The Space Between My Peers

As promised (ooh, stealth pun!) last week, pictures of what dd wore to the real prom.

Shortly after she attended the winter formal, and all the challenges of finding a dress, we happened on this gown, at Value Village for $40.  It fit perfectly!  (And is modest.)  Even though she had no guarantee of having an invitation to wear it, having it hanging in the closet seemed a frugal move.  An investment of sorts.

It may have been a wedding dress in a previous life; it had a train, which she saved the price of alterating by cutting off and hemming herself.  The only other expense (besides necessary undergarment) was the dry-cleaning:  $30. 

Princess dresses like these are priced in the $400 neighborhood these days. ha ha.  We don’t live there. Don’t believe me?  This one from Nordstrom, the closest I could find to show you, is priced at $388.  My frugal daughter spent about 20% of that price.  You couldn’t make it yourself for less, could you?

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Culturally, Italians over-dress.  When it was sunny with a high of 75 in Venice and people were walking around (looking perfectly comfortable) in black wool coats layered over sweaters, I noticed!  I was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and had my jacket tied around my waist (along with all my other pack accessories). 

However, Americans, in my opinion, under-dress.  How many people do you know who own nothing warmer than a leather coat for outerwear?  Here in the mountains of The Great Northwest, where sub-zero temperatures are not unheard of, I know plenty of people who never wear coats.  At all.

Now we could discuss the reasons for that, or take a poll about whether we’d rather be too hot or too cold, but I prefer to point out advantages of the Italian approach (which may be common to other countries - say Canada? - as well):

1. All it really takes to look good is to wear a great coat (and shoes and bag). 
2. Although coats are bigger ticket items, infinite variety is not required.

Can you see yourself in one of these coats?

Especially on the nicer days, we saw lots of cycle-style leather jackets.  With the sporty stripes and the breath-of-fresh-air color combination, if I had a spare hundred bucks, this one would be mine!
Many coats, both wool and parkas, were belted.  Also plentiful were drop-waisted belt styles, although it was too early to see many trenches. 

I just threw this one in ’cause she looks so darn cute! 

The over 60 crowd were primarily sporting classicly elegant quilted jackets, alongside lots of wool, of course. 

How about you?  Are you more likely to over-dress or under-dress?

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LOL. I wrote this post during my computer time yesterday, but when I went to post it last night- it was gone! After trying everything I could think of, my hero asked me, “is there any way it could just “show up tomorrow?” This morning I had the brainstorm to search the blog using the term “trench” and sure enough I found it. Right there where I left it, in December of 1969!

Sadly, this is the best I could do with the silver-grey trench. After debating whether I could pull off a “cute Columbo” look, I decided it’s just not me. I love the crisp look of a well-fitting trench. This is not it.

One is left to wonder what Gap executives were thinking when they offered a trench which can neither ironed nor dry-cleaned. Thankfully, I only had $1, plus tax, time, and energy into it.

Back to the drawing board. Shown here with my other finds from this week’s Value Village venture: the dark denim unbelted trench with the tags still on it - $1. Which brings to mind a great question to ask yourself when thrifting:

if I had bought it when it first came out, would I still be wearing it?

This is an especially helpful question for people who are losing weight or for any other reason are having to build a wardrobe in a hurry. Which circumstance I feel I am sort of in right now for two reasons:

1. I spent almost no money or time on my own wardrobe last fall when I was costuming Little Women
2. Spring is without a doubt my most challenging season to for which to dress.

Still standing, just in a little street in Trieste, is this first century Roman arch. Until this trip, I don’t know that I had shown any pictures of my winter coat. I love the color! My question to you is this: are you tired of this coat silhouette? It was so common a few years ago that I feel like I should be tired of it, yet I find that when I see a woman wearing a coat of this cut, I still like it. (Which is a good thing, since my new spring one is very similar.)

(click on the picture to see it a little bigger OR this link to a picture where you can really see the coat.) 

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After not buying anything while I was in Italy, I’ve been itchin’ to do a little shopping. So when Lori invited me to a Shade Clothing Open House, I was willing to alter my schedule slightly to go.  And I was so glad I did!

Kristine had told me about the modest, longer tops put out by Shade Clothing, and I’ve seen them in Bon-Macy’s stores, but never tried any.  Moderately priced, but functional, they are still not in the “bottom of the fashion food chain” price range I normally live in.  Unless it’s a sample sale.  This Open House was. 

