It’s the festive month and Christmas is upon us. We have compiled our top 6 gifts for under $100 to help inspire you this silly season.

1. Steeden Mens & Womens Boxing Training Kits: Give the gift of health this Christmas with a boxing training kit. Help your loved ones kick start their 2013 health and training goals. Available from Rebel Sport for $99.99 ea

2. Body Glove Method 41” Bodyboard: Perfect for Summer! Bodyboards are so much fun and can provide hours of entertainment for kids at the beach. Wrap this up for under the Christmas tree and your kids will love you for it. Available from The Warehouse for $59.99 ea (Save $20)

3. 19cm Belcher Silver Bracelet With Puff Padlock: Have you got a special women in your life you would like to spoil? Give her this bracelet and she will love you forever. Available from Pascoes for $89 (Save $50)

4. Richie McCaw: The Open Side By Richie McCaw With Greg McGee: Great gift for rugby or book lovers. Read about one of New Zealands rugby legends and get an insight into the life of the All Blacks! Available from Whitcoulls for $39.99

5. Tarini Zoltan 12″ Bike: Great gift ideas to get the kids outside and enjoy the sun. This is the perfect first pedal bike. Available from Avantiplus for $94.99 each

6. Delicious By Stevens 3 Tier Cake Stand: Cake stands are perfect for girly high teas or entertaining guests. This is a great gift idea if you are looking for something that is cheap but will be used. Avaialble from Stevens for $19.99 (Save $40)

Happy Shopping and Merry Christmas!

We all LOVE shopping most of the time! But sometimes shopping isn’t easy so we asked our awesome Lasoo facebook fans for some helpful hints.

We asked them to finish this sentence: “ My useful shopping tip is ____________________” and here are some of our favourites:

1) Don’t take your children
2) Don’t buy branded items
3) Write a shopping list
4) Only take the amount of cash you want to spend
5) Remember your purse
6) Only shop if you have to buy something specific
7) If you have a noisy kid, make light of it instead of getting stressed out!
Don’t go hungry
9) Do it online (Lasoo!!)

Don’t forget to create your shopping list on Lasoo to make it easier to plan out your shopping and print to take with you. You can also download our Lasoo app to your smart phone to make shopping easier on the go!

Happy shopping Lasooers!

Many people love fashion and some might even be addicted to buying the latest trends. Both Auckland and Sydney are known as the fashion capitals of their respective countries. However according to Wikipedia’s top 26 fashion capitals in the world Sydney is ranked 7th and Auckland is not even mentioned. Recently the Telegraph also named Sydney as 9th and Auckland was once again not even mentioned in the top 20. But is it worth making that trip to Sydney to purchase the latest trends or is it right in front of us in Auckland?

Many shops have been opening in Sydney lately including Burberry , Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Zara and Gap just to name a few, with Prada expected to open in July and Christian Dior expected to open its exclusive store in mid 2012. Sydney is currently in the spotlight with international retailers who are thinking about setting up stores there as it’s known as the fashion capital and also because Australia is economically strong. Christian Dior general manager for Oceania and Micronesia Mark Browne believes that Sydney is “a premier retail luxury destination.” However for Auckland it has been looking very different. Lately a few shops have been closing in Auckland including Supre and Cue in The Rialto precinct in Newmarket. From what the media has portrayed n the last few years it has shown a clear picture that retailers are finding it hard, especially with New Zealand’s low dollar.

Conclusion: While there may be many fabulous local designers and great shopping malls, nothing beats Sydney. In fact, I think I might just organise a trip over to Sydney every year to stock up on my fashion supplies.

Popular places in Sydney to shop:

Oxford Street: Runs through the heart of Sydney. It’s known for its great atmosphere and it’s selection of striking boutiques.

Market Street: Grace Brothers, at the corner of Market and George Streets, have excellent department stores with products from Australia and the world.

Darling Harbour – Harbourside: Harbourside has many quality stories and eateries. It not only offers a great shopping experience but also entertainment. Shopping includes well known and select Australian and world wide brands. All Harbourside speciality stores are open from 10am to 9pm daily.

The Rocks Market: The Rocks Market is a must see in Sydney. It has filled with around 145 stalls offering things such as fashion, souvenirs and aboriginal artefacts. They are every Saturday and Sunday. It is also a great place to people watch and take it all in.

Sydney Chinatown: Sydney Chinatown, at the south end of the CBD and centered around Dixon St. offers great Asian speciality shops and cuisine.

Westfield Shopping Centre: a large shopping complex located under the Sydney Tower. The centre includes many high-end retailers and fashion designers such as Zara Zara, Gucci and Swarovski.

Popular Auckland places to shop:

High Street, Chancery Lane: If you are a fashion addict and love designer and fashion boutiques then this is the place to be. You will find some of New Zealand’s top designers including Karen Walker and Zambesi.

Ponsonby Road: A key area for shoppers and fashion admirers is Ponsonby Road. This road offers a variety of clothing stores (cheap to expensive), furniture and designer lifestyle shops. It is only a five minute drive west of the CBD.

Newmarket: Newmarket is the place to shop if you want a bit of everything. It has international and local fashion labels as well as the main department stores. You can either walk along the street and browse the shops or visit the shopping mall complex, Two Double Seven.

Botany Town Centre: Located approximately 15 kilometres from Auckland CBD. It has more than 150 speciality stores built into charming streets and lanes.

Aotea Square Markets: Aotea Square Markets is one of Auckland’s favourite markets. It has lots of Kiwiana products, funky New Zealand fashion, ethnic cuisine and live entertainment. It is located on Queen Street in Auckland city and is great for tourists. It is open every Friday and Saturday, 10 am till 6 pm.

Victoria Park Market: Also another great market for tourists with a large range of arts, crafts and fashion. It is open from 9am to 6pm, 7 days a week.

On the last day of NZ Fashion Week Huffer launched their Summer 2010 Range and this summer is looking very blue…

When you think Summer you think holidays not work and not school but it looks like school is in this Summer with Huffer displaying a collection of school Blazer inspired knits and unlike the uniforms I have memories of, if these cool relaxed pieces were what I was donning for studies I’d want to wear them on the weekend too.

The rest of the collection has a hidden salute to the late 80’s and early 90’s with thoughts of sailing NZ’s sunny waters flashing through my mind as I view the gingham prints, loose button down shirts and baggy singlet’s perfect for throwing on and standing out at the beach.

All around this is a classy collection without straying away from Kiwi’s love of comfort (and hoodies) that will work on people of all ages.

Huffer is going to make you look good this sunny season.

I have to admit that at times I am very much a label snob when it comes to clothes, and the thought of shopping at Farmers does little to appeal, however lately I have found myself perusing over their brightly coloured catalogues and am surprised by what they have to offer.

Their new season fashion collection exudes flirty and fun.  Full of floral pieces and girly dresses, the collection doesn’t stop here.  You can also choose the shoes to match to make that perfect outfit, along with a dainty bracelet, sweet smelling perfume and funky handbag to top it off. 

My favourite piece of the collection is the Ignite Platinum Chiffon Ruffle Neck Tunic in a pretty pastel and at a price of only $39.99 I can still afford to buy the ballet flats that are recommended to go with the tunic.

As well as this, you can afford to look great underneath your outfit, with new lingerie collection Collette by Collette Dinnigan.  This range is exclusive to Farmers and if you buy two or more items you save 20%.

These days it is very rare to be able to find an entire outfit in one store, and Farmers manages to pull this off to perfection.