With Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up, Horny Toad has partnered up with Goodwill® to help those less fortunate. FNR9QSMDQQP4

Share The Warmth

By donating your gently used “pre-loved” clothes to your local Goodwill®, the revenue from  the sale of your donated items will go to fund job training and enhance the quality of life for those who need help. At the same time you’re also helping recycle clothing that would otherwise end up in a landfill. If Horny Toad reaches 100,000 articles of clothing donated by December 31st, they will give $10,000 to GoodWill. Not only do you reap the benefits of the philanthropy warm-and-fuzzies, but you get 15% off new Horny Toad clothes. For details visit Share The Warmth Share Goodwill

The Nike N7 Collection, is a select range of performance footwear designed with the environment and the future of Native American communities in mind. The N7 Collection will be sold exclusively through 33 Nike Factory Stores in the U.S. and via www.nike.com, with a portion of the profits going to the N7 Fund, which supports youth sport in Native American communities.

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“For more than 10 years Nike has worked closely with Native American communities to provide support through product innovations specific to the needs of Native Americans and by providing grants to support sport programs through the N7 Fund,” said Sam McCracken, General Manager of Nike’s Native American Business. “With the introduction of the N7 Collection, consumers now have the ability to be their own agents of change, as the profits from their purchase will help young people in Native American communities realize their potential through sport.”

The N7 Collection was created through the lens of Considered Design where products are engineered for higher performance and lower environmental impact.

The N7 Collection features the N7 Air Pegasus+ 26, the N7 Huarache, as well as the N7 SMS RT for preschool and toddler sizes.

Nike N7 Air Pegasus+ 26 (MSRP $85)
The Pegasus is one of Nike’s best known icons and Nike’s top selling running shoe. After 26 years on the feet of elite and everyday runners, the Pegasus continues to prove that it’s capable of running past just about anything. The Nike N7 Air Pegasus+ 26 features Native American inspired design details and graphics that tie the shoe back to the N7 Collection.

Nike N7 Huarache (MSRP $110)

The Nike N7 Huarache combines a performance basketball shoe featuring the newest innovations for sport paired with Nike’s Considered Design approach. The N7 Huarache features design details and graphics that tie this shoe back to the N7 Collection, engineered for higher performance and lower environmental impact.

Nike N7 SMS RT (Kids) (MSRP $42-$47)
The Nike N7 SMS RT is a durable, all-day play shoe that meets the demands of the rough-and-tumble kid. The shoe features Sensory Motion System (SMS) technology for a natural, efficient range of motion, aiding healthy foot development for growing kids.

Suggested Retail prices: N7 Huarache $110; N7 Air Pegasus+ 26 $85; N7 SMS RT toddler/ preschool kids $42-$47.  For additional information regarding the N7 Fund, please visit www.n7fund.com. To find the location of your nearest Nike Factory Store or purchase the collection directly, visit www.nike.com.

Burberry has just launched a new website called the Art of the Trench to celebrate the iconic trench coat. This global project is a collaboration with Burberry and Scott Schuman of The Satorialist featuring photos of people sporting their trench coats.

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What makes this project so unique is that you can submit a picture of yourself or your friends wearing your Burberry trench coat to get featured on the site and share your sense of style with others.

Clicking on one of the photos on the Art of the Trench site opens up a details window where you can find out more about the photo, comment using Facebook, or share the image with your friends.  This a great way to share your style and love of your Burberry trench coat!

Art of the Trench

What do you get when you cross a hood and scarf? You get a snood? A what? A snood! Yes, this maybe this winter’s hottest accessory for both men and women this holiday season and companies from Burberry, Banana Republic, American Apparel, and others are counting on this babushka like accessory  to help lift sales which have been flat.

Snood -GQ Magazine U.K.

The snood first debuted on the runways of this years Fall 2009 runways from designers Burberry, Missoni, Donna Karan, and Yves Saint Laurent. And big retailers like Banana Republic, American Apparel, and The Limited are bringing this trendy accessory mainstream with their versions of the snood.  While term “snood” is right at home in the United Kingdom, Banana Republic is referring to theirs as the “Infinity Scarf”, which sounds better if you ask me.

GQ Magaizine U.K. has a guide for snoods and you can also read about them in the Wall Street Journal.

I would probably never buy a snood, only because I rarely wear scarves and I don’t think I want all that extra fabric around my neck even if it kept me super warm.  I’m not going to lie, I do like the looks of the Burberry Check Snood in Charcoal, but at $295 I’d think twice about it.My advice, I would probably go for one of those Infinity Scarves from Banana Republic ($98) and not break the bank on a trendy item.

Nau.com the eco-friendly activewear and outdoor clothing company has just launched a new way to shop for clothing, called the Changing Room.

The concept works like this: Visit their website and select clothing that has been flagged with the Changing Room icon or browse all clothing in the Changing Room category. Once you select the clothing your interested in, you pay half now, to try out and test the clothes for 30 days. If after 30 days from date of purchase you don’t return the clothing, Nau.com will charge the other half to your credit card. If you don’t like something, return it within the 30 days and they’ll give you your money back, no questions asked.

All Changing Room orders come with free UPS Ground Shipping and include a pre-paid return shipping label with your order. Pretty sweet deal and low risk way to buy clothing if you ask me.

Nau.com for details.

Marisa Taylor a writer for the Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting piece on the growing number of private-sale luxury sites growing in this cash strapped economy.

The article talks about member only sites like Gilt, wich allow shoppers to buy heavily discounted luxury brand merchandise anywhere from 50 percent to 70 percent off original price, without the guilt or stigma of paying full price for luxury goods.

Sites like Gilt are on the rise especially in this down economy, where consumers are looking to get the most value for their hard earned dollars. With the luxury-goods market not expected to recover until 2011 or 2012 this will become the norm for how people buy and shop for luxury items in my opinion.

And even Saks Inc, is testing its own version of “private event” shopping online to compete with sites like Gilt.com, RueLaLa and HauteLook, etc.

While buying discounted designer fashions at outlet stores is old news, this approach takes it to a whole new level. It shouldn’t be long until you see Neiman Marcus take a stab at cashing in on the private web sale.

What do you think? Have you bought from sites like Gilt.com, RueLaLa and HauteLook? Share your experience and thoughts in our comments section.

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