Posts Tagged ‘Cheap Chic’

Cheap and chic of the week: shopping the sales

The focus today is on wardrobe classics, because suddenly I’m feeling like I don’t have enough of them and, as the old saying goes, news is what happens to editors. Let’s start out with this wool and cashmere blend coat from J. Crew, which if you’re at all interested in you should not delay in purchasing, because the Crew is currently doing that thing where they take 40% off everything that’s already on sale.

These I already own, and they are the perfect slouchy skinny boyfriend jeans if you really want the emphasis to be on slouchy.

OK, these are still on the steep side, but take a moment to marvel at how exactly right they are and ask yourself if you can really afford to live without them.

I’m not big on referring to any one article of clothing as an absolute must-have, but I know that getting dressed in the winter would be a lot more of a chore without the always-handy style-in-one-step crutch that is my black cashmere V-neck.

You know how some pieces just look like they’d immediately be welcomed into the groove of your wardrobe and worn constantly? That’s how I feel about this top, which I’ve had my eye on all season. It has the clean lines of a basic white button-down, but is so much more feminine, and just seems like it would be crazy versatile.

Cheap and chic of the week

When worn with a black cardigan, leggings, and boots, this could not be more completely out of my playbook.

Cheap and chic of the week

I paid a lot more than $89 for a couple of bedside tables that I would happily swap out for some as pretty as this go-with-everything mirrored number.

Cheap and chic of the week

If you switched out the Mango label on this cute little top for an Isabel Marant one, and put it on the racks at Barneys, I honestly don’t think anyone would be the wiser.

More cheap and chic: leopard prints

This is another Cheap and Chic Week category that got many requests, and again, I’m not surprised: there are few things better than a fantastic leopard print—it can be sexy or preppy or rock and roll depending on your mood, and how you care to style it. But a bad leopard print is a very bad thing indeed, and can happen just as easily on a $50 pair of shoes as a $500 blouse. My two general rules to getting it right: the shape of the piece itself should be somewhat classic, without too too much else going on; and the scale of the leopard print should be neither too tiny (which doesn’t read) nor too large (which comes off Flintstones). At $159, this coat rings in just a wee bit above Cheap and Chic Week’s price limit, but the print is very nearly perfect, and I love how big and dramatic and long it is, so it stays.

Leopard print shoes have never really been my cup of tea, but I find the subtle, mottled look of the print on these pumps rather unexpected and elegant.

Don’t the gold studs here just somehow, improbably, work?

I do love a red and black leopard print, as well as the nice slouchy cut of this sweatshirt.

Now here is a skirt that looks like it costs more than it does.

This scarf looks—delightfully—as though its ends were dropped in a can of blue paint. (Note: click “reload” if at first the site tells you that the page is not available; it is.)

Cheap and chic: the moto jacket

That so many of you expressed frustration with finding decently-priced leather jackets comes as no surprise. Those that cash in around the $100 to $200 mark are not only poorly made, but the design is usually off, too: they’re either too boxy and mumsy, or shrunken and cropped to the ribcage, or simply have a tragic excess of  hardware and zippers. This is unacceptable, and especially so when we’re talking moto jackets, which look best when the design skews more well-cut and classic. So here’s the solution: let go and go vegan. I love the collarless, nipped-in feeling of this one, which would go particularly nicely with dresses.

This has more of a bomber shape, but I’m allowing it, because there is something about it that’s quite moto in feel, and because it’s so awesomely unadorned.

The color could go all wrong here, but doesn’t, and here’s why. First off, it’s a nice, rich green, and one that could be employed in your wardrobe as a neutral. And two, the color is the only statement that this jacket is making—trying to pile on any more design flourishes would have been too much.

It’s amazing that this one isn’t leather, because it looks all slouchy and broken-in just like real leather would. And the quilting at the elbows is quite subtle and very Euro.