I walked right in and picked up the perfect item for me:  yet another short sleeved button-up white cotton dress shirt.  You see, I may have mentioned, I dream of having one whole summer when I wear all white shirts.  And even if I decide that’s too restrictive and never end up doing it, nevertheless, I LOVE wearing short-sleeved white dress shirts in the summer.  And this one is so nice and long!

The Shade personal shopper was also offering deals from the clearance page of their web-site, lots of stuff for $6 apiece.(True or false = shipping is always only $2.95?).  I chose the long sleeve t-shirt pictured here but in “currant”, which is a wine color. 

Total score: two basic tops, in colors I wear, for $13.52.  And a fun night out with a friend to boot!

For those who may not know, Shade Clothing Personal Shoppers will bring a showcase to your home (like a Tupperware or Pampered Chef party).  Has anyone ever hosted or been to one?  I’d love to be a guest! 

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Freshly off my hunt for the new (reading/computer) glasses, I had lunch with a friend, a small retail shop operator. If her shop didn’t exist, people would have no one local to help them understand what to buy or to teach them skills in this particular arena.

Similarly, there is no eyewear shop locally that surpasses the one I ordered through in both stylish selection and the knowledge necessary to fit a pair of glasses on a person’s face and into their lifestyle.

When I found the frames I wanted, I made my buying decision without asking the price. Price wasn’t the point. I had received help that is almost unheard of these days, with a level of expertise that has virtually disappeared. What is the peace of mind of being done shopping and the confidence that my choice supports my goals worth to me?

I suppose I may be stepping on some well-manicured toes when I say that it would not only be unethical but absolutely foolish of me to have written down the style number of those frames and gone home and bought them online more cheaply. If our local retailers provide a service, we should be compensating them for that service. If we don’t, we may come to find that service unavailable at any price. Or we will be forced to replace their service with highly paid consultants.

Thinking about what I value enough to pay for above the lowest possible price reminds me of the idea, from the 1993 book The Overworked American by Juliet Schor, that we in America don’t get to take the whole month of August off like the Europeans do because in recent history we have traded our increased productivity for money and consumerism rather than leisure.

So my question to you is this: for you, what values trump frugality?

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Yesterday I was blessed with the opportunity to go thrifting with my older daughter. Have I ever mentioned that we drive by an outstanding coffee “hut” (I don’t know about where you live, but here they are on about every corner), one that offers $1 mochas every Monday?

What I bought:

• three-quarter sleeve coral cardigan.  A summer staple.  ($1)
• plain, dark, bootcut 100% cotton (The Limited) jeans.  Still not the perfect jeans I’ve been looking for but for $1 I’m confident I’ll get my money’s worth.
• (Brand new with tags) Outback Trading Company shirt-shaped microsuede jacket.  Definitely not my idiom.  Wondering why I bought it?  My hero loves his fleece that color, I thought he’d be honored if I bought it to wear on Saturdays when I’m running around with him.  ($14.99)  Besides that, it looks good on.

Grand total:  $18.43.

I still need to get downtown this week, to the good stores.  Have you made any significant scores recently? 

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School is still out. After staying home for too many days in a row, today I ventured out (no prob!) to do some shopping and errands. At Dana’s suggestion, I went to TJMaxximus, not my usual shopping grounds, simply due to (lack of) proximity.

Sadly, I didn’t find anything exciting. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t buy anything. I felt practically forced to buy this sweater, after almost not even trying it on.

Yes, it’s boring. But it fits fabulously and the color is basic for me. (I think dd’s camera is on some sort of distorted, short and wide setting. Is there such a thing?) And even though I feel like I’ve bought nothing but cashmere sweaters in the past two months, this morning I had to go to the laundry room to get one - the bare wood in the bottom of my dresser drawer was showing. Total spent $16.29.

Lloyd Boston suggests giving up on cotton sweaters in favor of cashmere.  It’s true that cotton sweaters rarely hold their shape for more than a season or two, especially as hard as my clothes get worn.

Any outfit ideas to make it less boring?

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I have never thought of myself as a beauty expert, but when Kristine asked for some tips I realized I had a few useful things to share. Before I forget them all …

General color selection: I think the key to finding makeup that doesn’t look like it’s just sitting on top of your face lies in blending with the underlying skin tones, those caused by your hemoglobin, that is, the reds and oranges.

Foundation and concealer

1. Bobbi Brown believes everyone (or is it almost everyone?) needs yellow based foundation. I believe that most foundation color mistakes arise from choosing a color that is too pink. Conclusion: if you keep ending up with foundation colors that are too pink for you, go straight to the Bobbi Brown counter of your nearest department store.
2. It is not necessary (or desirable IMO) in most cases to wear a full face of makeup. A good match should be able to blend. A technique that works well for me for everyday makeup, using Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick: cover under-eye circles, then slap a dab in nose creases, chin, and center of forehead. Blend. Notice that it is one product doing the work of the foundation and concealer, no powder necessary. Getting by with fewer products is frugal.
3. For foundation and concealer I have not been brave enough to try drug store makeup. Any super-frugal options you can recommend?

