Sally, My Love

Written by Kathryn Finney


I am smitten....

Along with chocolate and boot cut jeans, I hereby declare my love forrepparttar Salvation Army. Sally, as I affectionately call my love, is perhapsrepparttar 130125 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? Two months ago, I found two vintage Norma Kamali dresses, perfect condition, $2.50 a piece. When I gave them to my best friend ( they were a size 4), she was so excited that she started to shriek, hysterically, like she was possessed by some strange budget-shopping spirit. Later, she told me that sometimes she just likes to wearrepparttar 130126 dresses around her apartment, because they make her feel special. This isrepparttar 130127 power of Salvation Army.

There are many times that I head to Sally's as a fashion last resort. For example, this weekend I needed a cocktail dress to wear to a business function. I found a beautiful black dress from Salvation Army with black lace insets for $5.00. I added a silver leather belt fromrepparttar 130128 GAP, a pair of silver flats fromrepparttar 130129 NineWest Outlet and a pair of silver square clip on earrings from Nordstrom Rack- for a completely stunning outfit. Totaly cost- $48.00.

Before running out to your local Salvation Army, it is important to know a couple key tips. One tip to shopping Salvation Army, is to make friends withrepparttar 130130 sales staff. Most people are so snotty towardsrepparttar 130131 staff atrepparttar 130132 stores, that they often miss out onrepparttar 130133 greatest finds. Roxanne,repparttar 130134 manager atrepparttar 130135 Jersey City Salvation Army who helps me find great items like my short rabbit fur jacket circa 1968 for 16 bucks, is officially invited to my birthday party. She also helped me find a green vintage Coach purse for $9.99, scoring an invite for thanksgiving dinner.

Me and Mo: A Shopping Experience

Written by Kathryn Finney


One ofrepparttar best things about being The Budget Fashionista isrepparttar 130123 ability to "help" love ones. I often get frantic calls from friends and family members- asking for help with a major fashion emergency- like "My boyfriend has finally decided to take me to Sunday brunch at his parents. It's Saturday night at 6pm. What do a wear?". I love helping my peeps look fabulous and out ofrepparttar 130124 bind- it makes me feel like a fashion version of Mother Teresa.

My most recent pleasure was helping one of my dearest and arguably fashion deprived friend develop a professional closet. My friend, Monique, has been buried deep inrepparttar 130125 recess of a hospital forrepparttar 130126 past three years, finishing a residency in Orthopedic Surgery. Needless to say fashion is not atrepparttar 130127 top of her do-to list, her closets consists of white coats, worn scrubs, and these tank top bra things that make her look like she has a "uni-boob". The girl needed help.

It is not like Monique doesn't have style- she has quite a bit. But her style is most suited forrepparttar 130128 warm, tropical climate of her native Jamaica, rather thanrepparttar 130129 harsh winters of Connecticut. Plus, she doesn't have much time forrepparttar 130130 pursuit of fashion between removing bullets from people's butts and reading thrilling works onrepparttar 130131 treatment of scoliosis.

So, last week Monique called up and said "I have a big problem". Okay, I thought, she has finally snapped from all those hours spent under horrible fluorescent lights and wearing plastic clogs. As a made a mental list ofrepparttar 130132 possible attendees forrepparttar 130133 upcoming intervention, she continued, "I have a free weekend and desperately need a professional wardrobe. Help!". Having not seen my friend since my wedding two years prior, I jumped atrepparttar 130134 chance to spend sometime with her and willingly offered my services in exchange for lunch.

When I arrived in New Haven,repparttar 130135 first thing we did (after eating about a billion maki rolls) was to develop a budget. By some brilliant banking maneuvers, Monique was able to gather $600 for this new wardrobe. Our goal was to focus on quality, rather than quantity. She needed a wardrobe that would last her until May 2007,repparttar 130136 end of her residency.

This was our shopping list: -Bra's and new underwear (No matter how much money you have, always start withrepparttar 130137 underwear.) -Layering tops (great for wearing under suit coat jackets, sweaters, and other t-shirts) -Black velvet suit jacket (Very sexy and slimming) -Basic Black Dress- (can dress it up or down) - Pair of earrings (something basic that could be worn professionally) -Shirts (white, black) -Pants (black, grey, brown) -Shoes (black boots, black heels) -One fun item/ shirt

We set out in Monique's 1989 Nissan/ Toyota/Hyundai ( It is so old that I don't think it had any label on it) to Westfarms Mall in central Connecticut. The main reason we chose this mall was because it had a Lord & Taylor and a Nordstrom- two key stores to look for when trying to build a professional closet on a budget.

We head to Nordstrom first because they were winding down their semi annual women's and children's sale with an additional 30%-50% off. At Nordstroms, we were able to pick up a pair of Ralph Lauren ( green label) pants on sale and had them tailored to perfection for $83.63. We decided to spend a little more onrepparttar 130138 black pants, because she would wear them quite a bit. We also pick-up a pair of black suede pumps and knee-high black boots for $80.00 total. Total at Nordstrom: 163.63

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