window shopping online

I've been surfing the web tonight looking at clothes. And now i want to go out and buy lots of new clothes. I thought surfing was supposed to take away the desire to spend money and make me feel as though I had been virtually shopping. Instead it whets the appetite.

Anyway, i noticed something just now after hours of looking for clothes online. Amazon has a nice little search feature that makes it easy to expand my search. For example, I was in Suits & Separates looking at Nanette Lepore clothing. Then I wondered, what else Nanette Lepore do they have? And lo and behold, there was a link: Any Category in Apparel, not just Suits & Separates. And it brought up everything easy as that. Let me assure you, it is not that easy on other sites.

Say I do something similar at Bluefly, like search for Theory in Suits & Separates. There isn't any way to see the rest of their Theory with one click. Instead I have to click on All Women's Designers, then click on Theory. The one less click is nice. It really makes a difference.

However, the big thing that Amazon has going against it is they just mix everything together. I don't want to see clothing from all these brands - I like ceratin brands. They need "lifestyle" options or soemthing. I like how Neiman Marcus groups designers into five categories, of which I immediately feel an affinity for the group "Contemporary" and confirm this by noticing that many designers I like are included in this grouping. So they make it easy for me to narrow my choices. Amazon may make it much easier to broaden my selection, but they do have a ways to go in providing some sort of editorial fashion work. However, I will probably end up buying whatever I need at a real store still - or as is my wont lately, to try it on in the store and then try to find it on EBay.

While i'm at it - where I like to shop in Santa Fe:(have I mentioned that it is too f*ing hot here to sleep?)

• Dust in the Wind (lame name, good clothes)
• Bodhi Bazaar
• The Banana (Republic)
• J Crew
• Goler - for shoes. And may I say - I miss Nordstrom...