Fashionista Recessionista

 

I have the heart and soul of a fashionista but the wallet of a recessionista. Depressing? A little maybe. It got to me for a while until I realised there is fabulous style and beauty out there to suit all budgets, you just need to open your eyes and know how to work it.

Shopping is my therapy, shopping is my cardio exercise, shopping is balm for my broken heart. Dresses, jeans, handbags, I just can’t get enough of them – and don’t even get me started on shoes! The thing is, these days, none of them have to be (or can be) expensive and I get as much of a kick out of buying them, wearing them and, most of all, getting complimented on them. You see that is the funny thing, I know many people who would be horrified to know the entire cost of my outfit today comes to barely seventy euros including gorgeous handbag but if they set foot in the shops I do they would know style can come at any cost. Some of the most comfortable, not to mention cutest, ballet flats I own cost a massive six euros – I ended up buying four pairs in different colours! I would say mix and match from different shops, it really makes a difference to making an outfit look more expensive and accessorise, accessorise, accessorise. Shopping in the main chain stores will mean others inevitably have the same clothes as you so accessorising is what will make you look individual and set you apart from the crowd as having your own personal style. You can pick up great stuff for bargain prices these days and it will make all the difference to your look.

 

Similarly with beauty, you don’t have to win the lotto to look good (although I am going to keep trying!) My sister calls me the queen of lotions and potions because I love trying new foundations, glosses, shadows, you name it. I couldn’t afford to do that with premium brands but joyfully do it with the more mainstream ones. This morning I was struggling to function normally before work and so had a “natural, matte, no effort, no maintenance” vibe going on. Roll on the long-lasting, 16 hour foundation, gorgeous chocolate flavoured lip-gloss and a teeny bit of pink blusher. Come Saturday though I’ll be glamming it up with the dewy foundation that somehow makes me look like I have slept for a week, the indispensable Barry M pigments that add endless options to my make-up box (yes, box, not bag!!) and the super-duper Masterpiece mascara that makes my eyes give Bambi a run for her money! Ah, the endless options, the endless looks - and all for a few quid.

 

Life as a recessionista isn’t so bad at all! 

 

 

Male Style Impresses....Finally!!

When it comes to fashion I have been despairing of men in Dublin for quite a while now. So many seem to think throwing on any old t-shirt constitutes making an effort and, sorry boys, but unless you are called George or Brad and live in LA, this just doesn’t cut the mustard. Your style speaks of who you are and making an effort shows you care – about yourself and, if meeting a girl, it shows you care enough about her to make an effort too.



So it was with delight that I found a veritable style-bubble last weekend. I gate-crashed a friend of a friend’s birthday in McSorley’s in Ranelagh. I hadn’t been there in about 10 years and didn’t know what to expect but, me being me, got dressed up anyway! I wore a black body-con skirt with built in studded belt and black v-neck vest with my shoe-boots. I matched the look with a smokey eye and felt pretty good, which is something I don’t find easy heading into a big group of people a lot of whom I don’t know.



Of course the group I was meeting were all lovely and incredibly friendly as it turned out. I had a fab night and loads of fun. But the blogger and fashionista in me couldn’t help but notice the men all around me. Maybe I haven’t opened my eyes before but this place was full of stylish men. My own group were fine examples of men who had made a bit of effort. None of them were tragically trendy or over-styled but they had all made the best of themselves and looked really good. Simple, stylish shirts, fashionable (not tatty / ill-fitting / or beyond repair) jeans, quality belts and decent shoes. It really isn’t too difficult an equation, is it boys? The birthday boy led the way in the style stakes in my humble opinion, looking really good. He had on a simple white shirt and jeans and looked fab. It just shows simplicity is often the key to great style.



The style stakes were high beyond just my group of friends though. It seemed to me that everywhere I looked guys had made a real effort to look their best and I was impressed. Some of the looks were a bit D4 for my taste but each to their own. Deck shoes just aren’t for me, but whatever floats your boat, pardon the pun!!



Female fashionistas were everywhere too with lots of super-dressy girls parading around. The fact that a few of the Leinster squad were drinking there only added to that of course! Being a soccer and GAA girl I was pretty oblivious to their presence until they were pointed out to me and then the gaggle of giggly girls around them suddenly made sense!! Nonetheless, I spotted a few fabulous dresses including the Warehouse red, black and white leopard print one I’ve had my eye on for weeks. I have to say though that I felt the vibe in the place meant you could wear whatever you fancied and fit in. There were guys in t-shirts but not ones that looked they had been lived in for a week, unlike some places I’ve been recently!



