Ideas Infinite - 2005;2006;

Getting away with it

Short cuts to the things you dont really deserve

Infinite Ideas with Steve Shipside

7. Fashionista freebie

Designers happily hand out their best bling to celebs having a night out on the town, but what about the rest of us? How can we dress beyond our means?

Celebrities dont have to pay for Dior dresses or Jimmy Choos because the likes of Dior and Choo are happy to hand over the glad rags in return for the endorsement of their products. You or I, on the other hand, are expected to fork out a fortune for the same things. If you have fashionista aspirations but burger-flipper finances, then youre going to have to adopt some different tactics if you want to doll yourself up at knock-down prices.

The first trick is consider if you might still have some celebrity factor even if its not exactly A list. If youre going to be photographed and that photograph is going to be published then you are an immediate billboard. While you might not get the front cover of Heat there are local suppliers for whom the middle pages of the local newspaper are realistically just as interesting. So give a bit of thought as to who you might appear in front of or be photographed by, and then try calling a small designer who might want to get noticed by those people. Remember to make it crystal clear that you are asking to borrow the items just for that one event, and that you are taking responsibility for cleaning/damage etc.

Before you call take the time to consider and write down the case for what the lender stands to gain. Be realistic about what you can get youre going to be hard pushed to blag a Chanel evening dress but if its promotional t-shirts or specialist wear (surfing clothes at a sports event, for example) then you have a chance.

Slightly further down the slippery moral slope is the much used but little talked of tactic of abusing the shops return policy. Fewer and fewer shops will give you your money back these days if you return an item, but even those that dont will give you an exchange for the full value. If youre shameless enough this means you can effectively use them as a lending library for fashion, returning an item the next day and redeeming it against the next in your wish list. Do remember to check the returns policy of the shop, to keep the receipt, and dont forget that if someone at the soiree spills red wine on you, then congratulations, you just bought it.

A slightly less dodgy way of making your hard-earned diva dollars go further is to join a real lending library of to-die-for divaware. Take handbags, for example. If you want to be seen with the most luscious piece of arm candy then you can fork out the cost of a semi-detached house in return for a couple of scraps of leather from Louis Vuitton. Or you can hire one at www.fashionhire.co.uk . For a fee you join up and you are then free to pick a handbag from a range of designer must-haves, which you use for as long as you like. When you fancy another, or simply cant be seen dead with the same one (daahhling), then you swap it for a different one from the selection. There are three different levels of membership, depending on the exclusivity of the bags youre after. The choice starts with Diva In Training from less than 30 a month. For that you get the likes of Antik Batik or Jamin Puech. Moving up in the world you can join the Style Guru level (Prada, Fendi) or splash out for the full-on Fashionista class (nearly 100 a month) and prance around with Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana or Luella.

Heres an idea for you

Unlikely as it may seem, many people swear by the charity shops for designer labels. The trick is to find those in the right kind of areas where people dispose of clothes because they are last season rather than, say, because the bum is hanging out of the trousers. Such people tend to give the items away rather than binning them. Hence, rootling around the Oxfam shop in Chelsea, for example, is more likely to bring results than grubbing through the racks in Grungeness.

Defining idea

Fashion is not frivolous. It is a part of being alive today.

MARY QUANT

8. Free wheels

Yes, you all like the idea of having a flash car for free. You just dont know what to do about getting one. Until now, that is.

First up, be realistic about who you are and what youre going to get. Aston Martin is happy to deliver a free car to Prince Charles because hes first in line to the throne. Arnold Schwarzenegger gets as many Humvees as he can handle because he represents the kind of biceps-for-brains meathead they want to appeal to. You and I, on the other hand, get test drives if were lucky.

Cars are expensive. For those of us who dont spend our hard-earned cash on subterranean missile silos or private Caribbean islands, the car is usually the second largest expense in your life after your house. The bad news is that nobody is about to hand you a free Porsche; the good news is that you can get to play with wheels beyond your price range.

The most common way people get a spin in fancy cars is by applying for test drives. Sadly you cant just turn up at the Rolls Royce dealer and demand an outing behind the wheel. They dont go for that, funnily enough, so it takes a little planning if you want to play with the best toys in the box. The thinking behind test drives is to snare the target market and simply turning up in your best bib and tucker may not be enough to suggest that you are part of that select few. Start the relationship in advance manufacturers websites are often a good place to start by requesting information, which means they will send you marketing material and may even offer a test drive. Gen up on the rival makes because you have to at least appear to be in the throes of the decision-making process. When you do get as far as asking for a test drive at the dealership, look smart and act seriously. When you get your token thirty minutes of accompanied drive, look very thoughtful then summon your best straight face and ask if you can have an extended test drive for an evening or a weekend.

If you get an unaccompanied drive, use this time to line up your next. Turn up in your test car at the rival dealership and enquire about their line because you are evaluating both. Seeing you in the first car increases your chance of the second one coming your way.

Be very cautious of the free car offers you may see on the web. These are very common and basically talk up the idea that British and American companies are desperate for people like you to drive their cars wrapped in all-over advertising. As with so many tempting offers there is some basis of truth: weve all seen cars painted all over with ads and wondered who pays for what. The free car sites promise that all you have to do to get your hands on a car is be over eighteen, have a valid licence and a driving itinerary that includes lots of high-profile routes. Some of them even suggest that sponsors will not only give you the cars but also pay you to drive them. Likely? Not. Most such sites actually ask for a fee to sign up to the registry of eligible car drivers. You pay your money (around $25 on average), you get to fill in a lot of forms about you driving activity and it seems that, erm, thats it. You can sit around and whistle for all the cars that are going to come your way.

Heres an idea for you

Although its not actually freewheeling, possibly the best way of being seen in a truly flash motor is to join a classic car club. Check out www.classiccarclub.co.uk . You pay a monthly fee and trade that off for a certain number of days using their cars. The cars are categorised so your fee will go further if you opt for a seventies BMW rather than for that horny sixties Ferrari, but however you slice and dice it you get to be seen in a variety of classy carriages, many of which you simply wouldnt be allowed to rent or able to afford to insure (especially if youre a younger driver).