Research conducted by Canterbury University PhD student Jessica Boyce indicates that women who feel threatened by images of females in the media, own more shoes and handbags but do not prefer trousers. The research reveals that shoes and handbags are more appealing to women because they increase physical attractiveness without drawing attention to the figure. On the flip side, since trousers do draw attention to the figure they are avoided.
These findings and this research has been based on study of 286 female students from Canterbury University and 922 women student from Alberta University in Canada. Apart from women that feel insecure due to media propaganda and thus tend to own more handbags and accessories, the study revealed that women who are insecure in general, tend not to accessorize at all – neither handbags, nor shoes or any other kinds of accessories.
Bringing in another perspective, fashion industry PR Paul Blomfield stated that though the researcher may be on to something with the link between people feeling bad and wanting retail therapy, but linking it specifically to shoes and handbags was laughable.

This study is a small part of Boyce's PhD in health psychology, which looks at the media's effect on female body image and dieting.

Besides flowers and chocolates, fashion jewelry has always been the favorite choice as a gift for Valentine's Day. A famous online retailer of handmade fashion jewelry named Beth Devine Designs, has come up with innovative ideas for selecting gifts this Valentine's Day.

Beth Devine was of the opinion that "Gifting fashion jewelry like a unique pair of earrings or a bracelet to a loved one is the best gift as it is something she'll treasure endlessly." She further added that the girls usually love fashion jewelry that goes with the size and color of her attire.

BethDevineDesigns.com offers more than 200 pieces of sophisticated jewelry of eternal value. These precious pieces of valentine's fashion jewelry include:

Crystal Hearts Necklace: A necklace studded with hearts as a symbol of love. BethDevineDesigns.com offers a collection of handmade heart necklaces and bracelets. It is the best sold gift on every Valentine's Day.

Multi-Strand Pearl Bracelet – Pearls have a widespread demand as they are versatile and go with any attire. These bracelets include four strands of freshwater pearls.

Beth Devine is into designing fashion jewelry for more than six years and since then, it has extended its collection which also involves a specific brand of handmade jewelry for brides.

Handbags are a girls best friend. Most women find that handbags are an essential item that they simply cannot live without. This is why the price of a good handbag can be very pricey. For some, selecting the perfect handbag is a must.

French singer and actress Jane Birkin has inspired one of the most famous and coveted handbags in the world, the Birkin bag, and now she is putting her own personal Birkin Bag up for auction on eBay with proceeds to benefit the Japanese Red Cross. The money will go towards helping individuals and families who have been suffering from the recent disaster in Japan. With less than two days left to bid, the auction price has escalated from its starting price of $2,000 to over $14,000 currently and is expected to be much higher as the hours go by.

The black leather bag is lived-in and roughed up, featuring stickers and attached prayer beads form Birkin's travels on the exterior. It is what is known as a "beater Birkin" to those in the the designer consignment and resale business. It is for someone who wants a used look, and if it didn't belong to Birkin herself, it would probably sell for about $6,000.

One of the biggest trends in handbags that have carried forward from the 2011 runways into the spring/summer 2012 collections is the daytime clutch. Vibrant prints, bright and beautiful shades such as seen in the Carven Spring 2012 handbags are quite popular and fashionable. The Burberry Prorsum Spring 2012 Handbags showcase fabulous statement pieces with sturdiness being their main focus. The new Burberry collection of handbags feature woven raffia details that are also used for their spring 2012 shoes are one of the best attributes of these handbags. When it comes to textural details, the trends in handbags reveal a preference for buckles and beads. In terms of color, the styles in the Burberry collection are quite spectacular with neutral colors blended with warm colors.

