Clearly, it’s “that time of year again.” The holidays are, for many people, a time of reflection, piety and spending time with friends and family.

Thankfully, I don’t know any of those people, so I don’t have to deal with that boring shit.

Instead, I like to enjoy the holidays for two very special reasons: gluttony and capitalism.

Okay, okay, I’m joking. I do enjoy spending time with my family on the holidays…while eating lots of food—and getting presents.

The latter is a bit of a problem for most people in my life. According to nearly everyone I know, I’m “hard to shop for.” I can’t say I agree, but I do sort see why they think so: I like nice things, but I detest when people spend a lot of money on me.

It occurs to me that a lot of people are like this. Or maybe not. I dunno, some people just like getting presents.

Getting back to my point: like a lot of pretty boys, my devotion to my appearance doesn’t stop with diet and training. I don’t care if it makes me “metro” or “gay” or “hetero-gay” or even “straight-mo-sexual;” the simple reality is, I’m a bit of a fashionista. Or is it fashionisto?

Whatever, I like me some clothes.

The entire social dynamic of fashion is really interesting, from a sociological perspective—the way trends come and go, how certain tendencies or items start out small and then hit the mainstream. And I like being a part of it: I tend to dress in the latest fashions, modifying things to suit my particular style. I even attempt to start a trend or two each year. (To be honest, I claim partial responsibility for the resurgence of the vest as a fashion item, but that’s a story for another blog post.)

Given all that, shopping for me is probably easy in theory: just get me some clothes or shiny accessories and I’ll probably be happy. However, like I said, I don’t really like throwing money around, and I hate when people drop serious coin on me.

Which brings me to this blog post.

You see, I think a lot of people are like me: they like the finer things when it comes to clothes, but they don’t necessarily want to pay top dollar to look all pretty. I’m always looking for a bargain, and I get some pretty sweet deals on some pretty sweet gear.

I’m going to share my favorite sales site with you—if you’re like me and you have done zero Christmas shopping so far, you’ll have the chance to pick some pretty stuff for the pretty people in your life.

Here are some of my favorites:

Gilt

Gilt.com is an ‘exclusive’ website where you can get discounts of up to 70% off of the retail price on clothes, shoes, and the occasional gadget. I put exclusive in quotes because you technically have to apply for membership, but I’m pretty sure they’re not turning people down. However, it should be noted that the items you get on the site are great, and generally the prices are better than what you’ll find at most other places.
The set up is simple: each day, a different brand or designer will be featured, or made available, with items from that brand on sale. You will then purchase them, wear them, and everyone will be like, “ooooh you’re so stylish and cool, I would like to have sex with you.” To date, I’ve ordered from Gilt about 5 or so times, and I’ll say that I’ve never been disappointed. The only bad thing is that things sell out pretty quickly, so if you see something you like,  jump on it.

The customer service is great and the turn around on shipping is relatively quick.

Bonus: they have an app for the iPhone, making it even easier to impulse buy.

Even Better Bonus: I’m pretty sure they have some sort of referral system in place, so if you sign up and order, I get free stuff, and you know I like free stuff. And then if you get your friends to join and they order, YOU get free stuff.

It’s like paying it forward, only with shopping instead of good deeds.

Rue La La

RueLaLa.com is a site very similar to Gilt, in that each day and week the featured designers and brands change. You’ll receive emails alerting you when a new “boutique” is going to become available to shop.

Rue La La has great sales and savings, but overall is slightly less bad-ass than Gilt; not only does this site have a less masculine feel, but the focus is almost entirely on clothes. You don’t often see too many deals on shoes, and there is no gadgetry to speak of.

On the other hand, they seem to have a much larger selection for the ladies, so if you’re a chick, or are shopping for one…or just dressing like one (no judgement), Rue La La may be a better fit for you.

This site really IS invitation only—so consider this you official invitation. When you sign up, use my email to get you in the door: roman [at] RomanFitnessSystems.com.

Shop It To Me

Of all the shopping websites, ShopItToMe.com is my favorite, I think. Not only do you wind up getting great deals, but it’s just so much more highly customizable than all the rest. Shop It To Me is a comprehensive sale aggregator that sends you a list each week with items you’re likely to be interested in.

How does it know which items those might be, you ask?

Once you sign up, you go through a few lists where you select the type of clothes you want (men’s, women’s, casual, business, etc) and the brands or stores you’re generally interested in. Based on those selections, each week you will be emailed “salemail” that takes from your pre-selected stores, designers, brands and categories.

Nearly every time I receive such mail, I’m shocked at how accurate the site is—I almost always find something I like, and it is only through epic restraint that I do not wind up with a weekly order (as I said, I sure do love me some clothes). Now, I obviously don’t find a deal I immediately need to pounce on every time, but it’s pretty sweet that I’m able to follow the trends of what’s being marked down and so forth.

Keep in mind, ShopItToMe is an aggregator, not a storefront. That is, the site compiles sales from other stores: when you click on an item, you are sent to that store, and the item will be shipped from that website. Given that, it’s really difficult to rate customer service or shipping time.

Overall, it’s a pretty sweet way to shop.

So…not that I’m expecting a present or anything. I’m just saying, if you happen to be reading this (ahem, Mom )…don’t complain that you don’t know where to look.

For everyone else NOT named Mom, the above sites are a great way to stay fresh all year for less money.  And of course if you’re into buying for people other than yourself, they work for that, too.

Anyone else have any sites they visit for sweet deals on sweet gear?  Gimme some tips!