An Online Shopping Solution thanks to Western Union

Have you always wanted to shop at Amazon:

 

J. Crew:

Shopbop:

or Net-a-Porter:

but can’t, because: 

1. You are always close to the brink of going over your credit card limit 
2. You do not have a credit card
3. You have a willing accomplice who will shop for you but you do not have a US bank account or Paypal account that you can do online transfers with.

Well, I found a great workaround for you. *wink wink!* 

Thanks to Western Union, who invited me to try out their Send Money Abroad Service, I saw for myself how fast, easy and reliable it is for anyone to shop and pay for purchases abroad even without a credit/debit card or a bank account.

All I needed was: 

1. A friend who was happy to shop for me, in this case my good friend Me-an 
2. A valid photo ID and 
3. some shopping money 

Curious to know how this goes? Here’s what I did.

STEP 1: I emailed Me-an a list of the things I wanted her to buy. To make it easier for her, I sent a screencap of my actual shopping cart.

Here’s a tip: To save your friend some time, after all she is doing you a favor, register for an account and keep everything you want in your cart. Then, give her the password so she can simply check out for you. 

STEP 2: Upon checkout, and receipt of order confirmation, Me-an gave me the total amount charged for my purchase.

STEP 3: I went to my nearest Western Union agent so I can send Me-an my payment:

I filled out an International “Send Money” form:

I submitted the filled-out form along with just one, yes one, ID. In this case, my driver’s license.

You may submit any valid ID such as any one of these. For the full list of acceptable IDs, click HERE

The lady at the counter asked me if I wanted to send dollars or pesos. I chose to have pesos converted to US $, so she gave me the peso conversion of the amount I wanted to send.

Remember to ask how they computed the amount, just so you know.

I was then asked to pay the service fee, which in my case was $14, based on this table:

Yes, given this fee structure, it makes more sense to send bigger amounts to justify the cost of sending

I was asked to take a look at the receipt and to verify the information. Seeing no need for corrections, I signed it. 

The lady encircled the MTCN number, which is the reference number that Me-an needed to mention when picking up the money I sent her. 

I then texted Me-an the MTCN, and gave her the complete name as signed in the 'To Send Money' form, and the amount I sent. 

 
STEP 4: Me-an messaged me to say she got the money. Woohoo! Easy as pie!

While it took Me-an a few days to claim her money, she actually could have received it minutes after I gave her the MTCN number. Minutes vs 2-4 days if sent via bank? Huge difference. 

Apart from the ease and speed of sending money via Western Union, it is also safe in the sense that you can track the status of your money online or through the customer service hotline. 

It is very convenient to send and receive money too because there are close to 490,000 Western Union locations worldwide, most of which are open 7 days a week vs. a bank which is only open on weekdays and during banking hours. 

Which only means why just shop in the US when you can shop anywhere in the world? For as long as you have friends and family all over who will indulge your shopping requests, there are no holds barred. Which is both good news and bad news, depending on how you look at it. 

Haha and hala!

GOOP Spring Edit 2013

How I could I have missed GOOP's Spring Edit 2013? I never fail to post my favorite looks here in the blog and this year should be no exception.

For more looks from Gwynnie's Spring Edit 2013 with Net-a-Porter, click click!

What's Up, Ankle Strap

I am totally in love with this look!  

The first time I went out with Dada, I wore a pair of ankle strap heels from Kenneth Cole. I still have it. Berry specifically asked me if she could have my "high heels". I tell Berry to take care of it because that's what I wore when I first met Dada. I should take a photo para you can see. It's still nice up to now. 

Good thing I kept it. It's so hot this season! As in smokin'! There's an ankle strap for everyone, from Lola, to Tita, to y tu Mama tambien! Check these out yo! All from net-a-porter:

 

Gucci - for your sister, because she's tired of all those predictable neutral heeled sandals

 

Chloe- for Sofia Coppola, because I can totally see her in these

 

Alexander Wang - for your high school best friend who has a weakness for "look at me" shoes

 

Nicholas Kirkwood - for you, yes, for you!

