Blending Fashion Levels

Caroline Graham Swann

Darlings, I love the most elite fashion designers; in fact, I have a passion for them. But one must be extremely wealthy to wear the most elite designers from dawn to dark everyday. I am talking about the really haute designers that cost a fortune.

There is a way to way to achieve the look for times when the most expensive just is not in the budget! Being a fashionista, I do have designers clothes but prefer to save them for special occasions, so I have developed a way to always have the style that is a replica of high-end designers. It took me a while to really get this economic situation perfected.

For years I had received Victoria’s Secret, Boston Proper, and Venus catalogs in the mail and simply tossed them aside and shopped in the lingerie specialty stores in Dallas and New York, which had beautiful designs imported from Paris. How in the world could clothes that cheap in the specific catalogs mentioned look anything but cheap in reality? And besides that, the sizes probably ran so small I thought the styles must actually be lacking in good taste. Well time went by, years in fact, and I happened to be looking through catalogs and by chance came across some tops, skirts, capris, and leggings that caught my attention. If the styles turned out to be halfway well-made and the fabrics made of cotton, linen, and silk mixed with spandex, as even designer fabrics are made of today, then maybe just maybe the clothes would pass for doing chores or running errands. I took a deep breath and picked up the phone to give them a try. I was surprised by the quality for the price.

Let me give you an idea of prices from Venus, a maxi dress for 19.00 dollars, a dress for 26.00 dollars, tops, skirts, capris, swim suits etc. for amazing low prices. When I called to place an order, I asked the customer service person if it was necessary to order a much larger size due to the price being so low? The reply was to order an even smaller size! She replied most first time customers did not believe her and had to call back and order the smaller size. With a sigh and deep breath, I took her advice. When the package arrived, I was expecting a disaster. To my surprise , the smaller size fit perfectly and the fabric was just fine.

Chico’s is another great place for nice clothes at a very reasonable price. Chico’s and Boston Proper are a cut above Venus in the fashion fabric realm, but Venus is great for simple play clothes.

Here is the way to make these much less expensive clothes have a look of high dollar class.

Always buy the most expensive shoes one can comfortably afford, the most expensive bag, and the most expensive belts. Stay with the designers, high end , if possible for the shoes, bags and belts. Also, sun glasses are an important fashion item, again go for the designer for sun glasses. Focusing on high dollar items here saves money in other areas. Also know what is in style or classic when buying the economic clothing.

Believe me. I love the Vogue Magazine designers and Women’s Wear Daily favorite designers and I do have them for very special trips, parties, meetings, and events, but what a wonderful blessing for the fashionista to have access to stylist fun clothes for a mere fraction of the price for simple daily wear.

Great for the budget!