Memo:

The Rogan/Loomstate sample sale is pretty amazing.

I was in there for under 30 minutes today, and walked out with gifts for my brother, my boyfriend, his mother, his aunt, his sister and his cousin (annnd for myself), and my spending hovered around $200. Yes, most of the good finds are tangled in cardboard boxes on the floor, but when Rogan’s super soft tees are marked at $20 a pop, casual shopping is quickly displaced by borderline aerobic work.

So if you have several hard-to-shop-for people on your holiday list, we suggest hitting this sale up, because nobody scoffs at a perfect little tee.

PS We also stopped in Odin on the way, where a pretty decent sale’s quietly carrying on from previous weeks. Trovata shirts are finally marked at $109 and less, and there are many choice items (though mostly tops) for under $100 waiting to be scooped up by serious shoppers.

So basically, go downtown.

And for more sales, Shop Your Heart Out.

“This is the silliest rumor I ever heard.” - Si Newhouse, on the Carine for Anna rumor, to the Wall Street Journal.

Reader Josh pointed out this jacket from Sean John (at right) to us.

Even with the Hefty bag quality of the material, it probably looks familiar to you. Why? Because it mimics the iconic, puffy Moncler jackets, of which we’re sure His Puffness is fully aware exist.

Need further proof? He’s dubbed his lookalike “the Montclair,” which is a little like giggling while taking money out of a store register.

But we guess it must be ok, since he is Puff Daddy (oof, we went there).

The Daily’s reporting that Zac Posen is working on a diffusion line - right now! - but he won’t confirm exactly who it’s for/with yet.

Apparently, his fragrance with Fabien Baron is kind of an entry into a new half-Zac universe, which consists of “several” lower-priced collections.

So is this like a save-the-date for an upcoming Target/H&M line? Or more like Z by Zac? (Though we definitely think Zac Attac would be best, if he is in fact working on a bridge line rather than a collaboration with a retail chain.)

Only time will tell, but either way, a $100 Zac dress would definitely be worth a dip into our checking account.

Bet you didn’t think anything could beat last year’s Barneys Christmas video - but leave it to Julie and Simon to get you into the goofiest holiday spirit.

They’re celebrating all counter-cultures this season, a Barneys Hippie Holiday, and have a plethora of gifts they think your loved ones need - like Jonathan Adler candles (ahem), peace sign-embossed Goyard bags, “re-birthed” Loomstate t-shirts and a Henry Cuir bag that’s “even made by a hippie.”

And in case you, like Simon, think the phrase “dans tes bras” means “in your bra,” Julie clears it up.

Oh, also, they pretend to smoke pot - so obviously, you should watch it.

Tractenberg may be known as the beauty PR company, but they also have a fashion team that works for labels like Splendid and Sretsis (at left), and their small team needs some interns immediately. So:

-If you can commit at least two full (unpaid) days per week

-You have at least a vague idea of: Maintaining a showroom, trafficking samples, keeping inventory, compiling press clips, mailings and media lists, and can assist at events

Then e-mail Taylor Howard directly at taylorh[at]tractenberg.com, with “INTERNSHIP” in the subject line, and a short, charming message in the body.

Then, raid the beauty closet!

What if we told you that next Thursday night, you could make your way through Soho and get 25% off at Theory?

Then you could swing by Kate’s Paperie and get 15% off all the Christmas cards in the world and stop by Tibi for hot chocolate and 20% off. Or if Missoni’s more your style, you could hop in and grab a free gift with your on-sale purchase. Then you can grab some books for your dad at McNally for 20% off and a free umbrella at Bloomingdale’s in case it starts raining. But don’t eat too many candy canes because when you’re done you can collect your free margarita at LaEsquina and top it off with discounted hot chocolate and cookies from Balthazar. And all the while you’ll have been helping New York City’s homeless.

It’s the first annual Soho Holiday Stroll sponsored by A.C.E.,(The Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless), on December 11th from 6 to 11pm. What’s the catch?

The $20 bracelet you have to purchase for access to the discounts. But the money goes straight to charity and if that’s not enough motivation for you, it basically covers your margarita. And if you’d rather give more, you can buy the $150 VIP bracelet which grants you access to the after party, location TBA.

Click here for a list of all the participating stores and their promotions - you can buy your bracelet on line or in most of the stores.

Happy Shopping!

More news on the Conde Nast front:

On December 16th, Flip.com, Conde’s teen-driven online scrapbooking site that couldn’t be more than three years old, shuts down.

So if you have any super amazing flip books from special events, their staff suggests printing them out now.

