The Recessionista Round-up: BlogHer 11 Designer and Savings News

Pictured: Judith Ripka for Sam’s Club

Last week I attended the BlogHer show in San Diego, CA.   Typically, I learn more about technology and blog tools than I do about fashion, but this year’s conference was  little bit different. This year’s show was laced with fashion, beauty products and new shopping tools for savings.  Very savvy of the vendors to target all 3,500 women bloggers all in one venue. So following is a little update for you on new developments and savings tips.  Let’s start with the designer jewelry and the diamonds. 🙂

Judith Ripka is now selling a discounted line of her jewelry at …wait for it Sam’s Club! Yes,  high-end designer Judith Ripka now has a line of jewelry priced from $51.00 (for a bracelet) to $5,000 for some jewelry with diamonds or other precious stones. WOW.  I was shocked to see the Warehouse cousin of Walmart, Sam’s Club, carrying Judith.  Products like the cushion cut earrings look glamorous and so far have good reviews from Sam’s Club members.

Gordon Ramsey for KMart. Luxury restaurateur, Gordon Ramsey, aka screaming hellion of  Hell’s Kitchen  and potty mouth extraordinaire is launching a budget line of cookware at Kmart.  Hey, Williams Sonoma it ain’t, but neither is the price point.  The lure here is that you can enjoy delicious food at home using Gordon’s delicious recipes and cookware without paying for an expensive dinner at the London, or one of his other restaurants.  The line is due at KMart stores in Sept.  As Gordon himself might say, that’s f’in brilliant. Why should Paula Dean at Walmart and Gia at Target corner the budget cookware market?

Healthy Shoes.  There were some great looking shoes (see the pink pair above) at BlogHer courtesy of website Oh! Shoes, a company whose mission is to save women’s feet from pain without sacrificing fashion. Oh! has designed technically engineered high heels, boots, sandals and flats that look good and feel good.  What a great concept.  Why should good looking shoes hurt your feet and cause you pain. Even more impressive than Oh! Shoes comfortable styles is their partnership with a charity that give shoes to people in need. Oh! Shoes has partnered with Soles 4 Souls, one of the fastest growing charities in the U.S.  Soles 4 Souls has given away over 15 million pairs of shoes.  So before you buy new shoes at some place like Oh! Shoes think about donating the ones you no longer wear to people who need new shoes.  Check the Soles 4 Soul site to find out where to donate.

Dr Scholl’s. Speaking of shoes, Dr. Scholl’s was at BlogHer giving out fabulous protection for your feet. Pictured above are the comfy “Ball of Foot” Cushions getting friendly with some Badgley Mischka heels. Who knew that help was available to cushion your feet in such style? Look for these little treats at your local drugstore.
Finally, some savings sites were  at BlogHer that are very worth checking out.

Itemize.com: This new site is an aggregator of deals on various items from all over the web for just about any item. You create your shopping profile and preferences by answering a few questions, and joining the site. Then Itemize will bring you the online deals via some search & retrieval technology.

Cheap Sally.  This new site features online deals and coupons.  This site has a little of everything, deals at big box retailers, cell phone providers, travel sites and entertainment venues. You can even look for local deals there.

RetailMeNot.com Coupon Codes: Look for thousands of coupon codes from this site, cheekily called RetailMeNot.  The point here to look for a coupon code before you buy, so that you will never have to pay reail again.  The codes come from site members and the RetailMeNot team, they do the work to bring you all the deals.

RedPlum.com: The provider of the coupons from your Sunday paper, aka RedPlum, also has a website full of coupons for groceries, household items and beauty products.

Savings and Rebates: Two sites that offer deals and rebates were at the conference.  Both sites are worth checking out if you like to shop online more than you like to visit the store.  eBates has some fantastic savings on “Back to School” items at the moment, offering cash back when you shop with them.  Shop at Home has an amazing array of discounts on fashion, big box stores and high-end beauty products.  It’s quite addictive!