FashBlog.com

by Christina VanGinkel

I am a bargain shopper! I will pick a clearance rack to browse any day over a rack of new clothing. Online, I am no different. Sites such as Overstock and Smart Bargains will find me browsing their sites more likely than an online venue that offers no advertising of discounts and deals. Do not get me wrong, as shopping online oftentimes goes hand in hand with discounts, yet I am still much more likely to shop the stores that are better known for their bargains and deals.

When I wondered aloud about this fact the other morning over a cup of tea with a friend, I made the statement that maybe my draw to bargain shopping is more about the find than the bargain itself. When she asked me exactly what I meant, I did my best to explain it.

Consider Smart Bargains and their Going Fast and Last Chance sections located on their front page and within their website. Similar to discovering a lone 'must have item' on a rack and getting to it before another savvy shopper in the store grabs it, the Going Fast and Last Chance sections list some hot items, oftentimes along with how many of the item are actually left available to order, usually a low number such as three or four.

On a recent visit to the Smart Bargains site, a Prada zip bag was headlined in the Going Fast section, with only five of them left available. At an advertised 44% off, it was still way out of my price range, but I was giddy with excitement as I watched how quickly they disappeared. I knew if they were offering deals like that, a deal that was perfect for me might be next, and I was not left waiting long. In the Last Chance section, I found Lucky Brand 'Spellbound' boot cut jeans marked from $92.00 down to $30.99. They were only available in one size, but that size happened to be the size a very good friend wears, a friend whose birthday was coming up and I happened to know she loved those jeans! I had been shopping not long before with her when she tried on a pair in the mall but had wistfully put them back on the shelf after looking at the price tag. Locally, they had been even higher than the $92.00, and had been priced at $109.99!

There is just something fantastic about coming across a deal, especially with clothes, as who would not want to dress and accessorize stylishly. At the same time, who other than the wealthiest among us can afford to? All of us! That is if we learn to use the Internet to our advantage by shopping sensibly and taking advantage of bargains and deals when they are available. Check the clearance or bargain sections of your favorite online clothing retailers. Also, check for any online discount codes or coupons that the stores may be offering. Unlike most brick and mortar stores that do not allow shoppers to combine discount coupons and clearance prices, most Internet stores have no such rule. If you find a coupon, chances are you can even use it on clearance and closeouts.

As usual, the summer days are quickly flying by. This means that in just a couple of weeks, a new crop of freshman students will be leaving home for the first time as they begin their four- or five-year stints in college. The realities of dorm life can be somewhat sobering for kids who are used to living in sprawling suburban homes. Eighteen-year-olds who once had access to walk-in closets and large bureaus will now have to make some important wardrobe choices since dorm rooms provide very limited storage areas for clothing. How do you choose what to take and what to leave behind? Read on to find out.

The first thing you need to take into consideration when packing for college is the weather patterns in your school's town or city. A student who is planning on attending the University of Alaska will have to pack much differently than a student who is going to Arizona State. The expected weather conditions will obviously dictate how many t-shirts or sweaters and jackets you should bring to school.

Another thing you need to consider is how many times you will return home during the school year. Some students come back home for every school holiday, whether it is the 3-day Columbus Day weekend or the month-long semester break. If you plan on returning home frequently, then you can get away with packing seasonal items. For example, when you first go off to school in August, pack some summer and fall wardrobe items. Then when you come home for Thanksgiving, you can swap those clothes out for your winter sweaters and heavy outerwear. If you think you will only return home once or twice during the year, then you are going to have to pack clothes for every season just to make sure you are prepared. This means you will have to limit your selections. You probably will have to content yourself with 4 sweaters instead of 10, or 2 jackets instead of 3.

You should also think about how much access you will have to shopping malls near your school. If you are going to school in the heart of a major city, you will have no problems finding a mall to supplement any wardrobe deficiencies you might experience. However, if you are going to school in a small town, there might not be a mall within a couple hundred miles.

