Shopportunity -- May 14

Ooh-ah! Big sale at Yoox.com!




This is how devoted I am to you all -- even though I cannot purchase any of the lovely goods on this site, I have just pored over them to pull out some exceptional examples for you. It hurt, oh yes it did, but I did it for you. Click photos for links.

Dress by Dries van Noten for $240. I actually own this dress. It is spectacular. This photo, however, makes me extremely worried about the color reproduction on this website. The color is listed as "military green," and it certainly looks it in this picture. But this is the color of my dress:


which is decidedly teal, although I suppose you could call it military green if you were so inclined. It seems unlikely that they would have produced this dress in two such similar colors, but I dunno. And the tricky bit is that Yoox often does not offer refunds or exchanges on things that are marked down this far. So. If you're at peace with the possibility of military green or teal, then I urge you to order this dress. The fabric is shiny, so it will be dressy no matter which color it is. The fit, due to the wrappiness and ties, is somewhat fungible. It is not a great dress for the large of bust -- good luck finding a bra to go underneath that. (I bought this dress, by the way, in the company of the fun & lovely Bellette Rouge. It took two women with a combined total of four college degrees to figure out how to get into this thing, because I didn't have a photo to crib from in the store. If you order it, e-mail me & I'll send you instructions.)

Really beautiful Norma Kamali bright blue wrap dress for $224. By this point, I don't have to make an argument in favor of the wrap dress, do I?

This is from a great, newish label called 6267 who have done some of the best dresses of the last few seasons. This is a fall dress, it's tweed, but it's only $242 and at that price you won't mind hanging it in the closet and eagerly awaiting October.

Style Spy loves her some Pucci. Adorable little bag -- $214.

Style Spy also loves her some Furla, and this beautiful blue shoulder bag is only $98. Furla makes wonderfully high-quality bags.

Oh-so-sweet Missoni fabric brooch, $58. I just love this, you could put it on a blouse, a solid-color dress, the lapel of a jacket... Endless possibilities, and anything you attach it to is instantly more fun & interesting.

Comme des Garçons, $142. Own this blouse and you'll never again have to worry about what to wear to a cocktail party. Even with jeans, this would be great. Wear a pretty cami underneath it. Or not...

Oh, this is so adorable! Krizia, and a measly 38 clams! Look at the back!

Want to get a little Prada into your life for under 100 bucks? How about a gorgeous graphite gray charmeuse blouse that will go with every single thing you own? Guaranteed you will wear this at least once a week. $94.

Want to get a little Alexander McQueen into your life for under $75? (And I highly recommend doing so.) Perfect, perfect tweed skirt for $60. If you can't find a use for this, you aren't trying hard enough.

Want to get a little Versace into your life for under $50? How about $45 for this great cotton blouse? Swell tailoring, and look at the great detail over the bust. Terrific blouse.

A caveat: Yoox has limited sizes of any given item, and the return/exchange policy can vary from item to item, depending on the depth of the markdown. Be sure you read carefully before you order if you think you have questions about it. Also, the notice on their site of the return policy makes them sound rather draconian, but I believe it's all just fancy, non-native-English-speaker (Yoox is an Italian company) language for the usual requirements for returns: you have a certain amount of time, and the item must be returned unworn and with tags attached. Don't be afraid.

So, go! Shop!!