Shopping Books

This is the perfect reference guide for costumers and wardrobe people in LA. It is a costumers dream reference. If you are going to be in LA shooting, you must have someone on your staff who has this book...

If you work in LA (or order from it)in the fashion, television, film or stage industry as any kind of wardrobe or costume person - YOU NEED THIS BOOK! It's like my bible. Next to me on the passenger seat, quick thumb through to find armor specialists, then onto all the milinery stores in town. This edition is two years old and I'm waiting for their third edition patiently...

Gemologist Andie Adams jumps at a chance to go to Kashmir, Pakistan for a mission trip with her church--but she doesn't count on her boss turning it into a business trip for the Shop-Til-U-Drop Network Andie works for--including her exasperating co-host, Max.

A mysterious death right after Andie arrives in Kashmir lands the crew in prison for a brief stay. And suspicious gurus seem to be on Andie's tail every time she turns. When a second death turns Andie into a suspect, she's determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.

A Steal of a Deal is the second book in the Shop-Til-U-Drop Collection, and readers will want to read book one, Priced to Move, before they read A Steal of a Deal. There is enough information given so the books probably could stand alone, but A Steal of a Deal refers to events in the first book quite often, so readers will want to be up-to-speed.

Andie is a smart-mouthed woman, struggling with her out-of-control tongue, yet she's real, and loveable. I couldn't help but identify with her, even though gems are not my thing.

Book three in the series is coming out in the fall, and I can't wait to read it. Don't miss A Steal of a Deal.

Armchair Interview says: An excellent series.

Her Louisville Christians Fellowship church asks master gemologist and TV gem show host Andrea Adams to organize a missionary trip to impoverish Kashmir. Andrea looks forward to the visit to the Asian nation especially helping poor families.

However, when she mentions the trip to Miss Mona her boss at Shop Til U Drop (STUD) home shopping network, her supervisor arranges for STUD to go on location, which means California pretty surfer boy Max with the IQ shorter than his board is part of the crew. In Kashmir, everything is going perfect until someone murders one of their guides; followed by the killing of another guide. Even returning home, Andrea finds trouble follows her san unknown adversary has committed arson and attempted murder.

The second Shop-Til-U-Drop tale (see PRICED TO MOVE, not read by me) is a wild chick lit amateur sleuth filled with eccentric characters and an entertaining whodunit. The story line is fast-paced on both sides of the Pacific while the heroine's amusing asides especially about her blond surfer co-host add to the fun of the mystery. A STEAL OF A DEAL lives up to its title.

Harriet Klausner

Do you want to bring back a trunk or two full of Silver (real), rubies, pashminas, hand painted bone china and live like the maharanas in the Palaces? Well then this is the book for you. Its simple, but I would never have known to go to these stores and find such treasures without this guide. Who would have thought we would see a silver covered canopy bed for $3000! Its obvious that expensive hotels are nice, but not so obvious where to get good deals on products. You feel like an "expert buyer." I only wish they had more info on "what makes rubies or silver" real or valuable as without this book it seems so easy to fall into fakes (esp Thailand). Instead of half of the book being about haggling, if there were details on good books to read up on about: carpets, jewelry, silver, whatever can be bought in that country, this series would be much better than what it is. Obviously, you can never get a good deal unless you know about what you are buying but it could also be a primer on luxurious things for the armchair traveller.

Rarely does one discover a guidebook that delivers exactly what it promises. This is the perfect reference for the discriminating traveler who enjoys quality, wishes to discover the best shopping sites and wants just enough sightseeing to satisfy their cultural requirements. Traveling with a group of people this book soon became singled out as the preeminent guide for our purposes. The authors descriptions are very accurate and in keeping with my own experiences. Upon my return I can now reread the book and relive my travels.