Lipstick and blusher

What inspired this thread is the E.L.F. All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade I bought to use as both blush and lipstick. (Pink eyeshadow I’m not so sure about.) I’m smitten with the concept!

Good places to look for blush/lipstick color inspiration:

1. the color of your gums or the tip of your finger when you pinch it,
2. your tongue, or
3. your lips when they get chapped.

Eyes

1. For eye shadow, a good basic color scheme would be your eye color with liner the color of the rim around your iris.
2. I have an inexpensive little pot of brown eyeshadow doing triple duty for me: as shadow, applied with a soft brush, as liner, applied with a wet angled brow brush, and as eyebrow filler, with the same brush.
3. This on mascara from an old post last spring:
   

   friends who are make up artists have always told me that applying a single coat each of 2 different mascaras work the best and i have found this to be true in my own make up experiments. usually one lengthening and one thickening or curling or separating or waterproof, whichever you need. don’t forget to comb out with a clean mascara brush. vc
   

General shopping: Do you have Rite Aid where you are? They have a wonderful return policy on makeup, designed to discourage people from testing it out in the store: you can return anything you don’t like. Also, paint brushes can substitute for makeup brushes and, in a pinch, I wouldn’t hesitate to try very cheap ones (obviously new and clean).

I think this is comprehensively everything I know about makeup.

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Sadly, 2007 was not a good year for me in terms of wardrobe development. (Too many hours at the computer?) These post-Christmas days, with their clearance sales and Christmas cash on hand, should be good times for shopping. Unfortunately, we’ve been short a car and I’m low man on the car totem pole.

Last week I did manage to squeak out once and get up to Nordstrom Rack. On the way home I kept thinking about a sweater I had seen. $50, not too much for cashmere but far more than I would normally spend on anything other but shoes or a coat, it looked exactly like the one pictured here.

As I said, I thought about it all the way home. You see, I have owned the sweater pictured for about six years. Every year I think it’s going to die, and every year I manage to continue to wear it. Alot. Mentally calculating whether I could possibly justify the purchase went something like this:

At least once a week, for 20 weeks (really? 20 weeks? maybe not), that’s 20 wearings per year … times five years, at least, that’s 100 wearings … That’s still more than a quarter per wear …

And so on.  I just kept working the numbers until they came out the way I wanted. I was buying it- and one in peach or coral pink, too, if they had one. (As I said, my wardrobe has become quite skimpy.)

Momentary trouble: by yesterday, when I got back, there was not a small left on the rack and only one medium. But somehow it occurred to me to ask the fitting room attendant if she had a smaller size. She did! Only now the tag was sporting a bright red “additional 40% off” sticker!

With the savings I bought this:
And yes, I got the peachy colored sweater too. Two cashmere turtlenecks and this jacket (or coat?) for about $80.

My goal cost per wear for separates is 25 cents, for outerwear even less. Have you identified yours?

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Here’s the story:

After endless hours of fruitless shopping for shoes to go with the intense blue evening gown, we gave up and headed home. The plan was for dd to stop at the following last-ditch possibilities on her way home from work the next day:

• Target
• Goodwill (which is where she found the dress for $9 last week)
• Value Village
• Classy Rack

Since the mall she works at is out on the edge of the known universe, almost to Idaho, I rarely get to these particular branches of these stores, but if she takes the main drag as opposed to the freeway, it’s a straight shot past them all. Trouble was, this particular day, that when she came out of Target … her car wouldn’t start. And dad was in a meeting. So off I went.
About the time we were pulling into the parking lot of the final store on the list, the phone rang. Our hero! We had just enough time before he could get to Target to quickly check this one last store and that was all the time we needed!

These shoes were only $6.

Yes, I know silver would have been better, but these are simple basic shoes which she will be happy to have in her permanent wardrobe for years to come.

And the jewelry? Even at 40% off she spent almost as much for it as she did for her dress and shoes (actually more, but if you count the dry cleaning …). But without it, actually without the necklace, it’s just a generic outfit.

But a generic $45 outfit is alot less painful than a generic $350 one. And that would not have been hard to do.

(Tip: a reader sent in this link for modest prom dresses and I found the clearance dresses are even affordable. LDS Bridal & Prom clearance prom dresses.)

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