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Life&Style

A beginners guide to online shopping

By Allie Davison, Staff Writer

s much as I like heading A to the mall, browsing

through the racks of pretty clothes, and then heading home, excited to wear my new purchases, sometimes I’d much rather not leave my house. And thanks to that new, up-and-coming invention, the Internet, I don’t have to! I love being able to window shop online without that noisy sales person wondering if I’m actually going to buy anything. Sometimes, it’s nice to just look. Here are the top five places I love to browse and buy clothes online.

Threadless (www.threadless. com) specializes in super awesome shirts for women, men, children, and babies. They have classic T-shirts and hoodies, as well a few different styles of tops for ladies. Threadless’ designs are all developed by members of the public. Anyone can submit a design and, if chosen, get their art worn by a countless number of people. Their prices range from $20 (T-shirts) to $36 (hoodies); however, they have frequent sales that bring the prices down to $10 per tee. Their shipping to Canada is reasonably priced (about $9 for every three shirts)— with only $6 shipping on orders over $75. My favourite Threadless product: The new Muppets shirts! There are nine to choose from, with each style featuring one or more

of everyone's favourite Muppets! Huzzah!

10

ShoeDazzle (www.shoedazzle. com) is my favourite site for online shoe shopping. I can get sexy heels, fashionable flats, or warm and fuzzy boots all for only $39.99! Here’s the deal: after signing up for ShoeDazzle and doing a quick shoe-taste survey, you are given a showroom of shoes to pick from. Everything on the site is $39.99 and shipping is only $9. It’s pretty excellent, in my opinion. The site also offers high-end purses and jewellery for the same price. New for the holidays is the ShoeDazzle holiday shop, where they’ve got some great gifts in the beauty, home, apparel, accessories, and travel departments.

ModCloth (www.modcloth. com) has practically every clothing item for ladies imaginable. They have jackets, dresses, skirts, shirts, pants, undergarments, and other fashion accessories—ranging from completely adorable to sultry and sexy. They offer a huge variety of styles and prices to choose from, and I especially like the uniqueness of their stuff. I love browsing through their dresses (they have over 2000) and wishing I could have them all. And if that’s not enough, another cool thing about ModCloth is their ‘Be the Buyer’ program, which allows shoppers to vote on potential products. The items with the most votes get featured on the website. It’s super cool seeing something you've selected available online.

Winter beer is here

By Dylan Hackett, Staff Writer

like beer. I love winter beers.

After sharing the tastes of

the finest winter beers on the shelves a few short weeks ago, I thought it would be right to inform the Douglas population of the latest wave of seasonal beers available for holiday imbibery and gifting. Ales with thoughtful labels filled my fridge this week and I hope you enjoy their names as much as I did the flavours!

Nelson Brewing Company FACEPLANT Winter Ale is an organic can of liquid craftwork from the true winter town of Nelson, BC. The Kootenay brewery’s exclusive use of mostly local organic malted barley, flaked barley, golden sugar, hops, and molasses earn it points with the Greenpeace crowd, while the black lock-in can-ringer— designed to prevent dolphins from

Frog allows you to excite. This ale has citrus, is ever-so-slightly plum-like and a tad nutty with

a roof-of-the- mouth aftertaste of banana. That's not to say the Beeracle isn’t bitter. Its initial bite is much like that of Dead Frog’s Lager. Beeracle’s malty flavour comes in strong at the end of the bottle, so pour the rest into you're a sleeve midway through

to capture a swig of this flavour. The carbonation is moderate, but the bubbles are very small and tickly. As a bonus, Beeracle’s label includes a beautiful Christmas poem, “The Story of the Christmas Beeracle”, which might be lost to the those in party-mode (the ideal situation for Dead Frog’s variety mixer packs). I recommend this to

“...winter ale serves the purpose of belly warming when whiskey and the fireplace are too far away.”

getting tangled—earns bonus points with the cetacean population. This saves the environmentally conscious consumer from having to take time from socializing to rip apart the binding plastic from their typical six-pack at an upcoming ugly Christmas sweater party! This dark-brown ale tastes of sugary molasses and has a slight fruity undertone. The bitterness comes almost as an afterthought as you face plant into its candy sweetness. Nelson’s offering is the most accessible of this bunch; it leaves your lips slightly sticky and isn’t as thick as you'd imagine a molasses and golden sugar-enhanced beer to be. The carbonation is quite light. FACEPLANT can be purchased at almost every BC Signature Liquor Store in town for $11.75 per six pack. Be sure to savour this 6.0% beauty in a succession of sips slow as molasses.

Dead Frog Brewery’s Christmas Beeracle comes in a charming 650mL bottle and is brewed in not-so-charming Aldergrove (I jest). This guy comes with a “Happy Holidays” gift tag on the label; the perfect stocking-stuffer for a thirsty college student. The Christmas Beeracle (brewmaster wit at its best) is a beer that might sting you with a bad malt to hop ratio (at least for craft beer fans who drink in a realm where hops reign), but after the third sip you’re bound to dissect the full flavour pallet that Dead

any standard beer drinker looking to try something slightly different this holiday season

Howe Sound's Father John Winter Ale is a roundhouse kick to the taste buds straight from Squamish. This 7% 1L monster tastes like plum, vanilla, and pepper, finished with a malt liquor zest. This winter ale serves the purpose of belly warming when whiskey and the fireplace are too far away. I may sound like a shameless press release, but the words ring true from top of the first glass to bottom of the third. This massive container could intoxicate a village, and is a true winter warmer that captures the flavour of the holidays better than any other seasonal offering I’ve tasted. The beer’s label depicts a jolly St. Nick, corncob pipe and beer gut intact. This beer smells like brandy and also shares the colour of a finely aged cognac. When confronted with the lofty goal of finishing a bottle of Father John’s, one must welcome a slight buzz. Prepare your fridge for an enjoyable Christmas Eve treat this year with Father John’s as an accessory to the festivities. The variety of the flavour will give the drinker mistletoe-friendly breath. Winter Ale is currently in limited availability, but will make its full run to the shelves for December.

I hope these vivid descriptions prompt you, dear reader, to buy at least one of these fine brews to enhance your winter cheer.