We got all excited when we heard that Loeffler Randall was Target’s next big haute-design-on-the-cheap victim — after all, we’d been obsessing over their ruffle-trimmed flats since the weather started to turn cool last fall. But as amazing an eye as starlet designer Jessie Randall has, we just can’t help but be disappointed by the clunky, plastic-y materials and awkward metal plackets declaring “Loeffler Randall for Target” on each piece — such as this woven hobo that, in another life, could have been cool; and this metallic clutch (pictured), which really doesn’t inspire us to bring it to any party at all. If Target’s mission is to offer high fashion for next-to-nothing prices, it negates the whole envy-of-all-your-neighbors factor if what your bag says about you isn’t “I have an excellent eye for just the perfect accessory, and I’m not afraid to splurge on style,” but “This is what was staring me in the face when I went into the chain superstore to buy toilet paper.” So we’ll sit this one out, thank you very much, and hope that Target encourages a subtler branding from their next great runway-worthy find. And while Loeffler Randall’s “For Target” collection is a near-total miss, there are still some great Erin Featherston pieces to be found in Target’s clearance section. As for Loeffler Randall, for us, it’s worth the $350 for the real thing.

This spring’s Holy Grail of the nail polish world is Chanel’s limited edition Blue Satin #461, from of the Le Vernis nail colour line. Beauty bloggers all over the world are raving about its deep-blue, almost-black color, its shimmer and its thickness. Neiman Marcus, which started taking pre-orders for $19 in early December, has already sold out, as have Nordstrom and the official Chanel site (in fact, Blue Satin isn’t even listed). We did find it on Ebay, priced from $22 to $32.95 before shipping. If you can’t get your hands on the coveted Blue Satin, consider OPI’s “Yoga-ta Get This Blue” ($8.50) from its new spring collection, “India,” which has been generating buzz following ads in the February issues of beauty magazines, including In Style. Available beginning Feb. 6 at http://www.opi.com/, by calling (800) 341-9999, or at salons including ULTA, Trade Secret and Regis, the 12-color collection bears an assemblage of evocative names: “I’m Indi-a Mood for Love” is hot pink. “Elephantastic Pink” is light pink. “Black Cherry Chutney” is dark blackish red. “Keys to My Karma” is rich red. “Monsooner or Later” is orange red. “Royal Rajah Ruby” is burgundy. But our favorite is the pale opal “Get Me to the Taj On Time.”

It’s your first day at the office after the Thanksgiving break, but that’s no reason to start working. This is the traditional day when online shopping spikes. Swivel around so the boss can’t see and let’s get started. We surfed 17 major retail websites in search of bargains - and for the most part, we were disappointed. Many of the big box stores had little in the way of discounted items for today. Most were honking their horns about free shipping after you spend a certain amount, but that doesn’t sound very special to us. A few decent sounding bargains popped up, such as Walmart’s Cyber Monday specials (an Xbox 360 for $400 and a 42″ Sony LCD HDTV for $1,298). Best Buy’s sale ends tonight and they’re touting lowered prices on navigation systems, TVs and Ipods/MP3s (although it looks like you only save about $10 on those). Costco says you can save $200 on a folding treadmill and $20 off a digital picture frame. Sears is taking 10 percent off all appliances, 10 percent cash back on home theaters and big discounts on tools. At CircuitCity.com, their 3-day sale lets you save an extra 10 percent if you shop online but pick up your item at the store. Major retailers whose Cyber Monday deals were less than impressive (if they had sale items at all) were Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Nordstrom, Amazon.com, Brookstone, Crate and Barrel and Sephora. Some sites did have solid sale prices, but they were kind of hidden, such as this page on Saks.com or this one on Sharper Image’s site. Pottery Barn had some good prices on their sale page. So who had the best deals this Cyber Monday? Macy’s and Kohls. Macy’s “Web Busters” offered $600 diamond earrings for $200 and a man’s leather jacket worth $575 was $229. Kohls was substantially knocking down the cost of their Simply Vera Vera Wang clothing line, as well as kitchen items, outerwear and fine jewelry. On top of that, their Gold Star clearance page cut prices by 60 to 80 percent ($45 towels for $9, for example).

