The Cheap Diva

Kohl's Comes Out on Top

The challenge major chains face with selling women's clothing is that women want clothes that are interesting, but still very wearable for nonmodel types.  Kohl's is one of the few store that consistently manages to inject some style into their clothes without taking trends too far and alienating customers.  When I want tops that are comfortable but don't make me look like a frump, I head to Kohl's.

I love the cut, color and pleating detail of this Simply Vera Vera Wang Pleated top for $24.00, but the bow has to go.  I am not five years old I don't wear bows on my tops. 

This Axcess Pintuck top for $18.00 draws the eye upward and creates some fullness above the waist which I imagine would visually balance you out if your bottom half is a little fuller than your top.  In any case it's a great in between shirt for when you want to look nice but anything fancier would look overdressed.

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Tank tops are fine if you're working out at the gym, but for activities that don't involve grunting, sweating and tedious exercise machines, try this Axcess Shirred top for $21.60.   The top gives you the cool comfort of a tank top while the shirring detail is a stylish touch that makes it look more expensive than it really is.  Just because I'm cheap doesn't mean I want to look cheap.

 

Get Free Design Ideas on the Houzz

If you are looking for remodeling or interior design ideas or you are simply a design fanatic look for fresh inspiration, drop by Houzz.com.  Houzz.com features thousands of pictures provided by professional architects and interior designers.   

With the Wittier Drive Bedroom featured here, the designer matched the curtains to the wall to create a more expansive open feeling.  Limiting the aqua colored paint to four stripes that run up the walls and continue over the ceiling is a fresh unexpected design twist.

The Kerrie L. Kelly dining room skillfully demonstrates that paint doesn't have to be loud to have an impact.  The designer uses a rich cocoa brown for the walls, a lighter brown that acts as as bridge between the white ceiling and then tops it off with a white ceiling that picks up the decorative objects on the wall.  Notice that the baseboards are also white.  I think the design lesson here is that repetition creates harmony in a room.

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If you can look past the bubblegum pink and intense raspberry color scheme you will see that there are some really great design ideas here.  First of all there is a generous use of neutrals such as gray and white that prevents the brighter colors from overwhelming the room.  I also like the fact that the colors they emphasized all come from the same color family.  The molding in between the blocks of color on the wall adds architectural interest to what could have been an architecturally bland room.

   

Clean Out Your Closet and Save 20% at Steinmart

Steinmart's annual Give and Receive event gives you the perfect opportunity to get rid of some new or gently used clothing and replace them with something you really want.  Just bring some garments in very good condition to your local Steinmart  and they will give you a coupon for 20% off anything in the store March 5-7.  While you're there be sure to check out the home decor, shoes and accessories.  While you go out on the town in your kicky new Steinmart heels your donated clothing goes to the Salvation Army.  I like to think of it as shopping for a cause.      

Stock up on J. R. Watkins Skin Softening Body Oil

My previous body oil was so slow in absorbing into my skin that I think it ended rubbing off and moisturizing the clothes I wore almost as much as it moisturized me.  With fast absorbing J.R. Watkins Body Oil I don't have to wait five minutes, or five hours for that matter, for the oil to absorb. 

The J.R. Watkins line of body oils comes in various scents, such as lavender, but they also have an unscented version so you can wear your favorite scents without clashing.    The ingredient list reveals an old fashioned approach to natural beauty.  They use plant based ingredients, such as Aloe, that are known for their beauty benefits.  All of the oils seem to share the same basic skin loving ingredients such as grapeseed oil, apricot, and macadamia nut oil. At less that $9.00 a bottle my penny pinching personality loves it too.

Decorating Magazines do a Disappearing Act

A few years ago I would have suggested buying three year magazine subscriptions instead of one because you usually get a better deal with a longer subscription length.  Today I am telling you to seriously think about limiting your subscription length to one year or buying magazines individually off the rack.

I just found out that one of my decorating magazines, Domino, is ending with the March 2009 issue.  What concerns me about this is that this is the third decorating magazine I subscribe to  has abruptly come to a stop.  Within the past few monthes I have been notified that my O  at Home magazine and Cottage Living magazine have also been  canceled.  

