Let’s face it, when you’re a college chic on a budget it’s hard enough to afford the actual fashion and celeb magazines (what are they these days $4.95?), let alone the glorious, “I will be poor for the rest of my life if I actually buy that” fashions that are inside.

It’s like that boy you love that you know has a girlfriend and yet you flirt with him anyways…a major tease that you knowingly setting yourself up for disappointment only to be left without the boy (or in this case, Jimmy Choo’s).

So what’s a girl on a major budget to do (aside from salivating all over this month’s Vogue)?

Consider me your new best friend (or personal shopper). Your own Rachel Zoe, if you will. Each week, I’ll take a new celeb or couture look and do all the leg work for you. I’ll find a similar style on a real girl’s budget. Now all you have to do is order it, throw it on and go.

This Week: Jessica Simpson’s Red Wrap Dress

Red Wrap Dress from Victoria’s Secret. A wrap dress is such a great wardrobe staple. This one is a little bit of a longer sleeve than the one Jessica is wearing, which is a great piece to take you from summer to fall. Wear it now with a wedge and in October with tights and a great boot… and if red isn’t your color, it comes in Black and Blue too! Read More »

In its continuous quest to provide us average folk with fashionable duds for those ever-so-reasonable Tarjay prices, Target has teamed up with American designer Rogan Gregory to produce its eleventh GO International, limited edition collection. Rogan Gregory has created three lines since 2001, Rogan, Loomstate and EDUN, and in November 2007, Rogan was the recipient of the prestigious CDFA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award.

The collection itself has a beach safari feel with bold zebra and leopard prints, pops of bright colors, and an earthtone palette all set upon relaxed silhouettes and spring/summer wardrobe staples like loose tanks, wrap dresses, shorts, skirts and hoodies.

Another bonus to Rogan’s collection is that, like his other collections, Rogan for Target is eco-friendly and socially conscious; all the pieces are made of 100% certified organic cotton, linen, bamboo and hemp, so not only will you be lookin’ adorable for these upcoming hot months, but you’ll be givin’ love to the environment as well (like we need more excuses to go shopping). Read More »

A recent CollegeCandy Poll showed that a lot of you are pretty disgusted with young Hollywood.

Understandably so. It’s easy to hate them. In some cases, it is envy that fuels my hatred. In others, well…

I won’t even go there with no-talent Paris Hilton. But what is Brody Jenner famous for – being Brody Jenner? And Lauren Conrad has a clothing line because – why? Not because she’s that great of a designer, that’s for sure.

A lot of them don’t seem to work and have all of this money to go on fabulous vacations; they ‘produce’ reality shows on which they basically get followed around as they are famous and still do nothing; they go out to cool clubs while getting photographed by the paparazzi – and really, what are some of them famous for again?

So I asked myself why I hated them. Not the famous-for-nothing-people. But the Lindsey Lohan’s, the Kirsten Dunst’s and any others who have real careers but seem to be personally losing control. Read More »

It’s usually pretty easy to tell if a guy is single from his apartment. You’ve got the typical underwear out in the open, ring around the bathtub, week old stubble discard in the sink, that odd “shoe and old clothes smell”…I could go on, but it only gets grosser from here.

Most of us are well versed in the signs of The Bachelor Pad, but did you know you can tell if a girl is single and unlaid by her Bachelorette Pad? Read More »

Call me crazy, but once I caught wind that stirrup pants are back in vogue I squirmed a little in my seat.

I know what you’re thinking! You’re thinking I’m about to unload a 300 word rant on why they were left in the 80’s for a reason.

Nope! Sorry to disppoint, but I am pumped to see that seeming unflattering bottoms are back!

Most people will say if you’re going to go for the skinny look just go with skinny jeans (and if you’re seriously behind–leggings), but why can’t we have a little fun with our trends?

Nobody is saying you have to pair these with an oversized sweater and a side ponytail…just because it’s a revival trend doesn’t mean it can’t be modernized.

I say, pair the pants with simplified, streamlined, modern pieces. Some gold hoops here or some silver bangles there will pull your look together marvoulously.

Keep it monochromatic! If you’re going to rock the ankle straps, now is not the time to overload on color or pattern. Personally, I’d keep the outfit all black and pair it with a hot pair of pumps (any color or style!). Read More »

Sibling Rivarly is back!

During this week’s blog, I torture the Bro with fashion questions, ask what he thinks of couture outfits (and the models wearing them), and force him play stream-of-consciousness.

Ah, just like being in the backseat of a car on our way to Grandma’s.

