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Near Sea Naturals

We couldn't quite decide where to place this source (shop for home, shop for yourself, or just home &shopping), so we're placing it in the shop for yourself category.

NearSeaNaturals specializes in organic cotton fabrics and notions. The family business is located in a solar-powered facility near New Mexico's beautiful Pecos Wilderness.

Fabrics sport such names as Licorice / Earl Grey Butterfly Jubilee, Cherry Atticus, Paisley Pizazz Rainstorm, Waverine Sage Smoke and Basil Clara. Order a swatch kit, organic country lace or eco-friendly buttons.If you're a knitter, the kits are worth a look.

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Roberta McReynolds, If The Cup Fits, Wear It: Shopping for bras is on my ‘Ten Most Dreadful Activities I Will Avoid as Long as Possible’ list. Every two or three years the issue of new bras creeps up to the top of ‘Things I Can’t Ignore Anymore’ list and I literally have to do the math

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H2OWear - We have an enthusiastic recommendation from one of our writers who swims regularly for a online bathing suit site and since it's that season ... There is a catalog that can be ordered, too, for these suits as well as trunk shows at various state locations. And there's a limited selection of men's items.

John Robshaw for Kaftans, Kurtas and Robes

Ask Teri (Agins): A Wall Street Journal fashion reporter answers readers' questions

One of Ms Agins' columns tackled this question:

Q: When should women stop wearing sleeveless clothes in terms of age or shape? I have a 60-year-old friend who works out and looks good in sleeveless, but most women don't have toned arms. What do you think? - C.B., Atlanta

Part of her reply: And the most flattering sleeve on women of ages is the three-quarter-length sleeve ...

Read the entire column

Highlighted Links

LivingXL.com - A website that covers most aspects of being a larger person including porch furniture, button and zipper hooks, hammocks, life vests and reaching tools. We heard about this website from NPR's Morning Edition and an audio reporting on the site is at their website:

Big Things Come to the Big and Tall Market - LivingXL.com is a new Web site offering products for plus-sized customers. It sells everything from kitchen items to reinforced toilet seats, but not clothes. The Web site is the creation of Casual Male Retail Group, which owns one of the nation's largest chains of men's plus-sized clothing stores.

Shop with Warren ... Warren Buffett, that is. He has offered his thoughts about a jewelry business based in Omaha that he owns personally: Borsheim's. At the site, coincidentally, it's possible to find Berkshire Hawthaway goods, such as a Diamond Edition Monopoly game, a golf towel and travel mug. But we notice that there are also gifts from Wilton Armetale, Nambe and Simion Pearce, all brands we agree are well made. Then there's a pink sapphire platinum ring for over $16,000 and a pink purple diamond ring for $150,000.

Here's what Warren says about Borsheim's:

Fine jewelry, watches and giftware will almost certainly cost you less at Borsheim's. I've looked at the figures for all publicly-owned jewelry companies and the contrast with Borsheim's is startling. Our one-store operation, with its huge volume, enables us to operate with costs that are fully 15-20 percentage points below those incurred by our competitors. We pass the benefits of this low-cost structure along to our customers.

Every year Borsheim's sends out thousands of selections to customers who want a long-distance opportunity to inspect what it offers and decide which, if any, item they'd like to purchase. We do a huge amount of business in this low-key way, which allows the shopper to conveniently see the exceptional values that we offer. Call Scot Caniglia or Susan Jacques at Borsheim's (800-642-4438) and save substantial money on your next purchase of jewelry.

Land's End Swimwear catalog for Women (to fit and flatter real women) - Its site uses multiple forms of selection for individualizing a suit. Suit sorter makes it possible to select bra styles, leg height and other combinations, allowing for lots of options. Land's End titles the major areas to select from 'anxiety zones,' as well as bra style and body shape, declaring that they're If you not satisfied with any item (including swimwear), you can return for an exchange or refund. Some additional categories are:

Regular Swimwear; All Styles Mix & Match Separates, Tankinis, Bikinis and 1-piece

Specialty Suits & Sizes Little Black Suits™ Slenderizing Suits, Swimfinity™ Suits, Mastectomy and Long Torso as well as cover-ups.