So girls, if you are single and looking for a stylish man, I may have the place for you to go! And boys, trust me, just a little effort goes a really long way!

High Street Quality High But My Budget Makes Me Sigh!

I have been suffering from a serious case of writers block recently – possibly due to my severe lack of funds and subsequent lack of shopping opportunities. Initially this recession seemed like an ideal opportunity to tighten my belt (wouldn’t Charlie H have been proud of me!!) and source cheap but nonetheless cheerful (i.e. still quality) clothes. I have been doing that for months now and quite enjoyed my many trips to the shops and online eh “browsing”. However, for reasons I won’t bore you with, times have become significantly tougher recently and if I have to tighten my belt much more I won’t be able to breathe properly anymore!!

So, for now I must satisfy my love of fashion with wistful window shopping and looking longingly online. I have abandoned completely even entering certain shops on the basis it is now too depressing and have changed the direction I head in while in certain shopping centres and even streets! In doing so something has recently come to my attention though – the huge improvement in style and quality in so called “high street” ranges. Dunnes Stores was never a port of call for me except when I needed a few groceries but there is an excellent branch in the Ashleaf Centre in Crumlin, Dublin 12 which has recently been refurbished and massively extended. I now find myself wandering there regularly admiring the great, affordable range of really stylish and decent quality clothes. Despite my desperate financial woes even this recessionista has managed to gleefully make some purchases here over the last few months. I got two gorgeous jersey skirts for a mere €8 each (that is my kind of budget!!). One is a fabulous fuchsia pink and the other is jade green – both great colours for brightening up drab winter outfits – you know by now I don’t like being too dark and drab, people!! They also have very now body-con skirts ranging from €8 to €15 in a good range of colours and the more expensive ones even come with belts. On a recent foray into Ashleaf I had to stop myself from buying a gorgeous cornflower blue skirt with a great and very on the button ruffle at the front that was just €20. I just couldn’t justify buying anything at the time but am still pining for it now, it was so pretty!!

Awear is another Irish range that has a great affordable line of stylish clothes. They are very trendy, great for dresses and for accessories. I don’t know if they changed buyers or something but in recent years, in my humble opinion, they have improved vastly. Catwalk trends are available for a fraction of the price and are always in-store early. I get countless handbags there (as the bulging hooks on the bedroom wall will testify!!) and they are really good quality for the price you pay. My favourite Awear item though is their jeans. As a mini 4’ 11” I find it terribly hard to get jeans the right length for me but Awear have hit the right note here. All their jeans come in short, regular and long and range from skinny, straight, fit & flare and boot-cut to wide cuts. They are available in a wide range of colours, washes and fits and I swear if you want decent jeans at decent prices you can’t go far wrong with Awear! By the way, they also launched their website earlier this year and it is well worth a look if you don’t live near a branch of Awear. My sister is a fan but lives in the UK and has successfully ordered from them and been impressed with the delivery and service.

Penney’s of course is an old favourite and hard to beat for high-trend, low cost clothes. Their range is vast and quality has improved in recent years. I find their shoes excellent and so cheap. I am barely a size 3 but they fit me beautifully and with boots from €15 to €35 you can hardly complain! I have my eye on gorgeous purple (surprise surprise!!) knee high boots at the moment. You can turn them up to the knee or fold them over to be slightly further down the leg – two styles for just €17!!

Most other high street stores have good offers at the moment too. Even the slightly more expensive ones like Oasis and Warehouse seem to have constant sales these days and they no longer just feature tail-end summer stuff! Also, places like House of Fraser have excellent sales on a regular basis across all their concessions. In Dundrum they regularly knock off 20-25% across their fashion ranges and you can get some excellent deals. Mango had gorgeous knitted dresses for a mere €20 a couple of weeks ago and they are always good quality.

