Unbeatable Prices: Body Central

Florida-based body-conscious clothing company Body Central somehow got my name and address (Victoria's Secret, I'm looking at you!) and while generally the juniors-focused clothes are a bit on the young side for me (short skirts, destroyed jeans, etc.), they have some truly amazing deals on clothes that emulate the look of Vicky's at a much lower price, so I am not complaining about receiving the catalog.

Anything with nice detailing at VS is going to run you at least $40, especially anything corset-inspired or lacy, and dresses generally debut over $70. Not to say you can't find great clearance deals there, as I've discussed, but in general a few items will add up to $100 rapidly. Not so with Body Central, where nearly every piece is in the $15-30 range. Nearly all of the summer line is pretty darn cute, but here are my personal favorites:

Fabulous Dresses:

Sublimation print B&W elbow-length sleeve dress, $24.50



Also in gorgeous pastel multicolor, $24.50

Psychedelic print banded-waist halter maxi dress, $29.80 

(my catalog says $26.50 so maybe call if you order and demand the lower price! (Source Code C5A109C)

Adorable Tops:

Crochet-back flyaway-hem cardigan vest, $19.50

Lace-overlay corset-inspired cami with padded cups, $16.50

Corset top with sheer cap sleeves (also in white), $19.50

Layering cami in 9 colors, $8.50! o_O

This picture also wins my "lovely!" award for best styling in the catalog. So summery, so pretty with those chunky bangles and the long necklace, matchy-matchy after my own heart, plus the perfect balance of the floaty skirt and form-fitting tanks (skirt available at $29.50, teal bangle, wood bangle and necklace $6 each. The whole outfit a mere $64.50!

  Ruffled eyelet-applique sleeveless blouse, $16.50

 I'm so attracted to this sequined cami but it's probably better for the less-curvy girls, $19.50

My only major issue with BC is the lack of extended sizing. Most things come in S, M, L or 1-13 or S/M and M/L. That cuts out, oh, a good 60% of the population. Uncool, BC, uncool. Voluptuous ladies like cute clothes, too! That and that a lot of the stuff is polyester (ew), but at these prices you can hardly expect organic cotton or something, right? The ever-present quandary of ethics vs. poverty, *sigh*

You'll have to let me know if you end up buying any of these, because my shopping embargo is actually going pretty well since that last spree at Vicky's-- oh yeah, and that other one at the mall-- but for all of June I haven't set foot in a clothing store or mail-ordered anything! Go me!

How do you like these picks? Have you ever ordered from BC or gone to one of their (apparently 194) stores? Let us all know what you thought, if so. 

Happy shopping, vicariously or otherwise ;)

 

Steal-Sharing: Ann Taylor Loft $7-$30

We just recently signed up at ShopItToMe, a site we discovered on Ramit Sethi's personal finance blog, and we recommend you do the same, unless you are on a personal shopping embargo!

You answer a few questions, give them your email address, and pick your favorite brands from their list (you can add more as you go), and then they send you emails (you can adjust the frequency) with sale items in whatever price range you designate! You can even choose what percentage off the item has to be to show up in your inbox, in addition to the final sale price.

We are pretty enamored so far. Since we're not exactly "into" brands, it was difficult to make our initial selection, but we're glad we branched out of our comfort zone, 'cuz they showed us an adorable skirt at Ann Taylor Loft (middle below for $29.99) and a bit more digging by us resulted in the rest of these awesome steals (pics loaded via Polyvore due to difficulty copying from Ann Taylor site; click through to be linked to actual listing):

Ann Taylor Loft Sale- Skirts by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Ann Taylor Loft Sale- Pants by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Ann Taylor Loft Sale- Tops by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Great basics for super cheap, and the quality and fabric are worth far more. Upscale clothes for Target prices= score.

They're also offering free shipping on any orders over $125.00.

We will be sharing our finds periodically, but for now we'll leave you with our final pick, a too-cute-for-words ruffly-puckered-bodice summer dress for less than $20:

Ann Taylor Loft Sale- Dress by ThriftyStylist featuring Tarina Tarantino jewelry

You love us, right?

Steals and Deals: Tulle4Us

We discovered this brand- Tulle4us- in our new Lucky mag and made a note to look for comparable pieces in a lower price range, since the featured items were sooo cute but fairly expensive. But Robin at ThreadbearThoughts posted about a cute little skirt from them that was only $14.00, so we figured there must be more sale stuff! And there is.

Much of it is very much not our style, and (as per usual, sigh) , it's clearly geared toward juniors and definitely not generally affordable- except for the sale section (you can sort low to high, and skip whatever pages are out of your range!) But we thought we'd mention a few inexpensive and adorable standouts (click pics for links to purchase).