SallyJones - A collection of scarves and accessories by a very talented graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. "Sally uses a process similar to Japanese process of stencil and paste-resist dyeing. First, the silk cloth is suspended with harite stretcher bars, made taut with shinshi sticks, and then hand painted either with solid or multi-color dyes. Next, after drying the fabric is steamed, washed, and pinned to a padded table for printing. Patterns are then screen-printed in sections down the length of the cloth."

The site doesn't have a shopping basket but you can contact the Oneonta, NY based workshop.

See Shop for Home for Zosaku's jewelry and clothing items.

Links 

Alibris - A rare and used book marketing firm which is comprehensive in its offerings with even a wedding gift feature. Out-of-print, used, foreign language books are staples of the site.

Ancient Echoes - This retail site is located in Chicago's Lincoln Park and specializes in objects to adorn yourself and your home. Many of the artists are well known: Patricia Locke, Lisa Jenks and Judith Jack. The emphasis is on artist inspired jewelry, decorative accessories and hand crafted furniture. The prices are reasonable and the style high. Lighting, switchplates, rugs, tiles, tabletop frames and albums are included. From Mah-Jongg notecards to Yiddish Wisdom for Parents notecards to enameled drink charms, the site is an original.

Bare Necessities - A site with fifty lingerie designers to choose from for both women and men. There's a full-figured section and fit tips and advice. The men's section includes the following brands: Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Jockey, 2(x)ist, DKNY, and Champion. There's also a feature that highlights photos of underwear they carry that might have been seen in InStyle, for instance. There are articles specifically for special needs or sizes: Plentiful Choices for Petite Women, Living Life to the Fullest and Don't Leave Lingerie off your Bridal Checklist. (I'm omitting the Thongs 101 - Finding The Perfect Thong and the The Bras and the Bees - A Teenager's First Bra) but there is a maternity section that's useful. A shapewear directory includes body briefers of differing types and control strengths as well as specialty clothing: a bustshaping bodyslip.

BasiaDesigns - Basia Kaminski has been designing for more than twenty years from a studio in upstate New York. She's created a line of knitted and crocheted sweaters, vests, jackets, cardigans, and coats which, in the catalog of those designs available over the Web, promotes a style that "practically guarantees" a shapely profile for even the most ample figure. The peplum vests and cropped jackets are knitted to produce a blousy body and is fitted with knitted-in shoulder pads.

Basic French - The store is based in Red Hook, New York along the Hudson River but the approach is that of a French lifestyle emporium. Linens, toys, children's and adult clothing as well as toiletries, books and stationery are included. Some items noted are Molin Roty stuffed animals, Anduze terracotta vases, Green Gate candles and rugs, Coté Bastide bowls, wooden puzzles of Alfred the Rabbit and Babar as well Vilac wooden cars.

BedHeadPJs - If a pajama wearer (and not boxers and T-shirts as many movies seem to portray), you're always on the lookout. This site has a very attractive selection of materials with a sheer, non-sheer emphasis. For warm weather there's a camisole/Capri design and flannel for the cold. And, what's more the sizes go up and up. When I think of all those pjs I could have bought if the bottoms had been more, shall we say, generous?

See Beauty for Bell'occhio

Bluefly - Discounted designer clothing featuring such names as Versace, Liz Claiborne, Dolce and Gabbana, etc. They also carry home products as linens and pillows.

Blue Polly Boutique - A marvelous find for comfortable, wearable clothing....with a pricetag, of course, but well worth the expense if you want some special outfits. They're designed by Krista Larson (who has a celebrity following) and are made in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, with some sweaters made in Maine and Vermont. Krista endeavors to retain a handmade quality and the clothing only comes in one size. Depending on the style of the garment, they can usually fit a size 4 to 12 & sometimes a 2 or 14. Some styles are reminiscent of a more relaxed Victorian era, with tulle, sheer silk organza and silk velvets used. Beth Orduna's jewelry is featured on the site, jewelry that I started buying at Barneys NY years ago. The site also has appealing quirky shoes, beautifully petaled handbags and fun miscellaneous offerings such as wedding streamer boxes and antique tin sap buckets.

