When it comes to keeping you abreast of the best ways to spend your money during the mighty tornado of savings known as Cyber Week, we consider ourselves experts. Whether we’re listing the most splurge-worthy beauty sales, the most marvelous markdowns in the world of home goods, or the deepest discounts on fashion, the R29 Shopping team's objective is to find every deal that's worth your time — and we just spent the last few weeks up to today digging through every single big sale event on the World Wide Web.
This weekend will be a deal-laden, online-spending spree where many retailers will continue to up the sale ante from Black Friday all the way through Cyber Monday; deepening discounts and adding perks to close out the markdown marathon with a bang. Since we've been sniffing out the savings (and have a pretty strong scent trail), we were able to curate an exhaustive guide to every single Cyber Week discount that you'll actually want to score. Scroll on to find ALL the need-to-know promo codes from the most popular sales happening now.
Be sure to bookmark this page — we'll continue to update it until the clock strikes midnight on Monday and the last best deal comes to a close.
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
Lovehoney Classic Plug In Massage Wand Vibrator, $, available at Lovehoney
Aura Frames
Dates: Now - Nov. 30 Sale: $40 off select frame styles Promo Code: None
Aura Frames Carver Frame, $, available at Aura Frames
Williams-Sonoma
Dates: Now - Nov. 30 Sale: Black Friday Deals: Up to 50% off cookware, tools, electrics, and more; plus an extra 20% off clearance Promo Code: EXTRA (for clearance section only)
NEW YORK, USA – NOVEMBER 22: A group of Trump supporters burned face masks at the Washington Square Park as they protest coronavirus (COVID-19) measurements in New York City, United States on November 22, 2020. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
While there’s still a lot we don’t know about the coronavirus, we’ve learned a few key facts since it hit the U.S. about eight months ago. Chief among them is that, according to the CDC and most medical experts, masks are extremely effective in protecting against the disease when worn correctly. They create a physical barrier to virus-carrying respiratory droplets, so when you are in close proximity to someone else, your mask protects them and their mask protects you. This is particularly important because asymptomatic spread of coronavirus is disturbingly common, and experts say masking is crucial when social distancing is impossible.
Most Americans seem to have gotten the message. Pew Research reported in August that 85% of those surveyed wore masks in stores and other businesses, up from 65% in June. A National Geographic poll from October found that 92% of Americans surveyed always or sometimes wore a mask when leaving the house. With coronavirus cases on the rise practically everywhere in the U.S., and the Thanksgiving holiday posing potential outbreak risks, experts are practically begging us to take precautions, which include forgoing large celebrations, social distancing when possible, and, yes, wearing a mask.
Still, there are holdouts, particularly among supporters of President Donald Trump, who is not one for wearing masks, despite having had COVID-19 himself. Anti-mask groups can be found in abundance on Facebook, where their many r members are very vocal about their beliefs and refusal to wear a mask — including to us.
“I only wear a mask at work and the stores I know will enforce the mandate,” April Hendriksen, 21, who lives in the Salt Lake City area and works as a janitor at the Salt Lake City Airport, told Refinery29. “Even then, I keep it off my nose. Mathematically, there’s no reason to wear a mask. Additionally, this has been proven to not work at all. We’ve all been wearing masks for almost a year now, and the virus still spreads.”
Even when we pointed out to Hendriksen and others that experts say universal mask-wearing could save thousands of lives, that the coronavirus is about 10 times deadlier than the flu, they were not persuaded.
Instead, anti-maskers often mentioned the need for herd immunity, something that Trump has talked about many times, once calling it “herd mentality.” But herd immunity can only be achieved with vaccines or with over 70% of the population becoming infected and then recovering, according to the Mayo Clinic. Meanwhile, the road to herd immunity means the kind of high infection rate that could lead to an even more catastrophic amount of deaths, long-term complications, and a tremendous burden on an already overwhelmed healthcare system. And yet that’s not enough to convince diehard anti-maskers.
“If there’s absolutely no way to get out of wearing a mask, I’ll put one on,” Heather, a 41-year-old from Houma, LA, who works for a delivery service called Waitr and has five kids ages three to 15, told Refinery29. “But I will pull it off once I enter the facility. I’ve done it to just be able to walk in. This is a free country and I’m exercising my rights to choose not to mask or make my family mask up. If people feel the need to mask up, by all means do so. If I could fight the school system on it, I would. That’s the only time my kids will wear one.”
