Month: December 2013

December 26, 2013

Jeans Jeans and More Jeans

English: Mannequins wearing jeans in Sânnicola...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jeans are the best and worst of all things . They can make you look 10 lbs lighter, or 20 lbs heavier. They can look casual or dressy , neat or messy. They can be loose and baggy , they can be tight and fitted or skinny and skin tight. They can be your cheap go to pair of pants for knocking around cleaning and painting or they can be so expensive that you have them for years before you even want to try them on. The actuality of this is something that women deal with everyday. I have tried to combat that with several factors and I share them with you , as well as some great resources from other bloggers and journalists

  1. Know which jeans look good on you ; DO NOT BUY ME A PAIR OF BILL BLASS JEANS !  I say that because Bill Blass and I are not body buddies. I do not know why but I look HUGE in Bill Blass. A great deal on a pair of Bill Blass jeans are not a good deal. Not for me. I will not wear them and therefore I have just wasted money, no matter what the difference between the MSRP and what I paid is. Knowing which clothiers work with your body will save you money and time. try the trends but please learn to try things on and bring a good friend with you that will tell you if you look like a big mess , honestly.
  2. Shop globally buy locally; look for the greatest hottest trends  online. then gather your data and hit the thrift stores or consignment shops in your area. I have found so many great and amazing deals at the local thrift stores , jeans especially , that are the exact same brands or quality as the things that I find retail for over 80% more.
  3. Put a little stretch in it; jeans with a 2-5% spandex content are the best. They fit a 5-8 lbs range on your body so gaining and losing you can keep the jeans. They fit your body contours so much better and they tend to wear better new and still get better with age , like all denim. Word to the wise , if you get wet take them off immediately. They will give in stretch a lot more when wet than their full cotton counterparts .
  4. Be Choosey in a good way! I like to search eBay or other auction sites for that pair of jeans that I have been coveting forever. If there is a pair of jeans that you just must have , try there after the local goodwill fails you.
  5. Have fun: there are no hard and fast rules with jeans and please please do not take yourself TOO seriously. Jeans are meant to be a fun day clothing . We do not have Khaki Friday at work! Find what makes you feel good , and enjoy yourself.
English: jeans for men 中文: 男用牛仔裤

English: jeans for men 中文: 男用牛仔裤 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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December 24, 2013

Do you have any good will about the Goodwill?

Goodwill Industries

Goodwill Industries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have spent so much of my life  being either broke or frugal both. I have also been stylish , at least in my mind, and therefore there is always a need for those pretty little things that makes life great.I tend to shop at Goodwill stores for various items. Whenever I mention this, I tend to get a bunch of responses along the lines of this message from other people:

How do you find anything good at Goodwill? Whenever I go into one, all I find is a lot of junk. I can’t believe you find anything good there.

There are a few basic tactics that you should use if you’re shopping at Goodwill.

  1. First, visit Goodwills that are located in upscale areas. Don’t visit the Goodwill in the poor part of town or even the medium income part of town. In Houston Piney Point or The Heights have the best Goodwill. You tend to find much better types of things and quality of donation BUT  you may have to pay for a little bit more.
  2. Second, be picky. If you go into a Goodwill that seems to mostly be full of junk, you don’t have to buy that junk. Walk out and put that one on your “avoid in the future” list.However, having said that, there are a lot of gems to be found, particularly in areas of income disparity. A college town is a perfect example of this. A college town often has a wide variety of incomes and perceptions of money, which means that their Goodwill stores tend to include a lot of cheap stuff and a fair amount of good stuff.You often have to dig for those gems, though. What I often do is look for examples of high-quality things, even if I’m not particularly interested in buying them. If I see some high-quality items, even if they’re not perfect for me, I know that there are some diamonds hidden in the piles here.
  3. If I don’t find anything that seems of reasonable quality, or if I only find maybe one item in forty or fifty that looks worthwhile, I leave the store and often don’t look back.

The trick is to investigate lots of Goodwill stores. You should fully expect that some of them are going to be of poor quality and not worth visiting again. With Goodwill you also need to take into consideration that everything cost the same in the isles. So if you find a dress it’s 9.99. If it was from Old Navy or  Stella McCartney  at Goodwill it will be 9.99.

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December 23, 2013

How do I look?

 

2ec2e8066f52ea1a33f3f91873fef17cI have my own style and I love that. I love that I am not oft to the whims of those that say what the color of the day is , other than myself. There is always that freedom of having the ability to wear what feels great to you. I do odd things like choose a color of the season and try to incorporate that as often as I can in my day to day wardrobe for that season. I love doing that because it helps me to pinpoint some very pretty colors on me and as a former Plus size woman I tended to let my wardrobe run the gambit from black to darker kinds of black.

In constant and difficult battle with my great sense of style is the fact that I do not like to spend my own money on almost anything! I love to have things but I do not like to buy things. I am an acquirer. A Phrugalista or a Phrugaleer. I love to find things that fit the bill of being a. great quality and b. at-least 50% off retail.

To that end I have searched the net for some of the best places to buy pretty things that will not break the bank.

GIRL PROPS

Find a ton of variety in jewelry and accessories, if you like fun little pretty things this is one of the best sites that I have found for accessories.

10 DOLLAR MALL

You guessed it: Everything is under $10, with everyday tanks and tees priced around $4.99. It’s a great option for wardrobe basics that don’t need to be fancy.  There are some amazing things to be found there too. Shoes and boots are great but if you have a common size I would say come early , come often.

GO JANE

Up to 90% off , ’nuff said.

DELIA’S

FOREVER 21

ASOS

PAPAYA

2B

VENUS

TWO LIPS

Search a super sexy and affordable collection of shoes at Two Lips, and the clearence section is a great place to stop for the deep down bargain hunter.

MOD CLOTH

Especially great for more retro-inspired looks, and they have an excellent size range as well for the Plus sizes Phrugalista.

 

 

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YLE Wardrobe

YLE Wardrobe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)