The Budget Fashionista

“Why are there no accessories for men?” a very close male friend asked one day over brunch. I tried to point out to him that men have ties, cuff links, watches, and if you from Queens, gold chains. As I started to explain the power of gold chains, especially when nestled against a hairy chest, I realized that my friend was right—there are few accessory options for men. Especially men who are bound by the confines of heterosexuality. Ties have …

Up-and-coming accessories designer Elissa Bloom knows a thing or two about purses—her collection of reasonably priced ($19.00) sequined coin purses have been selling out nationwide. Scoop up her special edition coin purse in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this coin purse will be given to the Ellie Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting Breast Cancer and easing its effects on patients and their families. To purchase the Elissa Bloom …

Old Navy, which has become as ubiquitous to the American suburban landscape as our friend Wal-Mart, just started to sell jewelry online. With price points ranging from $7.50 for a pair of earrings to $14.50 for a necklace, the jewelry is like everything at Old Navy—purely mass market and slightly stylish. Sort of like overpriced Banana Republic jewelry made affordable.  My advice: don’t cut up your Forever 21 card. Wal-Mart

This spring, use a floral pins to add a much-needed splash of color to your outfits. The accessory, which showed up during the Spring 2006 fashion shows and is currently being worn by fashion trailblazers like Miss J from “America’s Top Model”, retails from $4 at stores like H&M to over $20 at major department stores like Nordstrom.  Now, you “craft challenged” fashionistas may decide to brave the lines at your local H&M to purchase the accessory. However, for those of …

Open up any fashion magazine and you’re bound to see at least one editorial/ad featuring an Interlocking Circle Necklace. Worn long and in a variety of colors, these necklaces are a major departure from the large, multi-layer, bubble bead look of last summer. You can find the necklaces at most major department and discount stores (Bloomies, Macy’s, Lord&Taylor, Target). I bought a black, plastic interlocking necklace this past weekend from Forever 21 for $4.90 and another white circle interlocking necklace with …

If there’s one bag you should buy for the spring/summer, it’s a white tote. The bags fit right in with this season’s black and white trend and you can wear the bag as you would a regular old black bag, with jeans, with a nice black suit, or with cute little sundress. Although I lust for the Bottega Veneta version to the left (if I stop drinking my daily energy Vitamin water I should be able to purchase the bag …

THIS SERVICE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. Building diamond rings on Ashford.com has to be my number one, all time, favorite way to procrastinate while on the web and the perfect activity to get you ready for the Oscars. Now Harry Winston won’t loan you $2 million dollars worth of custom diamond jewelry to wear to your kids spring play, but by building your own ring on Ashford.com, you can, for a fleeting moment, pretend like you’re a Hollywood star. Plus it’s …

Step 1: Select Your Diamond
The first step is to select your diamond shape from the 9 different available shapes. This time I choose the radiant cut for a nice bling affect.

Step 2: Select your price range and quality of diamond
I say go for the $12,000-$20,000 price range and a carat range of 2.5-4. IRAs and home ownership iare for sissies.

Color and Clarity
A diamond’s value is determined primarily by the 4 Cs—Cut, Clarity, Color and Carat weight.  The higher level color, the better the cut, the larger the carat, etc all increases the value and the price of the diamond. So a .5 carat flawless diamond can cost signficantly more than a 3 carat severely flawed diamond.

Step 3: Select your setting
So now, you choose your setting from five different types, as well as the type of metal you want for your setting. I chose platinum with several smaller diamonds.

Step 5: Select A Sugar Daddy
Someone’s got to pay for the ring . . .

The emergence of the espadrille, the flirtly sandals with the jute (think woven rope) sole, is one big reason to be excited about the upcoming spring. I love these shoes, even though they sort of look like your walking on a wicker basket. As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t pay more than $40 for a pair of espadrilles. Why? Because stores like Target, Victoria Secret’s, Payless, and Newport News all have stylish versions of the shoes for well under …

Dear Budget Fashionista I am looking to start wearing more jewelry and accessories as sort of a New Year’s resolution but I see everyone wearing the long necklaces with big beads and things like that. Are there any new trends in accessories coming for the new year?

