Cheap Chic: Fashion and beauty tips for looking good for less
The same “high-low” impulse that has women comfortably mixing J.Crew with those Jimmy Choos is working its way into their makeup routines, replacing some department store buys with mascaras and lipsticks found at the drugstore.
With traditional drugstore brands incorporating high-end innovations in low-cost product lines, the drugstore is becoming the
-- Melissa Magsaysay
Pictured: L’Oréal Colour Riche Lipsticks, $8.49 (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)
Accessory updates are simple, and they’re a smart way to extend the life of basic pieces, customize sale finds or reinvent something for a new season. A brown hobo bag, for example, loses the bohemian vibe when dyed black or deep gray. It can get even more sophisticated if you replace the rustic brass hardware with pewter or brushed silver.
We’ve found four local cobblers who don’t just fix shoes and bags, but also rework, reconstruct and update them. They can restyle a pump, turn a gladiator sandal into a T-bar and give a trendy clutch new life as a classic evening bag.
It’s taking whats there and making something new out of it, says Pasquale Fabrizio, shown. Read more.
-- Melissa Magsaysay (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Clothing swaps are growing in popularity, and for good reason. The events, where people donate clothes they no longer wear and walk away with items they never even knew they wanted, provide a shopping high without the buyer’s remorse, a wardrobe refresher without the plastic. In an era when people with money aren’t spending it, and people who don’t have much are hoarding it, clothing swaps are a cost-free cure for clothing lust, which, despite the ever-declining economy, is a difficult sin to swear off, even if most of us have more than enough to wear. Read more.
-- Susan Carpenter (Annemarie Waugh / For The Times)
“At-home hair color is becoming much more user-friendly,” says Lisa Evans, senior colorist at Salon Mario Russo in
-- Alexandra Drosu (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times)