Fifth Anniversary
Top Five Budget Shopping Tips: The Budget Fashionista’s 5th Anniversary
Fashion is one thing, but budget fashion is another, which of course is the premise TBF is based on. Kathryn knows whereof she speaks, and has long (five years to be exact) doled out practical advice for shopping without breaking the bank. Her top five budget shopping tips:
1. Know what looks good on you. Just because it looks great in a magazine doesn’t mean it will look great on you. Be honest with yourself about your body. It will save you time and money.
2. Know the names of sales associates. Sales associates are a great source of information on upcoming sales and have access to Friends and Family coupons, which offer up to an additional 25% off store merchandise. Some might even let you use their employee discounts.
3. Leave the debit and credit cards at home. I have a friend, who shall remain nameless, who views paying for purchases with plastic cards as not spending “real” money. Paying with cash gives you an instant visual indication of how much you’re spending.
4. Head to the outlet malls. Shopping at the outlets of your favorite stores and designers can save you a bundle. Some of my favorites are the Chelsea Premium Outlet Malls, Off Fifth (the Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet), the St. John Knit Outlet, the Donna Karan Outlet, and the Last Call Neiman Marcus Outlet.
5. Remember the 70/30 rule. Fashionistas with limited budgets should follow the 70/30 rule: 70% of your closet should be classic pieces, 30% trendy pieces. Go as cheap as possible on trendy items because they have a short closet lifespan; purchase these pieces at stores like H&M, Target, Forever 21, Wet Seal, Asos.com, Zara, Bluefly, Urban Outfitters, etc. Go designer on classic pieces like black suits (Tahari, Donna Karan), coats (Burberry, Max Mara), evening (Armani, Tim and Linda Platt, Carmen Marc Valvo) and purses (Coach, Longchamp, Marc Jacobs).
Want more? Click here for more of Kathryn’s top budget shopping tips . . .
Have your own tips to share? Visit the TBF Forum
Top Five Shoptalk Interviews: The Budget Fashionista’s 5th Anniversary
As we count down to TBF’s 5th anniversary, we’re also counting down some of our favorite posts and features from TBF past. Here, a chance to listen in as Kathryn talks with some fashion-forward celebs:
5. Kathryn goes country with country western superstar Laura Bryna
4. Kathryn stays country with Nashville music producer Anastasia Brown
3. Kathryn gets the goods on Kathy Hilton’s HSN beauty line.
2. Kathryn checks in with plus size designer and fashion expert Monif C.
1. Kathryn dishes with Canadian opera diva extraordinaire Measha Brueggergosmon
Top Five Favorite Kathryn Quotes, Part Deux: The Budget Fashionista’s Fifth Anniversary
A week or so ago, we rounded up five of our favorite quotes from The Budget Fashionista herself, Kathryn—but five really just wasn’t enough. Hence, another list—a second run at Kathryn’s top five takes on all things fashion:
5. “I hate vests. Vests scare me. No, seriously, vest really do scare me. I think it’s because they look a too much like corsets or because I had a very strange elementary school teacher who used to wear a faux suede vest (she had them in every color) with long brown corduroy skirts. Even at the tender age of 9, I knew that there was something very wrong with her outfit. Very wrong.”
4. On Andre Leon Talley: “A protege of the original Vogue Queen B, Diane Vreeland (who in her day would have had Anna Wintour shaking in her custom made Jimmy Choo boots), he’s the only person in the world who can make a Sean John track suit look chic. Also he’s the only person that can call out Ms. Anna Wintour (read: Ms. Anna don’t like fat people) on OPRAH NONETHELESS and get away with.”
3. On Trends: “I can’t help but to wonder if hot dogs are the major inspiration behind this fall’s color scheme. The color trend seems to definitely be towards mustard, brown and ketchup-colored clothing. Somewhere in NYC, there is a hot vendor who is a creative consultant to Marc Jacobs.
2. “Wear only one animal printed item at a time—others may tell you different—but they don’t love you. Cheetah, Zebra, etc. from head to toe is only okay if you’re headlining the midnight show at the “Boom-Boom Room”.”
1. “However, my life as stylist, fashion editor, and general feel-good Fashionista has taught more than how to score the latest trends for cheap. I’ve learned tasty bits of wisdom like fashion is cheap, but style is priceless and that pointed toed shoes give you bunions.”
Most Commented-On Posts of All Time: The Budget Fashionista 5th Anniversary
Throughout the last five years, The Budget Fashionista has gained fiercely loyal, and opinionated following—and we wouldn’t have it any other way. While folks are always checking out what we have to say, sometimes they’re inspired to respond more passionately than others. So, to help mark our upcoming Fifth Anniversary, we’ve compiled list of the five posts that have received the most reader response (and looking at the topics, we’re not surprised . . . )
5. e.l.f. Cosmetics: Yes or No? Total Comments: 72
4. Hell or High Waisted? Total Comments: 82
3. Yea or Nay: Macy’s Department Store Total Comments: 88
2. Yea or Nay: Crocs Total Comments: 101
And the winner? . . . .
1. Bitten by Sarah Jessica Parker on Oprah Total Comments: 107
Top Five Favorite Kathryn Quotes: The Budget Fashionista 5th Anniversary
The Budget Fashionista is gearing up to celebrate it’s fifth anniversary of dishing on how to look fabulous for less, and in honor of that momentus occasion (woo hoo!) we’ve picked our top five fave quotes from Kathryn herself. They’re little nuggets of wit and wisdom that, well, after five years, were really hard to narrow down. We may, in fact, have to do a Top Five list, part 2.
But for now, we’ll do this in Letterman fashion, and count down from 5 to 1 . . .
5. “First, how I DID NOT get out of debt: No fairy godmother with a magic wand that magical erases credit bureau databases; No Hedge-fund sugar daddy; No Publisher’s Clearinghouse folks showing up at my door with a bouquet of grocery store bought flowers and a five foot check for $100k; No quick easy fixes. Just lots of hard work and honesty.”
4. “I am smitten . . . Along with chocolate and boot cut jeans, I hereby declare my love for the Salvation Army. Sally, as I affectionately call my love, is perhaps the best store to ever exist. Saks, my former love, has nothing on this store. Where else could you find a John Paul Gaultier shirt, from BERGDORF GOODMAN, for $1.50?”
3. “The fact is the celebrity-budget-line trend is going to get much worst, before it gets better. Management teams (celebrities has teams of people who surround them, like any company) are looking for ways to expand their brand and make money off of the “image” of the celebrity. I have no problem with this at all, we all have to eat. But, just don’t try to spin a (sometimes) smart business move into some sort of philanthropic deed. And don’t do it while wearing $1500 dollar shoes in Glamour Magazine.”
2. “The era of flower-printed muumuus is long gone. The fashion caste system that separates people into “those who can” (skinny and rich) and “those who can’t” (everyone else), a system created by snobby designers and power-hungry fashion editors (who, by the way, are often plus-size themselves), is crumbling. A fashion utopia is emerging, one that offers several fashion options for curvy fashionistas, none of which involve polyester tent dresses.”
1. On herself: “Physically, I’m skinny, in an overweight sort of way, like a bloated Naomi Campbell with a curly bob. I read Harper’s Bazaar the way some people read the New York Times. I count Andre Leon Talley, the Bush twins and Kirstie Alley amongst my closest friends, even though we’ve never met. I breathe—unless I’m underwater. I have the occasional quarter life crisis which is usually brought on by the lack of options in my closet.”
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