Heather added that she also doesn’t wear a mask when she makes deliveries for work, and that, although the company requires it, no one has ever said anything. While she’s never been in a confrontation about it, some people have given her “dirty looks.”
Ramona Russum, 51, a gallery attendant at the Dallas Museum of Art who lives in Irving, TX, thinks similarly. “I don’t wear a mask because I feel that it needs to be a choice, not mandated,” Russum told Refinery29. “[And] that I know what is best for my health and not the government; that God has given me a brain to know how to take care of myself. I wear one at work and my whole body feels horrible for six hours. It affects my job performance and I feel that I could do a better job without a mask. I don’t think the government should be in control of our lives and health.” She said wearing her mask has given her panic attacks and affected her mental health, and that lockdowns and social distancing have had the same effect.
It’s important to note that there is nothing illegal or unconstitutional about state or federal mask mandates, and 38 states — including Utah, Louisiana, and Texas — now require masks in public. Even many Republican governors have gotten on board with their effectiveness. “Masks do not negatively affect our economy, and wearing them is the easiest way to slow the spread of the virus,” Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said in a recent address. “We cannot afford to debate this issue any longer. Individual freedom is certainly important, and it is our rule of law that protects that freedom.” Besides, mask mandates are not permanent measures designed to get people to love wearing masks. Rather, they are a temporary measure to protect yourself and others. Still, some people still see the piece of cloth as government overreach.
“I am not okay with the government forcing me to wear a mask,” Patrick Hayes, 41, a plumber in Grand Junction, CO, told Refinery29. “If the government wanted to force everyone to carry a handgun to make society safer, you know, protect your neighbor… I would fight against it. It’s not your responsibility to protect me and I don’t think you should be forced to do it.”
Hayes does, though, number among the many people who at least seem to agree that masking up could help protect vulnerable populations who are statistically at much higher risk of death or serious illness from COVID-19. “I am happy to wear a mask for anyone who asks,” Hayes said. “I’ve worn a mask when I have a customer who is elderly or infirm and they ask me to. I love my customers and I would stand on my head in their living room if they asked me to.”
And while she is not personally concerned about getting COVID, Heather said, “If you’re vulnerable and want to mask up fine. I have family members who are elderly and have health problems and I recommend them masking up.” Hendriksen said she thinks we would be safer if we “shifted all of our protection efforts from the demographics in our society that are statistically safe, to protect the demographics at risk.”
None of the people who spoke with us seem too concerned about contracting the virus themselves, either. But when they spoke about their fearlessness in the face of COVID, they didn’t sound pragmatic so much as fatalistic.
“I’m not worried about things I can’t do anything about,” Russum said. “I can’t control the flu or getting hit by a bus, either. Should I never get in a car again because I might get into a car accident?”
“I think if you’re bound to get COVID, you will regardless if you wear a mask or not,” Heather said. “I know people who have recovered from COVID and, sadly, some who didn’t. Does that change my mind on masking up? Absolutely not.”
“If the virus cannot be eliminated, won’t everyone catch it sooner or later?” said Hayes.
Hendriksen said both her parents are infected with COVID, but that they are “fine” and “it’s not much worse for them compared to the usual flu they both get at this time of year.” She said she continues going about her life and socializing with friends. “There’s hardly a reason to be afraid,” she said. “The only reason I worry about becoming infected is that it would put me out of work for two weeks due to the social stigma around the virus.”
Social stigma or not, more than 250,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S., with deaths spiking during the month of November, reaching over 1,000 on some days. Then too, the number of U.S. cases has surpassed 12 million, with approximately 1 million new cases each week this month. Many parts of the country have run out of ICU beds and even morgue space. That sounds like plenty of reason to be afraid — if not for yourself, then for everyone else around you.
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I was in the sixth grade when I got my first pair of UGG boots. I went with my mom, who was 43-years-old at the time, and also purchasing her first pair. Hers were sand and tall, while mine were chestnut and short. And for the next five Chicago winters, we wore them almost every day — and had the ice melt stains to prove it. I wore my UGGs to school, to cheerleading practice, and, as haunting Facebook photos show, on my eighth-grade class trip to Washington, D.C. I wasn’t alone. Almost every girl on the trip wore them, most often paired with yoga pants and the same tie-dye sweatshirt we all bought at the airport. As most girls who were teens in 2008 will tell you, UGGs were the epitome of style.