The problem with magazines going under is that the publisher wants to hang onto your money in spite of no longer producing the magazine you subscribed to.  Magazine publishers usually publish multiple magazines and they often fulfill your magazine subscripton by substituting another magazine which is completely different from the magazine you originally subscribed to.    In the case of Cottage Living the substitution is Sunset magazine which focuses on lifestyle topics such as where to go, local flavor etc. primarily in the California and west coast area.  This might be appealing to me if I didn't live thousands of miles away or if I had any interest at all in that area.  Right now all I am interested in is figuring out how to cancel my subscription to a magazine that is completely irrelevant to where and how I live.  From now on unless a decorating magazine has the word "Architectural Digest" slapped across the cover, I will resist buying long term magazine subscriptions. 

Get a Tote for $5.00 for Stocking Up at Spiegel

Spiegel is having a special promotion right now where you can buy one of their six styles of signature totes for $5.00 when you spend $75.00 on any Spiegel product.  The selection is a rather mixed bag of offerings with a really cute on trend top for example featured alongside a picture of a really frumpy and outdated outfit.  It might take a while to come up with $75.00 worth of merchandise worth buying, but they do have many affordable pieces so it's worth checking out. 

Definitely Dramatic Signature Tote

 

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Relaxed Glamour Signature Tote

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Understated Elegance Signature Tote

Slob Proof! Offers Proof that Attractive Interiors Can Be Livable

For design advice that tackles the reality of how you really live instead of offering fantasies on how you would like to live, read Slob Proof!  by Debbie Wiener for $14.96.  Thanks to Wiener's years of experience as a professional interior designer and her years of living with a husband and children who are slobs, she is able to design living spaces that are both attractive and practical.

Wiener's friendly writing style and personal anecdotes about how her own family of slobs inspired many of her design solutions makes this a fun as well as practical read.   From floor to ceiling Wiener covers it all.  She tells you which flooring options, including stone, wood and carpeting, are going to last the longest and look the best.  Anyone whose living room has basically turned into a dining room with the stains to prove it will appreciate her fabric suggestions for chairs and couches.  Not only does she identify the most indestructible stain resistant fabrics to use she show you how using patterns can cleverly camouflage the stains.  Whether talking about wall paint, window coverings, floors or furniture, the author emphasizes stain resistance, stain camouflage, practicality and durability.  She also lists specific brands and manufacturers to make the decorating process easier.

While emphasizing the practical, she doesn't completely ignore the possibility of having things in your home that are more pretty than practical.  She address the issue of including less rugged items in your home by suggesting you put them in less trafficked areas.   Slob Proof! proves that it's possible to live well even if you happen to live with shedding pets, active children or other occupants in the home that aren't likely to change their slob like tendencies anytime soon. 

  

The Long and the Short of It

If your looking for a sweater that provides a little coverage and a whole lot of style, check out short sleeved sweaters.  Short sleeved sweaters give skimpy or basic sleeveless topps an upgrade by helping to create more of a complete look.  Here are a few selections from Kohls that are short and  stylish.

Ruching on the sleeves and a ruffle at the bottom on this Elle Ruched Cardigan for $29.99 are such scene stealers that you would be wise to keep the rest of the outfit, especially the top, very simple. 

Kimono sleeves on a loose fitting knit top can make the wearer look like a shapeless blob.  Fortunately the kimono sleeves on the Sonoma Life + Style Flyaway Cardigan for $21.99 are balanced out by a raised collar, buttons at the top and a vertical split down the midde which add definition to the sweater.  In other words the sweater is relaxed but not sloppy looking.

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The Access Crop Cardigan for $25.99 gives the tradional cardigan a fashion makeover with shorter sleeves, a candy bright color and a sexy deep V neck.  When you are wearing a top with fashionable ruffles or some other interesting detail at the top a deep V sweater like this  frames those design details beautifully.  The simplicity of the sweater allows you to go wild with design details on your top and your accessories.  

Seeing Red

The traditional approach for reducing eye redness and puffiness is to lay down and put a slice of cucumber over each eye.  For many women this approach is too time consuming to be practical, not to mention a waste of perfectly good produce.  If red bloodshot eyes are staring back at you when you look in the mirror there are a few quick fixes you can try to go from bloodshot to bright eyed.  

