The real question isn’t why legendary bargain superstore Century 21 decided to open on the Upper West Side, but what took it so long. As the teeming crowds filling the store today attest, this neighborhood isn’t content with Loehmann’s and Filene’s Basement – it wants the big cheese itself.

This is a bargain hunter’s heaven: five floors packed to the brim with discount designer duds. The top two floors are menswear, so we recommend starting on the second floor, which mixes juniors, denim, lingerie, seasonal attire, and designer collections. Skip the first three of those categories – the prices and selection are the same or better at Filene’s Basement. We spotted a hefty the selection of coats, most of which were undistinguished, but we flipped for a mid-calf red Calvin Klein wool number, ultra-classic and a steal at 139.97 (from 280). The designer clothes are the real moneymaker here and we spotted some absolute gems.

Fall is in the air on the street and in the stores and Century 21 is no exception: try a Marc by Marc Jacobs navy cardigan, liberally embellished with faux pearls, just 199.97 from 358. Or go for a showstopping Nanette Lepore maroon beaded mini-dress. Don’t ignore the vague signs that read “Famous Designer” – they indicate some of the best bets, like an orange and blue checked Cacharel blouse for just 149.97 (from 540). The best bargain in the whole store, however, just may be a jaw-droppingly soft tomato red Enzo Mantovani cashmere cardigan for just $119.97, compared to an original price of 750.

The ground floor houses accessories, like Moschino leather and cashmere gloves (74.97 from 195) and a camel hair Pour La Victoire small bowling bag for 249.96 (from 445). It’s a pleasant stopover on the way to the basement, which houses perhaps the best reason to make a visit – the shoe section. We drooled for lavender Camper low-heel boots at just 149.97 (from 230). Boots are the star right now, given the season, but there’s no shortage of other shoes, including a darling pair of Marc by Marc Jacobs Oxfords at 159.97 (from 320).

If you can stand it, we advise waiting to check out the new Century 21 – the lines are insane. Regardless, whether you go now or later, it’s a worthwhile trip.

By Leila Cohan-Miccio

For the beauty junkie, any development in skin care is cause for celebration, so imagine the thrill that ensues when a truly revolutionary new product bursts upon the scene. Fellow beauty buffs, trust me: ioma is just such a line.

Available exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue, ioma combines radical new technology with holistic skin care to create a truly personal beauty regimen. ioma’s treatment follows three key steps: diagnose, customize, and measure and quantify. I recently visited ioma’s counter at Saks and let beauty adviser Ornella Marcone walk me through the steps.

After a brief chat about ioma and my own skin care concerns (acne and under eye circles), Ornella led me to a white orb that looked like a cross between the machine that blows air into your eye at the opthamologist and the space suit heads of your most feverish dreams. One side cunningly served as a computer screen, onto which I input my basic information (name, age, skin type, etc.). After I was done, Ornella turned the orb around, revealing a chin rest. I poked my head in and, quick as can be, a camera took five pictures.

Here’s the revolutionary genius of ioma – each picture revealed something different about my skin. The first was natural – my skin as it appears to people passing me by on the street. The next picture utilized a parallel polarized light to highlight my fine lines and wrinkles (this one was unpleasant to look at). The third picture used a cross-polarized light to feature my redness. The fourth involved a UV light and, astonishingly, showed the sun damage BELOW my skin! This is the same technology they use to investigate melanomas and it was an eye-opener – I’ll definitely be more religious about sunscreen in thefuture. The final picture used a blue light to show bacterial activity and clogged pores – gross.

Ornella then went through the results with me – turns out my skin is dehydrated and I have too many forehead wrinkles. On the plus side, my pores are largely unclogged, my UV damage is minimal, and I have no redness. So there’s that. At this juncture, it was hard not to feel a little shaken – forehead wrinkles and bacterial activity isn’t what anyone wants to think about in regards to their skin. Fortunately, ioma has all the solutions. Ornella went through each photo of my face and, without being at all pushy about sales, showed me exactly which of ioma’s many products would be best for my skin. As a final flourish, she printed out my photos, skin profile, and recommended products so I could think about which I’d like to buy and return later, and sent me off with several lovely samples.