In the early 2000s, UGGs were ubiquitous in the spotlight, too. Paris Hilton wore them, as did her Simple Life co-star Nicole Richie. So did stars like Beyoncé and Britney Spears. Models weren’t immune either, with Kate Moss famously being photographed wearing an extra dirty pair in 2003. To this day, I think of Sienna Miller wearing folded-over UGG boots with low-rise jeans, a white T-shirt, and a cropped cardigan — and a black Motorola RAZR! — in 2005.
My interest in the boot waned when I entered high school. While there, I started reading fashion magazines religiously, most of which were calling them “ugly,” and began experimenting with clothes that weren’t also on everyone else. I lay my UGGs to rest. The celebrity sightings tapered off over the years as well. Sure, Shia LaBeouf wore a Pennsylvania Senior Games T-shirt with joggers and UGGs in 2014; Pharrell Williams donned UGGs on the red carpet that same year; and Diana Ross wore UGGs and a sweatsuit (how 2020 of her) in 2017, but, otherwise, they fell off of my radar as the footwear of choice.
That is, until 2020, when the prospect of quarantining in my Brooklyn apartment for an undetermined amount of time led me to reconsider my ban on what people in fashion view as a divisive shoe.
Two weeks into my solo lockdown in March, I caved and ordered a pair of UGG’s Classic Mini IIs in black. I wasn’t shopping for anything else, but something about a fresh, comfortable pair of UGG boots prompted me. When the box arrived, I put them straight on, and just like that, I was 11 years old again, walking out of Nordstrom with my chestnut UGGs already on my feet, the shoes I walked into the store wearing tucked away in a shopping bag. In addition to my trusty pair of New Balance 990v5s, which I ran in before anyone was up, they were the only shoes I wore until summer hit. (Yes, I’m aware that 990s aren’t designed for running, and yes, I still wear them for that purpose.) Even then, with my AC blaring, I sometimes still put my UGGs on.
Maybe it’s the memory of them that’s been ingrained in my mind from years of daily wear, or perhaps the comforting feeling of wearing what feel like slippers all day (even when working), but something about UGGs keeps them close to my heart. To find out if others, too, feel the same continued kinship to their UGG boots as I do, I posed the question on Instagram. “My high school boyfriend bought me my first and only pair in ‘09. Somehow they are still alive in my closet,” said Kathryn Zahorak from Los Angeles. “Someone got me a pair of UGG slippers and they changed my life,” wrote Sam Ehrlich from New York. Karsen Schafer-Jünger, also from New York, said that she still remembers when, as a ‘00s kid, she “was surprised to find a pair on Christmas morning” because her family was struggling with money. “They were chocolate brown classics and it was a BIG deal,” she told me. She, too, bought a new pair of UGGs recently: red Mini IIs just like mine. And those were just a few of the highlights. (Naturally, my childhood friends had to remind me of the D.C. photos, as if the memory of them wasn’t still crystal clear in my head.)
Rising interest in UGGs isn’t exclusive to my Instagram bubble. For the quarter ending on September 30, Deckers, UGG’s parent company, reported a 2.5% increase in brand net sales for UGG, with $415.1 million compared to $404.9 million for the same period in 2019. On fashion search engine Lyst, UGG’s slippers and boots are two of the top-searched products for the Californian brand of 2020, with each garnering 201,000 and 90,500 average monthly searches, respectively. Moreover, Lyst recently reported that UGG slippers were saved to individual wish lists more than 10,000 times in the days leading up to Black Friday.
In September, model Emily Ratajkowski was photographed in New York City wearing a leather blazer with a lime green hoodie (also by UGG), bike shorts, and chestnut-colored Classic Mini IIs. A month later, fellow model Irina Shayk wore a hot pink pair of the brand’s Ultra Mini boots, which she paired with one of 2020’s biggest trends: a tie-dye loungewear set. The next day, Shayk, again, stepped out in her UGGs, this time in a black sports-bra-and-leggings set, a teddy jacket from UGG, and tiny sunglasses. The looks caught headlines. “Irina Shayk Joined the Growing List of Celebs Who Love These New UGG Boots” was splayed across Who What Wear’s homepage, while Grazia’s coverage was titled, “Irina Shayk Is Single-Handedly Bringing Back The UGG Boot.”
