The names/ads that make you want to buy made me think of this one.
Here, I'm wondering what catalogs *themselves*, not so much the brand
names that are in them make you want to buy because for whatever
reason they make the product look irresistable, be it by the
photography, the description, or something else.

Mine are:

Bliss - and I bet this will be the #1 fave of many AFers. Hats off to
Marcia Kilgore for writing the copy herself (IIRC she still does) and
making everything sound like a "must have". And for photography
that's a good representation of the product, usually. Also, the way
Bliss photographs dabs of the product instead of the product - a
lipstick for example - within its package is something I find
irresistable as I'm sure many of y'all do.

Aedes - the photography and descriptions of the scents cannot be
matched by any other catalog IMO.

The "old" style retro Benefit catalogs. I'm less intrigued by Benefit
with their new catalog style w/ more photos but the catalog still had
retro style captions, fonts, and cartoons, I wanted nearly
*everything* in it.

Gorsuch casual and ski clothing. Mind you, I could never EVER afford
these things but the models are gorgeous and the scenery they're
photographed in makes me want everything in this catalog.

Coldwater Creek - Great, clear photography and items grouped nicely by
color. I also like their descriptions of their items.

What are yours?

Vicki in DC

Vicki in DC wrote:
Well, they may make me *want* to buy, but I seldom
do unless I have something I need or have already
decided to try.
*Talbots
*Talbots' Accessories Cat
*Talbots, Kids
*Nordstroms
*Coldwater Creek
*Wooden Soldier
*Ltd. Too
*Storybook Heirlooms
*Oriental Trading
*Current

I've ordered out of about half of these. All but one of
the other I half I enjoy thumbing through and wistfully
admiring. That *last* one? It's the Nordie's catalog
and I *knew, from the very first day I received one,
that it would be probably THE most dangerous of all,
like crack in the middle of a pile of super-glue tubes.
Never kept on any Nordie's cat any longer than it took
to get it from the mailbox to the trash can. I do know
my limits. kayper

Delia*s and Abercrombie and Fitch

~I want to love but it comes out wrong. I want to live but I don't
belong. I close my eyes and see blood and roses~

~The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to talk,
mad to live, mad to be saved, desirious of everything at the same time.
The ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn,
like fabulous yellow roman candles shooting like spiders across the sky
and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes
wow~

Vicki in DC wrote:


Great question, Vicki! I totally agree with Blissout, the old Benefit, and
Coldwater Creek. To those I would add:

- Victoria's Secret
- Sephora
- Chiasso
- DHC
- J Jill
- Signals

I know I'll think of more when others post theirs!

-KMS

All of them do that's why I rarely look at them.

Nickycharles2002@yahoo.com (Vicki in DC) wrote:

You are SO right about Bliss - no matter what the product is, I want it merely
by the copy and the layout of that mag-a-logue. Even lipglosses (something I do
not wear) I want, just because of the brilliant copywriting! Sephora tries to
imitate its sister with the same look but the writing is nowhere the
level-of-compulsion-to-buy of Bliss.

And same goes for what you said about the old-fashioned Benefit catalog that
was in two-color and no photographs. I ordered so many times from that singular
style catalog - again because the copywriting was so good.

Neiman Marcus catalog - just to order from them and feel elevated! Even if it's
a product I see often (eg: Chantecaille Future Skin) or have tried I still want
it again when it's in Neiman Marcus' book. So rather than being about the
writing, it's the brand here that makes me want to buy (Same with the eluxury
print catalog).



**********************************
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
Aesop

don't like their
descriptions at all. You have to parse the description to find out what you
are looking at and
what it is made of, which I'm more interested in than something that starts
like this:
"Overhead, blue skies. Perfect, soft-as-a-cumulus cloud backdrop for a
trailing vine of graceful
flowers, each bright blossom a potential landing pad for the lone butterfly
windsailing above."

Smokey

Vicki in DC <Nickycharles2002@yahoo.com> wrote:
For me, Anthropologie. I couldn't pull off most of the stuff they
feature, especially the combinations they show. I'd look like I just
rolled out of bed if I wore that stuff but the clothes look so artsy,
flowy, and creative on the models. Plus, the descriptions make them sound
so feminine and, well, necessary. I do love the house-type stuff they
have, but once again, most of that certainly wouldn't fit into my
bare-bones decorating scheme.

Oh yes, of course Tiffany's catalog always makes me want to buy too..