I experienced the first two of ioma’s three steps. Had I purchased a product, I would have returned in a month to experience step three: measure and quantify. All customers get a one-month check-up to see how the products are working and make any necessary adjustments. ioma is currently available exclusively at the Manhattan Saks Fifth Avenue, though a Beverly Hills location will open next month. If you’re a beauty junkie and/or a tech geek, it’s an absolute must visit.

By Leila Cohan-Miccio

If historical precedence stands, the Barney’s Warehouse Sale will begin its run of markdowns in just about a month. While we’ve made some killer finds at the BWS in the past (hello, $18 Diane Von Furstenberg skirt!), in recent years, it’s turned into a nightmare: long lines at even the most off of hours, selections wiped out by the last week, and, frankly, markdowns that just aren’t what they used to be. So that’s the bad news. Here’s the good news: with all the hype about the BWS, everyone’s sleeping on the regular Barneys Co-Op Summer Sale – and the bargains there are sensational.

We dropped into the Chelsea Co-Op yesterday. Where the aisles will soon be crowded with bargain-hunters in various states of undress, yesterday, they were almost empty. The sale selection isn’t vast – most of the store is still full price – but it’s better than you might expect. Markdowns go as low as 75% off and, while they don’t hit the bargain basement prices of the last day of the BWS, they’re comparable to what you’d find during the first week. We spotted a beyond-the-pale hot black lace with nude underlay Rag and Bone minidress for $199 from an original price of $495. Feeling a bit more demure? Pick up a perfectly ladylike true blue dress by Beyond Vintage for Barneys for just $139 (quite the savings from the original $340).

The summer sale even has BWS’ off-season finds covered – witness a grey fleece James Pearse dress ($139 from $225). An oatmeal colored moto cardi with shredded sleeves by Rodarte for Barneys ($158 from $398) will take you chicly into fall, as would an always-classic tres French super-thin striped sweater by Ever ($78 from $128). In the meantime, top your shorts with a lace-embellished tank by Gemma for Barneys ($69 from $128), sweet in cream or shocking in pink. The find of the sale, however, has got to be a macrame-esque Rag and Bone mini, a total statement piece at just $288 from $725. Sure, prices might be a skosh lower at the BWS, but it’s not a guarantee. What is a guarantee: if you wait for the big sale, you’ll be waiting in some big lines. Why not just go now?

WHEN: Ongoing, M-F (10-8), Sat (10-7), Sun (11-6)

WHERE: 660 Madison Avenue
(212.826.8900)

By Leila Cohan-Miccio 

As anyone who’s ever watched an episode of The Rachel Zoe Show (or, god forbid, tried to call a fashion house themselves) knows, basic kindness is a hard thing to come by in the world of fashion. We can’t help but wonder why. Is the trend toward mean a reflection of how tough the business is or is it all about status?

On the one hand, it’s not hard to see why fashionistas have to develop a thick skin. The ratio of fashion jobs to fashion enthusiasts is skewed in a way that makes for a lot of competition. This means that, much like cliche reality show contestants, most fashion industry folks are not here to make friends. They’re here to get ahead, and sometimes the best way to do that is to keep those at your level or below down while desperately trying to get in with those ahead of you. A word of caution, though – someday, those people you trampled on will be the people whose favor you want to curry, and everyone remembers a slight.

There’s also a less generous hypothesis for the unkindness running rampant in the industry: fashion is a high-status industry, peddling expensive goods everyone wants. Just like restaurants, which are often dreadful if they don’t need to be good because of location, fashion folks don’t have to be nice. People will still buy a top-brand bag, even if their salespeople are rude.

Evidence suggests, however, that even when rudeness doesn’t hurt, being kind might get you even further. In their book The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World with Kindness, Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval discuss how their own brand of friendliness helped them rise to the top of the advertising world. We know a few fashionistas who should strongly consider giving it a read.

