So what do you think of the new "fashions" put out by Tina Knowles for Walmart and Jlo for Kohls? I am glad that somebody cares about what poor women have to choose from. I have not checked out the prices for the JLo line but I saw Tina's collection and the prices are slighly higher than that Faded Glory stuff and about the same level as the "George" line. There wasn't anything that I just HAD to have though.

MY favorite low fashion still seems to be Target. I am missing the Isaac Mizrahi days still. Those were cute clothes. I don't understand why their New Missoni line is over in October. Obviously all the great stuff will be bought up right away and there goes any hope for the average economically challenged Jane Doe of getting a few fun and stylish pieces. I thought the whole point was to give those of us who shopped vintage way before it was hip, because it was the only affordable decent clothing, a chance at having attractive clothes.

Anyway, What is your take on the new "low" fall fashions?

Found any great "must haves" out there?

How about shoes; who has the best shoe styles for under $100.00? How about under $50.00?

(I just bought a pair of spotted Mary Janes at "Midnight Velvet" on line and they were on sale. They cost me just under $36.00 and are sexy yet practical. The heels are just under 4 inches. Also they came in Wide,

I LOVE to mix high and low items.

I'll sacrifice quality on some items but not on others. It's all about how you piece items together to make a unique, creative style for yourself. Steet style does this flawlessly.

There is nothing worse than a label whore that just buys shit so they can brag about how they wear high end shit. They must buy the lastest season, bawk at those that don't, etc. Those types are the sheep that are usually completely devoid of any real personal style. It's laughable really.

As for low end fashion, I can find great pieces literally everywhere.

I checked out H&M and have decided that they're really not as inexpensive as they claim to be.

PurpleJedi said:

I checked out H&M and have decided that they're really not as inexpensive as they claim to be.

I see Mark Anthony has a line at Kohls too. Poor Kohls, they had this "couple" thing set up and now "oops, we are not a couple any longer".

PurpleJedi said:

I checked out H&M and have decided that they're really not as inexpensive as they claim to be.

Really?

H&M has great styles, but it's not usually the best quality. I'm all about fabric and sometimes they have pieces that are made from decent materials....but even those better quality pieces are very inexpensive.

I will just say right now that if I see anyone wearing those Missoni for Target ZigZag Pajama Pants on the street - especially if Uggs are also involved - beatings will ensue.

Consider yourselves warned.

Genesia said:

I will just say right now that if I see anyone wearing those Missoni for Target ZigZag Pajama Pants on the street - especially if Uggs are also involved - beatings will ensue.

Consider yourselves warned.

JustErin said:

I LOVE to mix high and low items.

I'll sacrifice quality on some items but not on others. It's all about how you piece items together to make a unique, creative style for yourself. Steet style does this flawlessly.

There is nothing worse than a label whore that just buys shit so they can brag about how they wear high end shit. They must buy the lastest season, bawk at those that don't, etc. Those types are the sheep that are usually completely devoid of any real personal style. It's laughable really.

As for low end fashion, I can find great pieces literally everywhere.

Many designers get their inspiration from the streets. They take a ghetto fabulous look and tweek it a bit and of course do it in the best fabrics with great workmanship and their you go, an "original". Poor people need to learn to make $$ off of their own creativity, but that is another thread.

The rules don't change.

If you have to buy poor workmanship, buy it in black because the cheap quality won't show as much.

Spend on a few decent pieces that you can wear to death.

Label junkies have no style and everyone around them knows it. They won't wear a "designer" piece unless it is easily recognizable as such. Like the late Alexander McQueen's shoes and the shoes of Christian Lacroix because the soles of the shoes screamed "I paid big $$$$ for these so that makes me important, seeeeee!" I remember working in a designer department and you could see this type making sure that either a label was clearly visible or that the fashion was so easily recognizable that a label was not needed, like the red soles. Label junkies also do a horrible job of mixing designers. They can't mix it up on their own; they have to wear the same designer from head to toe.

Anyway you may not get as many funky pieces in a vitage store for cheap the way I did back in the eary 80's but you can still get some well made basics for reasonable prices.

Genesia said:

I will just say right now that if I see anyone wearing those Missoni for Target ZigZag Pajama Pants on the street - especially if Uggs are also involved - beatings will ensue.

Consider yourselves warned.

That is a lot of street fighting your looking at; did you get in shape for this yet?