Before putting on any eye makeup run a washcloth under cold water and wring out the excess water.  Put the cold washcloth over your eyes for a minute or so, depending on how much time you have.  Remove the washcloth and grab your eyeshadow brush and a bottle of Visine or some other brand of redness relieving eye drops. 

Work a drop or two of the eye drops into your eyeshadow brush before applying eye shadow.   While the eye brush is still a little damp, go ahead and apply eye shadow across your entire lid.  The addition of eye drops to the eye shadow helps the color stay on longer and reduces redness on your eye lids. 

Be sure to avoid cosmetics that are reddish in tone.  Pink and purple eye shadows and liners that are more  red than cool in tone can make eyes look more red and bloodshot.  A thin line of dark blue eyeliner around the eyes or navy colored mascara discreetly brightens up the eye area. 

  

Save Some Dough when You Dine Out

Eating out frequently can take a real bite out of your food budget.  To save some dough while dining out check out Restaurant.com.  The concept behind Restaurant.com is pretty simple.  You purchase a $25.00 gift certificate for only $10.00.  The $15.00 savings is designed to  encourage people to try new restaurants or revisit old favorites that they might not have been to in a while.  

To find a restaurant in your area simply type in your zip code.  A list of local restaurants that you can buy gift certificates pops up.  If you want a restaurant close to home you can refine your search to within 5 miles of your zip code for example.  The down side of narrowing your search to closer restaurants is that it will greatly reduce the number of choices you have.  When I narrowed my search to within 5 miles of my zip code only 9 restaurants showed up.  However, two of those restaurants, a fine French restaurant and an old fashioned pizza place, were restaurants I would consider going to.   I wouldn't depend on Restaurant.com for all of my restaurant deals, but I would consider buying the occassional $25.00 certificate for $10.00 when I was feeling particularly cheap or I wanted to mix things up a bit and try a new restaurant. 

Any Taylor Loft at Low Prices

Ann Taylor Loft makes the kind of clothes that may acknowledge trends in color or materials, but you are pretty much guaranteed you will never look like a fashion victim wearing their clothes.  Right now Ann Taylor Loft is having a 20% off coupon deal off all of their merchandise when you type in the word PRESIDENTS into the coupon code box when you check out.  Here are a few of my favorite foolproof pieces.

Chandelier earrings are dramatic by nature, but too much drama is more distracting than stylish.  These Purple Long Chandelier Earrings $29.00 add some drama to your outfit without veering into drama queen territory. 

Cotton cardigans are the perfect go to piece when the seasons are transitioning from cool to warm or your daily life has you transitioning from the warm outdoors to frigid over air conditioned offices.  This Brocade Print Cardigan for $29.99 captures the spirit of spring with its bright color and fun print.   

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Metallics and animal prints are two trends that simply won't die.  They are so trend proof that you can put the two together and no one except for a handful of style obsessed fashion editors would be able to say for sure whether this Ruched Clutch for $29.99 is in or out.  At 20% off $29.99 I say it's in! 

Shall We Dance?

Looking for a cheap way to enjoy some music, some socializing, and a whole lot of dancing?  Try taking a dance class at your local dance studio.  For less that the cost of a couple overpriced drinks at a local bar you can get into the swing of things by learning some of the most popular dances around.  Some of the dance classes like the tango or waltz may be more suitable for couples lessons,but many classes teach a whole group at a time in a way that makes partnering up unnecessary.  If the thought of waltzing into a dance class alone isn't appealing and you don't have a willing partner handy, grab a couple of gal pals and turn the dance class into a girls night out.  

Before you hit the dance floor there a a few questions you might want to ask the dance organizers before the class if you can't find the information on their web site.  Questions like is it a couples or more a a group class?  Is the class beginner or intermediate?  Can you pay for one class at a time or do you have to sign up for a block of classes?  What is appropriate attire?  Of course you know to wear comfortable shoes and clothes in breathable fabrics that allow for plenty of movement, but for most of the people in the class does that translate into jeans and a T-shirt or simple flowing dresses that make the wearer look like they are  ready to dance the night away at some fabulous party?