Leila Cohan-Miccio

The Stylish City: What’s the inspiration for your line?
Selen: I’m inspired by abstract forms and shapes in nature and under the sea. Things like architectural salvages and ancient forgery.

The Stylish City: We heard that you sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to sketch out a design you dreamed of. Is that true? What else can you tell us about your creative process?
Selen: Yes, once I am in the creative phase, I start being aware of synchronicities. I visualize and slowly shapes and textures appear in front of my eyes. This is a very spiritual moment. It’s like the universe approves of my path and whether it’s day or night, anytime this happens, I am back to my creative spell. I start sketching – trying to rewind what I thought of. The next day, I make little models, still visualizing what I dreamt of during the day and than I turn them into metal.

The Stylish City: How did growing up in Turkey influence your work?
Selen: Istanbul is a magical city for an artist/ Seeing beautiful remains from the Byzantine, the magnificence of the architecture of the Ottoman Palaces, mosques and the whimsical sincerity of Mediterranean and Aegean seas is all very inspiring!

The Stylish City: What are your ultimate plans for the line?
Selen: I would love to have some permanent location and customize work for my customers. I have designed for brides and bridesmaids. I would love to be able to do more commissioned work for non-profit groups.

The Stylish City: Who would be your dream fashion collaborator?
Selen: Donna Karan

The Stylish City: Is there a celebrity you’d like to see wearing your designs?
Selen: I’ve never really thought about it!

The Stylish City: Who’s the ideal Selen Design customer?
Selen: Women of all ages who appreciate art and contemporary jewelry, handmade textures, and the life and thought behind each piece.

The Stylish City: It seems like so much of the fashion industry these days is about PR and marketing, yet you draw in repeat customers by word of mouth without any gimmicks. Is that a conscious decision?
Selen: So far in New York, my sales team and I have developed great relationships with my customers and I appreciate how loyal and excited they are. They are the reason I push myself to make new items so often. That said, I do eventually want to get some marketing help.

The Stylish City: What’s your single favorite piece for Studio Gluck customers? Why?
Selen: I love the Abundant Bamboo necklace and it’s flow and earthy texture.

Leila Cohan-Miccio

Charity-minded clotheshorses face a clear dilemma: how to justify spending money on fashion when there are so many people in need? Enter SURevolution. This innovative fashion house, headed by luxury brand vet Dina Rothstein, designs luxury goods that are handcrafted by artisans across the world. SURevolution’s goal is nothing less than to alleviate poverty and preserve traditional folk arts. We caught up with Rothstein to learn more about traditions, their upcoming sample sale, and her travel essentials.

The Stylish City: What was the inspiration for SURevolution?
Dina: SURevolution is inspired by the artisanal world: their culture, their lifestyle, their traditional techniques. I’m from Columbia, where there’s a vast artisanal world: woodwork, metal work, stitchwork. There are so many beautiful things being made, but most artists are impoverished because most people in the country don’t have the income to buy these artisanal products. So what happens is that the artists get other jobs, which means the artistic tradition is being lost. With SURevolution, I want to make these traditional arts appealing to the Western luxury world, so we make the quality impeccable and pick the colors. The end result is a brand with appealing designs and artisanal production.

The Stylish City: How, exactly, does the organization work?
Dina: Our New York creative team makes the design and then, depending on what the design is (wool, metal, etc.), we pick a different artisanal group to produce it. We travel to the group with the design, and together, we come up with the perfect sample. When orders come in, we pass them along to the group. Our goal to provide the artisanal group with enough work that they can build up their workshops in a healthy, productive way. As the workshops grow, so do their businesses. They start hiring those around them and now they’re entrepreneurs.