No word yet on where exactly that staff is going, or why exactly the site’s shutting down, though we’re sure the lack of ads on the site might have something to do with it.

Owners of any stores/sites that attract young, allowance-receiving shoppers, listen up:

PayPal’s just introduced a new feature called PayPal Student Account, a new way for parents to give their kids (13 and older) an uninterrupted flow of money without those nagging, face-to-face conversations consisting mostly of, “How much? What is it? Are you serious? FINE!”

Parents can set up accounts that drop, say, $100 every week into their kid’s account, and kids can even text their PayPal when they need money, which sends a simple text to their parents asking for more cash when they run out - convenient and impersonal, just the way it would work.

But kids on this account can only shop this way at sites that accept PayPal, so if you’re looking to diversify that customer base, you may want to sign up eBay-style.

“The company said it revises prices based on a policy ‘to offer its products at appropriate prices…’” - WWD, on Louis Vuitton’s reasoning for lowering prices in Japan by 7%, due to the country’s economic problems.

Pringle of Scotland’s recruited Daisy Lowe, Pixie Geldof and Lydia Hearst to pose in their Fabien Baron-directed Spring ad campaign.

Someone’s having an identity crisis.

The “troika” of It-girls, (and never has “it” meant nothing more than the sum of daddy’s money), star with two actual models in the black and white, sixties style spread shot by Steven Meisel.

Pringle says, “We were looking at iconic faces and Pixie Geldof had been on our radar for a little while, and then we started looking at the friends she hangs with….I liked the feeling of reality…it’s not just pulled together for an ad campaign.”

We say, “If you’re revamping your image to appeal to a younger demographic, just say it. Please don’t call Pixie Geldof’s face iconic. Please don’t assume Lydia Hearst hangs out with Pixie just because they’re both rich and please don’t pretend your carefully calculated ads are snapshots of reality. And please continue to use models.”

On another note, Adidas is adding Jeremy Scott to its list of “celebrity faces” fronting the Spring 09 ad campaign which begs the very important question, do actual real-life customers even know who people like Jeremy Scott, Pixie Geldof, Harley Viera Newton, etc, are?

Because companies are shelling out way more dollars for these people than they would for unknown and gorgeous models, and we’re dying to know - is it worth it?

Maybe it’s because she’s just finished two decades on the job, or maybe it’s just because people like to talk (especially when the rumors fit a certain movie’s plot line so eerily), but rumors of Anna Wintour’s departure from Vogue have hit a fever pitch, officially last night.

First, it was that the Editor-in-Chief of Russian Vogue, Aliona Doletskaya, would replace her, though those rumors were so random they were largely ignored.

But now? Gawker’s saying that Si Newhouse has left early for his annual year-end vacation, this time heading to Vienna to meet with Carine Roitfeld to discuss her takeover of American Vogue effective January 2nd.

But this is a pretty heavy rumor with a lot of nagging details that kind of drag it down into the depths of improbability:

The next logical step from Ray-Ban, via WWD this morning:

Following the success of the Wayfarers revival (so successful we’re sick of them), Ray-Ban’s reintroducing another oldie/goodie from their archive, the Clubmasters, from the golden year of 1986, already recently spotted on the likes of Agyness and Rachel Bilson.

The style will get six new bright colors added to its repertoire (in addition to classic black and tortoise), launching at a small concert at the Bowery Ballroom on December 9th.

Each pair will retail for $129. But if you can’t wait (and feel like this season’s sales need to be respected), you could throw a pair onto your Amazon holiday order for $99 - that is, of course, if you won’t want to flick them off people’s faces by New Year’s.

A series of scary information has lead us to consider that Saks may be headed into some especially difficult times.

Recently, it came out that Saks has cancelled several planned store renovations, and they announced that they’re “not opposed” to closing certain locations if shoppers continue to prove unwilling to spend money on premier designer booties.

The next day, Moody’s (the credit ratings agency you might remember from a couple weeks ago) announced they’d have to “review” Saks’ credit-grade rating - and we all know what can come from that.

Since then, Saks has mounted the biggest sale we’ve seen so far this holiday season, and introduced a new Major Purchase Account option for frequent shoppers (which is really just fancy speak for layaway, something Walmart brought back this holiday season, as well.)

And yesterday? We were told (albeit, randomly) that the Saks in Philadelphia may be closing very soon, which (obviously) no one can (read: will) confirm.

It’s no secret high-end department stores like Saks have been feeling shoppers’ money problems more so than other types of retailers, but could the words “bankrupt” or just “closing” be on the horizon for one of the country’s most iconic stores?

Stay tuned.