In these political and uncertain economic times, we girls can still look like a million bucks in a "recession" or a "downturn." According to Nandini D'Souza, a self-proclaimed frugal fashion editor, $500 is the new $300. Women who would normally spend two month's of a minimum wage earner's salary on a Louis Vuitton/Richard Prince handbag are scaling down their purchases. In this month's Harper Bazaar in an article entitled, "Why Does It Cost So Much: As Fashion Prices Go Up, Up, Up, How To Cope And Still Look Cool," I could almost hear D'Souza sighing when she wrote, "There's a chorus of fashion lovers singing the budget-busted blues."
Looking like a millions dollars in today's dollars is as easy as getting back to basics. According to Harper's Bazaar Great Style, the basics are white tees, cashmere cardigans, white jeans, trousers, a shift dress, a tux, a boucle jacket, and a camel overcoat, while the pieces worth spending big money on are a coat, chunky knits, blouses, a real or faux fur, a cocktail dress, and an evening gown. Using those fashion pieces to guide you, figure out what suits your age, your body shape, and lifestyle. That's your basic personal uniform. To keep your "uniform" fresh and updated, add an inexpensive piece that is trendy and current.
Looking like a millions dollars in today's dollars is as easy as getting back to basics. According to Harper's Bazaar Great Style, the basics are white tees, cashmere cardigans, white jeans, trousers, a shift dress, a tux, a boucle jacket, and a camel overcoat, while the pieces worth spending big money on are a coat, chunky knits, blouses, a real or faux fur, a cocktail dress, and an evening gown. Using those fashion pieces to guide you, figure out what suits your age, your body shape, and lifestyle. That's your basic personal uniform. To keep your "uniform" fresh and updated, add an inexpensive piece that is trendy and current.
According to D'Souza, "The best way to stretch your dollar while still looking like a million of them is to think long-term investment, like buying diversified stocks." According to The Hubster, financial advisor extraordinaire, the trend in uncertain times is to position your portfolio with larger more well-known companies. In fashion-speak -- I am now translating -- that would be positioning yourself with classic Chanel boots for instance. To keep my wardrobe portfolio well positioned, I always try to do the cost-per-wear equation in my head before before pulling out my wallet. Adding an inexpensive trendy handbag or piece of jewelry puts my recessionary wardrobe ahead of the curve.
Looking like a million bucks in a recession is a simple equation: Investment pieces plus inexpensive trendy pieces equals a-million-bucks style.
(Sources: Harper's Bazaar)