The Stylish City: How do the collaborations with other retailers, like J. Crew, work?
Dina: I’ll take you through our collaboration with J. Crew, which will hit stores in May. J. Crew came to our showroom, where we have products from all over the world. They picked mochila, a traditional bag made by the Indians who live in the northern desert of Colombia in Guajira. The mochilas come in various patterns and J. Crew chose the ones they liked. We then sent people to Guajira to oversee production. J. Crew will tell the story of the mochilas and the people of Guajira, not just sell the items.

The Stylish City: Looking ahead to this week’s sale, what are the best pieces?
We have these great brightly colored silk bangles ($5) that are perfect for spring. I also love these cuffs made out of real leaves dipped in gold ($20). We’re also offering recycled brass sand casted bowls made in India for just $20.

The Stylish City: You travel a ton. What are your travel essentials?
Dina: I’m on the road every six to eight weeks. I always bring a great scarf, usually from SURevolution, to keep me warm on the plane and at night. A great pair of flats is a necessity – I like Diepa Restrepo. And, of course, I can’t forget a SURevlotion wooden bangle to take my outfit from day to night.

The Stylish City: What’s your best travel story?
Dina: I usually make friends wherever I travel. People are extremely hospitable and the artisans usually invite me to their homes for dinner. I love trying their food, meeting their families, and experiencing how they live. Once on a trip to Udaipur with my mother, an artisan friend (who was very concerned that I was not married yet and was convincing me of the virtues of arranged marriages,) had his personal palm reader take a look at my future. My mother was very pleased to hear that I would meet my future husband over the New Year. And guess what, I did! I can’t say if it was destiny or mere casualty, but I sure want to go back to hear what’s coming next.

WHEN: 3/31 – 4/2, Th (noon-6), F (10-8), Sat (10-2)

WHERE: SURevolution NY Showroom
197 Grand St., Loft 6s (between Mott & Mulberry)
Buzzer 62
(212-255-6928

Leila Cohan-Miccio

I recently got food poisoning and, in the throes of despair, I began to wonder if I needed to go to the hospital. So I did the first thing that popped into my head: I called my mom, told her what was going on, and asked her to tell me what to do. She calmed me down, but once I recovered, the whole incident had me thinking – at 27, shouldn’t I be old enough to stop calling my mom every time I have a problem?

And I don’t even live at home, as plenty of my friends do. At our age, most of our parents were married with children, working at the same careers they have now. They were independent adults, who probably just called their parents to say hi, not to unleash a litany of life problems and ask for advice and/or money. Are we just feckless? Sometimes it sure feels that way.

On the other hand, our parents had it a lot easier in some ways. No one, for example, was asking them to do skilled work for free under the guise of an “internship.” Housing prices hadn’t yet skyrocketed. The societal pressure to get married and start a family meant it was easier to find a life partner who was willing to commit. Come to think of it, all my friends who live at home aren’t doing it for funsies, but because the current economy is terrible, jobs are few and far between, and, somehow, living at home has become the responsible adult decision, even if responsible adulthood looks very different than once it did.

Maybe our thirties will be like our parents’ twenties.

Leila Cohan-Miccio 

A friend called me the other day to let me know that she’s engaged…to her girlfriend of six months. The next day, another friend told me that she and the man she’s been dating since October are planning a move across the country together. My instinct is to worry about these relationships, but am I being unfair? How soon is too soon?

I strongly suspected my now-husband was the man I wanted to spend my life with early on in our relationship, but I was gun-shy. I quietly freaked out when he suggested moving in a year after we started dating, and I almost had a panic attack on our second anniversary, when he kept rubbing my ring finger. (I was, of course, nothing but delighted when he actually proposed a year later.) For me, waiting seemed like a prudent course of action. I knew I loved him, but I had trouble seeing the rush.

My fast-moving friends would likely call this overly cautious. “When you know,” they say, with eyes gleaming, “you just know.” Maybe so, but what’s the harm of a little time to make sure? The first few months of a relationship should be nothing but love and bliss, but often, that fades quickly within a year. To put it another way: I’ve never spent those first blissful weeks and months of dating someone new thinking we were going to break up and, nine times out of ten, we did. Waiting: there’s nothing wrong with it.

