From which catalogs do you order?

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Answers

I don't order from any because I have no money. But I love Chambers and Oriental Trading Company.

Chambers sells bedroom and bathroom stuff. The sheets that are Egyptian cotton with a 600 thread count and are ridiculously expensive. Oriental Trading Company is completely opposite. I like seeing what's going to be sold at the flea market ahead of time so I know whether I'm getting ripped off or not.

I am constantly bombarded with Victoria's Secret catalogs. I get them at least twice a week, and I haven't ordered anything from them since last September.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I saw a news story once on how Victoria's Secret changes the pricing in their catalogs according to geographic locations. Like, bras in TX will be cheaper or more expensive than elsewhere. It's weird and I don't trust them. Plus, I've been hurt by an underwire gone wrong. A catalog I used to like is Clifford and Wills, but they've been becoming more and more Newport News lately. (And I don't mean to rag on NN, but I think we could all use a little less macrame in our bathing suits)

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I love reading catalogs, even if there's nothing in there I want to buy. I order from J Crew a lot because I know what fits me there and I am too old to try and dress like a rock star anymore. I recenly binged with the Blissout catlog and am considering a Benfit spree even though their catalog is a little too chirpy and cute. I also really love those catlogs courtesy of public radio and public tv (can't remember what they're called! Does anybody know the ones I mean?) Museum of Jewelry is quite good, too.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Public TV and Radio catalog: Signals.
I like them too.

I had never heard of the price gouging from Victoria's Secret before. Do women's breast sizes fluctuate due to the weather or something in Texas?

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Jill, isn't one of those catalogs called Wireless? I love them too. I always find something to get EVERYONE for Christmas, yet I have never actually ordered anything from the catalog. And I just need to tell you that when you order from J.Crew, you call down to the town I live in - the J.Crew warehouse and customer service center is here. I have heard such horror stories about the way employees are treated that I just can't bring myself to order anything from that catalog anymore. Not that that should stop you from ordering if you like the clothes. I'm just saying.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Yes, our breast fluctuate in Austin. That's what they mean by "Everything is bigger in.." Nevermind. No, what I meant was the pricing scheme is just to see which parts of the country they can get to pay more money for the same exact product. sorry if that wasn't clear. I think it's a fairly common business practice, but it makes them seem squirrelly anyway.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I was pretty sure of what you meant. My sarcasm doesn't work well sometimes.

Right now the Midwest is being gouged by gas prices, but I think it's the same evrywhere.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

my grammar doesn't work so well either at times, so we're even. :)

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Signals and Wireless are great. All my workout t-shirts are from those catalogs. I've gotten some wonderful gifts for other people from them, too.

I just had a very pleasant experience ordering from the Monticello catalog. The saleswoman was very nice, and my china plates arrived promptly in perfect condition.

Once you're on the Vicky's Secret catalog list, you're on it for life. They've followed me through moves to different states. The only way I got off their list was to get divorced and move from the house my husband was still living in (so he continued to get them).

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

This VS catalog thing is making me wonder if they have different prices in the actual stores as well. I wonder if I could buy a bra in a store here in VA for less than if I bought it in NJ.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

next time we all get a VS catalog, let's pick a product and compare prices.. that is, of course, assuming we have nothing better to do with our time.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Hey Nicole, do share some of the horror stories you've heard from J Crew employees. Details, please! Maybe it will keep me from spending so damn much.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

Well, I knew of a woman who was a "Packer," which means that she would go around the warehouse and find the clothes you ordered and pack them up and get them shipped out to you. When she became pregnant she told her supervisors that she would not be able to make her present daily "quota" in the upcoming months since it would take more effort to get around the warehouse once she started getting on in her pregnancy. And by "quota" I mean the packers are expected to pack and ship out a certain number of orders a day - the longer you work there the higher your quota is. Once her daily orders shipped started to drop, they started giving her less hours. Then they gave her a decrease in pay, since she was obviously slacking on the job. Did I mention they only start people's pay at around $6.50 an hour? That was the worst story I heard. I work in the field of Human Resources, so I see a lot of resumes. Most of the resumes I see from people who grew up here have some mention of J.Crew, and if you ask them about it they shudder and tell you it was the most degrading/frustrating/incredibly stupid job they ever had. I think the turnover rate there is about 6 months. The worst part about this town is that J.Crew doesn't really treat their employees much differently than a number of local companies around here, so the people that grew up here don't see a problem with the way they are treated. They just find another job that pays crap and treats them crappy, and never think to boycott or get the word out that their employer is unfair.

