My Top Cyber Monday 2015 Deals

It's that time of year again when the sales roll in in preparation for the holiday season. I've gathered my top retailers and deals for you.


In addition to the sales, I highly recommend using EBATES to get cash back for almost all online purchases. They are currently offering 6% cashback for Nordstrom, 10% at Lord & Taylor, 12% at Neiman Marcus.

Here are some of my top picks - Stack with EBATES for a better deal!


J.Crew - 30-40% all items with code MONDAY
- Stadium Cloth Cocoon Coat; my REVIEW HERE
- Lady Coat with Thinsulate - I have 00 in Navy. See ON ME

J.Crew Factory 
 50% off everything, with additional 15% with code TODAYONLY. I recently purchased the Factory City Coat and it's my new favorite jacket. It's $96 after code, but combine it with 9% CASHBACK on Ebates, making this coat $85! My review HERE (see ON ME)

Nordstrom 
 They are price matching most retailers with an extra 25% off sale/clearance items with 6% cashback on EBATES.
There's a great selection of over the knee boots. I have the Stuart Weitzman 5050, but the VIA SPIGA OVER THE KNEE BOOTS are a great alternative for over 50% off (final price $222 from $495). I have these; and they are great for small calves!

J. Crew Factory City Coat Review

I recently took a trip to my local J.Crew Factory store and tried on the CITY COAT. The City Coat ($228) is reminiscent of J.Crew's Stadium-Cloth Cocoon Coat ($350) at 2/3 the cost and is a wool-blend. 

You can see the similarities between the two below (City Coat on the top and Stadium-cloth Cocoon Coat is on the bottom:

I think the City Coat is great for late fall and early winter in New Enland; it is probably not thick enough to battle the blistering Boston winter - I will stick with my J.Crew Double Cloth Lady Coat with Thinsulate for those cold days.

The ended up purchasing the coat in the color heather stone, since I don't have anything like that, for $114. I don't think I would purchase this at its full price of $228  since the Cocoon Coat can be purchased at almost the same price during a 25% off sale.

As for sizing - this coat is a boxy/over-sized fit, so I think the sizing may be a little off. My coats from J.Crew are 00, however I ended up purchasing the Factory City Coat in a P00. There is only an inch differnce in legth between the regular and petite sizing. However the real issue for me was the sleeve length - the 00 was way too long and covered half my hand; the petite was surprisingly perfect.

Here's a picture of me wearing the 00P. The length was great; it hit mid-thigh. (I'm 5'4, 105lbs for reference).

There's plenty of room for layering thick sweaters underneath.

Louis Vuitton Monogram vs. Damiere Ebene

I've always wanted a Louis Vuitton Speedy bag for as long as I could remember, but regrettably never purchased one since the price keeps increasing for these bags. Last year alone, there were two price increases on the Speedy's.  A few weeks ago, I came home to a giant Louis Vuitton box and inside was the Speedy Bandouliere 35 that my husband surprised me with. The 35 was much larger than I expected, and with the straps on the Bandouliere style, the bag resembled an smaller over-night travel bag.

Over the next 2 weeks, I made 4 trips to my local Louis Vuitton  trying on different sizes and styles. My dilema was: 

      1. Keeping the 35 or exchanging it for the 30

      2. Which pattern? Monogram vs. Damiere Ebene

While at the store, the sales associates made suggestions for alternative styles, but I knew I wanted to keep the speedy. After all, the speedy is number 3 on the top 10 classic handbags of all time list- the Speedy was originally created in 1930, and it's more popular than ever now!

In my head, I debated between the 35 and 30. I travel quote frequently for work, so the 35 would have been great for traveling - there was more than enough room in it for an ipad, laptop, scarf, and even a sweater. However the 35 looked a little too large on me as an everyday bag. 

My second problem was the pattern - I was originally gifted with the monogram, but after doing more in-depth research, I shied away from it.

MONOGRAM PRINT-

PROS: 

• Light colored handles made the bag more versatile while pairing with different outfits/colors and could be used all 4 seasons
• Classic recognizable logos (althought this could be a negative as well)
• This is the pattern I've always wanted

CONS:

• Vachetta leather on the handles and straps. When the bag is new the leather on the handles and straps is a beautiful light beige color, and over time it darkens with use (although some people prefer the darker color). This darkening process is called patina. I didn't mind patina, but my fear was the color change would not be uniform across all the leather, and didn't want to end up with spotty handles and straps. (Please see photo below for patina process).
• High maintenance - the sales associate told me not to touch the handles after applying hand lotion, hand sanitizer, and definitely not while my hands were damp after a wash - all of these would cause spotting on the light colored leather. She said it was best if I didn't use it very often.