#28 Kimberly Flickinger

Congratulations, Kimberly. E-mail us your jean selection, size and shipping information to Recessionistaparty(at)gmail.com

We so enjoyed seeing the photos of you ladies your favorite gear! Keep them coming, as we would love to feature some of you ladies on the blog!  Also, don’t forget to take advantage of the weekly special. Happy Weekend!

After a few months of summer vacation–we’re ready to get back into our routine…

This Week’s Special…

JEANS $44.99

The Hannah Bootcut, Micah Bootcut, Ava Skinny, and Addie Skinny all $44.99 this week only.

PLUS–FREE SHIPPING BOTH WAYS! THAT’S RIGHT–TRY THEM…ON US! IF THEY DON’T FIT, WE’LL PAY TO HAVE THEM SENT BACK!

Don’t forget the giveaway is still open! Every pair of jeans you buy enters you five times to win more jeans!

If you were paying attention, you may have noticed the random photo of jeans in yesterday’s post, we were discreetly hinting at something.

This giveaway may or may not be discreet insight into what our deal of the week will be. So you may want to stay tuned to the blog, if you love great deals. Just sayin’

(We know we’re a day early for the whole September 1st thing, but it sounds way more epic than August 31st. Tune back in next year on September 1st to see if the Great Jean Giveaway turns into a tradition. Ok… let’s not get crazy!)

There are 5 ways to enter!

1. Share the news of this giveaway via Facebook*, Twitter*, Technoarti, StumpleUpon, Delicious and anything else you can think of. (Use our Sharing is Sexy toolbar!)

2. Get your friends to enter the giveaway; have them tell us who sent them. Each friend who enters wins you an extra entry! (Only one of you will win, though!)

3. Every purchase you make from the shop from now until the time this giveaway closes automatically earns you 10 entries

4. We want to see photos of you in your favorite (or better yet, cutest!) jeans, jewelry and other accessories! Send them to recessionistaparty(at)gmail.com – extra entries if you’re wearing Recessionista products! Make sure you only submit photos that you don’t mind us sharing on the blog.

5. Join our mailing list so that we can keep you up-to-date on giveaways, sales, fashion tips and more!

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Just a side note: if you’re not already following us on facebook and twitter, you’re missing out on the conversation! We would hate for you to be out of the loop!

Thank you all for participating in our Coach Shoe Giveaway and our Online Warehouse Sale. You can still take 20% off your entire order at The Recessionista Shop when you use the code WAREHOUSE at checkout. Only three more days left to take advantage of the sale!

Without further delay, Monday’s fashion lesson…updating your wardrobe on a dime
(ok maybe a little more than a dime, but we’re doing it Recessionista-style, we promise)

Buy a few classic items that fit perfectly or have your favorite items tailored – When we posted about jeans last week, we mentioned how they need to fit your perfectly. This goes for all of your clothing. You look better and feel better when your pants, shirts and dresses fits. If you have any of the classic items we’ve mentioned below, pull them out of your closet and try them on. If you don’t feel comfortable in them, assess the situation. Can they be tailored to fit you? Are they too out of style? While we’d love to tear through your closet a la Stacy London from What Not to Wear, you’re going to have to make the executive decision as to what stays and what goes. We worked really hard to narrow down our list of must-haves to the absolute bare essentials and here is what we came up with:

We’ve stayed away from bright colors. You can always bring color to your wardrobe with accessories (we’ll get to that in a second). Lucky for us, this Fall blacks, browns and blues are in the fashion forecast. Using neutrals and classic colors will ensure that you can mix and match your wardrobe to create several different outfits (we’ll get to that too!).

Accessorize – A necklace, a scarf and/or a hat can transform one outfit into another. Accessories are less expensive than going out and purchasing a new wardrobe. We are not recommending that you spend the money you’ve been saving for new shirts on jewelry instead. There needs to be balance. But when you’re looking for a quick way to update an outfit and your wallet has plans (that don’t include buying a new outfit), a new scarf or necklace might give you just what you need. (And your wallet can keep doing what it has to do!) With Fall arriving, it’s the perfect time to invest in some scarves. They are a personal favorite of ours. You can really go in any direction you’d like with a scarf, frilly and feminine or modern metropolitan…the possibilities are endless. And for even more options, you can tie them differently. Check out this iVillage article that has 7 different ways to tie a scarf!

Mix and match – With as much as I adore dresses, if you’re trying to expand your wardrobe, they do not allow diversity. When you’re a recessionista, you need to be able to mix and match–it makes 2 outfits look like four, and no one can argue that this is a bad thing. When you’re purchasing your absolute-bare-essential-must-haves, thing about how interchangeable they are. While you are going for diversity, they can’t be so diverse that they look tacky together.Your essentials should be very similar in style so that they are interchangeable. If you already have plenty of clothing that fits you, but you still feel like you can’t find anything to wear, it’s time for some Fall cleaning. Organize your clothing first by style (e.g. casual, semi-casual, semi-formal, formal, business), then by color. It will help you visualize exactly what can be worn with what– you may have more clothing options than you think.