Okay, so to keep on topic, has anyone else ordered anything from the ABC Distributing catalog? A woman at work has me hooked on buying all sorts of crap from that catalog, from fold-out chairs, to Oxy- Clean, to stained glass lighthouses.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2000

I love Levengers. It's full of book-related stuff I will never, not even in a million years, have enough money to buy. Also really beautiful fountain-type pens. And awesome art supplies.

Word on Signals or Wireless or whatever. I dog-ear stuff in that one every time it comes (but I never buy it).

I like the Delia's catalog because their clothes are really cute (if a little too young for me) but every time I spend an hour looking at the coltish legs of their fourteen-year-old models, it just makes me feel sad and fat.

I liked J. Jill, too, but they stopped sending me the catalog. What did I do wrong (besides, like, never ordering anything)?

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2000

Hey Nicole, I'm a lurker on the Wing/Glark (and now Gwen) boards and it always makes me happy to find out somebody lives nearby. I'm over the mountain in another, smaller college town. Back on topic: I love catalogues too but am usually too broke to even look inside. Sometimes I get those bizarre surplus military catalogues (thanks to the previous tenant) that one might use to stock a bunker. They're fun to look at.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

Ick, Nicole, how horrible for the J. Crew townspeople/employees! My boycott starts today.

The only catalogues I order from are Victoria's Secret and Lush Cosmetics. VS has the Emma bra, which has always been my favorite. They don't sell it in the store anymore, so I have to get my fix via mail. Lush has yummalicious bath products (and is also online at lushcanada.com).

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

Alison, are you in Lexington? I'm surprised I never went to party at W&L, considering I went to Roanoke College and had friends who had friends who went there. I also had a number of friends who had boyfriends who went to VMI. I'm not even going to start in with the Keydets...

I used to order stuff from Lush over the internet, but then in November I ordered stuff for Christmas gifts and they never sent me my order and when I contacted them to see what the deal was they never got back to me. I'm still bitter about that. But not bitter enough not to go into their store in Toronto in a few weeks and buy stuff.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

Ikea. I've never ordered from them, though when there was a store here we used to buy furniture there all the time. I love looking at their catalogs.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2000

Daedalus Books. Mmmmm, remainders.

I don't order from Delia's, but I go to their outlet constantly.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2000

You must tell me where the Delia's outlet is. Imagine: all the fun of the trendy clothes, without being subjected to the fourteen-year-olds' coltish legs!

-- Anonymous, June 17, 2000

My guilt over numerous J.Crew orders doesn't outweigh my fear of malls. I look at the Pottery Barn catalogs - never buy and have ordered from Delia's in the past but was upset that they asked my how old I was. I acted as though I was ordering for my younger neice. (smarmy little operator-bitch). Anthropologie has incredible stuff but incredible prices, also. I used to like Ikea but think it may be overrated, now. As long as I have Target, Ikea's a non-issue. The Get-Hip catalog for all my garage music needs and J.Jill when I face the reality of my age. Anyone else look at tool ca

-- Anonymous, June 17, 2000

Sierra Trading Post for things like hiking boots, outerwear, hats and mittens, stuff like that. They also have closeouts on Calida nightgowns.

Campmor also has good deals on kids winter coats in last year's colors.

I always drool over the Coldwater Creek catalog, but I order from the website to get things on clearance.

I get most of my seeds and garden supplies from Fedco. It's a cooperative in Maine. I've had very good luck with their bareroot plants.

Dharma Trading Co. has supplies for tie-dyeing and batik and lots of undyed cotton clothing.

-- Anonymous, June 18, 2000

I like Coldwater Creek's merchandise, but their copy nauseates me.

"You know how to get their attention... swirling through the fireflies in this butter-colored t-shirt dress while the fiddles play. The week after that, you're wearing the same dress to fly through your errands with bright eyes and glowing cheeks, leaving the others admiring in your wake."

I can't afford their stuff, but I go through the catalog twice -- once to see the clothes and the second time to laugh at the descriptions.

