Short women appear taller in short jackets and large women appear slimmer in tailored jackets.

Almost every coat style is repeated each year. If you really love peacoats, there is probably a designer who has created an updated version.

Houndstooth is back, and you shouldn't fear it. Although the print is large and bold, "houndstooth is a classic," says Loo.

If you're considering a swing coat, buy long gloves to make up for the short sleeves.

Accessories are important for two reasons: one they will keep you warm, two they add gloss. Beanies and berets are the most fashionable hats, and many come with sequins or a lurex weave to add a bit of sparkle. Boots are really the only practical footwear. Ugg do not only produce those furry sand-coloured boots with which we have all become so familiar, but they also do more hardwearing leather versions, still warmly lined with sheepskin.

• Web Research: Find information about the deals before you they show up in the newspaper. You are reading this blog entry so you are on the right track. You should also check prices online (TheStreet.com suggests using comparison shopping tools) and make sure the Black Friday deals you are interested look like they are really as great they look.
• Get There Really Early: There's a reason Target's Black Friday tv commercials show shoppers practicing for the big day. A lot of people get up very early to get the discounted items before they are sold out. If you want the best deals you need to be an early riser as well. That means being at the store when it opens to make sure your discounted item is still available. Yes, even if it is four or five in the morning. Black Friday shopping is serious business.
• Teamwork: Useful for carpooling and splitting up to get items. It's also useful for waiting in queues - what if you need a bathroom break?
• Have a Plan: List the deals and items you are interested in and focus solely on them. The best way to save money is by not getting distracted by other items in the store.
• Returns: Familiarize yourself with the store's return policy and use your credit card - if you want to return something later your credit card will come in handy. Your rights as a consumer are much stronger legally with a credit card than with a debit card, because a debit card is considered cash. Many credit cards offer return protection and sale price protection.

Craig Minowa, environmental scientist with the Organic Consumers Association, has these tips: First, learn to buy big. Many health-food stores have bulk sections, and if you fill a bag with, say, organic cereal, you may end up paying less for it than you would for the nonorganic variety, since you're not paying for packaging costs. Second, form a buying club. If a bunch of people pool their grocery lists, they can often special-order directly with the store, he said, and that, in turn, can lead to much lower costs.

Another path to frugal but healthy shopping is to choose your battles carefully. If you can't afford to fill your entire shopping cart with organic food, you can still feel good about what you buy. Sarah Bratnober, communications director at the Organic Valley Family of Farms, advises following the 80/20 rule-80 percent of the benefits come from 20 percent of the purchases. Think about what your family eats the most of, then go from there. For example, if you have a choice between organic milk and organic mayonnaise, and your kids go through a gallon of milk in a week but only two tablespoons of mayo, go for the milk. Fruits and vegetables are also good choices, especially the ones your family eats lots of. And if you have the option, get into community-supported agriculture, where you own shares in a farm and get a share of whatever it produces.

"The key thing is that the recipient would love to have it," she said. "Regifting out of laziness is against the principles of etiquette."

She added that the gift can't be "a cast-off or used item, and it can't be a one-of-a-kind thing. You have to be careful not to hurt any feelings."

One other common pitfall, said Leigh Zarelli, vice president of merchandising for Gifts.com, is regifting within the same social circle.

"It's best when you regift something to, say, a business associate or an out-of-town friend," she said. That reduces the likelihood that the original "gifter" will catch wind of the act.

1. Use credit cards. Last year, American shoppers spent more than $23 billion online during the holiday season, according to the eSpending Report from Goldman, Sachs & Co., Harris Interactive, and Nielsen-Net Ratings. The safest way to spend that money is with a credit card.

Avoid using your debit card. Most debit cards have fraud protections, but your bank account could be overdrawn while you dispute charges. The big three credit card issuers, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, have a zero liability policy. You pay nothing for unauthorized transactions if you notify your financial institution.

For extra fraud protection, sign up for MasterCard's SecureCode (www.mastercard.com/securecd/welcome.do) or Visa's Verified by Visa (usa.visa.com/personal/security/vbv/index.html). These are password challenge programs for online shopping.

Under the programs, you create a password. Participating online stores will request that password for purchases. The password request appears via a pop-up window, so you might have to disable pop-up blockers. MasterCard (www.mastercard.com) and Visa (www.visa.com) list participating stores on their websites.

Also, most credit card companies offer numbers for one-time use. Check your card issuer's website for more information. In some cases, a one-time number may only work with stores you designate.

These aren't scammers. They're simply high-maintenance individuals that you'll want to steer clear of.

You can usually spot one by the threats in their listing. e.g. "DEADBEET Buyers WILL get *BAD* FEEDBAK!!!!!!" The capital letters, exclamation points and bad spelling are typical for the breed.

These hypersensitive sellers usually insist on long and involved transaction rules and they're looking for trouble. Transgress the slightest bit and the seller pounces, happy to find a technicality to fight about.