 

Marni - Lola will love these because of the chunkier than usual heel

 

Saint Laurent - for your disco loving Tita

RED Valentino - for your girly tween who now wears the same size of shoes as you

 

Givenchy - for your chic cousin who is always impeccably dressed

 

Esteban Cortazar - for your neighbor whose style icon is J. Lo

 

Givenchy - for your understated but always glamorous Mom

 

Pierre Hardy - for your artsy best friend who hates that you hate color

Mongha

Just when I thought I was done with oxfords, I found another style to get obsessed about - monk straps, specifically, double monk straps.

My friends, these three up above, these are no mens shoes. They are monk straps specifically made for the ladies, hence our title Mongha, heehee. 

Discovered these at net-a-porter and I like the Ralph Lauren and Burberry ones the best. The style is still very masculine, but made with feminine proportions in mind. My cup of tea.

Anyhoo, here is some bit of information about monk straps, courtesy of Esquire's The Handbook of Style, which in my opinion, is a must buy for the guy in your life. It's filled with chockfull of background stories and tips, that will hopefully educate your man about style:

The Hallmark: A buckle-and-strap closure that replaces traditional eyelets and laces.

Variations: Navy suede and the quirkier two-strap model.

Wear it with: A serious worsted suit - and almost any other style of suit or tailored trouser. Of course, the rules are different for us girls, we can wear these monk straps with anything! 

Wear it to: Work and play - it's a true chameleon.

Wear it at your own risk: On very formal occasions

Oh Gwynie!

Love all your outfits here, and your Spring picks from Net-a-Porter are individually amazing! I haven't been reading GOOP in a while, but if you do more of these, I'd come by all the time! =)

Shoes on My Mind

Did any of you catch the start of the net-a-porter sale? It was amazing! So many good deals, I had a fantastic time adding stuff to my cart, pretend shopping.

I managed to whittle down my cart to two items, these Marni flatforms at 50% off and the Proenza Schouler Rope Bracelet which was down to $80.

But I thought I'd sleep it over, even if my friend Me-an who was across the world in NYC was reminding me these things go really fast (yes, we hold shopping meetings online and confer with each other about stuff like this). True that. But I tried to go the high and noble route of waiting until I was sure, absolutely sure it was a go. 

When I checked net-a-porter this morning, it was sob, gone. Not in my size at least. And even if I wanted to be crazy and insane and size down, no can do, it was sold out too. It felt like these shoes were mocking me "Na na na na na, you caaaan't have me!"

Well, I believe in miracles. I believe these Marnis and I are meant to be. It was love at first sight from the very beginning. When these went on sale, yes I hesitated. But what are second chances for? After all, there is the net-a-porter UK site and the Barneys sale. All is not lost. I have faith.

Yes, all these emotions for a pair of shoes. I know.

How Many Pairs of Shoes Do You Own?

Leighton Meester has 60

Leigh Lezark has 300

Poppy Delevingne has 30, and

Olivia Chantecaille says, "Depends if you ask me or my husband".

Giovanna Battaglia has "350 or something".

Ahhh! Beware of that "something", it could mean a lot more.

Meanwhile, I think I have around 25. Or something. Maybe I should do a re-count!

Let's do it when Dear Hubby is not around, hahaha!

Collar Your World

I think the reason why I loved Carey Mulligan's Azzaro gown was because it simply got me by the collar. I've been into collars as of late, my obsession actually started with this collar necklace:

I saw it at the Outnet (or was it net-a-porter?) some time ago, but I can't seem to remember whose this is by. Miu Miu? Prada? Marni? I forget. All I know was that I liked it a lot so I saved the images for my inspiration board.

Months after that, I saw this in Anthropologie:

Then I saw Carey's gown. Then this dress at Topshop.

Most recently, Zara (Zara again. Yeah, I'm loving a lot of stuff there lately.) came out with this collar necklace:

I have a feeling, especially with this season's nod to ladylike dressing, that we'll be seeing a lot of embellished collars all around town.

Want a Mulberry Alexa?

Stocks for Fall are out now! Check out:

1. Madison Los Angeles - available in Regular and Oversized

2. La Garconne - available in Small Shoulder Clutch, Regular and Oversized

3. Net-a-porter - more stocks  in Regular and Oversized coming soon!

Now you know where to go! If you want one, hurry! I'm pretty sure these will go fast!