Steal This Art- They Said We Could!

The finer things in life encompass our culture along with the extraordinary creations that inspire us to think, feel, and continue that creation. One of the most captivating creations that evokes imagination and inspiration is the art of the Lowbrow Movement with its varying degrees of darkness, humor, pop-culture, and use of medium.  I have always identified with this art form due its roots in Southern California, my love of cartoon animation, and my youthful age.

Steal This Art is an excellent way to purchase high-quality prints of art from the Lowbrow Movement and eliminate the hassle of frames and high costs (like the prices at Urban Oufitters).  Every week day, Steal This Art sells a limited number of a particular work of art for only 24 hours or until it is sold out.  I find the prices average about $20-30.  The prints are usually numbered and signed by the artist, so the price is definitely a 'steal'.  Join their emailing list to get alerts of new art pieces; this saves you the hassle of going to the website everyday.

To Steal This Art

Project by Unhuman

Depot by Allison Sommers

DJ Black Rabbit by Aaron Jasinski

In the Bay? Come visit my friend, Jessica!

Jessica McClintock is one of the first brands a girl thinks of when someone says 'prom dress'.  True, McClintock has given many high school girls their first prom dress, but the brand is also excellent for any events ranging from semi-formal gatherings to fancy cocktail parties. The company is based in San Francisco, CA where their outlet is also located.  One of my good friends introduced me to the store and I've been 'in love' ever since.

The store has a huge collection of dresses. Their New Arrivals section is anywhere from 25-50% off the regular price for a given dress.  They always have racks that are anywhere from 50-75% off their reduced price. As you can see, this is already a steal. After a period of time, those dresses are finally marked to $10 or $15.

I visited the store yesterday and was ecstatic to find their Blowout Sale for the end of the season.  All silver dresses were $15.  (I want to say there were about 6-8 racks of silver dresses...) There was a long rack bordering the entire west wall that also carried a variety of $15 dresses.  All racks in the front of the store were 70% off their list price. The average cost of these dresses were about $21. There was another section of floor-length evening dresses for $15.  All bridal dresses were 75% off as well as long prom dresses. (If you are planning to get married, a whole section of the store was dedicated to white wedding dresses. 75% off. Just saying.)  I was dismayed to find my prom dress for $22.50 when I paid about $90 for it on sale.

If you live around the Bay Area, visiting, and/or love dresses- this is for you. (I was informed to go during the weekdays where you have the store to yourself.  Weekends are always hectic, filled with excited high school girls and fashionistas like me.)

Address: 25 15th St.
               San Francisco, CA 94103
               in SOMA neighborhood  

(I bought the dress above for $21.50 total.) 

Quick Updates

Sephora Lip Attitude Collection- $3 ($12 value)- Sephora in Stores
11 Piece Studio Brush Set- $0.88 ($30 value)- Eyes Lips and Face with code bdbrushes
Most Clothing Extra 40% Off- The Real Real
Semi-Annual Shoe Sale- Rue la la
Semi-Annual Sale- Godiva
Free 13 pc Gift- with purchase of $17.50 Ulta Products ($88 value)- Ulta
All Cargo, All Amazing Cosmetics, All Tokidoki, Kat Von D Perfume on Clearance- Sephora in Stores

Go Above and Beyond the Rack for Great Style

Beyond the Rack is an excellent website to find those out-of-reach brands not found in your everyday store.  The website features sales on select brands and items exclusive on particular days.  For instance, it features great brands like Michael Kors to pre-owned luxury items like Chanel and Louis Vuitton.  Beyond the Rack always features those great luxury brands in which most folk are unfamiliar with, like Madison Marcus.  Their prices are usually fair, but today, they are having their Sweetest Deals of the Season sale. Starting today at 5 pm ET, their 90% off sale begins! This is surely an event not to miss.

Beyond the Rack is membership based.  Just create and account and, voilà! You have access to all their exclusive shopping events. You also get $10 to spend just for signing up! The best part is, you don't have to throw punches over a boot or start fashion cat fights to get what you want at these events.

To Beyond the Rack

Feeling a Little Gilty?

Gilt City is one of the greatest ways to find some stellar deals on the most luxurious stores in your city. It is basically your high-end Groupon.  Participating cities join with Gilt City to bring great deals to the city-folk while keeping up their high-end images. For instance, in my time in San Francisco, on April 6, 2012, the San Francisco Fashion Film Festival was being held. Gilt City offered exclusive prices for the VIP Opening Party to packages for Unlimited Access Passes and VIP Opening Party Admission.  Currently in San Francisco, Gilt City is offering inexpensive tickets to the Unveiled: Bridal Style Revealed where a live Vera Wang fashion show will be held.

Gilt City features select cities and always has deals on fine dining, spa services, and entertainment in the city. Pick your city under the heading and check it out.  With great steals like this, I do feel a little 'gilty'...

To Gilt City

Delivery!! Birchbox Is In! Sign Here For Your Package.

Recently I have learned about Birchbox Beauty Products and I haven't been this excited since my very first Bazaar magazine subscription.  Birchbox is a great way to test all of the latest and most luxurious beauty products at a very low cost.

For $10 a month, you get a box filled with full size sample products from nail polishes to makeup, perfume to exclusive little goodies.  I'll walk you through my experience. I purchased a yearly subscription and received one birchbox free. Because of purchasing the yearly subscription, I received enough points for an extra $10 that I could spend!! My box did not come the first month so they gave me an extra $10! Wow, talk about service.

Upon arrival, I found a beautiful cardboard box with a lid. Everything inside was wrapped nicely in tissue paper and my goodies were inside. I received a perfume sample, exclusive two color earbuds, and an expensive Bananas Foster bar. There was another package in tissue paper filled with hair gloss, Ada bronzer, and Stila lip gloss. As you can see, all of these things: waaay more than $10. What a deal.

If you like what you see, you can go to their website and purchase their products. I've found that a lot of people sell the things they don't want on ebay so that's an inexpensive way to go. All boxes are different every month so you never know what you're going to get. It really is a surprise to look forward to in your mailbox!! I've even heard they have a birchbox for dogs....barkbox.

To Birchbox!!

The Truth About Dillard's

Where I come from, the Neiman Marcus or Nordstrom of my little city is Dillard's.  People will ask me, "Where did you get that dress?!" and I gladly answer, "Dillard's! For only $15!!" People are shocked when I refer to Dillard's as an inexpensive department store, because on normal days, it is. This department store sells amazing designer items at expensive prices. But that's where I come in...

Sometimes, Dillard's has absolutely amazing clearance events and sales!! They usually just want to get rid of all their clothes immediately for new seasons and therefore mark things down extremely cheap. Currently Dillard's has anything from 40-65% off with an extra 30-40% off!! Deal? I think so. I got a designer dress for $31, regular $100. That's pretty much 70% off!! And this is just the beginning of their sale. Usually after a type of sale like this, they have even better sales right after, such as 65% with an extra 40%.  I know I got my Formal Dance dress for $8 in high school from Dillard's. And I was still one of the fairest of them all at the dance.

To Dillard's Clearance Event