My partner and I just went to Thailand( Bangkok and Chiang Mai) for some hardcore antique shopping spree to decorate our house and expanded our collection. The information given was very useful and of course along the way we found more little shops not covered in the book. But the book definitely directs you to the right neighborhoods as far as antique goes(what we were after)
I highly recommend it to people who are after quality goods wether it's jewelry or furniture or antique or whatever. and Thailand has SO MUCH to offer!!!

The Treasures And Pleasures Of Thailand And Myanmar: Best Of The Best In Travel And Shopping is an absolute "must-have" for international travelers looking to obtain quality goods or souvenirs from Thailand at a reasonable price. Intended as a supplementary resource and not a general-purpose travel guide, The Treasures And Pleasures Of Thailand And Myanmar focuses specifically upon obstacles, negotiation techniques, and tips and tricks for those interested in shopping for everything from gemstones to textiles to artworks and much more. From learning how to walk away from the "touts" that try to lure tourists into overpriced stores (overpriced because the store must pay the tout a 10% to 40% commission for the service!), to a step-by-step introduction to the art of haggling, to knowing how to avoid paying thousands of dollars for what might be a cheap knock-off gemstone, to why even the locals may not always obtain the best deals (some shopkeepers can give tourists a lower price than their repeat local customers - who would expect the same bargain every time they walked through the door) to dealing with cultural differences and much more, The Treasures And Pleasures Of Thailand And Myanmar zeroes in on exactly what the money-conscious tourist in Thailand needs to know.

I popped over to Vietnam back in 2005 and lugged this book along with me, along with a couple of other guides. I actually had thought that this one would be worthless and weak, but it turned out to be by far the best resource of all. It's packed with information on places to go and things to do, and has scads of detail about addresses, hours of operation, admission fees, names of owners and operators, transportation options, recommended restaurants and dishes, what to concentrate upon at various museums and tourist sites, hotel rates, and so on.

I visited Hanoi, Hue, Danang, Hoi An, and Saigon, and found that this guide was valuable at every stop. It was of particular use in Hanoi, where I spent the most money on art, since it has very comprehensive entries on practically every gallery in town, what the price ranges and levels of quality are, what kinds of art are to be found there, et cetera. The authors also have suggestions on how and when to bargain and what shipping methods to use.

If you have the slightest intention of buying more than two items on a trip to Vietnam, or you want to ditch your tour group and go rogue, this book is highly recommended.

The Treasures And Pleasures Of Vietnam And Cambodia: Best Of The Best In Travel And Shopping is an amazing, "user friendly" touring, travel, and shopping guide. Individual chapters focus upon the marvels of Vietnamese and Cambodian cities, as well as adventure-of-a-lifetime guidelines for smart traveling and shopping. Filled with sensible advice, maps, addresses, tips, great places to go and an easy index, The Treasures and Pleasures of Vietnam and Cambodia covers everything short of being a primer in the native language. Highly recommended for anyone planning a trip to these exotic and beautiful lands, The Treasures And Pleasures Of Vietnam And Cambodia is a "must" for getting the most out of a business or vacation trip to these exotic lands.

The British Virgin Islands have a very different atmosphere from their close neighbors, the U.S. Virgin Islands. This guide was helpful in giving valuable information that helped me plan my vacation to the area. The excellent hotel and restaurant reviews, as well as information on each of the individual islands on things to see and do made it a very indispensable source for finalizing my trip plans.

The British Virgin Islands have a very different atmosphere from their close neighbors, the U.S. Virgin Islands. This guide was helpful in giving valuable information that helped me plan my vacation to the area. The excellent hotel and restaurant reviews, as well as information on each of the individual islands on things to see and do made it a very indispensable source for finalizing my trip plans.

The Urge to Splurge is, according to its subtitle, a Social History of Shopping. It isn't an academic book, but with its attention to history and detail, its wide range of subtopics having to do with shopping, and the excellent bibliography for further reading, it can serve as a reference work as well as an entertaining pop culture book.