Yes, you’re looking forward to the turkey and the pumpkin pie. But we at Shopperati have our sights set on something vastly more significant: Black Friday. That was an insider retail term for the day after Thanksgiving, when the big discounts begin. Now, most intrepid shoppers know what it means. One recent survey says that the number of Internet searches for “Black Friday” are up 91 percent over last year. So what happens when you search on Google for “Black Friday”? You see Black Friday Ads. This smart site has done the searching for you and has advance word on Friday’s sales - both in-store and online. Black Friday Ads has it down to a science: shop by store, category, find out store hours and lots more. So what is everyone buying? Wide-screen, flat-panel HDTVs are going fast. Walmart is selling a 42″ Panasonic for $798 from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday. Best Buy has a Hewlett-Packard 42″ for $996.99 Friday and Saturday only, and Sears has a Sony home theater system for $149.99. Other popular items are computers and laptops (Walmart has a Dell Inspiron for $598; Circuit City has an HP Pavilion 15.4″ laptop for $549.99 after a $150 mail-in rebate), digital cameras (Target is selling a Casio Z75 for $129; Costco has an Olympus 8 mp at $149.99) and other assorted electronic extras (Toys R Us has a Microsoft 30 gb Zune MP3 player for $79.99 - which they say is 60 percent off the regular price; Sears has a Delphi navigation system for $129.99). The Black Friday site polled users on where they’re going to shop Friday, and the top 3 were were Walmart, Best Buy and Target. Even the big retail websites are having Black Friday sales. Amazon.com will have a sales spree but they’re keeping the details a secret. You’ll have to go to their Black Friday page on Friday to find out the deals.

The shoe equivalent to a seam up the back of your stocking is the strategically placed bow at the crest of the heel. Add a demure peep toe and candy-coat it in pink, and you have our vision of the nearly perfect shoe. But who would expect them to cost $29.99? Hollywould is the latest high-end fashion design house to create a priced-for-the-masses collection of accessories for Target. In addition to the shoes, you can find other flashy footwear in ‘glitter lace’ silver and bright red. Then there is the adorable selection of chic little clutches, perfect for parties, in black, pink, red, satin and silver lace - all for $19.99. There are other sizes of bags, and the most expensive is $49.99. In the otherworldly land of high fashion, Hollywould shoes - the brainchild of Holly Dunlap, who worked with Christian Lacroix and Lily Pulitzer - cost hundreds of dollars. The Target version of Hollywould hit the shelves in early October, but the collection is perfect for the holidays.

If you and your boyfriend or girlfriend are the type to have matching sets of things (his-and-her bathrobes, his-and-her towels, etc.), then the next logical step are his-and-hers scents. But why settle for designer versions, when you can get a whiff of celebrity with perfumes and colognes created by beautiful people. Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham and her husband, international soccer star David Beckham (that’s him the picture in case you didn’t recognize him), have a set of colognes called “Intimately Beckham,” which you can buy at UltraFragrances.com. The scent for him has bergamot, grapefruit zest and cardamom. The women’s perfume is said to smell like lilies, orange blossoms and rose petals. Either one costs $40 for 2.5 ounces. R&B star Usher has two fragrances, “Usher for Men” and “Usher for Women” at Ulta Beauty. A a 3.4-ounch bottle will cost $65 for the guys, and $68 for the ladies. And, of course, don’t forget Paris Hilton (try as you might). The paparazzi fixture has new colognes and perfumes for both sexes at Macy’s. Her “Men’s Collection,” appropriately named “Heir,” has hints of juniper and basil and is $49 for 3.4 ounces. Her women’s version smacks of citrus and costs the same price. 

Nordstrom wants to tell a good story this holiday season — so the venerable store has created its first book. Written by Nordstrom
copywriter Randy Schliep and illustrated by British artist Lisa Evans, the book is titled Once Upon A Holiday: The Moon Fell Out of the Sky. The story follows a little girl named Sophie who has a secret Christmas wish: a new friend. When she awakens in the night, she discovers an event that could change the course of Christmas. With the help of an ambitious cow, a wise owl and a luminescent moon, she sets off to save the holiday. You’ll be seeing a lot of the book and its characters in Nordstrom’s decorations, catalogs, gift cards, holiday bags and on the company’s website. The book is available for $16.95, along with music CDs, holiday pajamas and girls’ T-shirts inspired by the book’s illustrations.

The most recent big-name designer to launch an affordable line of clothing via a major retailer is Vera Wang. Her Simply Vera line was launched at Kohl’s with much fanfare early this fall, and it is a surprisingly broad lineup of offerings that are pretty darned stylish and timeless. Demand has been high, but you can buy some of her pieces from the Kohl’s collection online for a discount. The website for the Simply Vera line of clothes, accessories, jewelry, intimates, sleepwear and even home items offers a lot of options. The price points on Wang’s creations at Kohl’s kind of push the envelope for retaining that “low-cost” label ($128 for a long textured coat, $98 for a popular bubble skirt), but the looks are classic and she even offers an online guide to mixing and matching her items to get a chic, modern look. Don’t look too closely at the fabrics and the details, and you’ll think you’re wearing the real thing. This pendant pictured is $224.99 (it was originally $375) and the cabled sweatercoat you see here is $78. If you want to compare some of these looks to the designer’s high-end merchandise, peruse Vera Wang’s website.