Blog Posts by CNBC

By Ella Zhang, CNBC.com
Imagine snagging an Ann Taylor silk taffeta V-neck bridesmaid dress that retails for $215, for only $35, or a Guess by Marciano Cierra lace-up dress that is usually priced at $168 for only $40.
These deals aren't from a new flash-sale website, and they aren't counterfeit. Instead, saavy shoppers are able to buy limited quantities of clothing directly from the Chinese factories that make these labels.
Roughly 40 percent of all American clothing that is imported is made in China, according to American Apparel & Footwear Association. But about 5 percent of the clothing that is produced there never finishes its journey to the US. Instead, the clothing is slipped out of the factories and into the hands of Chinese consumers, who purchase it at a significantly discounted prices from independent sellers on websites like Taobao.com and Chinese eBay.

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Top 10 Seized Counterfeit Goods
Fashion With Function
Resort Collection: Swimwear 2011

However, this is

By Christina Cheddar Berk, CNBC.com

Retailers will be biting their nails this back-to-school shopping season as consumers are expected to put off purchases until nearly the last minute, according to a new report.According to a study of consumer purchasing plans conducted by market researcher NPD Group, the majority of shoppers are planning to spend about the same as they did last year on their back-to-school shopping.
About 40 percent of consumers said they plan to spend the same amount, 38 percent expect to spend less, and 22 percent said they would spend more, NPD said. That's the same breakdown that occured in last year's NPD survey.
The study also asked consumers when they would begin their shopping. About 60 percent said they would start by Sept. 1, about 35 percent said they would start by Aug. 1, and the remaining 5 percent said they wouldn't start until after Sept. 1.

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By Dan Bukzspan, CNBC.com

Fast food has been consistently popular all over the world for decades, for reasons that are pretty compelling --- it's tasty, it's filling , and most of all it's cheap. Much has been made in recent years about the health impact of these foods, but it's done little to keep customers away. After all, a typical fast - food restaurant allows a family of four to eat for $20, and in this economy that's a likely source of repeat business, regardless of the health implications.

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10 Outrageously Expensive Foods

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Still, would people be willing to pay more for fast food if it were made with better ingredients? Would they be willing to pay more for a hamburger made of high-quality beef? What if it was made from fresh Kobe beef from the Hyogo Prefecture in Japan and smothered in foie gras and black truffles, while perched atop a brioche truffle bun dotted with edible, 24-karat gold leaves?

By Christina Cheddar-Berk, CNBC.com

Apparently, when it comes to personal finances, Americans have been "eating their peas."

Twice as many Americans are saving more money today than they did before the recession, according to a survey conducted by America's Research Group for CNBC.com.

While Americans were divided sharply between savers and non-savers, the majority of Americans are now saving.

According to the poll, 49.8 percent of those surveyed said they are saving more today, while 44.9 percent said they were not. The rest said they didn't know.

Surprising Six-Figure Jobs

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Ever since the financial crisis, Americans have been getting their financial houses in order. Much of that revolved around paying off their credit cards or learning to live without them.

Last week, a report from the Federal Reserve said consumers were borrowing more in May than they did in the same

By Cindy Perman, CNBC.com
An increase in shoplifting is typically a bad sign for the economy; it means that things are so bad, people are forced to steal to make ends meet. But the latest report from National Retail Federation showed that, while inventory loss due things like shoplifting increased by $3.6 billion, or nearly 11 percent, to $37 billion last year, much of that loss was due to employee theft.

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Celebrities Who Were Robbed

Ready to Quit Your Job? Read This First

10 Worst Jobs in America

By Constance Parten, CNBC.com
As the old adage goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Nothing could be truer when it comes to advertising. Great ads can yield dramatic results, but if the product quality isn't there, well, that horse won't be pulling out the platinum card anytime soon.

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Top 20 Ad Campaigns of the 20th Century
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Still, great ad campaigns can be revolutionary. They can change the way people live their daily lives-for better or for worse. By its own admission, AdAge refers to its selection of the top advertising campaigns of the 20th century as including: "two air polluters, nutritionless sugar water, one reviled carcinogen, two companies infamous for the use of virtual slave labor, one purveyor of savory cardiovascular time bombs, two booze peddlers and one cosmetic product preying on the vanity of women."

For better or for worse, here we celebrate the Top 10

By CNBC.com

Fashion lovers gathered in Paris this week for the haute couture fall/winter 2011 presentations, which run from Monday, July 4 to Thursday, July 7.

The event shows collections from iconic designers including Valentino, Giorgio Armani Prive, Givenchy and Jean-Paul Gaultier and concludes fashion celebrations that traveled to New York, London and Milan in the first half of the year.

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For the first time in 15 years, the Christian Dior show did not feature John Galliano, the British designer sacked in the spring for his anti-Semitic rant in a bar in Paris.

Chanel dazzled with a set recreating a life-size Place Vendome, known as the center of Paris luxury, while Giorgio Armani Prive dedicated his collection to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Emerging French talent Alexandre Vauthier's collection was dominated by red and by outfits that

By Colleen Kane, CNBC.com

Workaday Workouts...
Look, it's not breaking news that working as a physical trainer or fitness instructor makes you fit. Duh. In that line, it's an essential job requirement: "People will always judge you on your appearance," says certified personal trainer Joshua Margolis, of Mind Over Matter Health.

Additional no-brainers in this "fit jobs" category include dancers and athletes. Any active job requiring moving all day, like bike messengers, farmers, construction workers, and landscapers also come to mind. But for this slideshow, we went beyond the most obvious to find some of the less commonly cited occupations in the category-including one we can practically guarantee you didn't know was a legitimate job.


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10 Jobs That Make You Fit
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America's Healthiest (and Sickest) States

Flight Attendant
The flight attendant lifestyle seems to be the polar opposite of the dreaded desk job. "Being a flight attendant keeps you