Blazers and jackets are usually priced fairly high because their construction is much more complicated than, say, a skirt. So we're excited to see these two cute corduroy ones for only $14.99 each, available in either the tangerine or the celery:

Personally we're not into brass or gold hardware (then again, buttons can be changed), and we're not sure the pocket details would do us any favors, but we think these are very cute for someone else!

And now some blue dress love!

Ruffled shirtdress, $17.20

Tiered voile dress, $18.00

Pleated cotton dress, $18.00

Terribly cute and terrific prices, right?

We also found this lovely lace-cut-out-detail slip for only $19.80, far less than just about everything at Frederick's or Vicky's; it is crazy sexy but functional, too (we have quite a few see-through skirts and this looks like just the cure). And it's made from cotton jersey, not that nasty hot nylon/poly blend most slips are!

We're forever seeking out cute cardigans for layering, and they're amazingly elusive. We're not 100% sure about the tie detail in this sweater here-- for us, that is-- but it's a linen/rayon blend (hooray nice fabric!) for $12.00 so we're sure someone needs this (shown in rose/ "berry" but also available in black and pale yellow/ "banana"):

We love bamboo but haven't seen much of it around except in really high-end stuff... it's so soft and lovely, if you've never felt it! This is a bamboo/rayon/nylon blend short-sleeve sweater in a really cute shape (again, not for us but maybe for you!) at a truly amazing clearance price of $14.00:

Definitely another site to add to the "let's-see-if-anything's-marked-down-further lists... Enjoy the finds and Happy Shopping as always :D

Are You Kidding Us? Lady Language

Many thanks to Audi at FashionForNerds for the mention of LadyLanguage, where we just discovered this Marilyn-inspired LBD for a staggering clearance price of $5.


The site could use some re-tooling (an advertised but not hotlinked clearance/sale section is nowhere to be found, nor is sorting by price an option, necessitating rifling through-- or letting the Thrifty Stylist do it for you), but there are some amazing prices here. Unfortunately the sizing is pretty limited at as well: only S, M, L (junior measurements). We apologize if this is a frustrating post for you (we've been there, girl... do you remember the store 5-7-9?)!

We're rather obsessed with dresses right now so we'll show you some more!

How about a coral strapless 50s-inspired embroidered circle skirt option for only $14?



Or perhaps you are a girl who likes a bold, kaleidoscopic floral in a precious flocked-bodice sundress? Divine, is it not? 100% cotton and only $22.00...


...And we're pretty much dying over the exquisite eyelet-and-ruffle detailing on this gorgeous bright orangey coral tube dress, $24- which we envision with a white cardigan at the office- what do you think? (We also saw this one in a maizey-yellow).


For inexpensive work basics or layering, we found this rich burgundy dolman-sleeve pointelle sweater for $12 (check out the link for the cool back collar detailing!):


We are forever looking for cheap tights to stock up on for fall and spring since we wear so many skirts, and these sweater tights certainly fit the bill, in 6 colors, only $4! (But we're not so thrilled that their "one size fits all" says up to 165 lbs. Sorry to our taller and curvier sisters).


We also love this precious puff-sleeve tee with button detailing at the shoulders, fairly inexpensive at $17.


We hope you enjoy these finds! We'll be checking out Lady Language every once in a while to see if more of the cute stuff has gone on clearance, since a few of the very loveliest dresses are still way out of our range. Happy shopping!

Sunday Steals and Deals: The $15 Store

Have you heard of this place? (15dollarstore.com). Are we late on the uptake?
It's geared toward juniors, and as we've mentioned we probably shouldn't be looking for that kind of stuff, but $15! Every single thing. They seem to be remnants from somewhere-- they have original prices and everything is marked way down. Even if it's just a marketing ploy, Wow.
We won't vouch for the quality until we order something, but when we get paid at the end of the month, we're pretty sure we know where at least $45 is going:

This ombre empire-waist dress with beaded trim, in two gorgeous colors, looks pretty short, but for those of us who aren't teenagers anymore it could look adorable over a contrasting longer skirt or petticoat, yes?

ombre dress $15 store by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

We're always on the lookout for a bargain for next season, so even though we detest the idea of a sweater actually on us at this moment, these gorgeously saturated fuchsia and purple options-- one cashmere, the other two so girly it slays us-- have us awaiting our paycheck with the zeal of a giddy child on Christmas Eve.

Fall Bright Sweaters $15 by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

If you're in the market for a new coat for fall, can you even believe they're selling a real suede trench for $15? In sand and "almond" brown, we're not sure we can personally pull it off, but dear readers, you do have to snap it up. Actually, it might look snazzy over an interview outfit so perhaps we should take the plunge. It's not a very painful one.