People have often complained to me that if they shop in places like those I have mentioned above they end up with the same outfits as “500 other people” but on that issue I will revert back to a point I have made previously and sorry if I sound like a broken record. It is not what you wear but how you wear it. Accessorise, accessorise, accessorise. Add a belt, cute shoes, interesting statement jewellery – anything to make your look individual to you and it won’t matter if someone else has the same skirt, top or dress, yours will look different (and no doubt better too!!). The clothes are just the canvas, how you accessorise them is what makes the outfit individual to you and particularly stylish.

So I will continue window shopping and planning imaginary outfits in my head, all the while wishing I was somewhat more financially secure. I am far too independent to want a knight in shining armour to come rescue me and whisk me off to live happily ever after, no thanks, but if one could just come racing up to me on a handsome horse and lovingly place a winning lotto ticket in my hand, well, now that would be a different matter altogether….!

No Money? No Matter!!

Being a cash-strapped recessionista is one thing – my Visa and I are slowly adjusting to our new lifestyle – but having no money to spend whatsoever is quite another thing altogether! Sadly, through an unfortunate combination of bills coinciding with each other I recently found myself in that very situation. I spent a fortnight living on pesto and pasta which does nothing for either a girl’s spirit or her tummy’s tone!




Still, I had to make the most of it and that is exactly what I did. Approaching autumn is always a favourite time of year of mine. I love autumnal colours – especially this year’s purple’s and blues – and find it easier to find “my” style in the colder seasons (although here in Dublin every season seems cold these days!)



So, being broke and unable to shop I took the opportunity to go through my wardrobe and come up with some new and / or forgotten outfits for the new season. Old clothes can always be re-styled in new ways (my very own version of re-cycling, see how green I am?!) My gorgeous and stylish sister has always had a fabulous knack for layering items brilliantly which is something I never thought I could do until recently. Over the last few months though my confidence has increased and I am much more willing to try new styles, cuts, patterns and combinations, including layering, which really opens up new options for me.



So, I flung open my wardrobe doors with gusto, promptly got hit on the head by a flying sandal and once recovered from the kitten heel mark in my cheek I started pulling things out to see what I could come up with.



Firstly, and with huge glee, I set aside a big pile of stuff I am now too skinny for…woohoo!! They have all gone to a good cause, very important these days, ladies! Next I worked out what I could mix together and arrived at some great and glam combinations – my mint green wrap-over cardi and purple ¾ length sleeve purple top look great with either of my denim minis; a red vest really brings alive my turquoise v-neck short sleeved jumper and they are super flattering with my skinny jeans; the wonder of simple ¾ or long sleeve t’s or polos and opaque tights was endless as I added them to summer dresses to extend their wear into winter. I discovered adding purple tights to my fuchsia pink mini dress looks amazing and really funks it up – might sound mad but trust me, with silver sandals it works perfectly!



The power of accessories also came to the fore here. I discovered putting red shoes and accessories with a purple dress looks brilliant. I absolutely love that colour combination, although I almost killed myself when I wore my gorgeous ‘new’ outfit to a cinema trip in Temple Bar. My red 3 inch t-bars shoes may look fab with the dress but they and cobblestones don’t go well together as I discovered to my peril!



Over recent years I have collected countless colourful scarves, bracelets and necklaces and we won’t even begin on all the shoes and bags I have or we will be here all day. But all of these can easily liven up a dull outfit and bring something boring to life with little effort. Something I love to do is wear colourful shoes (especially red) if I am wearing a black outfit. Suddenly not so boring!!



Happily, I made two fabulous discoveries while having my clear-out / planning session. I found a bag and pair of boots I had bought and put away for autumn. The bag is incredibly soft, brown fake leather (or fleather as I call it!) from Marks and Spencer in a satchel style and quite slouchy with a bag-width pocket with two buckles. It can be worn over the shoulder or across the body and I love it.



Secondly, I found a great pair of shoe-boots from Penneys (€15). They are black layered levels of fleather with four inch killer heels. I was never sure about the shoe-boot trend but loved these on sight. I think if they sit at the wrong point on your ankle they can be really unflattering but, hit the right spot and they can work wonders and these ones do, if I do say so myself!



It has been quite a tough but definitely interesting few weeks and most interestingly it turns out that, such is my level of fashionista / shopaholic-dom that even with no money and without setting foot in a shop or even hitting the internet, I can still manage to acquire new “goodies”!

Outlet Shopping Bargains Justified & My Friend is Mystified!