-Alison

Smokey wrote:

down to a brooch, has a little story written around it, and
actually, is initially made me love the cat so much. I
remember the first couple of them I got I was so intrigued
that I read them aloud to DH during a car trip. And for a
long time that was really all I cared about. Then I saw a
great skirt and it's been all about the clothes ever since.
kayper

Heather and Joe wrote:

Oh, I have to hide this from the child. I sort of
group other catalogs or junk mail around it so she
can't see it then put it under some garbage already
in the trash can so she doesn't accicdentally find
it. I learned my lesson when we were getting the
"My Twin" catalogs. kayper

Thanks for the compliment!
-Beckett
--
"Ah, yes - but just because I'm frivolous doesn't mean I lack intellect. After
all, anyone can get the *meat* of it all, the secret of life is in the *sauce*.
1-26-03

Orvis is the big one for me,
also Cold Water Creek, Land's End, J. Jill, Eddie Bauer, L.L. Bean (Howdy, I am
dowdy!), and VS.

~~Geri~~

Go Huskers!
Go Halos!

Geri and sometimes Brian wrote:

Howdy, I am dowdy! Snort LoL!

LLBean
Land's End
Bliss Out (oh yeah!)
Garnet Hill
Jjill
Sundance
Marshall Fields
Athletico (has anyone else been getting this?) It's an amazing athletic wear/yoga
wear cat. - Too Cool! I'll place a nice sized order when I lose that last 10 lbs!

Birkenstock Express
Anthropologie
J&R Music and Electronics
Wintergreen (slightly less expensive than Gorsuch(sp?) but gorgeous looking
winterwear)
Pottery Barn

Ami

On 8 Aug 2003 09:47:40 -0700, Vicki in DC wrote:

The one that's the most likely to make me get on their Web site is
Eastbay (the sporting goods company).

Well, well Charles - I get at least one Eastbay catalogue a week here - I order
for my 15 year old grandson quite often from the Eastbay website but I must
admit there are some items I find of interest as well. Very impressed with the
quality and service of Eastbay.
Jo Ann
www.exclusivelyjoann.com

Tha Patagonia catalogue.

I prefer to spend what little *spare* time on my couch - but I know I would
look very svelte all geared up in their apparel.

And the photography!

Mary Ellen

"When someone tell you who they are ~ believe them." Maya Angelou

(omit the spam-out to email me)

Victorian Trading Company...I could furnish my home with all their
decor and wear all the clothes they sell (though I would stick out
like a sore thumb in all that turn-of-the-century stuff). They have
this velvet opera coat with a huge Elizabethan collar that is just so
me...great hat boxes, hatpins, stationery and inks, fans, tea sets,
jewelry. I wish I could buy one of everything.

xoxo,
Audra
To e-mail, subtract 1!

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

In article <sdTYa.14602$ih.4020@lakeread02>,
The Other Kim <kclmh@coxnospam.net> wrote:
good thing. I adore that alpine stuff. And I positively loathe skiing--I
got dragged to the mountains every winter as a child. That romantic/rustic
look has almost no usefulness for me. But it still grabs me.

I also agree with Vicki's Bliss choice. I started getting it after my
m-i-l sent me a gift from Bliss for Christmas, so thank goodness, I've
only received three or four. Because it's damned hard to stick to a
moratorium with that thing around.

Ross-Simon can usually suck me in for the length of a mug of coffee.

Neiman Marcus can be a very mixed bag. The small catalogs usually put the
interesting stuff in the front. At the back they always waste a lot of
space on those matchy-matchy expensive leisure pants sets and things that
I would never bother to buy. On the other hand, when they send me the
accessories ones, I'm a goner. Also the special beauty inserts in the big
books are usually pretty hypnotic.

Like Kayper, I adore drooling over the high-end children's catalogs like
Wooden Soldier, which I have also never ordered from. CWD Kids (is that
the name?) is another fave. Basically if they sell Florence Eismann or
Lilly or E-Land or have navy blue duffle coats for boys, I'm a goner.

And time stops when that sale catalog shows up--ARGH I'm blanking on the
name--the clearance one with stuff from Neiman's and Horchow. What is it
called???

Priscilla



--
psb2@midway.uchicago.edu "Here comes the most beautiful woman in puppetland!"

"Riverbuny" <ldubois@valstar.net> wrote in message
news:3F34FDD3.8000904@valstar.net...
I like their clothes but they tend to be one-note and over-priced.
I just look.

Blissout
Uncommon Goods
any of the museum catalogs
Nordstrom
Sephora
Tiffany
CCB Paris


--
danielle