Monday, August 28, 2006

Shopping for ideas

Dawn at Frugal for Life has a terrific guest post today about sewing and saving money. The author says she and her daughter can go to stores and "shop for ideas," not clothes. I love this concept! In fact, I already had a trip planned to my favorite antique mall . Though I can't afford a single thing there, the way they arrange their booths in charming vignettes never fails to inspire.

Tell me about your favorite places to shop for ideas.

4 comments:

The Frugal Shrink said...

I love fashion, but don't like paying ridiculous prices for clothing. I like shopping for ideas in magazines like Harper's Bazaar and Lucky. I recently saw a cute outfit in Shop, Etc. magazine, and recreated it with a thrift store pencil skirt, thrift store belt, and button down shirt that I already had. So many of the fall trends are inspired by decades past clothing, so thrift stores are a great way to recreate looks. My mom made a lot of my clothing when I was little, and I would pick outfits out of catalogs for her to make. The clothes always turned out cuter and better quality, too! :)

By the way, I absolutely love your blog! I have been reading for several months, but this is my first time posting. Your thriftiness is inspirational, and I love how you make everything so beautiful.

DonnaB said...

Sometimes I get inspired by other people's homes. I have a good friend who arranges things so well (and she does it often) that everytime I visit her home, I'm inspired to come home and try something different!

Anonymous said...

I am a big fan of What Not to Wear (on cable, not frugal I know) If you watch it often, you'll have a great idea of how to dress to make your figure look terrific. Then it's off to the thrift store to recreate the look. Not hard at all, and I have a terrific wardrobe that looks great on me, and cost VERY LITTLE!

Again, love your blog.

Çonnie

Marsha said...

I adore the Pottery Barn catalog and have been known to save a folder full of pics torn from it to carry around to yard sales. I try to replicate, using yard sales, curb finds and thrift shops, the look I like so much.

I also use high-end kids' clothing catalogs for the same purpose. Oh, and the Ikea catalog serves to help me show my husband what I'd like him to make in the way of shelves, cupboards and such.