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000

Nicole (blush), that's what I get for acting like I know what I'm talking about. I was thinking of the J Crew call center in Ivy, not the real headquarters, which are apparently in Lexington. (I actually live in Harrisonburg.) Yeah, I've known of some Keydets...and let's just leave that one alone. : )

-- Anonymous, June 19, 2000

Is there some kind of conspiracy against me finding the Coldwater Creek Website and Outlet online???

I have been searching with various engines for 1 YEAR and still cannot find the website...sheesh....somebody give a link. Purty please?

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2000

Hey Nicole--are you in the Salem/Roanoke area? My husband's from Salem, went to Roanoke College ('85). I had a friend down there that worked at J. Crew for awhile and used to get me discounts on clothes. I made my husband move to Richmond for me. And here we stay.

Because I'm petite (height-wise only), I have the damndest time finding pants the right size. Freeport Studio is my favorite catalog.It's owned by LLBean and has nice (though $$$$ expensive) clothes in petite sizes that I can wear at work and forever until eternity. Everythings mix and match so if you buy a new piece, you can be pretty sure it'll work with everything else you own.

We get 555,678 Victoria Secrets catalogs a day, I think. My husband hoards them and orders many things. You should see inside my top dresser drawer. Now that I'm pregnant, we're having a difficult time finding items that can still be worn. Poor husband. Life's tough!

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

Another Roanoke College Alum here! I've ordered stuff from VS, and the catalog gave no indication that the items were on sale or anything. The operator fucked up I guess and gave me a price that was THIRTY bucks less than what the item was listed for. Of course I didn't argue with her.

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

Love Sierra Trading Post, that's some great deals. And Omaha Vaccine, K-V Vet Supply, New England Serum for dog stuff. We buy lots of dog stuff. There's also a neat catalog called "Past Times" that's got some one-of-a-kind things in it, oh, and "Puttin' On The Dog" (did I mention I buy lots of dog stuff?).

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2000

I just ordered some Celtic notecards from the Past Times catalog. I'd wanted them forever and they went on sale.

When I got them, though, they were only about half as detailed and beautiful as they looked in both the online and print catalog. I would never have bought them had I seen them "in person" in a store.

That's my only experience with them, but it's made me skeptical of ordering there again.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

I have never ordered anything from the Signals/Wireless catalogues either, but we did receive a wedding gift that came from there.

I don't really buy anything from US mail order catalogues because the shipping and duty is too prohibitive, not to mention the exchange rates. Even though I have several magazine subscriptions, I don't seem to get many Canadian catalogues coming through the door.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

Ooh! Ooh! I love Vicky's. That's the only way I can get bras that fit. The stores don't stock my size. I always enjoy going in the store and mocking the boob-free women who work there. (Shame on me) My secretary is always trying to get me to order from ABC, but as of yet, I have resisted her wiles. I love the Disney Catalog, but only the sale edition.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2000

Newport News. But you have to be careful. Some of their stuff is excellent, some is crap.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2000

Claudia, for some reason I didn't see your post until now. Yes, I'm a Roanoke College Alum, but now I live right outside Lynchburg. I got suckered into living here because my husband is from this area and told me it was the same as Roanoke - wrong!

Last year I sent away for a free issue of Martha Stewart Living. I'm not sure why I did it, maybe because it was a free issue and I just wanted to see what the magazine was like. Now I get all these catalogs for hoity-toity house decorations. I doubt I'll be spending mutilple hundreds of dollars for a 5'X8' area rug, or other things I can get at Target for under $50.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2000

Nicole: Ha ha ha! It ain't like Roanoke at all! Poor thing. I live in Richmond which is as small a place as I can stand to live. And the only place in the state I'd wanna be. The next move: California.

My aunt gets me a subscription to Martha Stewart every year and I like looking at the pretty pictures but the perfectionist universe drives me over the edge. Does she not realize that the rest of us have lives and no money? Pottery Barn is the same way--totally cool stuff for a million times more than I'd pay for it. One day I'll win the lottery.