After an hour or two of waltzing, shimmying, swinging and getting your groove on with a bunch of people who are probably more interested in having a good time than preparing for a career in ballroom dance the class is over, but that doesn't mean the evening is over.  Some dance studios have a social hour after their evening classes.  If they don't have a social hour you can create your own by inviting a few of your favorite dancing devotees to your place for some light snacks and refreshing beverages after the class.  

Embellished Necklines Spice Up Summer Looks

Instead of piling on the heavy baubles during warmer months look for simple tunics and streamlined dresses that feature beaded or embroidered embellishment around the neckline.  Use that embellishment as a source of inspiration for the earrings you choose matching the color, design lines or some other element of the neckline embellishment and viola, you are accessorized and ready to go.  

 Chadwick's The Audrey Sheath for $49.99 adds jewel like texture to the neckline with a smattering of white beads arranged to look like flower brooches.  If you need to throw on a cover up over this try a solid colored sweater in yellow, blue or some other color that is just as bright as the green in the print.  There are many different shades of white.  A white sweater is not automatically going to match the white background.

The beaded design around the neckline of Chadwick's Beaded Ponte Dress for $49.99 is so dramatic that you might want to go for more discreet earrings to focus on the beaded front and simply accessorize with a statement making cuff bracelet like they did in the picture.  For anyone concerned that wearing an orange dress is going to make them look like the great pumpkin, don't worry, the dress also comes in dark brown or blue.

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Chadwick's Embroidered Tunic for $24.99 strikes the perfect balance between flattering fit and the relaxed attitude that you want in a tunic.  It comes in a bunch of fresh springlike colors ripe for the picking.  The solid wood earring in the picture look a little heavy to me.  I would have gone for metal earrings in some sort of light and open design that reflected the lightness and openness of the embroidery work.

How to (Un) Dress for Spa Treatments

Whether you are enjoying a spa treatment at a fancy salon or a local beauty school dressing appropriately for the situation can enhance the whole spa experience. 

Converse One Star Chapel Hill Pant $22.99

When receiving any kind of spa treatment what you don't wear is just as important as what you do wear.  Leave expensive jewelry at home.  Earrings and necklaces will either have to be removed or they will get mucked up by beauty products.  With some spas you may have to leave your clothes in a closet or locker.  Simply not bringing any expensive jewelry with you means you don't have to worry about unattended jewelry being stolen.

Some treatments, such as facials generally don't require you to disrobe to the extent that you would need a locker.  You may need to remove your shirt and be given the option of removing your bra.  I recommend removing bra if given the option since a facial often involves some application of products to the chest and possibly shoulder area.  Removing the bra makes it easier for the ethetician to work.  It also means I don't have to reveal my love of  trashy leopard print lingerie to a virtual stranger.

Anything you wear to a day spa or salon should be easy to remove.  Struggling with straps or fastenings is not going to put you in a mellow ready to be pampered frame of mind.  For shoes try wearing ballet flats or flip flops.  A scoop neck or V neck T-shirt is easy to pull on an off or wear a shirt that unbuttons completely down the front.  Wear loose fitting clothes like yoga pants.  Massage and facial oils don't always absorb completely into the  skin so you may end up transferring some of that oil onto your clothes after treatment.  Breathable fabrics made with natural fibers like cotton allow your skin to breath while synthetic fabrics will just make you feel stickier.

If you have your handbag in the room with you during treatments be sure to turn your cell phone off during treatments.  It's time to put the world on hold for awhile and fully enjoy the feeling of someone taking care of you.  Nothing is more jarring and disruptive than the sound of a ringing phone when you are trying to chill out and enjoy some much needed pampering. 

Certain types of facials that remove dead skin cell can leave your skin vulnerable to the sun's rays after treatment.  Don't schedule facial before a day of running around outdoors or doing outdoor tasks for any length of time.  If you are concerned about exposure to sun bring a wide brimmed hat with you to wear outside after treatment.  Facial treatments are often designed to clean out the pores and let them breath a little so slathering on a heavy layer of sunscreen right after facial treatment might not be appropriate.   

