Fantasy Look For Less

Polyvore is a treasure trove of gorgeous items that most of us will never be able to afford. Today we'll take a look at some of those gorgeous yet expensive items we covet (alas, if money were no object!) and try to find suitable replacements that won't break the bank.

Romantic Gypsy- If Money Were No Issue by ThriftyStylist featuring Celine shoes

Items in this set:
SEMON CASHEMERE SWEAT WITH FITS ORCHID CASHMERE -, 95 GBP
Amazon.com: Patchwork long silk sari wrap skirt by Jedzebel PW121:..., $1,000
CELINE - Women - FOOTWEAR - Ankle boots on YOOX.COM, $425
Marie-Héléne de Taillac 18-karat gold rose quartz and pink tourmaline..., $3,675
Mars and Valentine 'Thera' Ring, $240

The first exciting discovery when styling "the look for less" was that the sari skirt featured above is not, in fact, $1000. It's only $31 on Amazon. Unfortunately at a lower price point stuff is generally not nearly as cute (sigh) but we still think we put together a comparable outfit, for only $110.39 instead of over $4000!

Romantic Gypsy for Less by ThriftyStylist featuring Charlotte Russe cardigans

Items in this set:
Pointelle Knit Cardigan, $8.99
Amazon.com: Patchwork long silk sari wrap skirt by Jedzebel PW121:..., $31
PLOTNER, $35
Yoslyn's Aqua Blue CZ Cushion Cut Cocktail Ring, $30
Floral Fixation Headband, $2.50

A girl can dream... and play on Polyvore :)
Happy look-for-less hunting!

Suggestions for Styling Blue Shoes & Choosing Colors

Inspired by Struggler's recent post about getting rid of her new blue shoes for lack of ideas for styling them (don't do it, darling!), we decided to mock up a few outfits that we think would be perfect. Polyvore to the rescue, as usual. This time we decided to create with a starting point rather than just searching until we found something we liked, so we turned to one of our favorite websites, ColorSchemer, where you are able to buy fabulous color design software, but you can also search the member-curated color galleries for free to find a scheme you particularly like.

We looked through many pages looking for a nice rich blue hue and a lovely palette. There are some combinations that we would never use, of course, but generally speaking they are inspired and quite attractive.

(Another color site we absolutely adore, especially for our design business, is Name That Color. We were searching for a sort-of-royal, sort-of-slate-y blue, perhaps something like "Biscay" (#1D3967). Play with the color wheel tool- you will adore it and improve your color vocabulary drastically. No more "ish" and "-y" in your descriptions ;) )

First, we chose a theme called "Not Your Average Wedding," featuring orchid, peach and charcoal grey.

Styling Blue Shoes by ThriftyStylist featuring Dorothy Perkins bags

A couple of cute work looks, with the commonality of color and patterned tights and a feminine, flirty silhouette. We focused on the look here, not the price, so some of these items are a bit on the astronomical side and we advocate you look for suitable budget-friendly replacements if you enjoy the styling.

The second group of colors we chose was a bit too broad in range, so we picked just four of the colors out of it (besides the existing blue of the shoes we chose). It's called "Lady Liberty" and our selections were blue-green, eggplant purple, peachy-pink and navy blue:

Styling Blue Shoes II by ThriftyStylist featuring Pixie

These looks would probably be fine for work but might be better on the weekend or going out as they're a bit on the fancier side, but whatever works for you!

Happy confident and creative blue-shoe-sporting!

What We Wore: Neutrals that Are NOT Black!

We have already received a staggering number of compliments on today's outfit (along with repeated questions about whether or not we have an interview!), so apparently it is a success. No pictures today, sadly, but we recreated as best we could:

Outfit 10-22-09 by ThriftyStylist featuring Miss Selfridge

Planning began with the new blue shoes, $11. We don't seem to have much in the way of skirts at the moment, so the obvious choice was the Vicky's floral circle skirt ($30). Instead of doing all black for the rest, as we normally would, we made a concerted effort to try some other neutrals! For some pattern-mixing, striped grey tights (in a 2-pack from Marshall's, $5 for both). To tie the tights in, our grey Calvin Klein suit jacket (an emergency splurge at $79.99). To pick up the white in the skirt, a v-neck tee from Vicky's ($10), which we promptly spilled coffee on (sigh- this is why we so rarely wear white). We threw a bit of turquoise into the accessories to add a bit more interest to the all-grey-and-royal (cuff bracelet, gift from mom, chandelier earrings by us, flower hair clip from Claire's clearance, $2.99).

