Lately we hear about pop-up shops every single day. This morning’s WWD talked of the just opened “J. Crew Special Selections” shop inside Ron Herman (which is inside Fred Segal.) While it’s nice that Ron himself picked out some pieces and is putting them next to the Margiela, Lanvin, etc. in his boutique, we really don’t see the point.

It’s not that we don’t appreciate mixing high and low. Of course we do. We just don’t understand doing a pop-up shop with merchandise that is readily available elsewhere like, you know, a J. Crew store. Others that come to mind are Citizens of Humanity (also at Ron Herman) and Alice + Olivia at Scoop. Really, are the people of Los Angeles having a hard time locating J. Crew merch or COH jeans? We highly doubt it.

A few weeks ago, Carson came in every morning bitching about how she couldn’t find JET jeans anywhere and a couple of weeks later a few pairs showed up on our doorstep.

So full disclosure - they were gifted.

We’ve been wearing them ever since, going on day four now. Carson’s rocking a shredded light denim pair and mine are black, super tight and super skinny. Why are we telling you? Because they still haven’t stretched out.

In all my jeans-wearing years, I’ve never ever found a pair, especially tight, skinny ones that fit well that don’t stretch out by the end of day one let alone day four. This means that we’re kind of okay with the fact that it’s about 20 degrees cooler than it should be outside simply because we’re so obsessed with wearing these jeans.

You can buy them at Scoop and Equinox in the city, apparently, or online at JET’s site.

We shipped Natalie off on an Egyptian vacation last week and though I’ve spent a fair portion of my life there, she only wanted to know about shopping.

So I told her, “Bargain. Almost everything costs less than half of what you’re told and everything is negotiable - absolutely no exceptions.”

But that’s in the Khan el-Khalili, not in the West Village where according to this article in Bloomberg shoppers have actually started negotiating printed prices.

While major department stores and even mass boutiques like Scoop and Intermix can afford severe markdowns, the smaller stores carrying the same brands just can’t. Which means shoppers are either bypassing them entirely, asking them to match department store prices or lying about how much the same pair of shoes cost down the block to guilt the sales team into lowering prices.

One boutique owner says a woman offered to pay $400 in cash for a $700 bag. Another salesperson says that once negotiating becomes customary no one will want to pay full price again and another is just “really amazed” that people are ballsy enough to ask in the first place.

While I’m always game to bargain at outdoor markets, whether in Cairo or Paris, I could never negotiate my way into a pair of Louboutins.

Are you trying? And more importantly, is it working?

We hope you can take an extra long lunch break today.

Start at the bottom on Walker Street for Proenza Schouler Fall 08 samples starting at $85. From there, swing by the Temperley sale on Broome and grab this season’s merchandise for 60% below retail. Don’t forget to make a pit stop at the Ksubi store where even their latest shipment is 40% off.

Then you can hop in a cab to the West Village and grab a handful of severely marked down Rag & Bone for both you and any deserving guy in your life, or the other way around if you’re a boy reading this. Maybe pop your head into Scoop - since they’ve marked down their sale racks - on your way to the Lutz & Patmos sample sale where you’ll snag cashmere for 80% off.

Jump on the subway and head uptown because Bergdorf Goodman just marked their designer collections down 75% in store.

By the end you might have one of everything for the retail price of a single Lutz sweater.

Or you might just be exhausted.

Poor Scoop.

The New York-based boutique’s having a rough time of it and it sounds like things are just getting worse.

Diane Von Furstenberg was the top selling brand at their Meatpacking District location until Diane decided to open up shop across the street in March of 2007. Agreements were made to guarantee different merchandise in each store, but customers were confused and ultimately chose to skip across the street and buy DVF clothes in DVF’s digs.

So then Tory Burch was the top selling brand. The Scoop customer loves a pair of logoe-d flats and double T’d cardigans and we, (ok, I know all this because I used to work there), couldn’t keep them in stock. But now Tory’s heading west and opening up shop across the other street on Washington and Little West 12th.

But Scoop will always dominate the designer t-shirt and jeans world, or would, if Vince wasn’t opening up their own store on the same corner, and Paige Jeans smack dab in the middle of the four Meatpacking Scoops.

So what happens to Scoop when all the brands they sell open their own doors within a one block radius? And what about if/when Barneys finally opens and they sell everything that’s already on Scoop’s shelves and then some?

Will they go so far as to shutter their Washington Street doors? Or will they attempt to revamp the specific locations with brand new lines and a very different vibe from their other stores? Either way, we hope they’re on it.

Time’s running out.

Sad face: Dernier Cri, arguably the best store on Washington Street, is closing. No, this isn’t like when they closed for a month this summer to clean shop after Scoop flooded, but an actual closing, as in, somebody else bought the place for “an offer [Dernier Cri] couldn’t refuse”.

Sheepish face: So they’re having a going-out-of-business sale. Everything is 50% off through November 25th, like even right now.

In case you need a reminder, Dernier Cri carries Vivienne Westwood Anglomania, Isabel Marant, Preen and so much more - and we’re sure you’ve been scheming how to afford a huge building of a Vivienne coat. We know we have.

On a side note, this couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the rumored new Barneys near the corner of 13th and Washington, exactly where Dernier Cri is currently located, could it?

If you live in New York, you might have already passed the Henri Bendel windows announcing their exclusive relaunch of Members Only.

Yes, we really do mean the brand whose swooshy, zippered jackets monopolized outerwear in the 80’s and now reside in fraternity house costume closets.

Apparently, they’re making a high fashion comeback, starting at Bendel’s but soon to be available at boutiques like Fred Segal and Scoop across the country.

Or, if more convenient, at your local Forever 21.

It usually takes the chain at least a month to hang designer rip-offs from their racks, but their imitation Members Only jacket was available at least a week before the real ones hit shelves.

Or maybe we should say twenty-five years after?

Take a shot - which above is the original?