Me: Alright, well, you might not have known that it was fashion week last week in New York. First off…do you have any idea who Anna Wintour is?

The Bro: nope

Me: She’s basically this 50ish year old woman who wears giant sunglasses and thinks she is the most fashion forward person on the planet

Me: here is a picture of her: (she’s in the middle) Thoughts?

The Bro: She doesn’t look as old as meryl streep does in that movie

Me: Have you ever opened a Vogue? Read More »

I have tried to walk in high heels my whole life.

Even playing dress up with my mom’s clothes, I would put them on and wobble carefully around the living room, fully aware that there was an allure about them, but also fully aware that the sensation of balancing on a thin little piece of wood wasn’t fun in the least.

These days, I have basically the same assumption about stilettos. They look awesome, but they feel like sh*t.

Camilla Morton, author of How to Walk in High Heels: The Girl’s Guide to Everything agrees with me when it comes to the ouch factor of such shoes, but wants us women to deal with the pain and wear them anyway.

“With the heel comes glamour, mystique, height and allure.” Morton writes, “Lofty, impractical shoes put you on your own personal pedestal, ready to meet the world. Heels are a gym workout in themselves. They slim, elongate, put off the need for liposuction, add grace and poise, and quadruple your self-esteem.”

The idea of wearing “lofty, impractical shoes” on a daily basis sounds ridiculous to me. Especially here in New York City, where my motto has always been “if you can’t run in them, don’t buy them.” I wonder if this woman walks at all; does she have to go up and down subway stairs, hike her two-week old laundry onto her shoulder and stumble into a laundry mat, or walk up four flights to get to her apartment?

“Heels are one of the most potent weapons a woman has,” Morton continues, “so why not stand on that portable pedestal and admire the view?”

Your uncomfortable shoes may be your “most potent weapon”, lady, but I’d thank you very much to keep me out of that generalization. I like to rely on more than just my footwear in this life. Read More »

Tom Ford, the wunderkind designer who saved Gucci from going bankrupt way back when, is credited as being one of the most influential fashion gods of the last decade. He’s done a lot of things, including becoming creative director of Yves Saint Laurent a few years ago, and being named best International Designer at the first VH1/Vogue Awards in New York in 2000.

He claims to sleep about 3 hours a night, is quoted as saying things like, “The YSL (Yves Saint Laurent) woman might tie her boyfriend up and drip hot wax on him before they have sex, for instance. The Gucci woman is just going to have sex”, and originally went to school to be an actor.

Oh yeah, he also sells perfume by photographing it in between a naked woman’s thighs. Read More »

Being green ain’t easy. Recycling, environmentally friendly beauty products, eco clothing, you have to think about this shit. And in college when most of your brain cells are still trying to compensate from last nights drinking binge, thinking comes just about as easily as being eco conscience.

Even before the whole green movement, I discovered one of the easiest ways to help out the environment: reusable bags. The good news ladies, is that they are totally in right now! Not only can you help the earth while going on a beer run, you can be considered as chic and as green as they come.

Surely, even in the college towns, you didn’t miss Anya Hindmarch “Not a Plastic Bag” craze/controversy. Fashionistas were lining up for the $7 dollar version of the canvas tote, while they were being sold on EBay for upwards of $600 dollars. Now, international launches of the bags have been canceled in Southeast Asia because of their “concern for their customers safety.” Cuh-razy fashion folk, they’ll do anything to be in!

Despite the fact that Hindmarch’s website denies the accusations, a London paper reported that the bags were made in China using cheap labor laws and were neither fair-trade nor organic. Huh?

Personally, I like this one a lot better. Read More »

Rumor has it that Teen Vogue is the next to get the axe.

I love gossip. And I love rumors. But this is just slightly ludicrous. I know this because I have been in the belly of the Anna Wintour bred beast. And it was scary. But Teen Vogue is not going anywhere.

If I know anything, I know that.

First of all, Teen Vogue isn’t like Jane. Yes, the folding of Jane was a surprise to her beloved readers. But still, TVogue (as the insiders refer to it) doesn’t have the problems that Jane had. You know, little things like EIC’s who get booted from the magazine named after them. Small stuff like that was just the beginning of Jane’s demise. So really, it wasn’t a surprise.

While Teen Vogue targets a niche market (kind of like Jane), it is gearing its content to the upper crust teenie boppers of American society who have much more money than the angry liberal feminist types that scoured the pages of Jane.

And let’s be honest, it’s still Vogue and that means more than anything to the higher ups at Condé. Like the names of the über important teenagers they feature on the pages of the mag, the Vogue name carries a lot of weight…unlike the people who work there. Read More »