Living La Vida Local

We all fall victim to the lure of the department store or glossy magazine-endorsed makes and in the quest to look like an A-Lister, it is often easy to assume that one needs to focus on having a wardrobe full of designer labels. But ‘brand’ does not always equate to ‘beauty’. In fact, some of the worst outfits I’ve ever seen have been those endorsed by A-List designers – the double insult in this case is that not only does the innocent fashion victim look completely ridiculous but they spent a lot of money for the privilege of doing so!

Now I don’t like to be a Debbie-downer BUT we are in the midst of an economic crisis. So these days, not only do I try to be a little more conservative with HOW I spend my cash but I similarly try to be more mindful of WHERE I spend it. Like most, my brain does not get started without a jolt of caffeine in the morning but let’s face it, Starbucks needs my $3 a lot less than the ‘Ma and Pa’ coffee shop down the street. Likewise, the $100 I might spend on a sweater or dress is better appreciated by a local, new designer than Donatella Versace (I don’t even think a hundred bucks would cover the cost of a wine glass on her St Tropez yacht!). As I’ve said before - I’m no die-hard fashionista. But, I do like to keep abreast of what’s going on in the fashion world and there’s nothing more that I love than hearing a buzz about a new label and being able to boast that I was one of the in-the-know few that got to don their designs “months ago”! Come on, don’t leave me hanging - we all like to feel a little smug every now and again…….right?!

Like New York, LA and many others……San Francisco is undisputedly a wonderfully creative city. Whether it be music, fashion or food, there is always a hot new name or label in the mix. Sadly over the last couple of months we’ve seen a lot of our favorite little spots go out of business and that’s why it’s of paramount importance that we do what we can to support our local merchants. What’s more, most of their prices won’t outrage your overdraft so it’s win-win!!

One of my favorite San Fran stores is Shotwell. Now I’ve got to be honest, I had the privilege of getting to know the two owners, Holly and Michael, when they got married at the Great American Music Hall last year – so I would probably have a loyalty to them regardless. However, when I finally went to check out their Union Square store – I was blown away. Not only is the store itself visually beautiful – the intricate attention to detail is incredible – but I was delighted to see that they stock a large selection of local San Francisco designers and their price points are, as Juliette Lewis would say, speaking my language, baby! I recently was given a gift from there of Heathen’s ‘bitty box necklace’ (pictured below) –sooooooo cute! I love it! And I love the fact that it was made by a local SF-er and sold by a local SF-er like myself! Shotwell also carries other local designer labels including Vanessa Gade, Sea Pony and Official Tourist and at the end of the day, I would much rather that my $$ could help build both the business of a local designer AND that of a local store owner too. We’ve all given Mr. Macy and Mr. Bloomingdale their fair share of our salary over the years – so why not focus on trying to spend it where it will really be appreciated??

Another of my favorite San Fran hotspots that showcases literally hundreds of local artists is Collage Gallery in Potrero Hill. A self-described home decor store and art gallery - this shop is quite literally full to the brim of little surprises. I have lost many an afternoon exploring every little nook and cranny of this extraordinary store. If you’re looking to give your living abode a little love then look no further – home décor items range from a selection of vintage numbers and letters to old typewriters, hand-blown glassware, revamped antiques and prints. Some of my favorite locally designed jewelry includes both delicate gemstone pieces and other more unique designs made from vintage buttons, typewriter keys, scrabble letters etc – and I’ve certainly never seen anything over the $100 mark. It truly is an Aladdin’s cave of treasures and what’s more, it certainly won’t break the bank balance.

Now I know I just spent all day yesterday bending your ears about Marshalls and Nordstrom Rack and don’t get me wrong – sad but true, these are some of my favorite place in the WORLD!! Nonetheless, I do think it’s important to give back and support our community. And it sure doesn’t hurt that you (and your apartment) can end up looking fabuless while doing so……..;)

WHERE TO GO??  Shotwell, 320 Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94108

                                Collage Gallery, 1345 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

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Saving Sunday

When it comes to shopping, depending on where you go $100 can feel like $10 and sometimes $10 can feel like $100. I can walk into BCBG (one of my favorite designer labels. There’s an understated coolness to their clothes and I love the fact that you don’t need to be stick thin to fit into their pants!) and barely find a sweater for under a hundred bucks. If I’m lucky I might walk away with a necklace and the ensuing empty feeling you get in your stomach after having a salad for lunch when you really wanted the pasta. I feel one of two ways when I leave that store – sorry for myself, that there was so much I wanted but couldn’t afford or dumbfounded that my credit card wasn’t declined and resigned to the fact that I now can’t go out for the next two weeks.