Finally, you should think about what kind of activities you will likely engage in. If you are planning to play lots of sports or work out a lot, then you will need to bring appropriate clothes. Similarly, if you are planning to join the Debate Team then you would probably need to bring some nicer clothes. Don't forget that you will probably want to attend a semi-formal or formal dance at some point, so bring a suit and tie or a couple of nice dresses.

Living in the limited confines of a dorm room will require you to make some wardrobe sacrifices. So take the advice listed above and pack smarter!

by Christina VanGinkel

On a talk show the other day, I saw a women whose husband had dragged her there because he was tired of seeing her in her pajamas. She lived in them night and day. She slept in them, drove the kids to school in them, grocery shopped in them, visited family and friends in them, and had even been known to show up at her part time job as a checker for a convenience store in them. Her reply to wearing them to work was that she wore a smock over them anyhow, so nobody saw her pajamas. Now do not get me wrong. Her pajamas were not a skimpy nighty or anything like that, but a pair of checked box flannel pants and matching long sleeved shirt. Her aim, she told the audience, was to be comfortable. After giving birth to her last child, nothing in her closet fit well. She knew she could always count on her boxer pants and matching tops to both fit and fit comfortably.

While I do not wear my pajamas to the extreme this woman did, I do enjoy wearing them. They are comfortable, oh so comfortable, it is hard not to stay in them long past having crawled out of bed in the morning. I work from home though, and nobody but my kids or my dogs see me. I also make sure and get dressed before my husband arrives home from work in the afternoon. He does see me lounge in them on the occasional weekend that we do not have plans that hurry us out of the house first thing on a weekend morning.

I would not personally wear them to town, but my daughter has no such qualms. With a busy two year old, she aims for comfort. She has been known to get dressed in the morning after her shower in a fresh t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. Like the woman on the talk show and I can attest, they are very comfortable. If a designer could make a pair of pants that combined style with the comfort found in these cotton pajama bottoms, they would make a killing in sales.

As I was pondering this, I happened upon the perfect pair of shoes, I mean slippers, which would go with my pajama pants perfectly. Bailey's Point, a brand of clothing, has come out with these smart looking beaded slip-ons. At first glance, they appear to be a pair of shoes one would wear out on the town. Then one notices that the beaded little slip-ons are comfortable slippers. Dressed up to look all glam, they are available in purple, fuchsia, gold, brown, and black, making them available to match nearly any outfit, I mean pair of pajamas, that one might have.

So, if you are one of the crowd that wears your pajamas for more than sleeping, take heart, as you can now find a pair of slippers that are both comfortable and stylish enough to wear out on the town, I mean to lounge in!

by Christina VanGinkel

The sale flyers keep coming, so I am now positive that fall and school shopping have arrived! The newest one to land in my mailbox was a flyer for a local discount store. Paging through it last night I came to one solid conclusion, as its contents echoed much the same as all the other flyers and catalogs that have recently arrived. Not only are jeans still very much in style for school wear, but straight-legged jeans have not made a comeback. Thank you! Whether referred to as a wide boot cut or a small bell-bottom, they all mean relatively the same thing. The bottom of the jean is cut wide enough that the wearers shoe does not stick out like a clown shoe.

Why this is important to me, I really have no idea. First of all, I am not in school, heck, I am a grandmother. Secondly, my foot is not even very big as far as shoe sizes go, with mine being a somewhat average size 7 1/2. As I live in jeans most of the time though, I am comforted by the fact that if teenage girls are wearing jeans with a wider bottom, I can be assured that this same style will also be available in my size. I do not wear the low hip hugging style that is so popular, but I do purchase my jeans from the same racks that the teens do. I go for the more conservative cut style whose waist is where they have been on regular jeans for as long as I can remember.

