Have you been told over and over again that “It’s the thought that counts”, but you still feel pressured to spend more on someone simply because you feel that they deserve something special? Sometimes it seems that “special” and “costly” are synonyms, but really that’s not the case.

As I shared in My gift shopping strategy, or why small gifts rock, I’m a big fan of gifts that don’t break the budget. If you’re still worried…

The colloquial expression “s/he’s got class” is used to indicate that a person has intelligence and savoir faire. While some sociologists say that ‘class’ is largely determined by where and to whom you were born, ‘class’ in the popular sense is something we can all have.

The key to being classy, is to be the best you possibly can be: in your dress, but also in your speech, manners, knowledge and skills. It’s about making the…

When this month’s Elle arrived with a gorgeous black and white cover, it had to be read immediately. I’m glad it didn’t go into my pile of unread mags because when I read it, I spotted something interesting: a story very like a post I wrote last year.

The Elle story reports that fashion designers wear the same look for years, while they push a new look onto us every single season — much like my post that…

It’s shaping up to be a fabulous February. If you don’t believe me, just check out the featured posts at this month’s edition of The Fabulous! Festival, hosted at All About Appearances.

From fashion faux pas to female centric art, there’s plenty of interesting reads.

Bloggers: The Fabulous! Festival is a great way to introduce your writing to new readers. If you’d like to participate in and/or host an upcoming edition of The Fabulous! Festival, here’s what…

Some of the best recent reads from around the web.

Queen of hearts
Pretty ways to communicate love towards your beau, friends, or self.

Flavor bedfellows
How to match wine and chocolate.

Luxe for less
Rosewater delivers a lot of loveliness for its negligible cost … a bargain way to add beauty into your life in a multitude of ways.

Put to the test
They look stunning on the catwalk, but how do the latest designer collections work in real life?

Why do we read fashion…

Here are some fabulous style tips from Bargain Queen real style icon Kimberly Wilson, taken from her book Hip Tranquil Chick: A Guide to Life On and Off the Yoga Mat.

And don’t miss our interview in which she shares the secrets of her personal style.

Weed out your wardrobe

Make it a habit to give away at least one item for every new piece you add to your closet. This will help keep your wardrobe from growing too large…

If you’re like most people, one of your New Year’s resolutions was to exercise more. It’s a worthy goal, but finding the motivation can be tough, especially if you don’t feel so fabulous in your workout gear.

While it might be tempting to just pull on some old, faded sweats, it’s important to remember that a fabulous workout outfit can be powerful motivation. Therefore, shop for gym clothes like you would your other clothes, paying close…

Don’t you just love January? As I look over my new calendar, I can’t help but wonder what the year will bring. One thing is sure, I’m looking forward to making this a fabulous year for myself — and you, too!

That’s why I’m excited to host this month’s edition of The Fabulous! Festival at my personal blog, All About Appearances. Thanks to the many awesome bloggers who submitted posts, it’s packed full of excellent advice and…

Here’s one of our favorite posts from the Bargain Queen archives for your enjoyment over the holidays.

So far, we’ve seen that neither the fashion editors who push new trends nor the fashion designers that create them actually follow fashion themselves.

Today I’ll show you that the fashion icons so adored by industry insiders also don’t follow fashion trends. They wear their signature look consistently for years, regardless of fashion’s dictates.

I’ve picked my own personal favourite fashion icon for the…

To wrap up our $1 to $1 billion Christmas gift guide, we bring you the only way to give a last-minute gift of clothing: get a gift card.

Seriously, if you buy clothing in a hurry at the last minute, it’s almost certain to be wrong… and when you give a woman a macrame caftan that’s a size too small (or worse, two sizes too big), chances are she’ll take it personally.

Save yourself a trip to…