NYC — Spring 2013: Clothing & Miscellaneous Haul

As you can imagine, I did quite a lot of shopping while I was in New York, as evidenced by my two cosmetics hauls (can I just say, thank god for tax returns?). But I did buy a surprising amount of non-beauty items as well. 

Marc by Marc Jacobs Classic Q Fran Bag
Before I actually arrived in New York, I had had my heart set on buying a new handbag. Nothing crazy expensive, mind you, but a new one to replace my old, beaten-up one. I've always leaned towards Marc by Marc Jacobs for medium-priced bags, and had my eye on the Classic Q Fran for a while. I love everything about this bag: it's in a classic black pebbled cowhide leather with gold hardware, comes with both shoulder straps and a longer cross-body strap, and it's the perfect size to hold all my stuff. Plus, I like that the style is more classic than trendy, so I can use it for years to come. I was incredibly tempted to buy it online sometime around Christmas, but decided to wait until I went to the US, since it'd be a lower retail price with a lower tax rate, and I wouldn't have to pay an insane amount for shipping and duties. I took the opportunity to buy it when we were perusing Bloomingdale's, where they offer a 10% discount to international customers (you show them any official ID and they can process it for you right at point of sale). It ended up being $438 after tax, as opposed to $468 before tax, so I thought it was totally worth waiting to buy it on this trip. 
Uniqlo x Ladurée tees
Uniqlo x Sanrio tees
Of course, we had to drop by Uniqlo (we love it so much, we ended up going to two locations). Uniqlo often has a variety of T-shirt collaboration collections, and they had a lot of super-fun ones this time around. Their featured collaboration right now is with famed macaron house, Ladurée, from which I grabbed three different tees: two puff-sleeved tees in black featuring a Parisian macaron design and in pistachio green featuring a puff pastry design, and crew neck short-sleeve tee featuring their pitbull logo in pink. I also ended up buying three 3/4-sleeve tees from the Sanrio collaboration because they were on sale for $9.90 each: two Hello Kitty tees in white with red polka dots and black with green polka dots, and a My Melody tee in wheat with pink detailing. I will likely be using these as sleep shirts or to wear around the house since, you know, I'm quite a bit older than 12, but they were just too cute to resist.
Uniqlo Lounge pants, Drape printed bottoms, and Relaco cropped pants (x2)
Uniqlo Room Shoes in pink floral and seafoam green
Uniqlo makes some of my favourite loungewear in the world: they're insanely comfortable, great quality, and incredibly affordable. Plus, they come in super-cute patterns and colours to boot. I've been looking for a pair of sweatpants and ended up getting a pair of black Lounge pants for $12.90 (they come in a variety of patterns and shades, but thought getting black would allow me to wear them outside as well), and then some ultra-soft, feather-light pajama pants: a pair of Drape polka-dot print bottoms in black on sale for $9.90, and two pairs of their Relaco polka-dot print cropped pants in grey and cream also on sale for $9.90. I also bought a pair of their slippers that have terrycloth lining and cushioned soles that were on sale for $7.90. I wore them around our hotel room and found them so damn comfortable that I went back to Uniqlo the next day to buy another pair. 
Uniqlo Leggings Pants (x5)
Uniqlo extra light short-sleeve stole cardigan, Uniqlo x Cabbages & Roses scarf, and Mango leather studded belt
Of course, I had to stock up on my most favourite Leggings Pants, basically the only pants I like wearing on a regular basis. I've tried many a pair of denim leggings, and none of them are as comfortable or as regularly affordable as these ones at a retail price of $19.90 a pair. They fit insanely well, never too tight or too loose, and they have a great stretchy elastic waist so you can totally wear these to a buffet and never feel restricted. I bought three of the regular ones in black, and then two denim pairs in charcoal and dark blue to change up my mostly black wardrobe. I also bought a super-lightweight short-sleeve black stole cardigan that will be perfect for layering in warmer weather, and a lovely printed stole scarf in black from their Cabbages & Roses collaboration collection on sale for $7.90. The last fashion item I picked up was a black leather belt with large silver studs from Mango. It wasn't on sale or anything, but it's cute and I needed a belt. The greatest thing about shopping for clothes (or shoes or bags or accessories) in New York is that all items that are under $110 are tax-free. Yes, tax-free! For those of us who live in Canada, this is an incredibly exciting concept, and therefore more reason to shop for clothing in New York. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it.
Max Brenner Coco and Snowies Chocolate Tins, and Caramel and Sea Salt Milk Chocolate Bar
Starbucks You Are Here Collection mug
Last but not least, I picked up a few touristy, souvenir-y items. On our first night in New York, my brother took us to Max Brenner for some dessert (the line-up was way too long to actually eat in the restaurant, so we got some of their famous ultra-rich dark hot chocolate to go instead), and my mom and I stopped by the gift shop to grab some goodies to take back home with us. My choices: two tins of their Coco (hazelnut cream, milk chocolate, and roasted coconut) and Snowies (hazelnut cream, white chocolate, and roasted pistachios) chocolates, plus a bar of their milk chocolate with caramel pieces and sea salt. Then, at one of the many Starbucks locations we went to, I picked up the New York mug from their You Are Here Collection (they have one for pretty much every big city in North America) to replace the old Starbucks mug that I broke a few months ago. (Some people like to collect postcards or shot glasses or hats from their travels. I like to collect mugs, okay?) And that, folks, completes my entire haul for this New York trip. I don't think I'll be spending any more money this month...

Bloomingdale's Soho 504 Broadway New York, NY 10012 (212) 729-5900
Uniqlo Soho 546 Broadway New York, NY 10012 1-877-486-4756
Uniqlo Midtown 31 W 34th Street New York, NY 10001 1-877-486-4756
Mango 561 Broadway New York, NY 10012 (212) 343-7012
Max Brenner 841 Broadway New York, NY 10003 (646) 467-8803