The shoes are indeed super high, so we wore our black velvet ballet flats in on the way to work, which still looks cute but not quite as killer.

We are ready to cast off the shackles of our black-centric, patternless wardrobe and move into a new era where we don't eschew all other neutrals. Don't hold your breath to see us in brown or navy anytime soon, though :)

Happy playful outfit-building (and crazy fun Polyvore-set creating!)

Resale Shop Revisited: Raspberry Beret

This chilly but lovely Saturday, instead of camping (due to freezing temperatures predicted), we took a swing up to Raspberry Beret in Wakefield, MA (our first trip discussed here) which is quite near the man's house. He dropped us off and went home to see about assimilating the new clown fish to the tank, and we went in, armed with a list (from the Wardrobe Evaluation), determined to buy nothing that was not on it. We failed. Sigh.

In our defense, there really just wasn't much going on for prints, or warm skirts. We did try on a few blouses and one wool and one leather pencil skirt but they just didn't work.

What we bought that was on the list:

A) Our long-coveted blue shoes!!! Yes! A single pair in the store-- Nine West-- and they fit perfectly (score! $11). They have a peep-toe, so we're going to have to get used to visible tights toes or we're not going to be able to wear them until next year. Gasp! Quelle horreur. Here they are, in all of their metallic, crackle-finish sheeny glory (great condition; they look to have been worn only a few times, and definitely not by a girl who has to walk anywhere):




B) A fabulous velvet blazer. Or maybe it's more of a coat. It was in the outerwear section. It's knee-length, blood-scarlet crushed velvet (brighter than the burgundy-ish showing here). From H&M - marked down from $24 to... it might have been $16? Right around there. Probably the most expensive item.


(Please pardon fiance's messy room and even worse light than usual, and note that the jacket is not asymmetrical, just looks it due to the pose). Isn't it just divine?

Things not on the list...

1) Bright purple down vest, NY&Co with tags still attached, originally $99, at Raspberry Beret a mere $10.

Isn't this a very Audi smile? Tee hee.

We think this is an amazing piece for the price. It's a simply gorgeous color, real down, not too bulky but awesomely warm, the silkiest polyester we ever did feel, and it has great detailing like an adjustable (inside) drawstring waist and snap-down-able pocket plackets to keep us from feeling like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man, plus dual-action zipper and snap closures. Lovely.

2) Teal velvet beaded scarf, $6. We own a few similar things so this was a Bad Desiree, but it was too pretty and in such great condition that we couldn't pass it up at this price.


3) Ruffly cardigan sweater with bell sleeves, mohair/nylon/wool blend, Ann Taylor, $11. We know we banned ourselves from new purple cardigans, but the rationalization here is that it's such a light purple, almost white, that we think it could be dyed a much stronger color. Perhaps... mustard? (Maybe we'll give that whole yellow thing a shot; it looks so fabulous with purple).

We got these five pieces for just over $50... how we love others' cast-offs!
How did we do?

Happy Weekend!

What You Need: 6pm.com (Shoes Under $10)

Dear shoe god in footwear heaven, have we found the mother lode. We'd often heard 6pm.com mentioned in other blogs, but never visited, assuming it to be (like Zappos) out of our price range. So we were surprised to read on one of our new favorite blogs, SpoilsofWear, that their clearance includes shoes up to 95% off suggested price. Wow.

We went to the site, selected women's, under $50, and then sorted low to high. There are pages of shoes under $5 and many more under $10. Holy crap! That's better than Goodwill, way better than Payless; and they're mostly well-respected brand names, so we're not talking cheap crap (although a tremendous portion of the available styles we wouldn't personally be caught dead in; some digging must be done, or just leave that to us ;) ).

Staid and neutral and classic are all well and good, but sometimes a girl wants to really kick (pun intended) her style up a notch. Here are some gorgeous brights to make your wardrobe a little bit more spicy, all under $8!

6 pm Rainbow Shoes under $10 by ThriftyStylist featuring Fornarina shoes

Please pardon the fact, if you click on the set, that some of these are coming up Zappos. We swear we found them ALL on 6pm.

If you're not into the brights, or just need a new pair of ever-versatile black shoes or boots, you can get one of these beautiful pairs, also under $8:

6pm Black Heels Under $10 by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Something is really wonky with Polyvore. Super sorry. Prices are wrong and links broken & going to Zappos instead of 6 pm. Sigh. But get thee to 6pm and you, too, can be the owner of some fabulous new shoes for the price of lunch. Yes!