Shop Local Stores Before they Close and Save Cash

Whether something is good news or bad news is all a matter of perspective.  The current economic slump is hurting retailors so much that many of them are closing certain store locations or just closing altogether.  This might not make their stockholders very happy but it's good news for budget savvy shoppers who know that this wave of store closings is bound to offer some great deals that they otherwise might not have gotten. 

One way to find out if a store is closing is to simply shop their regularly so you can snap up the deals before they disappear.  Be sure to have some spending cash with you when you shop store closings since they often don't accept checks and might accept only a few types of credit cards.

Another way to get a heads up about store closings is to stay on top of local and national business news.  To spare you the hassle of reading a lot of boring business stuff just to find out if you should burn rubber and head for your favorite store before it closes, here is a sampling of the stores that are closing in 2009.

Chico's clothing store is closing 25 stores.

New York & Company is closing 50 stores over the next 5 years.

Famous Footwear is closing  35 stores.

Eddie Bauer is only closing 2 stores

JC Penney is closing an undisclosed number of stores.

Ann Taylor is closing 117 stores.

Gap Inc. is closing 85 stores.  This is not suprising considering how much they charge for basic items that you can get elsewhere at cheaper prices.

Dillards is closing 26 stores.  If there was a store I would call in sick to work just to hit a sale it would be Dillards.  They have high quality merchandise that ranges from affordable to fairly affordable after a discount.

Macy's is closing 11 stores.  I feel the same way about Macy's as I feel about Dillards.

Fashion Bug is closing 150 stores.  The name Fashion Bug is too cutesy for my taste and frankly having a reference to an insect in the name of the store doesn't exactly motivate me to run out and check out the merchandise.

What's interesting about this list is that it includes budget friendly stores like New York & Company as well as stores with typically higher price points.

Victoria's Secret Not so Secret Sale

Sexy lingerie isn't the only thing you should be shopping for at Victoria's Secret during the month of February.  Right now Victoria's Secret is having a sale on lots of lovely things, and not all of them belong in the bedroom.

Get into the swing of things with their Swing Dress for $85.00 available solid black or brown also.  The silhouette is flirty enough for a night on the town but proper enough for attending a daytime wedding.  It's basic and versatile.  Kind of like a red hot version of the little black dress.

 

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  Show them you mean business in this hot pink Pleated Crewneck Blouse for $38.00The blouse is boldly feminine and in the case of this surprisingly office appropriate.  If your not ready to show your true colors at work and would rather act as a neutral party, the blouse also comes in solid black or white .

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You didn't think I could do an entire blog post on Victoria's Secret and not include lingerie did you?  This Lace Trimmed Satin Slip for $28.00 is such a tasteful take on lingerie that you could almost wear it in public.  The lace details and feminine cut hints at a type of old fashioned glamour that can make you feel much more fabulous than wearing a set of baggy sweats any day.   

Pottery Barn Gets Glamourous

When I think of the cozy relaxed style of Pottery Barn glamour is not the first word that comes to mind.  I was shocked when I checked out their sales and I came across this picture with an actual chandelier in it!   

This bed set features various sale items such as the Chainlink Quilt and Sham pieces ranging from $14.99-$59.99 and the Kylie Pillow covers $59.99 for a set of three.  Pottery Barn has great stylists so it's always worth  checking out their web site to get fresh design ideas like how to mix prints for example.

A cosmetics bag should be as fabulous as the luscious lip glosses and pretty potions it contains.  Two of these shimmery silver or gold cosmetics Metallic Cosmetic bags for $19.99 add a touch of glamour to your beauty routine. 

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When Pottery Barn named these glass beauties Tall Perfume Bottles they weren't kidding.  The smallest bottle for $14.99 stands over 15 inches high while the tallest bottle for $24.99 towers over it at an impressive 24 inches.  The nice thing about decorating with clear glass bottles is that you can fill them with cheap cologne or body splash that color coordinates with your decor.  If you change your decor it's pretty simple to use up or throw out the cologne and replace it with a different color cologne.

Get Carried Away with a Stylish New Handbag

No matter how organized and clutter free you try to keep your life there is one area that is hard to downsize.  Your handbag.  A cute little clutch is fine for a night on the town but for the gal who likes to be prepared for anything a handbag capable of containing her essentials, and hopefully a few luxuries, is a wardrobe must.  Fortunately there are stylish handbags out there that make room for the way you really live.