Laura Byrne Paquet, a Canadian writer of romance fiction and Ottawa guide books, gives no hint of the distinctive (and different) styles that normally accompany both romance novels and travel writing. The tone here is conversational, even casual, while being very informative.

The Urge to Splurge covers Tupperware parties, Avon ladies, mail order shopping, TV infomercials, online shopping, compulsive shopping disorder, kleptomania, shoplifting, the differences between men and women shoppers, malls, markets, bargaining, eBay, department stores, and more. You'll learn about the transition from bargaining to fixed prices. Paquet tells us about the first escalator in Britain, which was in Harrod's and had no steps. "It was just a conveyor belt, so thrill-seeking passengers who dared to get on had to hang onto handrails for dear life." Yikes.

I was reminded that it was only a few decades ago that Sunday shopping was even possible in most places in North America and Britain. Long after Sunday shopping was the norm in the States, my husband and I spent a month in London and were disappointed to find that nothing was open on Sundays. After the first few restless Sundays, we started planning ahead, finding the few museums and shops that were open on Sunday afternoons, and eventually found ourselves looking forward to Sundays as the day when we could walk the streets and parks of London without the noise of the weekday traffic. Now Sunday is much the same as any other day of the week, shopping-wise.

The Urge to Splurge will make you think about your own shopping memories or maybe re-think your attitudes about shopping. The section on Tupperware reminded me that a good friend once invited me to a Tupperware party and that I had turned her down, for the very good reason that I simply could not become the sort of person who goes to Tupperware parties. It seemed I had no problem with being the sort of person who is a snob.

There's plenty of historical and social history in The Urge to Splurge, as well as a fair amount of interesting trivia. Perhaps you already knew that eBay did not really begin as a Pez dispenser trading site, or how many hundreds of thousands of dollars Jackie Kennedy Onassis spent on clothes each year. This is just a tiny bit of what you will learn from the book. My only complaint about the book is that it has no index.

Books on buying and selling are beset with perils. Issues, from exploitation through gender politics to environmental ethics rise like vipers from the grass. Do you deplore the "Christmas rush" as "over-commercilized? In this informative and entertaining account, Paquet skirts these dangers while keeping a wary, but knowing, eye on them. Brimming with information and told with a verve rarely encountered, this book is a prize to read - and more than once.

Buying and selling, she reminds us, are as old as human existence. The earliest farms meant surplus - "extra grain could be traded for a neighbour's goat", says Paquet. From these early exchanges, Paquet moves through market stalls and fairs, a commercial method lasting many centuries. "Shop", she explains, is a term going back to the 13th Century, but "shopping" had to wait until George III's era. "Shopper" took another century to become current. A reluctant shopper herself, Paquet leavens her "social history" with some lively personal experiences. A "Ladies Night In" at Holt-Renfrew in downtown Ottawa proved a breath-taking experience. The promotion line was perfume and sampling excesses drove her outside into the night air. The free martinis might have helped force the exit.

Shopping is a two-sided affair. Paquet cleverly portrays the problems of bringing seller and buyer together for a successful transaction. Small towns had fairs and permanent shops for centuries in the Old World and the New. Buyers rarely had far to go, but selection was limited. Factory-made goods overturned long-established shopping patterns in many ways. The goods were cheaper, meaning more people could buy them. The buyers, earning money in factories, could purchase more than in previous times. The choice of goods increased as competition led to variety. The flood of new products drove the need for larger stores. Complicating the situation was the rise of suburbs, separating buyers and sellers.

Paquet's description of these processes keeps your attention with her light, intimate style. Her social history sense conveys us through the invention of the cash register, the escalator, the use of window displays and arranging products inside the store. Her finest prose is expressed in the most revolutionary aspect of modern shopping. Early department stores maintained extensive staffs for waiting on customers. Clerks behind counters were supported by "cash girls" who took the order and your money, raced to a cashier's cage, often floors away, to record the purchase and obtain change. Racing back to the customer, still idling at the counter, the transaction was finally completed. "I have a sneaking suspicion those girls were really fit!", she proposes. All these fit children, some as young as twelve, were sacked when a new form of store arose - the self serve. "The customer had to do the work!", Paquet exclaims, almost as surprised as the buyers must have been.