-- Anonymous, August 03, 2000

I am anxiously awaiting for my Dutch bulbs to arrive. I ordered them from Brecks cataloge. I went crazy and bought way too many bulbs, especially since I don't have any flower beds to put them in.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2000

What kinds did you get? Just put them in pots and stuff.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2000

A bunch of different types of tulips and other stuff. I don't even know what I got. And I don't have any empty pots either. I'll send you some when I get them, because I got a lot.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2000

Shelly, I did the same thing: bought 300 bulbs from Breck's two years ago, and I planted them all super close together in a too-small bed in my front yard. Most of them are still alive today. I don't regret it, because I learned a lot. But I am definitely redoing that whole bed, and making it bigger, and spreading my bulbs around a little more in other gardens I have.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2000

I have to agree with the person who posted message, that the Clifford & Wills magazine is becoming more like newport. The fact is, Clifford & Wills used to be an exceptional magazine, extremely classy, carrying the finest of fashions, and this was really good stuff. Now they've become more common, and I know they must have changed hands, or publishing companies, or something, but I just know that their catalogues now are nothing compared to what they used to be, and that's definitely not a good thing.

Simone Maimi, Fl.

-- Anonymous, October 26, 2000

***I've been living in Japan for the past 6 years, and at this point, I love every catalog written in English! And by the way, Victoria's Secret still sends me several catalogs per week, even way over here. ***I can't believe no one has mentioned the J. Peterson catalog yet. I've never met anyone who's ever ordered from their catalog, but the descriptions are both well-versed and hysterically corny.

-Andrea (a-t-miyata@mx1.tiki.ne.jp)

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2000

OOPS! That should have been the J.Peterman catalog. Also good for just looking are Peruvian Connection (absolutely fabulous knit that cost more than I make) and John Fluevog for REALLY WEIRD shoes.

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2000

Alas, the J. Peterman catalog is no longer around. Oh, but I loved it, and read ALL of the little novellas about the clothes...and I have ordered fom it! A pair of black Italian leather auto racing gloves, the kind with holes cut out over the knuckles. They're bad-ass.

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2000

I heard that "Elaine's Boss" on Seinfeld was based on the J. Peterman character/myth. Anyone else able to confirm/deny?

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2000

Yeah, Elaine was a writer for the J.Peterman catalog, and the catalog got so successful from the show that they made themselves bigger than they could handle and it all crumbled when the show was over.

I've heard that it may come back, but in a smaller form.

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2000

Photoeye photographic book and print catalog. The B&H and Freestyle photographic catalogs. The rose catalog from perkins(?) and the Stone Lantern Catalog of oriental gardens and bonsai stuff. And my Pirelli catalog. My wife won't let me see Vick's catalog. She says no more passing out from loss of blood to the head for me. James

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2000

I like the EyeWire.com catalog for graphic designers. They're a spin-off from Adobe.

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2000

The J Peterman catalogue? Yeah, that was cool when they wrote in it: 'Some people were born to work the plantation, and some were born to own it. It's that simple.' Sassy (when it was good and still around) printed that excerpt along with an expression of their disgust.

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2000

I love the American Science and Surplus catalog.

It contains a VERY wide range of products.

I have purchased from them thumbtacks by the pound, seat belt type strapping in 50 foot lengths, vinyl map overlays showing radiation blast/devistation radius for varying megaton bombs (cool in a scary kinda way), surgeon type scrub brushes, etc.

They are on the web at American Science and Surplus

-- Anonymous, November 28, 2000

i love hickry farms of oklehoma!!!

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2000

Oh YAY, Jackie D. I missed that little comment. How Cro-Magnon of them. Then again, I've only ever seen the adverts along the edges of magazines & didn't like the styles. Not that it was easy to tell-- weren't they all artist's conceptions rather than photos? Anyway. Good for Sassy (RIP).

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2000

yes, they had only watercolors illustrations of the stuff they were selling, not photographs...it was a very weird catalog.

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2000

I loved Clifford & Wills! The catalog stopped coming & when I investigated via the web, I found that they had been owned by J.Crew (hence the classic look & wonderful colors), but were sold to Spiegel (hence the new cheesy, trendy look). Too Bad! I have returned almost everything I ever ordered from J.Jill. The quality just isn't there for the price.

-- Anonymous, November 29, 2000

No one mentioned Caswell Massey. They have the best smelling soaps and lotions, as well as a great collection of men's shaving accessories, and unusual toothpastes and the like. They've been around since the 18th century...They have VERY beautiful packaging, also.