Happy Shoe Shoppin'!

Covetable for Fall: Blue Shoes

We are absolutely obsessed with blue shoes right now, but all of the options we'd been seeing had been far over our self-imposed $30 price point... So we decided to do some serious digging. As usual, a set via Polyvore (click the pic for links to purchase- sadly some of these are UK-only stores. Boooo!):

Cobalt Blue Shoes under $30 by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Did you realize that Amazon.com has super-clearance items from other stores? We totally didn't until recently!

We also found (we wouldn't let you down!) several vintage options on Etsy... these lovelies encompass three of our ideal characteristics: cheap, unique and earth-friendly. Why choose what everyone else is buying when you could have some of these? Click here for our public favorites for individual listings.

If you own a pair of bright blue shoes, leave a comment and let us know what your favorite outfits to pair them with are!

Happy Shopping!

Charlotte Russe $10 and Under, with Free Shipping!

We were alerted to a special free shipping offer on Charlotte Russe by a savings email we get now and then (we kind of forget how we signed up for it but it's called FindSavings). Use coupon code AFFFS when you check out! (We hope they don't mind us sharing the secret). You can also get 10% off just by joining their e-mail list! We also just noticed that a lot of the items on the site are ALREADY on a free shipping promo so maybe you won't need the code at all.

Here are some of our finds from CR today (click pics to go to listing- but come back please :) )

WARNING: The end of the post gets rather shoe-heavy, and they're ridiculously affordable, so before you read any further we want to state that we are not responsible for any crankiness or Imelda-calling by your boyfriend or husband due to your inability to resist!

Carry on.

Soak up the last half of summer with these- not quite right for us, but totally adorable- pink striped short shorts, $9.99:

A great take on a basic cami, this ruffle-top tank with bow-tie shoulder detailing and a nice flowy silhouette is only $6.99 and comes in either royal or heather grey.


While we're at it, another super-cute ruffled-neck top; this one available in hot pink as shown and also a maize-y "lemongrass," $5.00! We're loving the longer length, too.



...and while we're not normally that "into" plaid, madras or pastels, how adorable is this corset-style a-line double-layer cami for $9.99?


While it's only halfway through summer for most of us, we can't resist a cute pair of tights (stocking up! Hahahaha. OK sorry), as you should know by now. These pink pointelle ones, also available in grey, are at an awesome clearance price of $3.49 (one size only though, boo).

Or, if you're a little more daring and enjoying the neon trend of late, you can have hot pink or yellow tights, too, for $2.49!


We are totally going to score this awesome tie-dye scarf in our personal favorite colors, $4.49


We've been looking for bright blue heels for ages, but aren't these flats too fantastic for $9.49 as well??
We don't go out and about on the town much but would surely be seeking an occasion to rock this fabulous iridescent metal mesh mini-handbag with a removable strap to make it a clutch or shoulder bag! ($8.49):



That's definitely the cutest stuff we found for our taste, but you can find more items listed under $10 (at least 200 of them!) here.

Despite the title of the post, we did have to check out what's available for just over $10. You'll be pleased we did. Have a drool over this chiffon and satin blouse with corset styling and layered-look sleeves... EEK! $10.99! Do.Need.



Perhaps paired with these fabulous studded ankle-strap stilettos? $14.99! How fabulously rock-chic.


Look, look, look! We found our blue heels! Well, OK maybe not ours - we're not sure the cage trend is so good for us stubby-legged girls- but great color and surely someone requires these for only $11.49, no? (They're also available in red, and we all need more red shoes.



Pardon if you heard the echo of the thump as we fell off of our chair for the next ones. O.M.G. Are there really any words? Besides purple, shiny, platform, rosette? Augh. $14.99. Available in black or red, too. These people are trying to kill us and our poor, poor budget with all of this dear-god-I-must-own-that!



Ditto. $11.49. Oh, the preciousity. (We're coining the word).


Darn that "if you like, you'd probably love..." feature! ACK! How dare they tempt us with these incredible python-print pumps that have ventured up past the $20 range? Evil! ($22.99)


Oh, Charlotte Russe, you will be the death of our attempt-to-not-shop-too-much. Who could resist you?

For more finds $10-$25, click here.

If you've shopped CR before (eednic?) please let us know how you feel about the quality, customer service, shipping, etc. before we take the plunge!

Happy Shopping :D