My penchant for checking current styles this way started many years ago, when I was still in school myself. I can remember going school clothes shopping with my mother and being appalled that the only jeans I could find were cut so straight that the only way for me to slide my feet into them was by pretending to be a ballet student doing a dance on my toes. Once my feet were through, I would then have to peel them off me inside out at the end of the day.

When a wider cut jean came back on the market just a few years later, I swore I would never be caught without several backup pairs of wide legged jeans in my closet again. Be assured, I am not talking wide bell-bottoms, just those whose bottom slightly resembles a bell-bottom, a flare cut I believe is the proper term applied to them. So, just in case some dreaded brain disease overtook the designers of jeans, and the only patterns the manufacturers could find were the old ones for those horrible straight-legged concoctions, I always buy an extra pair or two more than I really think my closet needs. At least I would be able to get dressed in the morning without standing on my toes! In addition, to those of you who love the straight legged look, I admit I admire you a bit, as you must all be in great shape to stand on toe every day to get dressed!

by Christina VanGinkel

It is nearly that time of year again, football season! In addition, with the arrival of football season just around the corner, it is time to outfit my son in a new pair of cleats. To make sure his hard work out on the field is experienced in a well fitting shoe, one that will hold up to the wear and tear he regularly puts his cleats through, we always rely on a name brand cleat that has been proven to provide athletes with both comfort and durability. However, as I am a mother on a budget, I want all of this at a cost that will not leave me feeling faint as I hand over the cash for payment.

As with nearly any shopping experience I take part in, I split my shopping between local stores and online venues. For his cleats this year, I plan to shop twofold actually. I have already looked locally and online. Locally, we did not find a pair that we feel would hold up for his needs. One local store does carry name brand cleats, but none in his size. The other stores that do carry cleats carry those made of plastic uppers manufactured more for kids that are just beginning and will not put their cleats through more than a light workout. Online, we have found several pair that will most likely fit his needs quite well. As we become more confident shopping for shoes and clothing online with all the additional information regularly provided on websites in regards to shipping and sizing, we still want to check out several of the pairs we might be interested in hands on. As we are going out of town later this week to a large metropolitan area a couple of hours away from home, I actually printed off the sale pages of a sporting goods store that I found online. With this in hand, and the cleats we are interested in marked, we hope to have him be able to try on at least a few of the pairs.

If he finds a pair, which we agree on, I will then order them within the next week, in plenty of time to have them delivered before practice starts. Why not buy them while we are right there? I do not have the extra cash available this week, but will next week. Therefore, by having him try them on though, I will be avoiding any possible returns due to sizing issues.

The Internet has made it possible to shop in more than the obvious ways. It has made it possible for those looking for deals to do so in a leisurely fashion, and to help those whose time is limited in regards to needing to purchase something in a set time limit, to meet that goal. I find myself shopping the Internet more often, and for more required items, not just the traditional books, movies, and music often thought of as Internet favorites. If you need to track down a size, a specific brand, an item at a budget price, check out the Internet. Chances are you will find it.

By Christina VanGinkel

Fall is just around the corner and with comes a completely new array of clothing styles. Thankfully, new styles in my favorite clothing combination are also hitting the store shelves, a much-loved combination that is for many people a standby from year to year; Jeans and sweatshirts, which are both comfortable and fun for fall wear, suitable for walks in the park, football games, and bicycling, even daily activities. Except for those times when casual just will not cut it, a sweatshirt and jeans can pretty much go anywhere.

I personally live in jeans and sweatshirts except for the hottest times of the year. Even then, my favorite sweatshirt is never far away for those cool mornings or evenings when I might need it. I wear my jeans and sweatshirt to the grocery store, school functions, walks, and visits with family and friends. I do leave them behind if I am heading to an important meeting or occasion such as a wedding or shower, but other than those times, I just about live in them.