Bonjour Fleurette - A wonderfully feminine collection of slippers to wear indoors or perhaps with a special fun outfit outdoors (I'm thinking of a wedding ceremony on grass). Not surprisingly, they've turned up on Sex and the City and in beauty publications. The story of the origins of this Novato, CA-based company is delightful and well worth a read, especially the part of the elegant woman 'of a certain age' who inspired them.. A percentage of of all sales from the various Bonjour Fleurette collections go to nonprofit charitable causes. Furthermore, they've created a charming assortment of leashes and dog collars for their Bone Jour Fleurette pet collection.

Bra Smyth - An online catalog of lingerie and  loungewear from a firm that's been in business since 1932 and spanning three generations of a family.  Full cup, full-figure, minimizer, demi, push-up bras and, yes, the kind I'm always looking for the non-underwire bra. Outerwear, comfortable and attractive nightgowns and pjs, silicon forms as enhancers, bra strap savers, Stay Cups, Breast Petals and bra-extenders are some of the accessories they offer.

Brooks Brothers - Because I'm difficult to fit (read as extremely hippy) I was happy to find fashionable (stretch fabric and tapered legs) pants that fit.  Brooks will even do basic alterations on trouser and sleeve lengths at no charge. A well known product - testing magazine consistently places Brooks at the top of their well made, reasonably priced list.

Brownes & Co. apothecary - A shop we've visited on Lincoln Road in Miami whenever we were in town. Great selection of soaps, makeups, hair preparations, products such as Santa Maria Novella, Red Flower, Molton Brown, T. LeClerc and Shu Uemura. Sleep enhancers,anxiety reducers, body relaxers for travel and stress relief. George Trumper products for men as well as Colonial.

Amedeo Canfora's Handmade Sandals - The 1946 firm is now run by the daughters of Amedeo on the island of Capri. Costume jewelry is the hallmark of the sandals which appear to be beautifully made. Prices are given in euros.

Cards:  Bloomin' Flower Cards - Sixty different versions of these seed cards made from paper embedded with seeds. Bury the cards in soil. Gift enclosure cards, wrapping paper, thank you notes and blank cards. 

Carlisle Collection - These clothes are designed with the mature woman in mind, with materials and tailoring to flatter the figure. The trick is to find a representative in your area who will invite you into her home for a showing of the collection. Appointments generally last an hour and are sold only during the four times a year that the collection are introduced.

Consumer World - Created by a former director of consumer education for  Massachusetts Consumer Affairs, this site links to other consumer sites offering discounts and coupons on a full range of products. Content culled from other consumer information sources such as rates for mortgages and credit cards perform a service especially in the field of scams and schemes for eBay bidding.  There is also a comprehensive list of agencies, both domestic and foreign where you gain information as well as an avenue of complaint.

US Consumer Gateway - see SWW Government page

Daily Candy - Now covering a number of US cities, Daily Candy is illustrated by Ruben Toledo and founded by Dany Levy. It has what is most desirable today in any field: attitude or is that 'tude. At any rate, Daily Candy does impart tips for specials at locations that may have a site on the Web. Consumer finds and current trends in fashion and beauty are the heart of the site.

Danforth Pewter - Thomas Danforth II pioneered Revolutionary era pewtersmithing in New England; his descendant, Thomas, and wife Judy revived that tradition in 1975 and now have both a hollowware and cast pewter line. Their objects make great gifts, both bridal and baby, as well as products such as peppermills, vases, sugar/creamers, tumblers, basins, oil lamps, tableware and ornaments.

Dinosaur Designs - Louise Olsen, Stephen Ormandy and Liane Rossler met while studying drawing and painting at a Sydney, Australia art school in 1983. They formed the company Dinosaur Designs in 1985 and began selling handprinted fabrics and painted jewelry at Paddington Markets. Even though they produce many housewares, we decided to list this in the Shop for Yourself section; the jewelry is unusual enough to warrant that priority of inclusion. We saw the bracelets in Vogue and were intrigued. Explore all the jewelry and home products made from resin. Stockists are listed but you can special order through their contact page.

