Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Fashion On The Cheap


"I like my money right where I can see it.  Hanging in my closet".  -Carrie, "Sex And The City"

I love fashion. All of it. The clothes. The shoes. The bling. I also no longer have the budget that I used to have in order to spend more on my love of said fashion. I started my own business last year, and, as we all know, getting a business to stay in the black doesn't happen overnight. Although, the bills are paid, I have money to put back, and some to spend, I still remain a little cautious. Only because, in this economy, you never know if your business will still be standing the next day. Hence, my fashion on the cheap.

Let's break this down, shall we? You attend red carpets, social events, etc. Maybe you attend a quiet din at friends. Whatever the case may be, you want to look good. If you can't afford the "labels" that you used to be able to afford, just improvise. It doesn't mean that you can't still look good.

If you're a fashionista, or social butterfly, you also know that you can't wear the same outfit to more than one event - at least not in the same city. Other fashionista's WILL notice. Major faux pas, right there.

So, let me give you an example of a couple of recent events that I attended on a low budget:

First, this is a red carpet event that I attended in Hollywood, CA, back in July. I was there for 10 days for the World Championships of Performing Arts. The final night was the televised finale (black tie), with a VIP reception afterwards. I was honored to be able to attend this event.


That's me, on the left, attending with my always cool, and amazing, Aunt C.  Now, this is how you do a black tie red carpet event, and it was an amazing evening!  Here's how the outfit breaks down:  The necklace, earrings, bracelet, and clutch purse were all borrowed from the The Aunt.  The rest of the jewelry is mine (rings and more bracelets).  I don't wear much gold anymore, so I had to hit up her jewelry stash, and I'm currently replenishing the gold bling in my armoir. Thank God for family members who love The Bling as much as I!  The dress is Fab'rik, and it was free (I won it in a Pinterest contest that they recently had - a $68.00 dress).  The shoes are ShoeDazzle, and were only $39.00.  They are a stacked, peep-toe, sling-back pump in a pinkish/champagne satin, with gold heels and gold rhinestones all over them.  Total cost for the entire outfit:  $39.00.  Can't beat that!

And?  I can "technically" wear this outfit to an event here in my hometown, since I wore it in California, but only once.  Because, then, it's officially on The Event Radar.

Next, I attended a wine-tasting fundraiser a couple of weeks ago.


This was another fun one!  That's me in the middle, with my friends, Salwa (L), and April (R).  The earrings are Charming Charlie, and I spent all of $9.99 on them.  The necklace was purchased at Charlotte Russe, and was on clearance for $3.00.  Yes, THREE DOLLARS, down from $19.00.  The rest of the jewelry is from pieces that I already had in my armoir.  The top... is actually a strapless dress(!), and was also on clearance at Charlotte Russe for $9.00.

Side note:  This is the perfect time of year to buy Summer clothes, as the stores have all of their Summer wear drastically marked down.  The same goes for Winter wear at the onset of Spring.

Now, this dress has an elastic waistline, with a little belt.  Because I wasn't wearing it as a dress, I removed the belt and pulled the waist up a little bit to give it more of an empire waistline look.  It also made the dress look more like a long top, which was the plan.  The white skinny jeans were on sale for $19.00 at Body Central.  The shoes (that you can't see in this picture) are black classic Candie's that I bought quite a few years ago, when they came back in style... again.  I can't seem to rid myself of them - they are some of the best quality-made shoes I've ever had.  You can't tear these things up!  Love them, and they are as comfy as all get out!  Total cost for outfit:  $41.00.

So you see, you can go out in the evenings having spent little money on your outfit, still look great, and still have enough to spend on a decent dinner and drinks.

Next up:  What I wore to my friends wedding up in West Virginia.

Sparkles & Kisses!
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1 comment:

  1. stunned and amazed and delighted! You kill it girl!! absolutely kill it!

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