This Merona Large Tote with Nickel Hardware for $39.99 from Target put some zip into the design with contrasting stitching and just enough shiny hardware to give it a designer look.

Denim goes uptown with this New York and Company City Style Denim Demilune Satchel for $17.47.  The dark blue denim fabric turns what could have been a rather stuffy design into a polished but casual take on the super functional satchel bag.

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This Worthington Glazed Python Embossed Tote for $39.99 does come in other colors, but personally I prefer the black.  The animal skin texture of the bag adds so much visual interest that the bag doesn't come across as a basic black bag.   When you have such an obvious texture going on you don't need an attention grabbing color to make a style statement.

The ULTAmate Sale on Body Products

The good news is that ULTA is having a terrific buy two get one free going for body products such as body washes, body oils and body lotions and you can buy different products from different brands.  The bad news is that if you want to buy a body wash without sulfates, which generate lather but aren't so kind to the skin, your selection is limited. 

After scouring the Ulta store for a body wash that was sulfate free and not ridiculously expensive (I am NOT paying $27.00 for a small bottle of bath product I wash down the drain!) I found what I was looking for with the Giovanni line.  The Cucumber Song for $10.00 fits the bill as far as being kind to my skin and my wallet.  I also picked up a few other body products and made sure I sweetened the deal with the Ulta $3.50 coupon which you can get from their web site. 

I noticed Ulta had several brands with names and labels that gave the impression that the product was brimming with natural ingredients.  It was only when I held the bottle 5 inches from my face to read the ingredient list printed in microprint that I discovered the product was actually brimming with ingredients that came straight from the lab, not nature.  Remember, if you want to go natural with your body products ignore the nature inspired name and packaging on front and check the ingredients on the back.  You may need a magnifying glass to read those ingredients, but at least you will be making an informed decision.

Don't Lose Cash when a Store Closes

With various retail stores shutting down faster than you can say "I wonder if they're having any good store closing sales" you might want to pay even more attention than usual to how you spend your money.  In these unstable economic times gift certificates may not be the best gift idea.  I remember hearing a story about the now closed Sharper Image store.  The stores were selling Sharper Image gift certificates right up until the day the store closed.  No one bothered to tell customers that they better spend the gift certificate within the next five minutes because in 24 hours it wasn't going to be worth the paper it was printed on.  If you buy a gift certificate and the store goes out of business the gift certificate becomes worthless and you have lost money.

I learned another valuable lesson about buyer beware straight from another local news segment.  A man was remodeling his kitchen and went to purchase some granite counter tops that were advertised for a great price.   When the man went to the storefront the over eager salesperson not only honored the advertised price but kept dropping the price to sweeten the deal.  The customer spent over $1,000.00 on granite counter tops that were supposed to be shipped in from another location.  Unfortunately the company's financial status wasn't as solid as their counter tops they sold and they went out of business within a week of the customer ordering his counter tops.  He never got the counter tops he had put that hefty deposit on.  The good news is that he used a credit card to make the purchase so he was only obligated to pay his credit card company $50.00.  In other words by using a credit card he ended up losing $50.00 instead of the $1,000.00 plus that he would have lost if he had paid with cash, check or some other form of payment.   

I bought a TV at an electronics store that was so focused on selling televisions that's about the only thing they sold.  They tried to make me spend an additional $40.00 on an extended warranty.  They told me that if nothing went wrong with the TV and I didn't use the warranty after a certain period of time I could apply that $40.00 towards another purchase.  I said no the the extended warranty.  From what I understand most problems with electronic devices happen within the first two years while they are still under the manufacture warranty so I never buy any extended warranty no matter how sweet the sales pitch for it is.  At the time I felt good about not spending an additional $40.00.  I felt even better about my decision about a year or so later when the store closed which would have made the store warranty useless. 

At the risk of stating the painfully obvious, you should only buy stuff you are sure you really want.  The sales receipt may say that you have 90 days to return the item but the sales receipt doesn't come with any guarantee that the store will be in business in 90 days.  Store closings are a fact of life even in good economic times.  Shop smart and you won't have to worry about store closings leaving you empty handed.