However, when it comes to H&M, I can spend my money with a swagger. $12.95 for a cute black t-shirt dress? I’ll take TWO! Spend a hundred bucks in this store and you literally walk out with an entire new wardrobe. No joke. The trick with high street fashion is that you need to know where and when to save or splurge. And despite what Lady Gaga protests (love her btw, she kissed me backstage at a show two years ago!!), for most of us fashion needs to be functional. When you’re a babe on a budget it just doesn’t make economical sense to spend on cutting edge items which will be out of fashion in a mere month. Moreover, if on a day to day basis, like me, you spend most of your time in skinny jeans and flats then why would you splurge on stilettos?? That signature black satin D&G bustier might flatter your curves in all the right places but, come one – how often are you actually going to wear it? Silly little fashionistas…..;)

I love it when People magazine, US Weekly et al show you how to get a star’s look for less however most of the time they are critiquing red carpet looks. Reality bites. While my naturally nosey nature loves to know where to find a more affordable Valentino style dress my average Saturday night is a little more grabbing a bite to eat than bottle service. We need to know how to emulate star’s day to day looks. Lucky for you, I have decided to DEDICATE myself to finding fabuless fashions so every week I am going to bring you ‘Saving Sunday’. I will show you how to spend a hundred bucks (or less) and still sizzle like a celeb in fashions not just fit for Hollywood. And this week I will be spotlighting Zara and their beautiful black blazers.

There’s one thing that Zara does damn well – tailored jackets (and this is not a common thing for a relatively inexpensive high street store). Throughout the years I have bought numerous black blazers at Zara (and promptly left them in bars all over the city – hence the ‘numerous’) and that is a wardrobe staple that never goes out of fashion. San Francisco is not a city where you tend to need a coat but in the evening time a light jacket or cardigan will always end up being your savior. Whether it be a boyfriend cut or more fitted style that suits your individual look I can guarantee that Zara will have the answer for you. $79.99 will cover you for one of their blazers and you can get allotta looks out of this. Sexy-secretary it up with a high-waisted pencil skirt and fitted shirt; smarten up your skinny jeans and white tank look; wear it over a soft and flirty summer dress for a more vintage feel or drape it over your cocktail dress and team it with a pair of Gladiator sandals for a high fashion look. I promise you – it will be eighty dollars you will NEVER regret spending.

Some of my favorite celebs who know how to rock a black blazer include Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Sienna Miller, Rachel Bilson, Jennifer Aniston and Kate Moss. Whether it be teamed with a pair of leather pants or cut-off denim shorts the black blazer has remained a celeb staple and is showing no signs of stopping. So what are you waiting for?? Grab that fake Coach purse, slip on your new black blazer, sizzle in your A-List look and put your $20 change in your piggy bank. See – we’re already saving, sistas!

(PS.  Happy Birthday to my sister, Sara!!)

WHERE TO GO??  Find your nearest Zara store at http://www.zara.com/

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For A-list living on D-list dimes......

So it's 2010, I'm teetering close to the edge of 30-dom, even size 6 is a distant memory and I'm nowhere near to making my first million dollars.....what's a gal to do when you have A-List aspirations but only D-List dimes??

Like most 20-something year old ladies, I love fashion....but fashion doesn't really seem to return the favor. I guess it seems that my proportions are just all wrong - I have a skinny little wallet and a big fat ass and from what I can deduce these two are supposed to be in the opposite order!

Now I'll be honest with you, my fashion aspirations are a little less Conde Naste and a little more US Weekly, more JLo than Gisele. In fact, I think it's probably more appropriate to say that I love clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery and make-up than actually 'fashion' itself. I do not believe that fashion is art. The idea that Joan Rivers can compare a red carpet dress to archictecture is hysterical to me. And if I have to look at one more Victoria's Secret cellulite-free model I may be sick.

My dirty little secret is that I am OBSESSED with celebrities and fashion and the idea of combining these two little delicacies into one blog that I could write was too delectable an option for me to resist ;) I LOVE reading about celebs, I LOVE knowing who or what they are wearing but in all the hours I have whiled away online reading other people's blogs I realized that nobody seems to take into account that the vast majority of us are a) not size 0 and b) on a budget!

These fashion blogs taunt my ever dwindling bank account with their $700 shoes and their $300 purses that six months later (at which point I might be able to muster up the few shingles to afford them) are oh so last season. Let's get real for a minute - people are losing their jobs, unemployment is at an all time high, even those of us whose income has not been directly compromised by the economy have learned to be a little more conservative with our cash (last serious moment - I promise!).

We need a forum that reveals not only what fashions are a-la-mode but more importantly, a-la-cheap! Forget Oprah's Favorite Things ($50 for cookie dough - hello?!), as a fashionista come recessionista I will reveal to you my tricks of the trade, the back alley websites the fashion industry don't want you to know about, where Chanel bags tend to 'fall off the back of a truck'....come on girls, let's start living the A-List life on our D-List dimes........

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