Wanna-be Fashionista

This year for Christmas, I got an antique dress form from my husband and my parents. I have always wanted a dress form. This is my first, but I can tell you this – it will not be my last!

I’m not a fashion designer nor a fashion blogger. I’m not going to school for fashion design, nor am I a “maxanista” fashionista who shops at TJMaxx. I just love fashion – plain and simple. I love everything about fashion: the magazines, the shows (reality and documentaries), and the fashion that actresses wear in movies and on television shows.

I subscribe to several fashion magazines – InStyle, Glamour, Marie Claire, and Lucky. I always purchase the September issue of Vogue (what fashionista doesn’t?), and I pick up the occasional Elle. I love to flip through the pages looking at the upcoming season’s styles.

It’s a process for me – looking at fashion magazines. First, I flip through page after page merely glancing at stuff, only stopping long enough to really look at something that catches my eye. Then I put the magazine down for a day or two, sometimes more. When I pick the magazine up a few days later, I literally read it from cover-to-cover, advertisements and masthead included. Sometimes when my husband and I are driving somewhere, I’ll read the magazine cover-to-cover in the first sitting. If we’re flying and I read through an entire magazine before we land at our intended destination, I’ll quickly scan the magazine again, rip out the pages I want to check into a little more, and then I stow the magazine in the pocket of the seat in front of me for the next passenger to enjoy (minus the pages I’ve just ripped out, of course)!

I love fashion, specifically purses. My favorite is my Chanel. I have several Coach handbags and a couple of Coach wallets, but my current carry-all is the Modalu “Pippa” handbag, which is named after Pippa Middleton. Yes, that Pippa!

Anyway, back to my dress form. I’ve had it going on three weeks and so far I’ve dressed “her” in three different outfits. I have only dressed the top half of the form, meaning I’ve not put any pants or skirts on her (yet) because I like seeing the dress form peek out from beneath the shirts and sweaters I’ve put on her. That may change if I find the right outfit for her.

As I’ve said, she’s had three different outfits since I brought her home on December 24th. I’ll post the three outfits shortly. These clothes are mine – the shirts, sweaters, jackets, vests, scarves, etc. I just never, or hardly ever wear them. I love dressing her. Maybe one day, I’ll take the outfit off my dress form and actually wear it!

Another fashion-y thing I love are thrift stores. I could spend hours in thrift stores. With time, you can find just the right classic piece to add to your existing wardrobe. I know what some of you are thinking. “Thrift stores are dirty, smelly, and yucky.” Yes, some are dirty, smelly, and yucky. I went into a Salvation Army story in Chicago at the end of July last year when there was no air conditioning in the store. I literally had sweat running down the middle of my back and down the crack of my arse! But I came away with a Juicy Couture t-shirt (retail value possibly between $58-98) for $1.99 and the softest James Perse jersey dress (retail value possibly between $125-225) for $6.99!

Thrift-ing takes patience, time, and a good eye. The same goes for looking through fashion magazines. You may not like all the fashions highlighted in those magazines, but something catches your eye. And if you’re a good seamstress or burgeoning designer, then you can design your own outfit based on something that caught your eye in the magazine. Then – voilà! You’ve not got your own personally designed “designer knock-off”, but it didn’t cost you three months rent or max out your credit cards! You can spend what you saved on a fabulous pair of heels or a cool accessory, or in my case, a brand new purse!

And what can help you in designing your own “designer knock-off?” An awesome dress form, preferably an antique one!

Happy thrift-ing, wanna-be fashionistas!