You gotta love a website that does more than just sell great design. shopgenes.com celebrates great design too. More fashion trend magazine than typical ecommerce site, shopgenes.com is the brainchild of Kristina and Peter Pappas, founders of two genes boutiques in Philadelphia and Wayne, PA. Like a lot of sites, shopgenes.com sells very cool girls' fashion, boys' fashion, baby fashion, furniture, décor, gear, books and gifts, but unlike most, it presents its wares differently. Visitors can go directly to the category of product they desire, but we recommend first browsing the top navigation bar. That's where you get an insider's view of what's hot for kids. There you will find LOOKBOOK, which features fun groupings of key looks for girls, for boys, for babies and in interiors. To shop the particular look, you click the image. The next tab takes visitors to a hot trend that can be found in kids' products across the board. Currently shopgenes.com is highlighting BABY LOVES DISCO. Shoppers will find clothing, music, toys, books and décor all featuring a disco or music connection. The DESIGN DISH tab offers a Q&A with a designer from the kids' product industry. PEAS & Q's tab checks in on one of the Pappas' sons. Five-year-old Luke sheds light on a few of his favorite things. The GIMME 5 tab is similar to Peas & Q's as it presents 5 things Dad Peter, who we learn is also a professional soccer player, can't live without. WHAT'S HOT spotlights the season's 'gotta have it' items. The site rounds things out with a blog that keeps shoppers up to speed with everything from the fab finds the owners come across when shopping the market to special deals and offers from their brands to sneak peeks at product coming soon to the site and stores.
We love littledudesonly.com because we know when it comes to fashion and shopping, sometimes boys get the short end of the stick. Like Ashley Milewski, the founder of littledudesonly.com, we get frustrated when we see designers and stores relying on the same boring basics for boys. We know boys and their parents are into fashion and cool looks as much as girls and their parents. We also know there are some wonderful boys' collections out there. That's why we get excited when we see a well-edited selection of the hippest looks for boys all in one spot. And talk about great presentation! Like on most sites you can shop by brand and product category, but at littledudesonly.com you can ALSO shop by look. Milewski breaks it downs as follows: Rocker Dudes, Skater Dudes, Punk Dudes, Baby Dudes, Trendy Dudes and Vintage Dudes. How great is that! There are also shoes and accessories. Boys want cool hats, belts, ties and underwear too. Rely on littledudesonly.com for little dudes' rooms and for music for little dudes' ears. And check this out: littledudesonly.com also offers a custom t-shirt. For $40, they'll make your t-shirt dream come true. Just tell them any band, icon, album or character you want to see on your little dude's shirt and they'll start creating.
In design hubs like New York City and Los Angeles, sample sales are a dime a dozen. Several times a year showrooms open their doors to the public for great deals on great designs. In recent years some smart companies have taken the concept online so shoppers all over the country can get discounts on designer duds. Every now and then these sites would feature kids samples sales, but with theminisocial.com, kids' designer wear is on sale every day! Los Angeles-based moms Dominique MacPherson and Melinda Marinack used their years of experience working at companies like C&C California, BCBG and Stila Cosmetics to create "a one of a kind sample sale site." The invitation-only site hosts two or more designer socials a week where they offer clothing and accessories for mom, baby and child at up to 60 percent off. A portion of the proceeds from the sales go to several of the duo's favorite charities, including United States Fund for UNICEF and Shoe4Africa. Among the brands we've spotted at theminisocial.com: Punkster, Mullins Square, P'kolino, Ismodern, Mini Rotation, eyeSpy, Neige and Jazzy Toes. We like that theminisocial.com gives its members a heads up on what's on sale for the day and how many hours are left to shop a particular brand. And they let you know what sales are coming up. After you join, you can invite friends. And when they join, you'll get a $10 credit to your account when they make their first purchase from the site.