-- Anonymous, December 01, 2000

I adored Clifford and Wills, ordered so much stuff from them over the years. Especially liked the way their colors matched across seasons and catalogs, with intelligently, creatively named collections of colors, such as grains or minerals. They started going out of business over New Years 2000 and had humungus sales thru spring last year. They never advertised the fact that they were selling off all their inventory, but a customer service associate told me what was going on. The intellectual property rights were sold to Spiegel, but the company that was Clifford and Wills is iradicated. Serious bummer. Don't even look at the new catalog, it's pure crap. So for a while, I did not know who to order from as NOTHING compares to the style, quality and decent prices of Clifford and Wills' clothing. J.Crew is over-priced teeny bopper college student stuff that you can't seriously wear to work, and I have had several things from them fall apart. J.Crew sizes are tiny, ie if I usually order a top in SMALL from other catalogs, a small from J.Crew would fit an anorexic adolescent. And speaking of anorexic, I have found some of the models J.Crew uses for their athletic wear to be ghastly-thin and I have complained to them but they don't care. They also have the habit of chopping off the model's heads in the photographs in the catalogs, rather disturbing. So I don't order from them any more. As for Victoria's Secret and the catalog avalanche they send out, I too have had to re-attach my mail box after it fell off due to the amount of their catalogs I was receiving. Simply call them and tell them to take you off their mailing list, or to send you catalogs less often, it's that easy. But I guess their advertising techniques are very effective. Just look in my undies drawer, lots and lots of VS stuff!.....I don't bother with the cheapy catalogs like Newport News or Chadwicks, the quality just is not there, same with J.Jill although their catalog looks good. I've had good experiences with Coldwater Creek, their products are always unique and good quality, I get lots of compliments on anything I got from them, but they are SOOOOOO expensive! Speaking of expensive, Talbots has just been one lousy experience after another, and you'd expect better from such a "high end" catalog. I've had problems such as poor product quality (seams falling out), items not as described in catalog (made of totally different fabric than described), crabby/snotty associates on the phone who sound like they have SOOOOOO much better things to do than take your order, and recently, an order that just never arrived, period. So I don't bother with them any more either. Patagonia: expensive sport wear. So far I have not liked anything I got from them, sent everything back because it didn't fit well and did not meet my expectations for running and exercising in cold weather. OKAY! So my new favorite catalog is L.L.Bean. No, they don't sell office clothes, but I have so much from Clifford and Wills that I don't need any more! I have almost NEVER been disappointed with anything I ever bought from L.L.Bean, although one thing to watch for is that their waist measurements run a little tight in women's pants and skirts, order a size up. I've also been really happy with some things I got recently from Lands End, they have good prices and particularly nice quality fabrics. I have boycotted Eddie Bauer because I have received some very poor quality things(like worse than seconds, the flaws were so obvious), although I did well by them for Xmas gifts for the boys. I just don't like the whole Eddie Bauer image in women's clothing. Since by now you know I order from catalogs a lot, take some advice and don't order from Home Decorators Collection. They SUCK!!!! I ordered a rug from them, it took forever to get to me and then it was totally the wrong color, but since it did not come from their warehouse but from the manufacturer, they could not make arrangements to get it picked up. I'm still waiting for the manufacturer to call me to get it, and in the meantime, they won't take the charge off my card. I'm furious! And if you try to call them in the evening, you're on hold forever, and I have had to give up after about 15-20 mins of waiting for someone to pick up. Thanks for the question, I love to talk mail-order. I wonder how much money I've spent over the past 5 years? On the other hand, maybe I don't want to know...

-- Anonymous, January 26, 2001

I've had one good and one iffy experience with Home Decorators.

Good: CD rack was exactly as advertised and looks great. Reasonably priced. I'm happy with it.

Iffy: Rug I ordered had a much higher pile than picture indicated, therefore is impossible to keep clean. Every speck of lint and dirt ends up on it and it really bites. It's supposed to make my room look better, not worse. However, it was inexpensive and my cat and a half (we're catsiting for several months) both like it. Maxwell is black and fuzzy and if it is dark in the room and you squint, you can't find him on the rug until he looks up. This rug eats cats.

I wouldn't have bought it if I saw it in a store, that's all. But it wasn't worth the hassle to return it. it's adequate for the price paid.

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2001

Signals is now owned by Target. Just so ya know. :)

-- Anonymous, February 01, 2001

I can honestly say that I have bought tons of stuff from Lillian Vernon. I've gotten a lot of complements on them too. Mostly stuff to hang on the walls, though.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001

Fredericks' of Hollywood.

They don't mess around, they get right to the good stuff (Vicky's Secret, I'm looking at you.)

-- Anonymous, April 06, 2001