I Can't Believe it's Not Target

Here are two adorable dresses. No one will believe it when you tell them where you got them. In fact, don't tell them. They might die of shock. Their families will sue you. You will have to put all your would-be discretionary funds into their hands as part of the civil settlement. Then you won't have any money to buy even these cheap beauties. So mum's the word. Tell them the dress came from "mart", with a silent K, of course.

Along with the tiny price ($14.99!!) apparently comes a teeny, tiny picture. Check out the link and fall in love. Yes, it's polyester - so is Max Studio... Wash and wear, baby.

And how sweet is this dress that you can hardly see? At a mere $18.74 (because $18.75 would turn buyers away?), this one has awesome self-braid details. Kmart has gone so far as to call this taupe color 'shitake' - when did that happen? I feel like I'm at J. Crew. Where the price tag would read at least 5 times the price.

Go Green

I am accessory challenged. It is one of several self-diagnosed, poorly understood, unresearched illness that afflict me. It is unrelated to my painful pattern phobia, which causes me to flee from florals and other prints and run straight into the arms of my beloved solids.

My being accessory-challenged has caused me to take such extreme measures as to wear only diamond studs for 6 months at a time. But for the last year or two, I have been submitting myself to aversion therapy. I force myself to purchase and wear accessories. When picking out jewelry, my taste has turned very much toward the hippie, as it so often does, and I just love these earrings, and their very reasonable price. I so think you can wear them with jeans and on the red carpet (OK, dinner at a restaurant that does not have a $1 menu or Wanda Sykes, Queen Latifah or John Goodman doing their voice overs).

$8.98

Right now, everything at Steve & Barry's is $8.98! Nine bucks! I am totally going there after work. Want to meet me there? No? Seriously?

Oh, I see what's going on here. I can totally tell what you're thinking. "Really? That t-shirt place? With the Amanda Bynes stuff?" Sigh. You're doing a very good job of hiding your disdain (are you even trying? That's just insulting!). Dude, you're even snobbier than I thought! Look, I don't like going to the Manhattan Mall anymore than you do. But check out these pants! They're corduroy capris, and you totally need a pair for the summer. They're from the Sarah Jessica Parker collection! We can wear them when we see the Sex & the City movie!

Okay, okay, maybe I'm going a little overboard. I'm totally waiting 'til it comes out on DVD. But look at it this way: If you go now and stock up on $9 basics, like tees and tanks and button-downs, and of course, these awesome pants, think how much more you'll have to spend at all your fancy stores! That's if you have any room left in your closet . . .



ETA: Looks like The New York Times is browsing Luckier for leads. It was only a matter of time . . . (5/1/08)

Buy now, wear later

Sometimes, buying shoes can be a long-term investment. But isn't it nice when you don't have to invest a lot? Take these awesome suede moccasins. Since it's already spring (really, that nice weather should be starting any day now), some rules of fashion might tell you not to wear these. But that's okay! Buy them now ($40! For suede! What are you waiting for??), put them in your closet, and have a fabulous summer. Then, come October, pull them out, and wear your awesome new shoes every single day. Totally worth the wait.

Double Duty

Aren't things luckier when you find additional ways to use them? And by "things" I mean clothes and by "use" I mean wear. Honestly, I am not so interested in the many unexpected uses for a fabric softener sheet or paper cupcake liners.

I am interested in how this year's obsession with layering is letting me make use of my summer items all winter long. Take this dress. I bought one like it last summer from the gap. Cute all summer long (layered then too, with a t-shirt or tank) and how cute is it this winter, over a crisp white blouse? Who would have thunk it a year ago, but there it is.

Same goes for the $10 breezy, sleeveless gray shift I got at Old Navy over the summer (I work very hard not to realize how much it resembles the housecoat my grandmother spent every minute of the Florida years in, so just you keep quiet). Put it over a nice thermal long sleeved shirt, add some boots, and you're ready for winter.

Pair that same thermal, or any other one of the countless thermals I own, with one of last summer's swingy tanks, and there you are again, getting luckier. Really, could lining your bathroom garbage can with a fabric softener sheet ever compare?