Deadflow3r said:

JustErin said:

I LOVE to mix high and low items.

I'll sacrifice quality on some items but not on others. It's all about how you piece items together to make a unique, creative style for yourself. Steet style does this flawlessly.

There is nothing worse than a label whore that just buys shit so they can brag about how they wear high end shit. They must buy the lastest season, bawk at those that don't, etc. Those types are the sheep that are usually completely devoid of any real personal style. It's laughable really.

As for low end fashion, I can find great pieces literally everywhere.

Many designers get their inspiration from the streets. They take a ghetto fabulous look and tweek it a bit and of course do it in the best fabrics with great workmanship and their you go, an "original". Poor people need to learn to make $$ off of their own creativity, but that is another thread.

The rules don't change.

If you have to buy poor workmanship, buy it in black because the cheap quality won't show as much.

Spend on a few decent pieces that you can wear to death.

Label junkies have no style and everyone around them knows it. They won't wear a "designer" piece unless it is easily recognizable as such. Like the late Alexander McQueen's shoes and the shoes of Christian Lacroix because the soles of the shoes screamed "I paid big $$$$ for these so that makes me important, seeeeee!" I remember working in a designer department and you could see this type making sure that either a label was clearly visible or that the fashion was so easily recognizable that a label was not needed, like the red soles. Label junkies also do a horrible job of mixing designers. They can't mix it up on their own; they have to wear the same designer from head to toe.

Anyway you may not get as many funky pieces in a vitage store for cheap the way I did back in the eary 80's but you can still get some well made basics for reasonable prices.

PurpleJedi said:

I checked out H&M and have decided that they're really not as inexpensive as they claim to be.

"Inexpensive" is a relative term. There was a time when the Gap was my "low" place to shop. Now it is about as High as I can go, maybe too high. You have 3 kids and THAT changes everything. It is hard when your looks can no longer be your top priority to not fall into the frumpy dad look. We single parents have it hard. We still want to "attract" but we can't shell out the money to do so.

Anyway the Target stuff is now being loaded onto ebay. So what else is left. I am trying to not look too frumpy. Being presently overweight does not help either. Recently I got my new RayBan glasses. I think that did more to upgrade my look then any piece of clothing. There are some companies on the internet that sell very stylish frames relatively cheap. I am now focused on making great glasses my signiture ( sort of like Bria's flower in her hair ) and completely laying off of earings and most costume jewelry.

Another thing my seamstress mother taught me was fit. I just bought some dresses at Target and they need to be hemmed at that perfest knee length. Nothing looks worse then ill fitted clothes and cheap buttons. Fix even your cheap shit up so it looks like it was made for you!

JustErin said:

PurpleJedi said:

I checked out H&M and have decided that they're really not as inexpensive as they claim to be.

Really?

H&M has great styles, but it's not usually the best quality. I'm all about fabric and sometimes they have pieces that are made from decent materials....but even those better quality pieces are very inexpensive.

Well, consider this;

A polo shirt at H&M for $9.95 seems like a great deal...until you touch it and realize it's about as soft as #3 grade sandpaper.

You find a nice, soft cotton one on another rack...but that one's $24.99 - the same price as GAP.

You find a boy's pair of jeans for $9.95 and say, "great deal"...until your son tries it on and it looks like something from the Goodwill section at Wal-Mart.

The ones that fit him nice and look fashionable are $29.99 - same price as a pair of Levi's.

I did buy myself a pair of jeans there for $20 that do fit me nice and are comfortable as hell.

But for the most part, I can get better deals at Macy's when you wait for a sale.

PurpleJedi said:

JustErin said:

Really?

H&M has great styles, but it's not usually the best quality. I'm all about fabric and sometimes they have pieces that are made from decent materials....but even those better quality pieces are very inexpensive.

Well, consider this;

A polo shirt at H&M for $9.95 seems like a great deal...until you touch it and realize it's about as soft as #3 grade sandpaper.

You find a nice, soft cotton one on another rack...but that one's $24.99 - the same price as GAP.

You find a boy's pair of jeans for $9.95 and say, "great deal"...until your son tries it on and it looks like something from the Goodwill section at Wal-Mart.

The ones that fit him nice and look fashionable are $29.99 - same price as a pair of Levi's.

I did buy myself a pair of jeans there for $20 that do fit me nice and are comfortable as hell.

But for the most part, I can get better deals at Macy's when you wait for a sale.

