Window Wonderland

It's that time of the year (almost)! Holiday season is upon us, and the mere idea of it probably makes you think of major spending on gifts. Instead of stressing about gift giving and spending all of your hard earned cash, why not channel your inner child and tour the holiday windows at the NYC department stores! It's totally free and is one of our favorite ways to start the holiday season. Uptown Girls have already checked out the windows at Macy's Herald Square - this year, it's truly a classic, displaying miniature scenes of Miracle on 34th Street. Our next stop is Bloomingdale's! Another way to enjoy this even more when the weather starts getting chillier is to grab a delicious wintery hot drink (we love Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks) and sip it as you take in the classic NYC holiday tradition.

Shop Sales and Save

It's the height of the fall shopping season, and it's so hard to walk past those windows that line New York City streets without feeling that yearning of wanting to make a purchase. The key is, you can buy higher priced items at a discount if you find out where the deals are. Many stores are still trying to lure in customers because of the economy, so chances are, a good deal of shops will be offering discounts prior to the holiday season. If there is no sign in the window of a store you want to browse in, ask a salesperson if they offer a new customer discount or a student reduction with an ID. Uptown Girls have been very successful in our venture with this method. We recently got classic black trousers at the Limited pop up store in SoHo at a 15% discount just for being a first time shopper! Cozying up to the salespeople doesn't hurt, either. Start talking about fashion and ask styling tips - they like to give advice, so don't be shy! As an Uptown Girl, the policy for deal hunting sometimes means no shame. So don't be embarrassed to inquire about saving money, they will still be getting your business. Of course, many stores won't budge, but smaller less crowded stores want repeat business! Good luck, city gals!