Leila Cohan-Miccio 

Bridal line Michelle Rahn offers simple, yet fashion-forward gowns for the bride with a modern edge. As the brand prepares to open a new flagship in Los Angeles, we spoke to designer Michelle Gertzman about her inspiration and the plans for the line.

The Stylish City: How did you get started?
Michelle: I studied couture at the Fashion Institute of Technology thirteen years ago, where, my senior project was to make a couture wedding gown. After I graduated, I worked as a buyer at Macy’s for a few years before moving to Chicago. When my sister got engaged. I did my sister’s dress, along with the dresses for my mother and all the bridesmaids.

The Stylish City: What was your sister’s dress like?
Michelle: It was soft and romantic, but with archictectural details: fit and flare, crystal belt, soft chiffon, huge pleated silk chiffon tulle. This was seven years ago, so it’s very on trend for today. I guess my sister was ahead of the curve. (Michelle laughs)

The Stylish City: What’s your inspiration for the line?
Michelle: It changes season by season, but there’s always an Art Deco element, whether it’s the accessories or a pleating detail. I’ll combine that vintage vibe with innovative uses of fabric. I work with a lot of European companies that do unusual netting or tulles. I shop a lot of estate jewelers to find looks that inspire me. Then I modernize that vintage inspiration. For me, everything goes back to silhouette and fit.

The Stylish City: What’s the price point?
Michelle: The average is $3500, but we do custom designs, so it goes all the way up!

The Stylish City: Who’s the Michelle Rahn bride?
Michelle: She’s confident and modern, yet a little bit traditional. Sexy but cool. She doesn’t want to look like everyone else and she wants to push the envelope, but she doesn’t want to be too trendy. She wants people to see her and ask “Where did you get that dress?”

The Stylish City: What are your future plans for the line?
Michelle: Our LA flagship opens at the Bridal Bar next week! We’re excited to offer Los Angeles women the same customizable experience we offer to brides in Chicago. For right now, we’re focusing on our semi-custom business, but eventually, I want to change the way women buy wedding dresses. I’m one of the few wedding dress designers to offer online purchasing. Right now, it’s very basic, but in the next few years we hope to really boost our online presence.

The Stylish City: What’s your biggest wedding trend prediction for the next few years?
Michelle: I’ve seen a lot of women lately who don’t want strapless, which I love because I make a lot of dresses with straps and sleeves. Women want organic, rough-cut fabrics without much beading. I’m going to start playing more with hemlines: tea length, shorter in the front. Brides are getting more adventurous. Their dresses can express who they are – they don’t have to wear the same kinds of dresses as twenty years ago.

Leila Cohan-Miccio

A friend called me up the other day to tell me about her new boyfriend, Y. She gushed on for several minutes about his eyes, his funny jokes, his cute dog. When I was finally able to get a word in edgewise, I squeaked out “Wait, you broke up with X?”

I have several friends like this, who swing from significant other to significant other like so many jungle branches. The process is always the same: one day, I’ll get a sobbing call from the friend about their most recent break up. He was a jerk, she wouldn’t shut up, he was still hung up on his ex, she couldn’t commit. It’s okay, though, because my friend is just going to focus on his or her self for a while. Maybe it’s finally time to take that art class! Do I want to go out next weekend? A week later, like clockwork, the friend calls back. They’re dating someone AMAZING, s/he’s so great, isn’t it crazy? Without fail, they utter the fateful sentence: “This is the last thing I ever expected!”

Really? Because it’s the first thing I expected. Because this cycle has been repeating itself over and over and over for as long as we’ve been friends. When I delicately point this out, the friend always responds the same way: “I know, I know, but I’m not like you. You’re so good at being alone.” Not only is that an insulting statement, but it’s not like being alone is a skill. You just put your head down and do it. It’s not hard.

I might not understand my serial monogamist friends, but for my own sake, I wish they’d calm down. It’s very embarrassing when I refer to one of their significant others by the last one’s name.

Leila Cohan-Miccio