Review - Payless Shoe Source

As most of you know, Payless is a famous shoe store chain in USA. It is known for affordable shoes. They also sell handbags and other accessories like socks, stockings, small jewelry, winter wears like gloves, hands and scarfs.

Though the store has good collection for women and girls collection, not much in the boys and men section.

So we had been to Payless Shoe Store in 34th street NYC. It was a small but charming store. Not much help offered by the staff. But I was impressed by the collection. There were nice designer shoes for less than $30 a pair. Also there is always a sale any time in Payless.

Sites like Retailmenot and Promocodes carry the latest coupons, with which sometimes you can save up to 50%. The best time to shop is during the start or end of seasons and festivals. Around the time that I purchased, it was Easter (Easter is on 20th April this year). They had brilliant colors and designs. I have purchased before in this chain but there is a drastic change in terms of designs.

They are fresh and in fashion, specially the flats and the wedges. The canvas shoes are totally cute and comfortable with style. The new thing though is their booties, half boots and half sandals. They have complete collection of summer essentials including the good old flip flops. They are stocked up with pastel shades as well.

Below are the 4 pairs I took. The blue sandal looks great on jeans and khaki shorts, the black gladiators are great looks for Capri, the olive booties almost go with everything and can be worn in winter and summer and looks chic, and finally the off white wedge is that one light color shoe which is essential for a Western or Easter wardrobe. I got it billed for $112 but since it was my birthday month I got an extra 25% off, which I almost forgot when I got it billed, but the lady at the counter was kind enough to re-bill this discount and we got enough savings. And my husband quoted the infamous line "Happy wife, happy life" :)

Review: Charming Charlie - Accessory Store

If you haven't heard of this store, you ought to visit it. You can either go in-store or online. Not only is the store known for its exuberant accessories but also for scarfs, bags and shoes - a girl's best friend, after diamonds! 

I visited this store for the first time on a trip to Huston at the Galleria, and boy, was I bowled over by the collections. For the first time I saw a store "Color coded"!!! Yes, its true. It was like heaven for a person with OCD like me :) . Recently, I visited the one in Edgewater, NJ and this store was no different. It was definitely smaller in size, but, made up in the charming section. 

The designs are funky and classy. But the best part is the price. You can get a jewelry set for less than $20 (its really cheep compared to other accessory stores) and if your lucky, you can hunt for a cool piece at the clearance section for under $5 bucks. The bracelets and scarfs are to die for and the shoes, though the range is very limited, are chic and trendy. The bags are stylish and are very cheap relative to its looks. Needless to say you can get a bag in every possible color. You can also find small hair accessories and tiaras, clothes (mostly dresses and shirts), belts, though I found these are a bit pricy. The scarfs, specially the pastel shaded ones are the must haves for this spring.

The only downside for this is that you need to visit a store to view most of their collection. The website is not much evolved and look wise, is just ok.  They usually have coupons running in Retailmenot site so you can further reduce your bill. The staffs are very friendly and they help you not only within the store but also if you want to experiment with your looks. They are kind and there for you which will make you feel special (almost like a VIP).

Be sure to take some girl friend along with you as this is not a place for impatient husbands or boyfriends! It will definitely take long as you will have to try before selecting any piece. Lucky for me that my husband was ok with me taking as much time as he had a bench outside to relax. So ladies please visit this place, even if you want to window shop as I assure you, you can't leave empty handed. And guys if you want to give something memorable for your girlfriend or wife, do shop here.

As the name says, this Charlie is too charming!!