They say not to buy any "back to school" clothes till late September for this reason. The kids can wear summer clothes or last springs clothes for the first 2 weeks of school. JCPenny has great sales too and they are really trying to step up their style. I still love Target because when they pull those 75% off racks out I just load up on kids clothes. Their sales beat out Walmarts prices any day.

Horrible fabric not only feels bad it usually washes poorly as well. If you shop at a department store and do so regularly you get the feel of when things are being moved and marked down and can jump on it quickly. I'd say get to know the Macy's sales help but last few times I was there, there wasn't any help in sight. I think the whole department was being run by the guys behind the security cameras.

Deadflow3r said:

PurpleJedi said:

Well, consider this;

A polo shirt at H&M for $9.95 seems like a great deal...until you touch it and realize it's about as soft as #3 grade sandpaper.

You find a nice, soft cotton one on another rack...but that one's $24.99 - the same price as GAP.

You find a boy's pair of jeans for $9.95 and say, "great deal"...until your son tries it on and it looks like something from the Goodwill section at Wal-Mart.

The ones that fit him nice and look fashionable are $29.99 - same price as a pair of Levi's.

I did buy myself a pair of jeans there for $20 that do fit me nice and are comfortable as hell.

But for the most part, I can get better deals at Macy's when you wait for a sale.

They say not to buy any "back to school" clothes till late September for this reason. The kids can wear summer clothes or last springs clothes for the first 2 weeks of school. JCPenny has great sales too and they are really trying to step up their style. I still love Target because when they pull those 75% off racks out I just load up on kids clothes. Their sales beat out Walmarts prices any day.

Horrible fabric not only feels bad it usually washes poorly as well. If you shop at a department store and do so regularly you get the feel of when things are being moved and marked down and can jump on it quickly. I'd say get to know the Macy's sales help but last few times I was there, there wasn't any help in sight. I think the whole department was being run by the guys behind the security cameras.

Yeah, I'm the king of clearance racks.

That is the whole point to me of being a "shopper" I am basically playing musical chairs so I can jump on a good purchase when they are ready to do a store move and put out the new stuff.

PurpleJedi said:

Deadflow3r said:

They say not to buy any "back to school" clothes till late September for this reason. The kids can wear summer clothes or last springs clothes for the first 2 weeks of school. JCPenny has great sales too and they are really trying to step up their style. I still love Target because when they pull those 75% off racks out I just load up on kids clothes. Their sales beat out Walmarts prices any day.

Horrible fabric not only feels bad it usually washes poorly as well. If you shop at a department store and do so regularly you get the feel of when things are being moved and marked down and can jump on it quickly. I'd say get to know the Macy's sales help but last few times I was there, there wasn't any help in sight. I think the whole department was being run by the guys behind the security cameras.

Yeah, I'm the king of clearance racks.

H&M quality is not so great. Clearance at Macy's is good. Especially the summer stuff-I just bought some designer t-shirt for my brother for 5 bucks. Original price 40 dollars. I would agree with JCpenny being a great place and price to buy basics. You can get good jeans for 19.99 on sale at JCPenny. Don't count out Hollister either I have bought items all under 10 dollars. You just buy the Hollister clearance items when they do the 40% to 50% off clearance items.

PurpleJedi said:

I checked out H&M and have decided that they're really not as inexpensive as they claim to be.

H&M is junk. I've looked in there a few times but it all looks so poorly made and cheap like it will fall apart after the first wash.

I also buy low & high end and mix them up. I like good shoes, boots, pants and handbags. The rest I can do fairly low end.

PurpleJedi said:

JustErin said:

Really?

H&M has great styles, but it's not usually the best quality. I'm all about fabric and sometimes they have pieces that are made from decent materials....but even those better quality pieces are very inexpensive.

Well, consider this;

A polo shirt at H&M for $9.95 seems like a great deal...until you touch it and realize it's about as soft as #3 grade sandpaper.

You find a nice, soft cotton one on another rack...but that one's $24.99 - the same price as GAP.

You find a boy's pair of jeans for $9.95 and say, "great deal"...until your son tries it on and it looks like something from the Goodwill section at Wal-Mart.

The ones that fit him nice and look fashionable are $29.99 - same price as a pair of Levi's.

I did buy myself a pair of jeans there for $20 that do fit me nice and are comfortable as hell.

But for the most part, I can get better deals at Macy's when you wait for a sale.