DulkenandDerrick.com - The last few fashion and home decor seasons have brought back the use artificial flowers: in your hair, pinned on a dress, on a table or hall. I grew up with an aunt who was a marvelous milliner named Thea Elizabeth who'd let me arrange the silk flowers in her shop on Long Island. It was a marvelous time for a little girl and recently, I've started collecting them again to use personally and in the house.

Enokiworld: This is the site that I most often think about that Pucci long dress I gave away when it no longer fit ... I could have added it to the vintage clothes I'm saving for those two granddaughters. These are clothes that are sought for movie shoots, so don't expect that these designer clothes are going to be inexpensive just because they're vintage. But this is a slow stroll through those fashions we admired in the 50s, 60s and beyond.

Forzieri.com - This international site, while it carries scarves, bandanas, shawls, hats, handkerchiefs, belts and gloves for women, also focuses on men's inventory and home accessories. Fornasetti,Cavalli, Gucci, Fendi, Prada and Moschino are some of the well-known designer/makers the site carries. The Antica Murrina Veneziana Murano glass necklaces at $30 are beautiful, unusual and, yes, a marvelous gift for women.

Freehand - A Los Angeles gallery that concentrates on American Craft artists, exhibiting many of the artisans we know, admire and have purchased from over the years. Not all the artisans they carry have links and perhaps more importantly, not all the pieces have prices listed, but there is an email to use for inquiries in those cases.

Valerie B. Gedzuin - Designer Costume Jewelry - A vintage costume jewelry site that features names such as Haskell, Boucher, Hobe and Trifari. The contemporary jewelry pieces are designed are both by American and European designers. A number of the pieces reach expensive levels but they're all fun to look at, especially if you've grown up with this kind of flashy, colorful jewelry.

Ghurka - A company specializing in leather goods, this brand has extremely well made items with a customer service we found excellent in the past. In this case, you can chat online for your inquiries. The prices are on the high scale end. Bags, totes, shoes, organizers, wallets, golf  and fishing items, umbrellas, watches and business cases.

Christina Goodman Jewelry - Even though Christina's designs are not available for purchase from her website, the quality of her painting in miniature is obvious. The galleries that carry her work are noted on the site.

Giraudon Shoes - What is it about shoes? You can always justify buying another pair because they're higher, they're lower, they have open toes, they have closed toes. Giraudon's shoes have been compared to the more expensive designs of Prada and National Costume at a much lower cost (especially when on sale). I'm ordering a pair will report back on the comfort factor; they appear to be both comfortable and attractive for men and women. There are styles that are considered unisex, too.

Gorsuch Ltd. - An on-line catalog of the familiar print catalog of clothes from Europe and the US which you may have seen at one of their Colorado stores. Beautifully patterned and made Dale of Norway sweaters in adult and child sizes, sturdy and good-looking shoes and boots. There are parkas, vests, jackets and warm-ups, turtlenecks and fleece products, ski-suits, linens and furnishings. Yes, they're a bit dear, but you'd have the item forever.

Granville Millinery - I find that in light of concerns about skin health I'm buying hats to shield me from the California sun. For years, I was concerned about squashing my hairdo with a hat and now my focus is more centered on my skin and heat tolerance. In central Ohio, Amy Hamilton has created a line of hats that are influenced by a 1920s sensibility. Custom dyes, handmade flowers and ribbons are used on hats blocked on antique wooden hat blocks.

The Artful Home - We're devotees of American craft and this collection represents individual works for viewing and purchase, through either the individual artist or an assigned gallery. Wonderful for gift shopping when you don't have a chance to find that perfect gift, especially for occasions.

Gumps - This venerable San Francisco store with an Asian accent has a site with gifts, jewelry and some furnishings that are traditional in nature but well priced and not the usual fare online.

Shop for Yourself Links Continue>>