UPDATE on 6/23: Do NOT buy these shoes!! The very first time I tried wearing these over the weekend, one of the buckles on the left shoe BROKE. The holes are impossibly tight, so while I was struggling to get the pin into the proper hole, the pin broke off. I was able to reattach it, but it popped right off again when I tried to gently coax it through the hole in order to secure the strap. I am beyond disappointed, but I have no choice but to return them. On the plus side, I'll be hunting for more budget-friendly gold gladiators in the coming days, and sharing them with you.

Hello, lover. My gold glads arrived in the mail today and I was so excited, I almost kissed the mailman! Well, not really (not even close!) but you get the picture. They are even more fabulous than I imagined. I plan on wearing them with everything since gold is practically a neutral shade. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Get your own pair of glam Gold Gladiators at OldNavy.com, now $19.50.

It's a pirate's life for The Budget Babe's International Travel Advisor Fifi LaMode (minus the pillaging). —BB


by Fifi LaMode
So now we've experienced a storm at sea, nights under the stars, all sorts of fish, and we're getting quite used to this sailing routine. It's our last day and it's a "free sail" day, which means we're free to sail wherever we want as long as we're in harbor by 5 p.m. We depart Spanish Town and choose a route that's windier than we want, so we turn away from the open sea and enter the Sir Francis Drake Channel.

The sea is much calmer and we can once more take time to enjoy the scenery. I love the names of these places. They evoke adventurous times and hundreds of years of history: Pirates, ships laden with Spanish gold, and, unfortunately, slaves. These islands have many stories to tell. (For an excellent read, get James Michener's "Caribbean" from your local library. Each set of islands has a different history.)

Here's a round-up of some can't miss sales going on right now...

BOGO Sale going on at Payless (Buy one, get one half-off)

Going on now at Hautelook: LNA, Plenty by Tracy Reese, and Plenty Frock! by Tracy Reese. Arriving 6/19/08 at 8 a.m. PST Smashbox Cosmetics.

Going on now at Gilt Groupe: Just Cavalli and Georg Jensen. Arriving 6/19 at 12 noon EST, Vivienne Tam.

Going on now at Editor's Closet: Moschino
(post a comment if you need an invite to Hautelook, Gilt or Editor's Closet)

Super Sale at MaxStudio.com (Shown above: Max Studio's bikini-in-a-bag, $38)

The Victoria's Secret Semi-Annual Sale is going on now in stores and online through July 7

Last-Call at Target: Rogan for GO departs June 28; Gryson on clearance, departs June 20; Subversive jewelry departs June 27

What did I miss? Share those sale secrets in the comments.

Designers are breathing new life into old-school fabrics, textures and trims, including lace, eyelet, embroidery, fringe, crochet, and one of my favorites, dotted swiss. One variation of dotted swiss - which is typically a sheer, lightweight fabric with a dotted motif - is flocked fabric, or flocked dots, which means the tiny little dots are raised. Leave it to Marc Jacobs, who's always reinventing retro with beautiful results, to utilize flocked chiffon in a fresh, new way.

Sadly, the pricetag on the Marc by Marc Jacob's creation has also kept up with the times, and costs a hefty $235 on sale. But thanks to, ahem, modern technology, stores like Forever 21 carry similar styles at a fraction of the price. For a summery little black dress, scoop up Forever 21's dotted swiss wrap on the right. It's got all of the flock, none of the fat.

Left: Marc by Marc Jacobs Flocked Silk Chiffon Dress at eLuxury.com, Was $388.00 Now $235.00
Right: Forever 21 Dotted Swiss Wrap Dress, $37.80