Or, you can work the opposite end of the equation by reducing the time you put into each unit. If all the issues of TV Guide in our example were the same date, you could save time by cutting and pasting descriptions, but that's penny-ante stuff. A realistic approach would be to sell the 50 magazines in lots of 10 or 20-or as one lot of 50. That would kick up your hourly rate considerably, with the added benefit of giving you more time to spend finding and posting additional items (which, hopefully, bring in far more than $1 per sale).

The moral: the worth of an item to a seller is measured in how much net profit it brings in, not by how many he sells. Making $50 on one sale is always preferable to making $50 on 50 sales.

When someone calls this city's police to report they've had something stolen - either in a home break-in or a vehicle smash-and-grab - Sgt. Doug Fisher gives out the same piece of advice, again and again:

"Look for your item on eBay."

Fisher says online auction sites are an increasingly popular way to offload stolen goods. EBay is just one of many such sites - others include Yahoo and Craigslist - but it is the most popular.

"Whatever you take to a pawn shop, you're going to get four or five cents on the dollar (and) they sell it at 60 cents on the dollar," he said. "But if you have the wherewithal to sell the item yourself, you'll get the 60 cents on a dollar."

A recent experiment in which a reporter visited various commercial corners of Manhattan with a high-grade thermometer found that almost without fail, the more ritzy the establishment is trying to be, the colder the air-conditioning is kept. In other words, the higher the prices, the lower the temperatures. Consider the clothing stores: Bergdorf Goodman, 68.3 degrees; Bloomingdale's, 70.8; Macy's 73.1; Club Monaco, 74.0; the Original Levi's Store, 76.8; Old Navy 80.3.

For the experiment a pair of professional-grade Mannix HDT303K digital thermometers were used. The temperature was measured as close to the center of each establishment as possible, away from any vents, moving air or doors. When the thermometers' readings differed (never by more than 0.4 degrees), the two were averaged. The reporter did not announce his presence as one but entered each place of business as a normal customer would. While a few degrees' difference might not sound like much, the feeling on bare skin can be surprising. Tiffany & Company (70.3), where a sterling silver baby rattle sells for $200, lacked the meat-locker-like sting of Hermès (68.6), which sells a stainless steel thermos for $1,200.

"There is still a status symbol in almost over-the-top air-conditioning," said Craig Childress, the director of prototype design for Envirosell, a New York-based consulting firm that studies retail stores' designs to help them maximize sales.

High-end retailers argue that cool air is a positive part of their image. "It's part of the whole environment package that we try to offer to our customers," said Tony Nicola, vice president for operations at Bergdorf Goodman. "We're offering the best of service in New York City, and what comes with that is how the store looks, how it's lit, the cleanliness and the temperature."

Last year Bergdorf's installed a new air-conditioning and heating system that features an array of software and sensors designed to keep the air near the target of 68 degrees. "I don't think it's too cold," Mr. Nicola said.

At least one shopper agreed. Sylvia Pastor, who lives on the Upper East Side, said she found the cool temperature invigorating, adding that it kept her shopping longer than a warmer temperature might have. "It's good for the store," she said. "But not for my pocketbook."

Gail Cooper, the author of Air-Conditioning America: Engineers and the Controlled Environment, 1900-1960 (Johns Hopkins, 1998), said the music, lighting, traffic flow and hygiene of modern retail stores would be impossible without air-conditioning. "You don't get outside air, you don't get dirt," Ms. Cooper said. Without air-conditioning, many stores would not be able to use the brightest lights because of the heat they give off, she said.

Any number above 390 in a queen-size mattress should be plenty. CR consultants concluded that coils in all but the cheapest mattresses -- less than $800 for a queen-size -- are "overdesigned for their function."

Understand the name game. Manufacturers usually modify any innerspring mattress they make for different sellers, changing the color, padding, quilting pattern, and so forth. Consumers are the losers. Since such mattresses are at least somewhat different, and the names vary, you can’t comparison shop.

Choose the right firmness. Don't rely on names: Levels are described differently. If a mattress is too firm, it won't support all body parts evenly and may cause discomfort at the heaviest points (hips and shoulders). If it's too soft, you could sink into the surface and have a hard time moving, which could cause tingling, numbness, or aches.

Do the 15-minute in-store test. Don't be embarrassed to lie down on lots of mattresses in the store. Salespeople expect it. Wear loose clothes, and shoes that you can slip off. Spend at least five minutes on each side, your back, and your stomach if you use that position.

Look for a comfort guarantee. Some businesses give you two weeks to several months to return or exchange a bed you don't like.

Don't count on warranties. They cover defects in materials and workmanship, not comfort or normal wear. They're typically in effect for 10 years; luxury brands like Duxiana, Select Comfort, and Tempur-Pedic are in effect for 20.

Wait for a sale, and bargain. Specialty mattresses may have a set price, but you can save at least 50 percent off list price for innerspring type. Ads for "blowout" sales make such events seem rare. They are not. If the price is good, buy; if not, wait. However, an advertised "bargain" may not be all it seems, so read the fine print.