Techvibes Holiday Gift Guide: Subscription-based Presents for Women
November 22, 2012 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
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Finding the right Christmas gift for that special woman in your life can be stressful even for the most seasoned shopper. Lucky for you Techvibes has found a unique solution to your problems: online subscription services.
We’re not just talking about book-of-the-month clubs. Today you can get everything from artwork to lingerie delivered each month, right to her doorstep. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
And the best part is you never have to step foot inside a mall. Or spend long hours searching for companies. Here’s a list of our favourite subscription services that will win you brownie points without breaking the bank.
ANIMAL LOVERS
One of the best ways to get a girl is to have her best friend like you. Sometimes that means appealing to a furry, loud creature.
No, I’m not talking about her unattractive friend from high school. I’m talking about her dog.
Cuddle up to Lassie and Beethoven with a subscription from New York-based company, BarkBox. Starting at $17.50 per month, she and her pet will receive four to six goodies each month, ranging from bones to shampoo. A portion of the proceeds even goes to an animal rescue group. Now that’s something to bark at.
HANDMADE SURPRISES
Nothing quite says thoughtful like handmade crafts. And starting at $25 per month, Washington-based company Umba Box will ship two to three of them to the lovely lady in your life.
Surprise her with a selection of jewelry, accessories, stationary and bath products, accompanied with a touching story on the artist who made them. Umba Box promises to make you “look like a rockstar for not giving her a kitchen appliance.”
ART ATTACK
Breathe life into her art collection. For only $5 per month, Montreal-based company Papirmasse delivers one unique print largely designed by up and coming Canadian artists.
Ditch those tired, old department store prints that everyone and their mother has hanging on the wall. And replace it with beautiful and eerie landscapes by Montreal artist Chloé Beaulac or collages from Carl David Ruttan. She’ll thank you for introducing her to trendy new art scenes while her friends stare at the fake Mona Lisa painting they’ve had since college.
DESIGNER
Give the fashionista in your life designer swag at Walmart prices. Los Angeles-based company Little Black Bag offers high-end brands like Badgley Mischka and Dolce and Gabbana for up to 70% off. And that’s not even the best part. Wait until she hears about the shopping experience.
Inspired by a Japanese tradition called Fukubukuro, or “lucky bag sale,” customers start by choosing one item and then receive a few surprise pieces based on their answers to a short questionnaire. Members also have the option of swapping any of the items with other people on the site before they get shipped out. It’s high-end retail that won’t put a dent in your wallet.
LINGERIE
Panties. I don’t think I need to say more, but I will.
This gift is a win-win. Starting at $15 per month, Vancouver-based company Panty by Post ships off sexy underwear right to her doorstep.
Choose from an array of styles—hipster, thong and bikini – all delivered with a romantic note written by you. Think of the fun you’ll both have when she slips on the sexy underwear and models it for you. Month after month. And women, it might interest you to know: there’s also a men’s line.
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Canada’s Black Friday: When shopping, men are from Venus and women are …
November 22, 2012 by admin
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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A Martian goes shopping with a Venusian . . . .
Seriously, it’s no joke. Men and women really are from different planets when it comes to the retail world. They approach it from opposite directions and don’t always appreciate each other’s efforts.
Take the men who slink into lingerie stores and buy confections that are more for their benefit than the recipient’s. I claim credit for coining, 14 years ago, a descriptive phrase for them: “bra-bar black sheep.”
Larry Rosen doesn’t like stereotyping, but says women tend to be enthusiastic shoppers, bolder and keen to try new styles, while, “in a nutshell, men go to the store if they’re dragged there.”
“Unless it’s something they’re passionate about — sports equipment, perhaps, or electronics — they’re reluctant shoppers,” says Rosen, CEO of the Harry Rosen men’s clothing chain. “It’s a necessary evil.”
Marlo Szellos, a veteran of the fashion industry in Paris, works at the Holt Renfrew department store as a “personal shopper” — a consultant who will do as much of the heavy lifting as her clients require.
That ranges from offering basic advice to pulling a selection of things off the racks that she’s sure a client will like. Or, in extreme cases, choosing something and sending it off, sight unseen.
It’s all a matter of trust. And that’s one of the “huge differences” she sees between male and female shoppers.
“Guys will trust you right off the bat,” she says. “Women, you have to build their trust and show that you’re on their side.”
Men shopping for themselves tend to be faster and more decisive, Szellos says. “They understand that we’re all different and clothing has to be tailored. If a woman puts something on and it doesn’t fit perfectly, she’ll give it up.”
“Men like to buy things in multiples. If they see something they like, they’ll buy two. Women generally will never do that.”
When it comes to a man buying for a woman, most want to be involved in the selection process, Szellos says. But not always.
“I don’t want it to be, ‘Here, this is what you should get her.’ But for some male clients, I can have it wrapped up and waiting for them so they don’t have to come and choose.
“And there’s one . . . he emails me: ‘It’s her birthday. What do you think?’ I used to send him a couple of photos and he’d say, ‘Great.’ Now, I don’t even send pictures.”
Men, including her boyfriend until she nipped it in the bud, often wear clothing that’s a size too big, she says. “You think you’re a certain size and when you’re on your own, you reach for that size. But if you go down a size, the difference is amazing.
“Women, of course, can go the other way. They think they’re a size 2 and they’re really a 6.”
If there’s one thing men can learn from women, Rosen says, it’s the openness with which women will look at new colours and styles. “They’ll at least try them on. They find it quite entertaining.”
“Very often, when a guy’s trying on something and he’s with a woman, she’ll be the one who says, ‘Yeah, that looks good on you.’ Men on their own tend to buy the same suit over and over again. But new is good.”
There can be few men on this, or any other, world who haven’t had a spectacular failure shopping for their significant other.
But it cuts both ways. My wife once reasoned that, because I wore motorcycle jackets a lot and a down vest in winter, an expensive down-filled leather vest would be the perfect Christmas gift.
It was the day after Boxing Day when I finally broke down and told her that, although I appreciated the thought, I was less than thrilled with the garment. Especially since I’d thought the package was the electronic drum-kit I’d pointedly being admiring for weeks.
Peace was maintained (and I got the drums). Intergalactic wars have started over less.