Childhood Braid Lives Again

I am happy to report that my mother freakishly holding onto said braid for 20+ years (stored in a shoebox labeled, "Tracy's hair"), has proved worthwhile. This week the braid was donated to Locks of Love, an organization that makes hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We had previously questioned whether the hair was usable due to its age, but Locks of Love said that because it has remained in a braid for this long, it is perfectly fine. The minimum required length is 10 inches, and my braid is over 17 inches!
Being able to make this contribution not only means a lot to me, due to my father's hair loss during his battle with cancer, but also to my husband, whose sister never re-grew her hair after she lost it due to radiation treatment in the 5th grade. I hope my braid will be used to give a child the self-confidence she or he needs to fight their disease.

Ask Tracy

Q:
Dear Tracy,
What are some of your favorite websites for online shopping?
-S.S.

A:
Dear S.S.,
Online shopping keeps getting better and better. Because you can shop from the comfort of your own home and most sites are very user-friendly, I prescribe it to a lot of my clients who simply hate going into stores, but (rather than have me shop for them) want to give it a try themselves. To stay competitive, more and more sites are offering free shipping. An insider secret is www.retailmenot.com, a resource for finding promos and coupon codes. Simply enter in the website on which you are shopping, and RetailMeNot will immediately let you know of any ongoing discounts on that site.

When searching the internet for items for clients, I often don't have time to scour through tons of sites, so I love www.shopstyle.com - "The looks you crave from the stores you love. All in one place." Its search tool will give you picture results from all over the net (including some of my favorite sites, like Net-a-Porter, ShopBop, Neiman-Marcus) and allows you to refine your results by various facots such as sale items and available sizes. The one-stop shop saves a lot of time and effort and is a great way to compare prices.

Another good search site for comparison shopping is www.like.com, whose unique "visual search" allows you to find similar items at the click of your mouse. Like that Catherine Malandrino dress but not the price? Search for similar styles. You can even get as detailed as highlighting a certain part of an item (color, pattern, shape) by which to search.

Finally, www.chickdowntown.com is another fave. This well-organized and attractive site offers great styles from a bevvy of designers. Their "Lookbook" offers a pictoral on the season's latest fashions, as do their magazine-style groupings (for example, "Summer Chic," "The Basics," "Good Evenings"). They also have special sections for organic clothing and Celeb Style ("as seen on" fashions).

Happy surfing!