coupons as bait to lure unwary users.

She said they will draw victims in with "look-alike shopping pages" and trick them into giving them credit-card details.

On the other hand, she said shoppers should also ignore spam messages, and not buy a product advertised via unsolicited e-mail messages.

"It is most likely a fake. It is better to ask friends for advice or check the legitimacy of an online shop on forums by simply googling it. Learn from other people’s experience," she said.

Meanwhile, Botezatu said buyers should choose only web shops with SSL certificates to confirm their identity.

"An URL starting with HTTPS and a padlock at the end should indicate you are on the right page," she said.

Shop from home

Meanwhile, Botezatu advised shoppers to do their shopping from home, instead of a public place like a library, coffee shop, school lab or in an airport "where computers are used by other persons as well."

Such systems can be monitored with surveillance mechanisms like keyloggers, she warned.

Botezatu also said shoppers should use an antivirus solution that can handle bogus advertisements and get rid of them. — TJD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com