Suede Mini-Trench $15 by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

We mentioned that we've been seeking another alternative to our regular black lace cardigan; we do have a few shawls and pashminas, but we're definitely eyeing these three options (especially that burnout velvet, oh, my).

Romantic Cover-ups by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

We suspect the junior sizing will run small. We haven't gone so far as to see if they have a sizing chart. We're still giddy from browsing. Although we admit that we're sharing the creme de la not much at all. But maybe your tastes aren't as specific and you'll find more... However, these deals are a good enough start to have us excited for a new place to order. We'll report back.

Let us know if you enjoyed the finds, and definitely if you've ever shopped there!

Friday Steals and Deals: MetroStyle

We're sort of hyperventilating over here. While searching for a cheap velvet blazer, we came upon MetroStyle.com and their amazing clearance section. We wanted to share some of our crazy-thrifty finds...

How about $10-$15 for jeans? (Depending on color- they come in several! Different lengths, too!)

$10 converible sandals that you can wear as slides, or attach the ankle strap (ingenious!)

$8-$10 for this adorable ruffly sundress (just look at those princess seams! Phenomenal)!

Only $8 for this incredible vegan patent corset belt which would really funk up an outfit!
$10 for velvet jeans? (These would so be ours if didn't need the petite length!) Wow.

Moving out of the $10 range, this $15 linen/rayon-blend maxi dress has wood bead detailing at the neckline for a double-trend-whammy (maxi length + ethnic detailing = score!)


Stock up on sexy sweaters for fall now, since you really can't beat the $13 price tag and 6 color options in this surplice version:
If you, too, are trying to add a little bit more bold color in with your fondness (obsession?) for black, try this skirt with bright goring at the hem, also only $13:


How about a $12 jean jacket in one of the hottest colors for summer, coral? (Also in bright yellow "gold")
Here's another stunning sweater option at $15, although sadly we can't promise that it will do anything this incredible for your ass. *Sigh* don't we wish.
And $20 for a skirt suit! The jacket has 3 buttons and the seaming we discussed last post... it's polyester, and only the ivory is lined, but it's $20 for two pieces!
Lastly, why not liven up your boring black pump collection with some gorgeous teal or purple platform peeptoes for $20??

Now please excuse us while we go fill up our shopping cart :D

Let us know what you think of these finds and if you buy anything!

What We Wore Today: Mac n Jac 'n' H&M

If you're like us, the second you buy something new you must.wear.it.

It's probably horribly sketchy to put on used clothes without washing them, but they looked clean enough and at least they don't have nasty factory chemicals all over them like new clothes (which we do wash first, promise). We don't really do dry cleaning unless absolutely necessary (it's not really thrifty).

So, although we had quite a difficult time deciding just which of our new treasures to wear today, we settled on the most "fun" one- the silk shantung skirt with beading and silk chiffon trim at the hem. We almost passed this up, by the way, as it was marked quite larger than our usual skirt size. However, once we tried it on, we discovered that worn on the hips rather than the waist, it's a perfect fit.



It's "Mac n Jac" brand, which we'd never heard of, but is apparently carried at Nordstrom. This fact, along with the beautiful (100% silk) fabric and exquisite beading detail, suggests to us that the $15 we spent (down from $28 originally at Raspberry Beret) is kind of like an obscene steal. We dig it.

We paired it with the new (to us of course) $5 slinky sweater which is from H&M, and some divine turquoise chandelier earrings we made for ourselves during our last craft fair (good to stay busy when absolutely no one is stopping at your table- le sigh). With earrings this big and a fairly interesting neckline to the sweater, we decided against a necklace. We are wearing a beaded bracelet with turquoise cat-eyes which we made long ago, as well as our Norway Silver leaf-print David Anderson bracelet (consignment shop, gift from mum, one of our most treasured pieces) which echoes the leafy sequins in the beading on the skirt (see detail).

Please pardon the lousy cell phone pictures. We promise that one of these days we'll get around to learning how our camera's self-timer works and leaving time in the morning for daylight outfit shots. Our bathroom mirror stinks. Sigh.

What do you think? Are the black boots too boring with it? We considered the purple pumps since the sequins have some purple iridescence to them... Maybe next time!

High on Bargains

Oh.My.God.

We went to Raspberry Beret. It was amazing. Truly. We're still a little light-headed.

The boutique is beautifully and absolutely perfectly arranged-- by color and size! We could just die. The entire place is gorgeously decorated, from the giant vintage mirror to the dressing rooms filled with silk embroidered throw pillows and wrought iron hooks... Just a pleasure to be there and take in the exquisitely designed wall displays. But the clothes, of course, are the main event...

Pictures will follow but we just had to post about what we got, right this moment.