There are other forms of shopping than "going to the store". Paquet passes through the itinerant peddlers of the past to follow the Tupperware Parties and Avon Ladies of today. Tupperware festivities occur somewhere on the globe every 2.2 seconds! When the media wrote of "legions" of Avon Ladies, it was likely unaware that there have been 40 million of them since its 1886 founding. Even while in decline in North America, Avon has become established in 137 countries. In Brazil, "there are more Avon sales reps than serving in the country's army and navy combined". This global horde makes one billion transactions per year - one "for every six human beings on the entire planet, including children and men".

We can all agree on the meaning of "splurge", but no dictionary tells us how it originated. So why do we do it? Is our impulse to buy driven by hidden enticements devised by "shopkeepers" and their successors? A quick glance at any modern grocery, she explains, shows how traffic is funneled into predictable paths. Hairspray and other adult "non-perishables" are placed at your eye level. Where do you find candy and the product's touted during Saturday morning's cartoon shows? Have we no control? Paquet's answer is "Yes!". While the lures to shop and overshop are strong, we need not submit to them. The choice remains ours, she declares firmly. While this is not a deep psychological study, there are practical problems that both buyers and sellers have, and continue to, address. She offers many modern issues in a fine summary chapter on "The Politics of Shopping".

Paquet's ten-page Bibliography is valuable support for the book. Will you benefit from this book? Undoubtedly, given the range of topics Paquet covers, there's certainly something in here for everyone. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Fun read for anyone traveling to Paris and also for the arm-chair traveler, Informative and helpful for more than just shopping.

Great - need it for a trip to Paris!

These books are really helpful in helping you find exactly what you need and want. I've used the Los Angeles and Las Vegas and New York books and I've found stores that I didn't even know existed. The one slight incy problem would be that there wasn't quite enough variety (as far as plus size clothes, obscure stores). They give you phone numbers, store hours etc etc and this is really useful when you might be unfamilliar with a city. Love them.

If you love to shop for clothes/shoes and are eager to know which neighborhoods to hit beyond the obvious Canal Street, Century 21, & SOHO (e.g. Nolita, Lower East Side, Meat Packing District, etc) this is THE book for you.

I bought this book prior to a 3 day shopping trip to NYC. I found that it was a wonderful insiders guide to local shops along with Lucky Magazine's site. This book helped me determine which neighborhoods I wanted to visit and specific stores I didn't want to miss. A great guide to clothes/shoes shopping! This book doesn't even attempt to provide information on restaurants, theatre, or shopping for anything outside of clothes.

The main part of the book is organized alphabetically by store name and provides brief descriptions, street address with cross streets, store hours, and approximate price range (luxury, expensive, moderate, etc). In the back is a index by neighborhood that lists all the stores within the area.

Occasionally some of the descriptions left a little to be desired, but one of the best guides to clothes shopping that I have found.

This is a great little book to get you around LA if you are a shopaholic and even if you are not. It inludes even the most obscure shops and has very honest critiques and good directions - plus lots more!

This is the second book of theirs that I've bought. They are great because they are up to date, and so helpful. With each store, it has the address, phone number, opening hours and everything else about it that can be of use. They give good descriptions of what the store carrys and a tid bit of info about the owners etc. At the back of the book there is a few restaurant picks as well. Another great thing about this book is that it caters to anyone of any financial status. There are high end stores and stores geared to people with a budget in mind. The only possible bonus they could maybe include next issue would be a few photos here and there, but really, in general, this guide is great for helping you choose the best spots to go to and you can narrow down what is and what isn't of interest to you. Although I know Los Angeles very well, there are a few stores in here that I may not otherwise have known about and for that, I'm happy to buy a copy every couple of years or so.