My friend Jen once told me that when it comes to shopping I am capable of justifying virtually anything. You know how it is, you go out for a sandwich, pop into Awear and see two pairs of jeans you love which come to €60 but only buy one so you convince yourself you have “saved” €30 by only buying one whereas, in reality, you have spent ten times the cost of the sandwich you went for and are still hungry! Makes sense to me, not so much to Jen!!




Well, I excelled myself in that department this weekend! I went to the Kildare Outlet Village with the specific intention (ahem!!) of just getting some Cath Kidston oil cloth. I love Cath Kidston’s quaint and cute designs and they had a lovely red oil cloth with white stars on special for €12 per metre. It was just the thing I needed as a table cloth for my dining table and is very me! Although with all the red ‘touches’ going on in my home the living room / kitchen are starting to look like a tomato exploded in there. I just love red interiors though and this is a really cute – and practical – touch which will liven up dinner time no end!



So I set off for Kildare with every intention of being a good girl and limiting my purchases to the oil cloth and fifty euros extra – max! – on other goodies I might ‘just happen’ to come across while there!! There are 70% discounts in many of the shops so it was always going to be difficult. Despite my best intentions before I ever got near Cath Kidston I had made a bee-line for my favourite place in Kildare Village, the Calvin Klein Underwear store. They have lovely stuff and really good bargains. I am something of an underwear fiend – I don’t have an underwear drawer, I have to confess that I have a small trunk of stuff! I got a lovely bra and knicker set and four other knickers all for just €32. I knew that was a bargain but when I got home and looked at the tags I worked out that the original prices on them came to €129. Now that is a saving. I think you would be mad to ever pay that price for undies, even if I had the money I wouldn’t pay it, but it is great to get excellent quality stuff for a bargain price!

Next I hit the Cath Kidston store and got the oil cloth. Of course, I just had to have a look around the shop while I was there. It is all so reasonable in the outlet, with excellent value compared to their normal prices. And everything by Cath Kidston is so pretty and girlie that I just love it! As well as the oil cloth I got a gorgeous, baby blue make-up bag with colourful flowers all over it (€10), a red and white, fully equipped, first aid kit that is far prettier than the usual green but just as practical (€6), and a cute sewing kit that my sister has been looking for for a while but couldn’t get in the shop in London where she lives (€8).

I tried to be good and avoided lots of shops – Coast, Levi’s, Molton Brown, Myla, to name a few – but couldn’t resist Ted Baker. To be honest I found some of the ‘discounted’ prices still quite high but was thrilled to find a hugely discounted fabulous blue leather wallet with adorable silver oversized clasps on the purse part. It is really adorable, I am thrilled with it! But surprise, surprise the bargain of the day was bagged by my mam. She got a lovely red top in Monsoon for just a fiver down from €48!

So I admit I spent more than intended, not the first time that has happened, but I got excellent bargains and good quality stuff which I will get loads of use out of. I am already using the wallet and have my make-up bag in my handbag today (no time to do the face before leaving the house this morning, not the first time that has happened either!!)



Special mention has to go to my own bargain of the week which is a candy pink tulip skirt with an exposed zip at the back for just €8 from Dunnes. It is really flattering, incredibly comfy and I love the bright colour (it also comes in a lovely green, by the way). I am wearing it today with black opaque tights (where’s our Indian summer?) a black silk t, grey cardi and cute snake-skin t-bar flats I got a while ago from Marks & Spencer. It is a shame it is so autumnal already but I am enjoying merging into a heavier wardrobe. I find it so much easier to dress for autumn/winter than summer.

So, yes, I have done a fair bit of shopping this week….but the skirt was super cheap...and the Calvin Klein stuff was such a bargain I couldn’t pass it up…the wallet was too cute to turn down…and I had been looking for a first aid kit for the flat for a while, honestly! Hmmm, come to think of it, maybe Jen is right, I can justify anything when it comes to shopping!!!

Big Fashionista News!!! For all you Sex & the City fans who, like me, are dying for the next installment from Carrie and her girls (not to mention her shoe collection!), take a peek at the following link for images of the second movie, on location in NYC!  http://www.sexandthecitymovie.org/satc_images.html

PLEASE NOTE: You can now email your comments to fashionistarecessionista@hotmail.com or leave feedback on facebook at Fashionista Recessionista and you can follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fashionistarece

A Spark of Recognition from Confessions of a Shopaholic!

