ShoeaHolic No More: Guest Post: 10 Frugal Fashion Tips and Tricks

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Hey there blog viewers! Hop on over to shoeaholicnomore.blogspot.com to see my first ever

                                                       GUEST POST!!!



ShoeaHolic No More: Guest Post: 10 Frugal Fashion Tips and Tricks: Frugal Fashion Today's post is brought to you by Valerie from  Fast Frugal Fashion  and it is full of great tips to help you with fashio...



I'm so excited to share these Frugal Fashion Tips and Tricks with all of you and with her viewers as well.



Happy Viewing!

Neutral Shoes -- The Haul

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Hello everyone! One fashion principle that I've learned over the years is to have neutral bottoms and then jazz them up with colorful tops, scarves, statement necklaces, etc. This concept applies to shoes as well. In fact matching up the pant and shoe color is tres chic. Taking that a step further, matching up the shoe, hose color and skirt is a great look as well. So, two weeks ago the neutral shoe gods were smiling down upon me as I acquired a few SEVERAL pairs of neutral shoes. Feast your eyes....

black ankle strap espradilles, Walmart, $10
Going to wear these in England this June for tea at Fortnum & Mason's

Beige, ankle-strap, Seycelles-like wedges, Old Navy, $20
LOVE LOVES LOVE these!

Black, Seychelles-like wedge, ankle-strap sandals, Old Navy, $20

Spring, beige ankle boot, Old Navy, $20

Snakeskin cut-away flats, Old Navy, $20

For these last four at Old Navy I employed a new strategy of mine which definitely saves time. I go on the store website and zero in on some items I really like, then when I go in the store it's less overwhelming. I can zoom right to the items I came looking for, try them on and be in and out in 30 minutes. Remember, for us busy women it's gotta be fast, frugal and fashionable. I've had compliments on all the shoes in this bunch I've worn so far. I tell ya, you can't beat the price either. Similar wedge sandals seen on the latest post on Kendi Everyday go for $86. These were less than one fourth that price!!! So, here's to frugal, fashionable neutral shoes for the Spring and Summer. Happy outfit creating!

Solid Colors Rock the Easter Dress

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Happy Easter everyone!!! I was wondering what to wear this Easter Sunday as I have two sort-of "fall-back" Easter dresses. One is a floral print I picked up at Anne Taylor about 5 yrs ago, and the other is a white, drape-necked, fitted bottom (above-the-knee) dress I picked up at New York & Co. about 3 yrs ago. With both being above the knee, I usually apply self-tanning lotion 3 - 4 times at the knee/shin/calf area. The floral one I usually wear a fuschia shrug over and the white one I usually wear a coral swing knit jacket over. This year I discovered an amazing sale at Old Navy a week ago. 
Feast your eyes......

navy tank dress, Old Navy, recently
beige wedge sandals, Old Navy, recently
coral swing jacket, H & M, old

statement necklace, Old Navy, recent

This outfit holds true to one of my fashion mantras. Stick with basic, solid color pieces that will mix and match easily. It is then very easy to jazz up the outfit with accessories such as a scarf, a statement necklace, bold earrings, or a belt.

Happy Easter! Hope your day was pleasant and enjoyable. Look for an upcoming post that will feature these sandals that were purchased with several other neutral shoes recently -- THE HAUL!

Ode To A Librarian

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Where do you get your fashion inspiration from? I get mine from several sources: fashion blogs, TV, magazines, but mostly from people I meet every day. Case in point:  I was checking a book out from the library and the young librarian who checked me out had on a color combination that I wouldn't normally put together, but it looked fabulous! White, yellow and orange are a great "I'm yearning for spring" combination. Here's my best re-creation of her look:



cardigan sweater: Old Navy
yellow tank: resale shop (Old Navy)
orange scarf, New York and Co.
JAG jeans, What to Wear
boots, Kohls
earrings, Karma Resale Shop

The best part: I didn't have to go buy ANY of these pieces. I already had them in my closet!
This re-inforces my strategy of having great, interchangeable solid color pieces in my wardwrobe.







Spring has finally sprung in my part of the planet. I was able to wear sandals to work a few times already -- woot woot! Enjoy this lovely weather and let your fashion choices reflect your mood and be completely inspired! What inspires your fashion choices? Leave a comment below and share with all of us. Thanks for stopping by!