Even before the pandemic made comfort wear the year’s biggest fashion trend, the brand was en route for a “comeback” (some would argue that they never went anywhere). In the last four years alone, UGG has collaborated with some of this decade’s most prominent and innovative names. For fall ‘18, the brand joined forces with Japanese luxury brand Sacai. A year later, bicoastal indie brand Eckhaus Latta and New York streetwear label Heron Preston both announced collaborations with UGG. (All three collaborations sold out, as have the pieces resulting from most of their other partnerships.) Jeremy Scott, Philip Lim, Y/Project, Bape, and Kith have all, too, joined forces with the brand in the past.
This June, three more brands — Telfar, Molly Goddard, and Feng Chen Wang — joined UGG’s long list of collaborators. “I find UGG really sexy,” said designer Telfar Clemens — who first deconstructed the classic UGG boot for the brand’s fall ‘11 show — said in a press release. “I’ve always been obsessed with a certain kind of ubiquity and when something really unique ends up on everybody.” Unique, sure, but the design is simple, and, for the most part, unchanging. UGGs are shearling boots and slippers, designed to be worn post-surf, and adapted for a lot more. That’s it. So why did they become a worldwide phenomenon — one with a handle on everyone, from millionaire celebrities to teenage girls? Perhaps the answer is uncomplicated as timing.
Like Clemens said, there’s something appealing about an item that everyone knows. Maybe during a year when nothing is familiar, when wearing heels is a distant memory, they were bound to return full force. Ugly or not, I, for one, am all too willing to welcome them with open arms. And pair them with a shearling UGG x Telfar shopping bag while I’m at it.
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Very rarely has Melania Trump seemed happy to carry out her limited duties as First Lady. When she’s not leading her laughably hypocritical Be Best campaign to discourage online bullying or giving plagiarized speeches at the Republican National Convention, she’s often noticeably absent from the public eye, giving fuel to the ongoing rumor that she has a body-double stand in for her during public appearances. But, there is one remaining obligation that Trump has managed to do before leaving Washington forever: Present the White House holiday decor for the 2020 holiday season.
While this year’s festive decorations were less The Handmaid’s Tale-esque than her 2018 offering, and certainly not as post-apocalyptic as her 2017 ornamentation, it did have a theme of sorts, one that is bound to be her legacy as First Lady: hypocrisy. In the White House’s Red Room, for example, is a Christmas-themed tribute to essential workers, complete with a tree adorned with ornaments shaped like trash trucks, scientists, caregivers, lab coats, and nurse hats. Interesting choice considering that her husband knowingly downplayed the severity of a global pandemic that, to date, has infected over 13 million Americans, killed more than 267,000, and left millions more unemployed and facing possible eviction. And, of course, the First Lady doesn’t really seem to care much about the immigrant essential workers who were purposefully omitted from the CARES Act, excluding them from obtaining COVID-19 relief money. In truth, this is a fitting pseudo-tribute from the woman who donned a “I really don’t care, do you?” jacket when visiting immigrant men, women, and children in cages at the U.S. border.
Also amid the 106 wreaths, 62 trees, and more than 1,200 feet of garland in Mrs. Trump’s “toned down” holiday decor is a tribute to the woman’s suffrage movement, which 100 years ago gave women the right to vote — as long as they were, you know, white. Amid the decorative yellow roses — a tribute to women suffragettes — there are ornaments of prominent women throughout history; we even spy one of Black activist Ida B. Wells. While it’s great that not only white suffragettes are being honored at the White House, it’s yet another example of Trump’s hypocrisy by celebrating voting rights at the same time that her husband is trying to say that legitimate votes should be discounted and that the whole system is rigged.
But perhaps it’s the black urns filled with foliage and greenery from each state and U.S. territory — supposedly in keeping with this year’s “America the Beautiful” theme — that is most revealing of how Trump views her role as First Lady on the whole, and with regards to Christmas in particular. It’s fitting that a woman who was recorded saying “Who gives a fuck about Christmas stuff and decorations, but I need to do it, right?” would choose an urn — a piece of decor most often associated with funerals and death — as part of this year’s festivities. But perhaps the urns makes sense considering that approximately 1,000 Americans are dying from COVID-19 every single day. As the President and First Lady prepare to host a number of in-door holiday celebrations as their days at the White House come to a close, hospitals are reaching capacity and health care workers are caring for a record-number of coronavirus patients, making it more clear than ever that they really don’t care.
So, while the official theme of this year’s White House Christmas decorations might very well be “America the Beautiful,” the actual theme seems much closer to: “America the Hypocritical” — a very fitting end to Melania Trump’s White House decorating career. Beauty fades, but the nightmare that was this administration will last forever.
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