I have recently become engrossed Sophie Kinsella’s fantastic series of “Shopaholic” books which were recently given a Hollywood make-over with the fabulous Isla Fisher brilliantly bringing shopper extraordinaire Becki Bloomwood to life. Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Abroad. Any of this sound familiar to you? Because as I read the books and watched the movie it all seemed remarkably familiar to me – the passion for fashion; the giddy allure of shops with fashion floors, beauty departments and, best of all, actual, dedicated shoe rooms!; the flexible friend becoming increasingly less friendly the more it was used (hmm, perhaps the less said about that the better!!) The series’ heroine, Becki Bloomwood, could be me in my pre-recessionista life. Not now of course. I am soooo much more under control these days; I know when to shop and when to stop. Honestly. I do. Well, sometimes. Not always. Occasionally, then. Shall we settle on that?!?


I do try my best to keep my wallet in my handbag (but it is so pretty it deserves to be brought out into the light – thanks Liz, and welcome home!) but shopping is just so much fun. Clothes and accessories aren’t only functional to me. They are a means of expressing my personality, my mood, who I want to be on any given day. Am I feeling girlie in pink and purple? Or perhaps I am strong and fiery in red? Or sombre and serious in black (rarely the latter, I can tell you - I take after my gorgeous mother who, both in personality and dress, is a sunbeam of brightness and colour every day). And of course colour is just the start, then there are the handbags to highlight or, depending on the mood, contrast, what I am wearing and the accessories to pick up whatever colours I have going on, not to mention my make-up.



And then there are the shoes, oh the lovely shoes. Being teeny tiny means I rely on heels a lot to make me appear to be a relatively normal height. And the choices are endless. I may be short but I am definitely not short of shoes! Sometimes when I open my wardrobe I get hit on the head by falling shoes as the ones I wear only semi-regularly (or, ahem, not at all!) are piled on the top shelf and over-flowing, just a little! But a girl has to have options and I am very easy on shoes so once I buy them I keep them for years and years whether they are from Penneys or Prada. Ha! I wish, sadly though, they are never from Prada. Prada may be my mother-ship but Penney’s is the budgetary-dinghy of my life!



Speaking of shoes, a friend tipped me off to a great new eBay store where bids for new shoes start at just €1.49. She has bought a pair of boots which are absolutely gorgeous and great quality and is already after her second pair. I couldn’t believe it and couldn’t wait to have a look for myself. There is a lovely selection but one pair in particular caught my eye. They have gorgeous lilac suede boots with a wedge heel which I fell completely in love with on sight. If you are a shoe fiend like myself check it out! http://myworld.ebay.ie/simplysellingshoes



I was sick last week and feeling really sorry for myself. I can honestly say I have never had a real flu before because this really wiped me out completely. Now I know the difference between a cold and an actual flu and boy are they two different animals! I was still feeling pretty grim going back to work on Monday but was brightened up no end when I found a package awaiting me when I arrived in the office. I had ordered a bracelet from eBay a couple of weeks ago and it had been delivered to work while I was off. Yippee, what a way to start the week! At the time the seller had said he noticed a tiny flaw with the bracelet I had bought so he was sending me a free one in addition to it. The ‘flaw’ is virtually invisible as it turns out; the bracelet is practically perfect and I got a free one as an extra. Very impressive Ebaying if you ask me.

The bracelets are really beautiful porcelain and gold with a flower design on them. The one I ordered is purple with gold and white flowers but the extra one is even nicer – turquoise with pink and gold flowers. Really, that one is the prettiest thing I have seen in a long time and I am thrilled with it. Even more so since, by pure coincidence, I got a jumper in the sale I Oasis on Saturday for just €4.80 (down from €40!) which is the exact same turquoise. I think I am developing a new fondness for that colour! If you like colourful, quality jewellery I would suggest you check out their stuff at  http://stores.shop.ebay.ie/Bangles4less



Now that I think of it, there are a lot of similarities between Becki Bloomwood, The World’s #1 Shopaholic, and myself. Perhaps I should begin to worry. But then, the next book in the series is called Shopaholic Ties The Knot so if the similarities continue maybe my love life is about to take a turn for the better. Now just think of all the excuses I’d have to buy new outfits for hot dates if that happened……!

