Archive for February, 2006
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. February 28, 2006. Style
Being stylish isn’t just about buying attractive things. If you want to be really stylish, it definitely helps to be an interesting person, to have a point of view, to be a little bit different than everyone else. If you find your life dull, it’s pretty unlikely anyone else will be enthralled by it.
There’s no exact formula for becoming interesting and different — how could there be? — but doing something cool definitely helps.
If you’re thinking of changing some things in your life, New York Metro has a special called Your New Life Begins Here. My favourite articles:
By Mr Bargain Queen. February 28, 2006. Advice
What’s a fair price for a cup of coffee? Well, if it’s International Roast at the church fete, then 3.5 cents is about right. But if it’s hotel room-service after a 20 hour flight without a decent cup, then $2000 is probably quite reasonable.
But seriously, for those of us who enjoy the caffeinated bliss that is coffee, it can become an expensive habit. Even a moderate two cappucinos a day from the coffee shop will burn through $25 per week easy – that’s $1250 a year! And if your habit stretches to several cups a day, well, the sky’s the limit.
So, what can you do to save some dollars without missing out on the good stuff?
Click here to continue »
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. February 27, 2006. Shopping
![[ shopping bag image ]](http://www.thebargainqueen.org/images/shopping_bag.gif)
The stereotype of a woman who is interested in shopping is unkind — we’re (unfairly) portrayed as a bunch of bimbos.
Smart shopping is actually an intelligent, rational thing to do, and today I’ll show you why.
Plus, how you can be a smart shopper too.
Click here to continue »
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. February 27, 2006. Fashion
Kiss Me Stace wrote a great post about unflattering prints, which really got The Bargain Queen thinking.
The Bargain Queen generally doesn’t like lists of fashion dos and don’ts, because they change all the time, they’re unfair and because the exceptionally stylish ALWAYS break some rules, so the best you can become by following the rules is a fashion victim.
All that said, if The Bargain Queen had a definitive set of fashion rules, this would be at the top of the list:
Rule #1: Never buy anything unflatttering
(Rule #2: never let anyone give you unflattering things either. But not even The Bargain Queen knows how to enforce this, especially with cherished relatives and close friends…)
This probably sounds like the most obvious fashion rule possible, but before you stop reading, The Bargain Queen has a confession to make: it took her a really long time to learn this. For years, The Bargain Queen bought ‘bargains’ that made her look horrid - i.e. bargains that aren’t. While this sounds like an incredibly dumb thing to do, it’s actually an easy mistake to make. Having a bad day, being in a hurry or getting trapped by a lying mirror (or shop assistant) can all lead to very bad purchases, which harm both the budget and personal style.
For example, at a Zimmerman sample sale a few years ago, The Bargain Queen shared a communal changeroom with a very successful young model. Needless to say, the girl makes twigs look overweight, so she made The Bargain Queen look like a heifer. In a fit of “Of course it makes me look huge, I’m a bloody hippopotamus”, The Bargain Queen came away with:
- black pants that made her legs look like over-stuffed sausages,
- a black skirt that created a rounded belly out of The Bargain Queen’s hard-won washboard, and
- a beautiful purple skirt that not only added inches to the belly and wobble to the thighs, but also made the butt appear to drop a few inches.
This tied up a substantial portion of The Bargain Queen’s clothes budget in things that she didn’t want to wear. While these all sounded like fantastic deals on paper - good-quality classic garments at 75% off - they were actually one of The Bargain Queen’s dumbest ever purchases.
They did, however, teach The Bargain Queen an important lesson:
When you look horrible in your clothes, blame the clothes.
These beauties perfectly illustrated how much difference the right cut, colour and fabric makes, even on classic items. And thankfully, it wasn’t too expensive a lesson in the end. The Bargain Queen saw sense a few weeks later and too them all to a consignment store, where she got most of her money back.
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. February 26, 2006. Fashion, Style
Luck and Milk’s post on the high cost of fashion got The Bargain Queen thinking today:
As I admire my closet full of clothes, shoes, and accessories, all ridiculously priced for a nation who’s median household income is $18,000 short of the Jimmy Choo Crocodile skin handbag asking price featured on the glossy pages of Vogue, I cringe shamefully. “Are these frivilous things worth my hard earned paycheck?”
It’s so ridiculous how a fabulous life requires priding onself in keeping up with The Joneses, when in the corporate side of the blindingly superficial bourjois me-want-this and me-want-that limelight, The Joneses are just slick ads paid for by money hungry, balding executives whose paychecks are courtesy of our cravings.
Fashion is a label, a brand. Style is not a look but an essence of its own, the answer to how a $563 outfit from Bergdorfs looks drab on one, but somehow a similar $25 top at Macy’s looks sensational on another.
This pretty neatly sums up something The Bargain Queen has given a lot of thought to: the difference between fashion and style.
As Luck and Milk says, fashion is something we’re sold. It exists to drive the textile manufacturing industry, so we replace clothes that are still perfectly functional simply because they’re ‘out of style’. But this isn’t about to turn into a socialist rant about fashion being evil, so we should all wear compulsory uniforms instead. (How hideous!)