I don't think $29.99 is expensive for kid's jeans...

I haven't had any issues with their kids clothes falling apart either. Actually, I haven't really had any issues with anything I've bought there....but even if I did...it's cheaper materials so I don't expect it to last. Getting only like 10 wears would be fine with me. I have a lot of clothes so 10 wears of one item could last me like a year.

JustErin said:

PurpleJedi said:

Well, consider this;

A polo shirt at H&M for $9.95 seems like a great deal...until you touch it and realize it's about as soft as #3 grade sandpaper.

You find a nice, soft cotton one on another rack...but that one's $24.99 - the same price as GAP.

You find a boy's pair of jeans for $9.95 and say, "great deal"...until your son tries it on and it looks like something from the Goodwill section at Wal-Mart.

The ones that fit him nice and look fashionable are $29.99 - same price as a pair of Levi's.

I did buy myself a pair of jeans there for $20 that do fit me nice and are comfortable as hell.

But for the most part, I can get better deals at Macy's when you wait for a sale.

I don't think $29.99 is expensive for kid's jeans...

I haven't had any issues with their kids clothes falling apart either. Actually, I haven't really had any issues with anything I've bought there....but even if I did...it's cheaper materials so I don't expect it to last. Getting only like 10 wears would be fine with me. I have a lot of clothes so 10 wears of one item could last me like a year.

Yeah I don't consider $30 "expensive" but the point is that for that price I can get a pair of Levi's that will last through the rough & tumble antics of my rambunctious 9-y.o.

I have no problem getting the kids cheap-quality clothes (Target, Old Navy, etc.) since by the time it starts falling apart, they've outgrown it anyway.

All I can think of is the Kat Williams skit on cheap vs expensive sneakers. Basically he had the money but he was not going to spend it on pricipal. For kids jeans $30.00 is high end. Sure if your Suri Cruise maybe not but for the average kid that is plenty to spend. Kids grow and $18.00 or less is more practical.

Kids don't want to look frumpy either and I find that Walmart's stuff is either frumpy (like a greatgranny might buy her kids) or looks like it won't make it through a washing. I did get one cute outfit there this past spring for my 9 year old and some cotton tank dresses that were perfect for pulling over a bathing suit.

However, how up to the minute do kids fashions need to be? I dressed my daughter better than average and still the t-shirts cost me less than $9.00 and the pants $15.00 for jeans or less than $9.00 for leggings.

Boys? Well if I had more then one boy I may get sturdy Gap stuff. I have never liked Old Navy quality and would easily put more money down for an item than shop there.

Last year I bought a wardrobe of girls size 8 clothes only to watch her need a size 10 by late November. You just never know when they will have a growth spurt.

Somehow we got all caught up in cost yesterday; I want to talk more about style.

The Tina Knowles collection is O.K.. Many of the items would be bought right up by Peg Bundy for sure. That is not really the direction I like my animal prints to take me in. I LOVE animal prints but wear them with a funky fun feel, not "sex goddess of the trailer park" look. Tina's stuff is going to make me the sex goddess of the trailer park wanna-be. I say wanna-be because I am sure that the trailer park closest to me already has a sex goddess and surly her tah-tahs out weigh mine.

So what is out there folks that has great style and line, holds up to some wear and is relatively inexpensive?

Deadflow3r said:

Somehow we got all caught up in cost yesterday; I want to talk more about style.

The Tina Knowles collection is O.K.. Many of the items would be bought right up by Peg Bundy for sure. That is not really the direction I like my animal prints to take me in. I LOVE animal prints but wear them with a funky fun feel, not "sex goddess of the trailer park" look. Tina's stuff is going to make me the sex goddess of the trailer park wanna-be. I say wanna-be because I am sure that the trailer park closest to me already has a sex goddess and surly her tah-tahs out weigh mine.

So what is out there folks that has great style and line, holds up to some wear and is relatively inexpensive?

I'm gonna go check out the Marc Anthony line at Kohls as soon as I open up some credit on the card.

Genesia said:

I will just say right now that if I see anyone wearing those Missoni for Target ZigZag Pajama Pants on the street - especially if Uggs are also involved - beatings will ensue.

Consider yourselves warned.

Hershe said:

This Fall, I love purple, and snake. [img:$uid]http://www.fashionizers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Shoe-Collection-from-Prada-for-Fall-2011.png[/img:$uid]

I like this. Now to take it down to my level I would find some kick ass tights and pair them with shoes I don't normally wear tights with. At 50 I am rediscovering tights. They hide white legs and are quite funky. I like Prada, she has a unique vision, especially in shoes.

