Kathryn Finney - How to Be a Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less

Contents

6. Clumpy, Frumpy, and Lumpy:
The Importance of Good Undergarments

15. Recycled Fashion:
Thrift and Consignment Stores

16. Shopping Online: The Ultimate Budget
Shopper's Resource

Conclusion
CongratulationsYou've Made It!

Appendix A: TheBudgetFashionista.com
Online Budget Resources
Appendix B: The Budget Fashionistas Mini-Guide to Taking Care of Clothes

Introduction

Whats a Budget Fashionista?

budget: a systematic plan for the expenditure of a usually fixed resource, such as money, during a given period.

fashionista: an ardent follower of fashion and the fashion industry.

The New Webster Dictionary

budget fashionista: someone who effortlessly combines personal style with financial savvy.

The Budget Fashionista

W elcome to the ultimate guide for those who, whether by choice or by limited funds, want to look fabulous for less. Lets be honest: Were living in cash-poor but image-conscious times. Luxury retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue compete for profits and retail space with off-price retailers like H&M. Canal Street, New York Citys home of the designer knockoff, receives as many tourists as Fifth Avenue. Kim Cattrall, whose Sex and the City character Samantha Jones became the poster child for postmenopausal sexuality, has fueled the once dormant inner fashionista of thousands of budget-conscious baby boomers. Everyone wants designer clothes. And they want them cheap.

In three easy steps youll learn budget secrets like how to score great finds from designers such as Prada and Kate Spade for more than 75 percent off, instructions for how to put together a sizzling work wardrobe for under $200, tips on raising dough for seasonal shopping sprees, and lessons on how to work the Internet to find unbelievable deals. In addition, Ill share tips on how to mix Mossimo with Missoni and Etro with J. Lo, the key to spotting a fake Louis Vuitton bag, how to spot trends before they happen, tips on creating irresistible outfits from discount stores like T.J. Maxx, and a road map to crafting your own delicious style.

Im not rich. Im not a size 2. Im not even from New York. Im just a brilliantly normal person who was lured into the evils of credit card debt by an obsession with handbags and designer shoes. For example, once I bought eleven pairs of shoes from the clearance rack at a local DSW. Another time I spent ten hours on eBay searching for a genuine Chloe Paddington bag for less than $250 (doesnt exist).

In a six-year period I forgot all my Midwestern frugalness and racked up over $20,000 in credit card debt and a whole mess of student loans. Theres a strong likelihood that my firstborn child will be named Visa. Walking the edge of bankruptcy (and marrying someone cheap) helped me change my dangerous shopping ways and get out of debt the old-fashioned way: one payment at a time. But I loved fashion, especially shoes. I knew there had to be a way to be fiscally responsible and stylish at the same time. Like a Chanel-clad phoenix rising from the ashes of financial stupidity, this book emerged.

As The Budget Fashionista Im the patron saint of budget shopping. To the thousands of readers of my site, TheBudgetFashionista.com, and readers of my syndicated column in magazines like Budget Savvy Living, Im known as the go-to person for guidance on how to look fabulous for less. Im fearless in my pursuit of the sale, defying the laws of shopping gravity by jumping over sale racks in a single bound. Credit card companies fear me, friends call me for advice, and my bank loves me. I dumped my complete bag of money-saving fashion tips into this book in order to help you become a true budget fashion shopper.

Timeline of The Budget Fashionista

What Is a Budget Fashionista?

A budget fashionista is a fearless shopper, one who is so fabulous that her style extends past economic constraints. Unlike general fashionistas, we arent slaves to trends. In fact, budget fashionistas pride themselves on their ability to forecast trends and save money by being ahead of the curve. We have great style and a solid 401(k). We pay more attention to what flatters our natural beauty than to the latest fad because we know that a designer label is less important than looking fabulous. We started shopping at Target when Isaac Mizrahi was still in design school, and we can create incredible outfits from a trip to the local Wal-Mart. We can tell you when Macys has its annual sales (it is posted on a calendar in our PDAs), and our numbers are on speed dial at the local Salvation Army, where we spend as much as we donate. Some of us are budget fashionistas by choice and some by necessity, but were all fabulous.