BubblesPop

It’s a big world out there, full of pop-up shops, sample sales, and concept boutiques. Subscription shopping sites are just one more thing crowding the overwhelming world of e-commerce that sends you options of products that are matched-up to your own tastes. Sigh, isn’t life just the worst? Lucky for you, I’ve put together an easy how-to guide on the biggest subscription sites out there. So sit back, sign up, and let the good things come to you.

SoleSociety—Though we’re less than enthusiastic about being forced to describe ourselves with such trite terms as “bohemian,” “rocker,” or “classic” (staples of most style quizzes), SoleSociety actually comes pretty close to spot-on. The selection is fairly limited, but you’ll get a pair of shoes each month for $49.95, regardless of the retail price.

Jewelmint—Backed by Kate Bosworth and stylist Cher Coulter, Jewelmint takes a decidedly sleeker spin on the celebrity-endorsed subscription site. After filling out a personality quiz, members receive one $29.95 credit per month (with the option to opt out each month), good for any piece of jewelry, which means some serious steals. You tend to get what you pay, but since you’ll receive a new piece of bling each month, it’s no huge deal if your jewelry’s lifespan is only a few months.

Birchbox—With so many millions of online clothing options, it’s easy to forget about beauty. Birchbox offers the same monthly credit setup as Jewelmint and Solesociety, but instead of shoes and jewelry, you’ll get incredible beauty samples, both from brands you know and love, and from lesser-known specialized lines. For $10/month or $110/year, you’ll get a deluxe selection of high-end samples: Enough to get a feel for the product without the commitment of buying a full-sized bottle.

Shoedazzle—As with every fashion movement, a B-list invasion is inevitable. Kim Kardashian’s subscription shoe site is one of many to claim a celebrity “stylist” (although the actual level of involvement is anyone’s guess). Shoedazzle is also part of the cross-section of subscription shopping that presumes to predict your selection by putting you through a questionable personal-style quiz upon sign up. Based on your responses, Shoedazzle creates a personal showroom of around 20 items. If you’re looking to emulate everyone’s favorite Kardashian, this is the place for you—you’ll find plenty of strappy stilettos, and unsurprisingly, rhinestone-studded weight loss sneakers.

Just Fabulous—Just Fabulous creates a personalized selection of products based on your tastes. For $39.95 a month, you get to pick any item (with free shipping). Just like the other sites, it’s easy to opt out of a month or purchase more than one item, in high-taste styles, like a mini-shoe collection from the girls behind Who What Wear.

Doyle Mueser—Men can get in on the subscription action as well, with a process that’s a bit more personal. Those in NYC have an opportunity to get bespoke shirts…for a price. Ultra-tailored shirts are available in subscription packages (four shirt each season for $1,300, one shirt every other month for $1,800, one shirt every month for $3,300). Prices may be steep, but this deal should be enough to tantalize the most hardcore of custom-shirt guys.

Azzedine Alaia was called to take the open creative director job at Dior, recently vacated by John Galliano, he has just confirmed. But: he said he wasn’t interested — flattered, but not something he was going to pursue. The story of what happened with Galliano was a sad story, he added, and he didn’t want to be part of the next chapter. As the Financial Times‘s Vanessa Friedman points out: “The sheer fact that the Dior leadership was thinking this way does … make me think the field may be more open than the fashion world suspects. … Since I would never under-estimate Bernard Arnault, chairman of Dior (which actually owns LVMH), nor CEO Sidney Toledano, … this makes me wonder if perhaps the group has some interesting plans to change the way it does business up its sleeve, and will use the new designer as an excuse to do so. If so, it would be a revolution that would have an enormous ripple effect on the whole fashion industry. My guess is other brands would immediately fall in behind; everyone is looking for a reason to change and slow down, but everyone is scared to be the brand that sticks its neck out.”

British supermodel Naomi Campbell is working on a denim collection for Italian fashion brand Fiorucci, Sassybella reports. The collection is rumored to be debuting during Milan Men’s Fashion Week, which starts tomorrow.

I’m not at all surprised that Campbell is designing; however, it’s an odd collaboration for a couple of reasons, the first being that Fiorucci hasn’t really been relevant for decades. Since seeing success in the ’70s and early ’80s, the brand has suffered through mismanagement, legal battles and, eventually, several failed relaunches. Perhaps this is a sign of change for Fiorucci, which was recently acquire by Italian company Ittierre, who currently holds licenses for Balmain’s second line, CNC Costume National and Galliano, among others (although, those brands don’t exactly seem to be riding the waves of success these days either).

The other, less important reason being that it’s a denim line and I almost never see her in jeans (the above photograph from Cannes this year is bit of an anomaly). No word yet on whether the collection will be men’s denim (since it’s debuting during men’s fashion week), which day the collection will debut, or whether it will be available in the U.S.

Her last stab at designing was in 2008. It was a collection for a Sao Paulo-based retailer and didn’t really seem to go anywhere. If for whatever reason, this collaboration doesn’t work out, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her designing somewhere else. It seems like a natural addition to her ever-expanding repertoire of starring in music videos, putting together charity fashion shows and still, occasionally, walking the runway.