Wholesale prices in the United States rose above the projections for the month of July. The prices of wholesale goods such as pharmaceuticals, trucks and tobacco rose the most. The report by the Labour Department showed that the wholesale prices rose at an average of 0.2 %, as compared to the projected 0.1 for the month of July. The report also showed that the cost of crude goods dropped again in July. The aforementioned wholesale goods tobacco, trucks and pharmaceuticals showed a 0.2% advance, which contributed to the overall figure significantly. The report also showed that food as well as petroleum prices showed a steady decline in the last three months along with crude goods. The wholesale market showed a 0.4 % drop in the figures of June.

Seat belts do not fit kids properly when used alone. They are normally available to fit a size of 4 feet and 3 quarter. Boosters are necessary to alleviate the seats, so that the belts fit snugly and prevent injury in an accident.
According to Transport Canada, only 3 out of 10 families in Canada use boosters, with the seat belts for safety. This means that around 1.8 million kids are jeopardized, every time they are travelling in a car with normal seat belts but without booster seats.
Kids are two small for seat belts, as the seat belts reaches its neck and above the abdomen. This can lead to serious damage to the neck, back bone and internal organs in case of sudden braking or accident.
The work of the booster seat is to position the child in such a way that he is fixed to the seat around the lower abdomen and his neck and upper part of the body is not held tight or squashed. A kid when he outgrows the forward facing car seat used as a toddler will now need a booster seat for a proper fit and safe travel.

Rick Hagans, founder of Harvest Evangelism, an Opelika based ministry, has been walking since Monday to collect shoes and raise awareness. His trek called Pilgrimage of Promise will be a walk across Colorado to collect shoes and will be the 34th state he has travelled, ever since he started this walk 16 years ago. Hagans's aim is to collect 10pairs of shoes for every mile of the 350 miles that he traverses.
Hagans started this trek initially to just get shoes donated. In the walk for raising shoes, this time he will be getting the company of his sons for some part of the walk.
Soles4Souls, a shoe company with philanthropic ideas, is going to donate 4000 pair of shoes while sponsoring the walk. Hagans will be distributing the shoes to an orphanage and other charitable organisations in and around Mexico during Christmas.
Hagans presumes it will take him around 25 days to conclude the walk.

The US wholesale prices have been rising steadily since last month. This indicates that increasing pressures from price rise would not leave enough room for the Federal authorities to give a boost to the US economy by regulating credit.
According to the Labour Department, the index of wholesale prices, have risen by 0.2%, for the month of July. The wholesale price index is a means to measure the extent to which wholesalers and manufacturers are ready to pay for raw materials and goods.
The Central Bank proposes to keep the short term interest rates near zero till mid 2013 to boost growth.
The rise in wholesale prices in July have been attributed to a rise in cost of trucks, food and tobacco products. The pressure on wholesale prices also stems from growing production pipeline costs. The rise in wholesale price index for food has been due to higher cost of beef, veal, as well as fruits.

India's first online store for fashion accessories Yepme has took off to a brilliant start. Yepme introduced its private fashion label recently at the capital city which included men apparel, footwear and accessories for men. The showstoppers who walked the ram at the show were Dino Morea, Rahul Dev, Rajneesh Duggal and Shawar Ali.
The CEO of Yepme, Mr Gaur stated that many brands have their offline outlets spread over urban India which has a population of almost 350 million but they are yet not able to get to all the remote parts of India. But as Yepme is an online store it will be able to get to all parts of India, even to those people who don't have the online payment facility.
Yepme works with an integrated web technology and it also has the feature of virtual trial room, so that the user can see how the apparel looks on him/her.

Phone accessories can often be done without, but that really depends on how hot you are, since, if nothing else, this accessory is cool for sure. We are talking about an accessory to the iphone which actually acts as a cooling fan. The accessory, called the "Newest Cool Dock Fan Gadgets Cooler", available at the cellular factory, attaches to the iphone dock and apparently runs for 6 hours at full charge, blowing breezes wherever you please.
The accessory is at a limited time offer price of $6.99, after which it shall be priced at the original $9.99. According to the seller, the iphone accessory is also compatible with iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and iPod Touch.
The accessory has a twin blade propeller and can be moved 90degrees to the right for better circulation.