Viewed the right way, fashion serves up a new set of possibilities each season and is a huge amount of fun. There’s trying on new stuff, making faces at the things that look hideous, being thrilled when something looks amazing and making fun of the truly hideous things that exceptionally talented designers come up with, among other fashion-related thrills. But there’s also that feeling of sinking inadequacy that comes from drooling over beautiful things you can’t have and fantasising a life where you could.
To The Bargain Queen, style is the ability to navigate through the choices fashion offers and consistently choose things that suit you, your lifestyle, your budget and your tastes. Style is the thing that separates the fabulous from the fashion victim. The Bargain Queen could talk forever on this topic but she has to go have dinner with her in-laws, but stay tuned for a whole lot more!
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. February 24, 2006. Fashion
The Bargain Queen had a wander around the shops today, to see the the new winter stock that’s just come in. Believe it or not The Bargain Queen does buy things full-priced sometimes; she just does here research first. The priorities at the moment are jackets and boots, since The Bargain Queen’s wardrobe lacks both these things.
So here’s what The Bargain Queen’s crazy about for winter:
David Jones have these Marc Jacobs rain boots in blue for $240. The Bargain Queen seriously needs some rain boots and these would be fantastic. If the ones above on eBay were The Bargain Queen’s size, she would totally be bidding on them!
Cue had some cute knock-offs of the fabulous Roland Mouret Galaxy dress, although it’s not really The Bargain Queen’s style so this hot trend will be left for someone else. The whole store is full of stuff that’s amazing on curvy girls (which The Bargain Queen isn’t).
Kookai had two great jackets, one in midnight blue velvet and one in bright blue cotton for $219 each. The Bargain Queen doesn’t have single blazer that fits right now, so one of these could be brilliant. Although Kookai’s clothes don’t usually fit The Bargain Queen unfortunately, so hopefully there’ll be something similar elsewhere.
There was also a cute top in Supre, which The Bargain Queen will think about and maybe go back for. The Bargain Queen has stacks of tops, so it’s hard to justify any more, although this one’s a very different style to anything else in her wardrobe.
Overall The Bargain Queen’s thrilled with winter’s structured, feminine clothes. The Bargain Queen hated boho - she looks like an elephant in flounces - so it’s great to see seriously sexy clothing back in the stores!
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. February 23, 2006. News
Hi everyone, this is Mrs Bargain Queen’s other half, Mr Bargain Queen.
I’m her best-kept secret, but while she’s out bargain-hunting, I’m allowed out of my closet to stretch my legs and post new tips for you on how to save money.
A little about Mr Bargain Queen:
- He’s 31
- He lives with Mrs Bargain Queen in Sydney, Australia
- He makes a living as a marketer and advertiser
- He’s half-way though a teaching degree in languages (English and Japanese)
- He’s good with money
And my first money-saving tip for you? Always switch off your closet light (and other lights) while you’re out!
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. February 23, 2006. News
The Bargain Queen blog has a new occasional guest blogger: Mr Bargain Queen. While The Bargain Queen is the expert in retail and anything requiring practical skills, Mr Bargain Queen is the one you want to talk to when there’s fine print involved. Everyone needs a Mr Bargain Queen to sort out their health insurance, phone bills, investments, getting removed from mailing lists, etc. etc. While there is only one Mr Bargain Queen and he is strictly taken, The Bargain Queen will magnanimously allow him to share a few tips with the rest of the world.
Welcome Mr Bargain Queen!
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. February 23, 2006. News
![[ shampoo bottle image ]](http://www.thebargainqueen.org/images/beauty/shampoo.gif)
A few months ago, Mr Bargain Queen came home with yet another sub-standard haircut.
It spurred me into action — and we haven’t paid for another crappy haircut since. We’ve saved about $150 on haircuts so far.
Here’s how we did it.
Click here to continue »
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. February 22, 2006. News
Welcome to my new blog, The Bargain Queen. A little about me:
- I’m 27
- I live in Sydney, Australia
- I’m married to a wonderful man I’ll call Mr Bargain Queen
- I make a living designing intranets and consulting, but I’ve been on sick leave for a few months
If there is a cheap way to find ANYTHING, I know all about it. I’ve been financially independent from my parents since I was 15 and I’ve always been well dressed, well fed and lived in nice places, no matter how tight my budget has been.
On the flip side, I’m an obsessed fashion tragic. I used to borrow copies of Vogue and Follow Me from the local library when I was tiny, then try to style my kiddy clothes to look like high fashion ensembles. I read my way through all my mother’s back issues of Home Beautiful a little while afterwards, and it’s just grown from there. She keeps everything she buys, so that’s a lot of magazines!
By high school, I bought most of my clothes in the op shop and wore vintage cashmere and suede with super-tight jeans (with Doc Martens school shoes… ugh!) I spent a while trying to learn to mix patterns successfully before realising the look wasn’t really me and moved onto the clean lines and solid colours I’ve worn ever since.
I started this blog because I’d like to share some of my hard-won wisdom on how to be stylish on a budget.
I’m living proof that you don’t have to run up a big credit card bill, or be very rich, to have a designer wardrobe, eat gourmet food, live in a hip area and decorate your pad nicely… and I’d like to show you how it’s done.
Stay tuned for some great hints and tips!
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