Now excuse me while I go take my own advice…

Last, but certainly not least, the winner of the Coach shoes is…

#85 Ayo G

Please send us your shoe size and shipping information to recessionistaparty(at)gmail.com, no later than midnight today to claim your shoes!

Do you have any essentials that you think need to be added to the list? Share the advice, fellow recessionistas!

We’re giving you a special little extra this week. Normally, Mondays are our Fashion tip day, but because we are leaving our giveaway open until Monday, we don’t have a winner to announce today. This leaves us with no choice, but to give you exactly what you asked for. But before you keep reading, be sure to enter the giveaway and take advantage of the online warehouse sale!

So many of you ladies asked about what the fashion trends are for this Fall. The Recessionista Team is here to answer your burning Fashion questions. But please note that we are Recessionistas not New York Fashionistas. While New York Fashion week produced some outrageously furry and over-sized looks, we couldn’t live with ourselves if you actually wore some of these looks in public. However, there were a few looks that could be easily adapted to fit the average Recessionista’s lifestyle and budget.

Photo from Harper's Bazaar Fall 2010 Trends

The turtleneck is in this Fall. Not everyone loves this look and the Recessionista Team recommends that you never wear anything that doesn’t make you feel fantastic. Refinery29 has some interesting layering ideas (yes–layering is in again!) for turtlenecks, they aren’t all practical, but you may be able to use them as inspiration. We’re thinking a black turtleneck like this one would look amazing with some dark skinny jeans and boots. (We know that you don’t all love skinny jeans, no worries, there is a Fall fashion trend out there for everyone!)

Photo from Harper's Bazaar Fall 2010 Trends

As you can see from the turtleneck photo and this light brown suit, wearing all one color is going to be big this Fall. The rules are like this, though:

You must be wearing the SAME shade of the SAME color. It’s a huge Fashion-No-No to wear two “almost” matching shades. Be particularly careful with this when wearing all black. Not all blacks are created equal. We’re not saying this because it’s some silly unwritten rule (maybe it is written!). We’re saying it, because if you want to look polished and put-together, two almost-matching blacks will surely derail the look you were going for.

Photo from Harper's Bazaar Fall 2010 Trends

We are hoping that those of you who voiced your distaste for skinny jeans, might enjoy the lose fitting fabrics (including those slacks from the brown suit) that will fit your cute bootys–Hey you girls said it, not us–and hips just right) that are hitting the streets this Fall.

While there isn’t a whole lot of color in the forecast for this Fall’s fashions (at least not so far), the cobalt blues and other darker and muted shades of blue have been sneaking their way in amongst the blacks and browns.

If you’re not quite ready to run out and buy a bunch of monotone suits and turtlenecks, we don’t blame you. You can make small changes and updates to your existing wardrobe by accessorizing! (Don’t worry the jewelry will be back up in our shop in no time!) Buy shoes that stand out and provide contrast against the dark colors of the season.

Patchwork is very in this Fall. While we would not suggest you dress in head to toe patchwork (check out fashion trend number five in this Refiniery29 post), you can turn a long-sleeved burnout tee into the perfect Fall outfit with some dark jeans (or slacks!) and a patchwork scarf.

Have you seen any Fall trends that you think we should feature?

Don’t forget that if you shop at The Recessionista Shop this week, you can use the code WAREHOUSE to receive an additional 20% off your order!

We have had so much going on here at Recessionista. We are working so hard to bring you the best products and the best fashion advice. We hope that you’re enjoying all of this [advice and product] to good use. This post is going to be full of information that you won’t want to miss–read carefully!

Announcing our new shop!

We’ve moved all of our Recessionista products over to this website. Now you can get your designer shoes, jeans and handbags all from the same place. Take a long hard look at the shoe shop, because we have uploaded SO MANY shoes. (No seriously, SO MANY!) This new shop gives us lots of room to expand our product line and it makes it easier for you to shop.

We are so excited about this new shop that we are giving you not one, but three ways to celebrate with us.

1. The Online Warehouse Sale

For the next 7 days, all of our blog followers can join in the warehouse sale fun by using the coupon code WAREHOUSE at checkout when you shop at the Recessionista Shop. You’ll receive 20% off your entire purchase, which is the same discount that we extended to the warehouse shoppers in Idaho Falls. We know you couldn’t all make it to Idaho Falls, but we want to show our appreciation for you just the same. Shop the same designer brands, including Coach, Michael Kors, BCBG and more, that everyone else got to shop, but do it in the privacy of your own home! Clean out your closets ladies. It’s time to make room for the new shoes in town.

2.  A RISTA Kit Discount

If you’re interested in getting designer shoes, jeans, handbags and accessories at even better prices, consider becoming a RISTA. You’ll have access to our wholesale pricing to buy products for yourself AND you can host parties to make some extra cash for the things in life that you can’t buy at the Recessionista Shop (you know, like food). To see if you qualify to become a RISTA, fill out this form. If you’re approved, you can use the discount code NEWCONSULT25 for 25% off your consultant kit.

3. A Pair of Coach Shoes

That’s right ladies, one of your favorite handbag designers also makes lovely shoes. I love the styles and colors that Coach offers–it blows that basic black pump out of the water!