It's Against My Religion

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Generally speaking, I'm frugal when it comes to clothing and accessories. For me to spend three digits on an item, it better be something I can get A LOT of use out of, a classic piece that goes with several items I already own. One example of this is my "business suit". I think I spent between $100 and $150 on it. It's an Anne Klein dark navy poly/wool blend blazer and skirt with matching skinny belt. I can wear it to work or church. I can wear the jacket with other neutral pants. I've used the belt with completely different outfits. The skirt goes nicely with a sweater or dressy blouse.(sorry guys, no pic of this suit)  Another recent three digit purchase was this Coach purse.

 

 If I recall correctly, the final purchase price was $104 at a Coach Purse Outlet in Branson, MO. I was with my sister-in-law who is a Coach aficionado. She declared it a good selection and I was being cheered on my my brother and his partner. It was a fun day!

Tunic: fashion boutique in Germany
leggings: Divided, H&M
boots: Kohl's

necklace: gifted, St.Louis Art Museum

This handbag had several things in its favor: it can hang from either my shoulder or my forearm. It zips shut and it can stand on its own without falling over if I lay it down on the floor or the table. Plus it's a neutral color. So, even though it's against my religion to spend this much on a purse, I have definitely gotten my money's worth!

Fast Frugal Wedding Anniversary

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Hello! Hubby and I recently celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary -- woo hoo! The wedding was on March 2, 1996. It was a cold, clear and windy night. Our color was purple. The church was full of 200 of our family and friends. We had a lovely ceremony with three bridesmaids, three groomsmen, and a flower girl. A close friend sang two songs. My girlhood piano teacher played the wedding march. We had two pastors, one from my church and one from his(the church in which we met). The reception was fabulous. Our family friend (a florist) helped us transform the local Moose hall into an elegant candlelit space. The food was great. We hired a band(whose trumpet player I knew) and they played anything from Steely Dan to the Electric Slide to Ella Fitzgerald. It was the best night of my life! People remarked about how great the music was. We honeymooned in Jamaica.

Fast forward 18 years:  we have two beautiful sons (one who is 15 and one who is 10). We've lived in three different communities. Hubby stayed home for 5 years to raise our 1st son while I worked full time. We've traveled to England(with an 8 mos old!). We've taken trips to both coasts. We've weathered good times and bad. But we're still together.....warriors of love (as a friend once said).
So when it came time to mark our anniversary, the natural choice was to go out to eat without the kids. We are now able to have the teenager babysit. And to save money, we used a gift card we had from Christmas for 54th Street Grill. So, dressy casual was appropriate.

 black top, ANA, JCPenney

faux fur vest, Karma Resale

skinny jeans, Levi Stauss & Co., "The Skinny", Walmart

Ankle boots, Bare Traps, Shoe Carnival

 

                    Our waiter was so great. He even brought us a dessert to share on the house.

Pale pink roses from Hubby!

 

                       Cue the music....."Happy Anniversary Baby.....got you on my..........mind!"

Foundational Pieces

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Hope you are all surviving this incredible winter we've been having. Lately I've been thinking about those few "work-horse" pieces that are a must in every wardwrobe. You know, the black dress pant, a good "business suit", other neutral colored pants, solid colored tops, comfortable dress shoes, a neutral fashionable handbag, and several scarfs to punch up the color interest. I'll address accessories in a different post. But today, I'd like to focus on two pieces that I use a lot together: the ivory turtleneck and camel dress pants.  These can look great on their own with a statement necklace or provide a great foundation for other pieces to layer over them.

Ivory turtleneck, Mossimo, Goodwill

camel dresspants, Liz Claiborne, gifted

Elle mules, Goodwill

 

Add color interest with a statement necklace, Karma resale

Throw on a faux fur vest for instant winter fun!!

faux fur vest, Karma resale shop

 

                                              Navy shrug, New York and Company
                                                Necklace, New York and Company

                                                  

                                                            tiger stripe cardigan, H & M
                                                    necklace, Rag Doll Clothing Exchange

                             A little trick I've learned when I'm tired of winter is to add a touch of coral...
                                                              coral knit swing cardigan, H&M

                                                        black sweater vest, JCPenney
                                                        fuschia scarf, Karma resale shop
                                                    rhinestone earrings, Karma resale shop

What are some of your favorite foundational pieces in your wardwrobe? Leave a comment below. I love to hear from all of you!! Spring's just around the corner....