Style dilemma: Any chance of a cheap new wardrobe?
Left: top and distressed jeans both from Topshop.Right: peplum skirt, whiteshirt and jacket from River Island.
Friday January 16 2009
Help! I want to revamp my wardrobe for spring, but I'm on a super-tight budget. Can you give me some styling tips to update my wardrobe so I can look fashionable this spring? Thanks! Sarah (25), Dublin.
Roxanne replies:
You're not alone in this conundrum as we all have to learn to use more dash than cash when dressing in the current economic crisis. The number one thing you can do is update your denims. Designer Christophe Decarin, of the Balmain label, has rocked a whole catwalk of bad-girl-style ripped and faded jeans for spring.
Try 'wearing' the knees of jeans with sandpaper and cutting and ripping a series of holes all the way down the legs.
Light denim is the wash to wear so try fading your distressed denims with bleach. Soak overnight with a cupful of household bleach et voila -- designer-style jeans for free!
Lazy girls can get the look for less (€58 for distressed jeans) at River Island. Boyfriend-style jeans are another key trend for S/S '09 so if you have loose denims, give them an instant makeover by rolling up the cuffs and wearing with heels or flat brogues and ankle socks a la Agyness Deyn.
Similarly, role the cuffs of jackets for a suitably 80s Miami Vice update.
Cropped 7/8th trousers will be a key trend, so try cutting a pair of slim-fitting trousers to above the ankle and bond with some Wunderweb -- a sticky bond for hemming clothes that works with the heat of an iron, available from Hickeys and the Dublin Woollen Mills, Ha'penny Bridge, D1.
The peplum -- that 80s-style frill around the hips of skirts and dresses that made an appearance for winter -- is going nowhere for spring '09.
Get the look by layering a black cardigan that stops at your hips over a black dress and belting tightly with a wide belt -- Penneys sells belts for €3.
Finally, I recommend that you HAUNT Oxfam on George's Street, Dublin 2. You can pick up a rack of amazing pieces by scouring its vintage section.
In particular, keep a hawk-eye out for 80s-style party dresses, boyfriend jackets and vintage leather satchel bags for as little as €8!