JustErin said:

I LOVE to mix high and low items.

I'll sacrifice quality on some items but not on others. It's all about how you piece items together to make a unique, creative style for yourself. Steet style does this flawlessly.

There is nothing worse than a label whore that just buys shit so they can brag about how they wear high end shit. They must buy the lastest season, bawk at those that don't, etc. Those types are the sheep that are usually completely devoid of any real personal style. It's laughable really.

As for low end fashion, I can find great pieces literally everywhere.

There are plenty of people here who buy tons of high end, I don't think it means they are devoid of style. While I mix and match from low to high (think Balenciaga or Pucci with thrift, or interchanging my Burberry trench with one I have from Target) with it doesn't bother me when there are others who prefer high end. Everything is not for everyone.

Ottensen said:

JustErin said:

I LOVE to mix high and low items.

I'll sacrifice quality on some items but not on others. It's all about how you piece items together to make a unique, creative style for yourself. Steet style does this flawlessly.

There is nothing worse than a label whore that just buys shit so they can brag about how they wear high end shit. They must buy the lastest season, bawk at those that don't, etc. Those types are the sheep that are usually completely devoid of any real personal style. It's laughable really.

As for low end fashion, I can find great pieces literally everywhere.

There are plenty of people here who buy tons of high end, I don't think it means they are devoid of style. While I mix and match from low to high (think Balenciaga or Pucci with thrift, or interchanging my Burberry trench with one I have from Target) with it doesn't bother me when there are others who prefer high end. Everything is not for everyone.

Not that I really have any desire to get involved or defend anybody here, but that's not actually what she said. She said people who buy it just so they can brag about what they wear and speak poorly of others for not doing so are laughable, and I agree with her. You can buy all the newest, most expensive clothing every SEASON and not make a big deal out of it at all. In fact, imo, it generally looks better if you wear ther kind of stuff quietly, comfortably and confidently (like, ya know, but the stuff with the labels and names on the INSIDE ). But wearing it like a badge, or like a societal place holder, is gross.

Cerebus said:

Ottensen said:

There are plenty of people here who buy tons of high end, I don't think it means they are devoid of style. While I mix and match from low to high (think Balenciaga or Pucci with thrift, or interchanging my Burberry trench with one I have from Target) with it doesn't bother me when there are others who prefer high end. Everything is not for everyone.

Not that I really have any desire to get involved or defend anybody here, but that's not actually what she said. She said people who buy it just so they can brag about what they wear and speak poorly of others for not doing so are laughable, and I agree with her. You can buy all the newest, most expensive clothing every SEASON and not make a big deal out of it at all. In fact, imo, it generally looks better if you wear ther kind of stuff quietly, comfortably and confidently (like, ya know, but the stuff with the labels and names on the INSIDE ). But wearing it like a badge, or like a societal place holder, is gross.

Erin said people who buy high end items and brag about it are sheep and devoid of personal style.

Ottie said such persons are not devoid of style.

As to bragging about high end purchase sand speaking poorly of those who don't....who does that? It wouldn't make any sense to do that. I think most people buy what they want and enjoy it whether its high end or low end.

HotGritz said:

Cerebus said:

Not that I really have any desire to get involved or defend anybody here, but that's not actually what she said. She said people who buy it just so they can brag about what they wear and speak poorly of others for not doing so are laughable, and I agree with her. You can buy all the newest, most expensive clothing every SEASON and not make a big deal out of it at all. In fact, imo, it generally looks better if you wear ther kind of stuff quietly, comfortably and confidently (like, ya know, but the stuff with the labels and names on the INSIDE ). But wearing it like a badge, or like a societal place holder, is gross.

Erin said people who buy high end items and brag about it are sheep and devoid of personal style.

Ottie said such persons are not devoid of style.

As to bragging about high end purchase sand speaking poorly of those who don't....who does that? It wouldn't make any sense to do that. I think most people buy what they want and enjoy it whether its high end or low end.

No, they didn't. They made bold a section of what Erin said and replied with, "There are plenty of people here who buy tons of high end, I don't think it means they are devoid of style." That is clearly not what she said.

And as to who does that... are you joking? It happens here pretty regularly and it definitely happens in the "real world".