I love to flip through a good magazine for fashion ideas. I find a lot of my “ignition” the sparks ideas and puts me on a mission find something similar for less. But looking through a lot of magazines is disturbing to me. Being a working mom of two, I know that many of the things that are advertised or highlighted are much too expensive for individuals like me and many others out there.
I am a frequent reader or browser of magazines including Glamour, People Style, Oprah and All You. All of these magazines are very different but all have a variety of “readers”. The most realistic I have found is All You. I actually am a subscriber to this magazine and for good reason. It is the one magazine that is realistic across the board from fashion to home goods to coupon clipping. For people like you and I, we can relate.
I have looked through a variety of these over the past couple months and taken some notes I would like to share.
In the Fashion Bulletin of September’s Issue in Allure, they show a variety of menswear and patterns and “how to wear it” The cheapest item listed on this page is $88 for a skirt from White House Black Market. From there it jumps up to a dress from Banana Republic @ $150. It continues to go up from there all the way to the highest price item being a Hermes stainless steel watch $4975. As much as I love White House Black Market and Banana Republic, even those stores can be pricey, even if you can find a good sale item. Buying a piece like this every once in a while is affordable, but those are the kind of items you want to last you a year or two. Moving on to their Fashion Cravings page where they list Must vs Lust items, even their must items are ridiculous. An example of this is a wool sweater. Their lust is a Dries Van Noten wool sweater at 1113 and their must is a Vince wool sweater at $320. For $320, I can buy multiple sweaters for each member of my family. One could say, why even look at these magazines then if you can’t afford the items? As I said earlier, they create inspiration for me to go out and find a similar look for much less.
In the Yourself section of the September 23rd issue of All You, they spotlight ankle boots, the most expensive pair being Fergalicious boots at $70 and the least being Trend Report at $30. That is more realistic for a middle class working mom. Later in the magazine in their Dressing made simple feature, they highlight entire outfits that don’t even cost $220, shoes purse and accessories included. Many items of which can be integrated into other attire worn daytime during the work day or evening for nights on the town or dates with your hubby.
The US weekly style issue from September 19th, 2011 had a “More Splurge vs Save section. Many of these items showed to have a reasonable “look a like” example being a Marc Jacobs drawstring tote @ $428 to a similar H&M drawstring bucket bag @ $40 (pg63). But then flipping just pages later to their “Cool Classics” section they headline fall boots on page 79. The cheapest pair being Nine West Suede Mavenue booties @$149 and the most expensive being Bottega Veneta suede peep-toe booties for $740. For me, I would have been on a mission to find something similar, and probably not spent more than $50 on them. I actually found a pair of peep-toe wedge booties at Maurices in September for clearance down to $6.99. They are adorable and I can wear them with many different outfits and all under $10! This just goes to show that you can look to many magazines for ideas, and find them for a reasonable price!
The Oprah magazine always has desirable things in it. I mean, come on, its Oprah! We have all seen her favorite things shows. But not all of us have Oprah’s money either. In the September 2011 issue, there is a feature on “The O List” makeover edition on pages 94 and 95. Immediately I was drawn to a very modern black floor lamp. I usually immediately scroll down to the price to see if it’s even feasible for me to put on my “want list” (I have a want list and a must have list- the must have list are usually those things that if I can’t stop thinking about it after seeing it in a store, online or in a magazine, I find a way to get it but at a reasonable cost). Well, the lamp was $2,438….that is my mortgage payment, for 2 months! There is no way I could ever justify buying an item for that price. Heck, that could even be a car for one of my girls in 12 years!
The point is, the media makes it out to be that everyone can live a life of a celebrity or within a means that they can’t afford for themselves. This just isn’t the case for many people this day and age. Many people are struggling to even make bill payments on time, and for many, fashion and shopping in the last thing on their mind. But for those like me who find enjoyment out of fashion and dressing nice, I find a way to make it work for me and my family. It’s all about strategy, research and finding the best deal for your buck
Notice the peep toe wedge booties? These were the steal I got from Maurices for $6.99!
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