A: In terms of accessories, you’ll see a lot of what was in last year . . . wedges (especially cork wedges), espadrilles, gold necklaces, beads (make sure their in scale with your size—smaller beaded for smaller people, larger beads for larger people), lots of brown. However, some new entrants like straw + leather purses, accessories combining nautical themed materials like gold chains and ropes (think Polo Ralph Lauren) and the color white will also be hot. I also think hats are going to make a major comeback because of concerns about skin cancer and the general trend of fashion towards the more conservative looks.

So I’m in Macy’s looking for accessories to wear with my outfit for the book party (very punk rock meets ghetto supastar). My goal was to put together my entire book party outfit—including shoes and handbag—for less than $50. Here’s what I got so far: - A dress, $25.62. A Vivienne Tam knock-off. Off-the-shoulder drop-waist, light yellow jersey knit dress with a Japanese inspired Geisha print on the front from Macy’s. - shoes, $17.99.  4-inch espadrille-like wedges with black straps that …

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It seems like anyone who’s anyone on the London scene is clutching a clutch. Brit starlet Emma Watson (soon to be the face of Coco Mademoiselle) was recently seen with one in tow, and everyone from Pixie Geldof to Jamelia is following suit. Whether it’s oversized, patent, raffia or mock-croc, the clutch is a chic, if a little impractical, addition to a cocktail dress, or, for the Carrie Bradshaws among us, a purse to be carried in daylight hours. Everyone …

poll by twiigs.com

Image courtesy of Bag Borrow or Steal. 
Product Info: Leiber ‘Princess’ Evening Handbag at BagBorroworSteal.com.

Let’s face it, summer is the season for accessories. Bikinis, sandals, sunglasses, hats, headbands - pretty much every accessory has a role during summertime. And no true fashionista can go through the hottest season of the year without having all the beach and pool essentials, right? What better way to tote (pun intended) all of your fabulous summer accessories than in a stylish beach tote! Considering that your beach tote is going to be languishing under the hot sun all …

Up top: Michael Kors’s Malibu Animal Print Tote in black, $148.50, at macys.com. Below: American Living Large Iconic Tote, $27.99, available at jcpenney.com. 

While we’ve loved the return of florals, we’ve had our fill of the floral print dresses and skirts for the moment, and we know plenty of you were never quite ready to deck your whole person out in a veritable garden of giant blooms. Fortunately, summer is bringing us a whole new, er, crop of floral items that are less tablecloth, more simple chic. Some options to consider: On Your Feet: We have fallen madly in love with these pretty …

For some, the belt is a minor wardrobe element—something that performs a function more than makes a style statement. But, as budget fashionistas, we should remember that a cute/trendy belt is one of the best ways to update those old pieces without shelling out big bucks. The problem is, sometimes finding a great belt that’s cheap, but doesn’t look cheap, is a challenge. Of course, Target is our go-to belt spot, but the selection is kind of hit-or-miss (though Angela …

poll by twiigs.com

Image courtesy of J4US.com

Recently popularized by headband-loving Lauren Conrad on MTV’s The Hills, the headband is a really great hair accessory, especially during those unavoidable bad hair days. A plain wide headband is perfect for keeping your hair out of your face, and give you a pulled-together look. However, a fancier headband with chic embellishments is ideal for evenings out to cocktail parties and even weddings! Even if you don’t want to splurge on different colors and styles, a sleek neutral toned headband …

On the bottom: The Tasha Soft Circle Headband, $32, available at nordstrom.com. Up top: The Circle Jelly Stretch Headband, $8, available at target.com.

Wait a minute . . . scarves? Sounds a bit wintery, doesn’t it? But we’re not talking grandma-knitted wool mufflers here—we mean something more along the lines of oh, say, Grace Kelly and Jackie O. Scarves, in our humble opinion, are a great style note that can add a little personality to any outfit without adding a huge charge to your credit card bill. Last fall, the graphic print silk scarf started to take hold, and we expect it to …

What: The Dark Knight’s femme fatale Maggie Gyllenhaal and Trickle Up have teamed up for one of our fave combinations—fashion and a great cause. In this case, Gyllenhaal tapped New York jewelry design studio TENTHOUSANDTHINGS to design a necklace with proceeds to benefit Trickle Up’s “Seed a Dream” campaign. The Lowdown: The necklace features three charms—a seed to represent the $100 seed capital grant that will help a poor person launch a microenterprise; a globe to represent Trickle Up’s outreach …