PLEASE NOTE: You can now email your comments to fashionistarecessionista@hotmail.com or leave feedback on my facebook page Fashionista Recessionista and you can follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fashionistarece

Online browsing leads to an "elf" invasion!!!

In a valiant bid to curtail my spending habits I recently decided to avoid shops altogether. It seemed to me that if I didn’t set foot in any shops then even I couldn’t manage to shop - which would have been all very well twenty years ago in a pre-internet world. Unfortunately there was a slight, yet crucial, flaw in my great plan. Online shopping doesn’t involve setting any feet in shops, as I soon discovered!

I decided to pass some time one day by surfing the internet – www.instyle.co.uk ... www.barrym.co.uk ... www.beaut.ie. These are some of my favourite, top quality sites and initially they did a good job of fulfilling my need to absorb new fashion and beauty ideas constantly. Instyle updates the latest celeb red carpet looks daily and I love seeing how my favourite (and not-so-favourite!) stars are re-working the latest trends (often badly, much to my amusement). Beaut.ie is a fabulous and fun Irish blog and a real favourite of mine. Updated several times a day, it reviews the latest make-up, hair and skincare products in a girlie and honest way. I like the fact that it gives equal coverage to both premium and practical ranges so I can dream about Dior but shop in Dunnes!! I am a recent devotee of Barry M’s excellent make up range. There is no better range on the market for a kaleidoscope of colour. From pretty pink to peacock to purple via the sunniest yellow and luminous green everything you could want is available in this range and it is very recessionista friendly. Their fantastic dazzle dusts, which I have given the thumbs up to previously here, are under seven euros each and really go the distance on a big night out. Even better their website gives top tips and great video tutorials on how to best use the products so you don’t end up looking like Rainbow Bright circa 1986.

And so, I was happily browsing these sites when I remembered another favourite of mine – http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/ – the ultimate budget beauty site. Almost everything on the site costs a mere £1.50 except for the Professionsal Studio Line which is a hugely costly (ahem!) £3.50 on average! I already had a few E.L.F. products and was very impressed with their quality. I told myself I was just “taking a look” and then “popping a few bits into the shopping basket to see how much they would cost if I got them”. Oh dear, well what do you know, before I could say “no shopping for me this week!” I had deftly removed a few items from the shopping basket (to make myself feel virtuous!!) and then clicked “proceed to check-out” with the rest!! When things cost so little per item it is hard to feel guilty for treating yourself. I bought a quad of eye-shadow powders in Ivy, a lovely combo of greens and browns; a cream eye shadow duo in silver and black called Black Liquorice; two nail polishes in Royal Purple and a gorgeous neutral pinky/purple called Mod Mauve; a plum eye liner which is super soft, doesn’t drag the skin and comes with its own sharpener; two eye shadow brushes, one for applying it and one for blending (I was thrilled when they arrived, they are really firm but smooth and soft) and finally but best of all I got an eyebrow set. I like strong brows as I think they give definition and frame the face but I unfortunately have dark but gappy ones! This set is the answer to my problems. It comes with a dark wax to define and set the brows in place and powder to colour them in. At £3.50 this is a fantastic bargain in my book – and even more so when you consider it is practically identical to an eyebrow set available from a certain premium ‘retro-style’ beauty range which charges €33. I have used both products and can honestly see no difference bar the packaging and the less than retro price tag on the premium range’s product!! In the end, all of my purchases came to under €20 including postage and packaging and they arrived in just two days. Eight new products of excellent quality for the price of one mid-range foundation! Even a recessionista like myself can’t feel bad about that! Happy days are here again girls! Lots of new colours to play with, always fun in my book, and I fulfilled my shopping need without worrying either myself or my bank manager. Woohoo!! 

Maybe one day I will reign in my spending to zero but as long as I am working I see no reason why I shouldn’t give myself cheap treats. The recession has enlightened me and I now see there are loads of budget-tastic products out there of excellent quality so I can easily shop on a tight budget and still fulfil my fashionista and beauty addict tendencies while maintaining a (err, somewhat!) healthy bank balance!

PLEASE NOTE: You can now email your comments to fashionistarecessionista@hotmail.com or leave feedback on my facebook page Fashionista Recessionista and you can follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fashionistarece