Archive for September, 2006
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 27, 2006. Style
An aside to my ongoing series on finding your personal style… (last update is over here)
Beijing Baby has written about the evolution of her style so far, with lots of pictures. See part one, part two and part three. I found it interesting to see what she wore for teenage life, and how it’s changed as she moves into the adult world. She’s also very candid about sharing what she thinks about each of those outfits now!
It’s curious that everyone who shares the development of their personal style online is younger than me though. Is it unseemly for a late-twenty-something like me to be fascinated by personal style? Am I old enough that other things are supposed to have become more important? Or am I simply looking in the wrong corner of the web? We still have to get dressed each morning, keep a wardrobe full of suitable clothing for our daily lives and work out what to buy when we’re out shopping, so I’d be really surprised if I’m the only ‘oldie’ who ponders her personal style from time to time.
If anyone else would like to share how their style has evolved over time, or even any dilemas they’re having at the moment, share away!
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 26, 2006. Clothing
I’m not usually vain enough to post pictures of my outfits, but since I asked for help with my pirate party costume, I thought I’d better show the end result.
In the end I didn’t dress up as a pirate or a wench. Instead I went as…
Pirate treasure!
Or as another guest put it, ‘booty’.
I decided to wear something that wouldn’t look completely freakish if noone else at the party had dressed up. I’ve been embarassed at many ‘fancy dress’ parties where everyone except me wore jeans and I wore something very costume-y like a corset and full skirt, hot pants or over-the-top makeup.
The costume came together pretty easily. I piled on almost everything gold I own and added black pants to hide that I’m a bit plump at the moment (disguised by my faux-model pose). Then I used some subtle gold hair stuff and makeup to finish it off. In hindsight, I could’ve piled on a bit more jewelry, although you can’t see the bracelets on my other arm in this pic.
Since I had all the ingredients already, it worked out effectively free:
The final accessory was a bottle of rum, because what else do you take to a pirate party?!
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 15, 2006. Clothing
HELP!
I’m going to a fancy-dress party tonight with a pirate theme and have no idea what to wear.
How do I dress like a pirate? Should I just give in and go as a wench? I have a full skirt and a corset-ish top I could turn into a wench costume, but pirates were way cooler!
Advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 14, 2006. Clothing
Today I found a great series on altering clothes over at Hot Off the Sale Rack, and thought I’d pass on my favourite tips.
Part One is about deciding whether it’s worth buying something that’s too big and tailoring it down a size. Tip: A-line skirts are relatively easy to alter.
Part Two and Part Three are about shortening straps on dresses (which would work equally well for tops). Tip: shorten them where they meet the back of the garment so your work’s not as noticeable.
Part Four covers repairs your bargains might need, like mending small tears and removing stains. Tips: tears and holes are easier to fix if they’re on a seam; not so much if they’re in the middle of the garment, and
Small, complementary stains that look food- or makeup-based have the greatest likelihood of getting washed off. Beyond that, tough luck.
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 13, 2006. Bargains, Jewelry
OK, I’m showing off again. Yesterday, I found not one but two cute bracelets for $5 at Equip. (One of my favourite places in Sydney for cheap accessories.)
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By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 12, 2006. Skin Care
I found some really interesting follow-up material to my post on whether expensive skincare is worth the money on the Festival of Frugality blog and had to share it:
My fiance has worked at L’Oreal and my friend from home has worked at Estee Lauder, both have said that the more expensive lotions are often the same, chemically, as the cheaper lotions (of the same brand)! The difference is often only the scent!
I’ve now heard this from a few different sources and I definitely suspect it to be true. One more reason to save your money!
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 8, 2006. Shopping
While I was writing my previous post about fake Dove soap, I checked to see if anyone else had written about it and found something interesting instead: fake coupons!
I’d never heard of it before and have never seen them myself (coupons aren’t widely used in Australia), but there’s lots of information out there. They’re mostly distributed by email and sold on eBay.
If you clip coupons, you should probably read:
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 8, 2006. Beauty, Skin Care
I know a lot about fake bags, watches, jewellery and software because I learnt the hard way about all of them, but I’d never heard of fake soap until we bought some last week.
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By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 7, 2006. News
My post on whether expensive skincare is worth the money is in this week’s Festival of Frugality over at Queercents.
The Festival of Frugality is my equal-favourite blog festival (along with the Carnivale of Couture). If you want tips on how to live well on less money, they always have some great stuff. Here’s some of my favourites from this week:
Reformed Cynic wrote about the things that get thrown away when people’s leases end. This is a topic close to my heart because I hate to see anything useful go to waste. I found a great addition to my list of where to send things you don’t need any more in her post: Craigslist. So please, turn your unwanted junk into someone else’s brilliant bargain!
On a similar topic, Tracy from Healthy, Wealthy & Wise shared some ideas of where to sell your junk. I personally don’t sell my junk because it requires a lot of effort for a small amount of money and I prefer to give things to charity instead — but I’m lucky enough to be able to forgo a few dollars if it’s too much trouble to get them. If you do really need some extra cash, what better way than getting rid of things you don’t need any more?
As for other tips in this week’s Festival Bling on a Shoestring shows where people in California, Nevada, Utah & Arizona can buy new clothes for under $5 a piece and Free Money Finance helps you get free Krispy Kreme donuts (I don’t understand what’s so great about them, but everyone else seems to like them…)
Want more? Check out this week’s Festival.
By Sydney's Bargain Queen, Sara. September 5, 2006. Shopping
If you live outside the U.S. online shopping can be frustrating. Most of the best online retailers only ship to North America, meaning all those great bargains are out of reach. The solution is package forwarding: you pay a U.S.-based company to receive your parcel and forward it to you.
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