8 items, $102.00 (most things were marked down further than the price tag because they had been at the store a certain amount of time! Score!)

Lace plunge-neckline evening gown, $16
Forest green faux leather megahandbag, $17
Black & white floral a-line skirt with ribbon belt, $8
Black tiered crochet-trim summer skirt, $10
Black chiffon-trim beaded shantung skirt, $15
Multi-chain teal & turquoise glass bead necklace, $17
Purple suede pointy-toe pumps (marked 6 but fit my 7 feet perfectly!) $14
Turquoise lightweight boatneck sweater, $5
We are so absolutely thrilled and can't wait to drag our man back to the store (haha). A bonus for him, they had a lovely ottoman between the fitting rooms; a provision he calls the "man corral" and one that we rather enjoy for its prolonging of the disinterested shopping companion's patience!

We have no idea to what event we'll ever wear the nude-with-black-lace-overlay evening gown, but it fit so magnificently and was so inexpensive that we had to have it. Surely we'll go to some sort of fancy event someday? It is a classic style, with a tulip skirt and some serious decolettage, so we're pretty sure it won't look dated in a few years. We're thinking of it as an investment piece. For not much of an investment :) (Oh how we love second-hand!)

We were hoping to find a few more bright accessories, but the green handbag and purple shoes should go a long way to livening up our regular black-centric outfits (which we further propogated, heavily, we're aware).

You should absolutely check out this store if you're in the area. Next stop, the Cambridge branch...

Thrifting Weekend!

Just a quick post here- wanted to mention what appears to be an AMAZING consignment shop here in the Boston area that we're going to check out this weekend: Raspberry Beret (two locations: Wakefield and now between Harvard and Porter Squares on Mass. Ave!), named after a Prince song, painted bright fuchsia and, from the looks of it, totally awesome.


We absolutely can't wait to peruse their stock and hopefully come up with some fun new pieces in bright colors and some terrific accessories... reading other daily wear blogs, we're starting to feel a little boring. And boring is the last thing we ever want to be :(

We will report back! Has anyone else been there? What are your favorite thrift shops? We wish we lived in the Pacific Northwest for Buffalo Mercantile, easily the best, biggest resale shop we've ever seen. Here in Boston we're quite partial to Oona's in Harvard Square, even if it's more of a vintage shop (read: expensive) than thrift per se... and we can't wait to check out the new Goodwill in Davis and Poor Little Rich Girl and Artifaktorie, too-- any reports on those? Lastly, Urban Renewals in Brighton is purportedly an amazing source of vintage costume jewelry (according to InspiredVintageJewelry) and also well-organized and not-too-expensive clothing. We miss the AmVets that was a few doors down, and haven't found anything comparable in terms of prices at any of the shops (even Goodwill wants $7 for jeans these days!)

Please leave any tips or reviews of your favorite!

Dresses and Lovelies on Clearance, Oh My!

We stumbled upon Alloy's site while styling for a friend and just chanced a look at their clearance. *swoon* $10 dresses my friends. Granted they're not natural fabric, and probably not responsibly or carefully made, but $10! We are absolutely snapping up this cute lilac ruffly scoopneck...And we think this is a very cute take on the LBD with the gathered A-line satin skirt and banded waist (nice wide bra straps and good coverage for the more modest of us, too!)! Ten measly bucks. You pay more than that for lunch some days, right?

Tragically for us, this amazing deep red-violet Grecian-style ($15) is only available for our tiny sisters (juniors S-M). *Sniff* Shop on, skinny chicas!.
For $20, here's a sexy little interpretation of the psychedelic/kaleidoscopic retro print trend for the summer:

We looked around for comparable deals and didn't find much.

Victoria's Secret did have a couple of under-$20 cotton/spandex summer cuties like this halter dress (shown in white but available in several colors) and this darling babydoll in green with bow detail (precious!) for $18.99 each.

Everything else was clearly overpriced even though it's "on sale."

We couldn't seem to find the actual clearance section this time, either, evidently due to the annual sale being on (bother!). We can usually find a few really fabulous bargains, but currently even simple tank top dresses are fetching $29; and who wants simplicity, anyway? A little bit of embellishment, like the crochet bust in the halter and the bow in the babydoll, are what femininity is all about!



We just discovered Jane'sClothing - motto "Look Fabulous For Less," which we venerate, of course- and wow... some really adorable little numbers for astoundingly cheap like this other kaleidoscope dress, in pink, $14.99, and this unusual metallic leaf-print bright magenta halter dress with no back (ooh lala) for our lucky bra-going-without girlfriends! $15.99:

We hope you're as excited for summer and flirty little dresses as we are! Now just to work off a little of this accumulated winter pudge... uh-oh...

Do you like these? Let us know if you end up buying any of them!!