Because they are such an integral part of my wardrobe, I am constantly on the lookout for new styles, with heavyweight, 100% cotton sweatshirts my all time favorite. I do have a few softer sweatshirts that I like, but the heavyweight, stiffer fabric seem to be not quite as sloppy looking. For many years, the only sweatshirts that I could find in the 100% cotton heavyweight were ones emblazoned with school or pro sport's logos. For whatever reason, it is not possible to find not only sweatshirts made of this fabric, but long sleeved t-shirts also. The best part being that designs found on them are now wide-ranging. I have one that has a hummingbird over a full bouquet of flowers, one with a butterfly sitting atop a watering can, one with a simple geometric design, and several that have no design at all, beyond the color of the fabric.

One catalog that arrived in my mail this week, is offering this favorite fabric blend of mine in a green reminiscent of summer at its most luscious, with a black bear emblazoned across the front. This same catalog also has one with a wolf emblazoned across the front. I am going to order one; I am just unsure which one. I love the black bear design, but I much prefer the blue fabric of the wolf sweatshirt.

Once I decide and order it, I will have to decide which sweatshirt to retire from my closet. While I have kept a few favorites through the years, with one so frayed and sad looking that it is not good for much beyond wearing while I clean, (Which is exactly when I do wear it!) I have a strict policy to remove something from my closet every time I add something. Living in a small house as I do, this keeps me from buying things I really do not need, and keeps my closets as organized as possible. My jeans are looking a bit tired too, so I had better make up my mind so I can spend a bit of time shopping for those too. You never know what new fall style in jeans might catch my eye.

by Christina VanGinkel

We had an early dinner out this evening with two other couples. Our son accompanied us. Discussion at dinner quickly turned to our son's rapidly growing height, and overall size. From there, it led into how we keep him in clothes and shoes that are well fitting. Exactly one year ago, when he signed up for football, he weighed in with a weight of 155 pounds. Exactly one year later, he weighed in at 191 pounds. He is twelve years old.

His height has gone from 5 ft 2" to 5 ft 8". That works out to an average growth of one half inch a month. His shoe size has gone from a men's size eight, to a men's size 12. Unbelievably, he is far from being the largest child in his class, with one boy who happens to be ten days older, out sizing him by nearly a half a foot. I have the deepest sympathy for his parent's pocketbook!

As to my son, we have managed to keep him dressed in clothes that fit, through shopping locally and online for deals at every chance we get. We regularly check clearance racks at J C Penney's and Wal-Mart, and other local stores. We also frequently shop Overstock.com, Amazon.com, Ebay, OldNavy.com, and several other online outlets and storefronts. By book marking clothingstoreonline.com, we have quick access to all the clothing stores online that we could ever want or need.

I rarely pay full price for anything other than his shoes. As he is so active and needs several different pair at any given time, such as day-to-day shoes, boots for hunting, racing boots for when he rides his KX100, snowboard boots, etc., I can rarely seem to find the style of shoe or boot in the size he needs, when he needs them. Because of this, I usually do pay full price for his footwear.

The rest of his clothes though have been relatively inexpensive, thanks to the Internet. Last year alone, I conducted an experiment in regards to the savings I incurred by shopping online. It was not terribly accurate, as I had no comparison in price for some items, but when I did, I kept track of it. For example, he needed a pair of snowboarding gloves and a new pair of pants for boarding. We did shop locally to start. With prices in hand, we then shopped online. Our savings for these two items alone was a total of $35.00. By the end of the year, we had saved a total of nearly five hundred dollars, this just on clothing, and a few items such as one computer game and a few DVDs that we knew what the price locally would have been.

Often though, we would find such excellent deals on clothes for his rapidly growing size, we would just purchase them online without comparison-shopping locally. We also shopped at several online stores that we have no local version of to go into to conduct any type of pricing comparison.

Thanks to the Internet, we managed to keep up on his clothing needs without heading to the poorhouse!

by Christina VanGinkel

Shopping for clothes online was once limited to a few sites. Once more and more stores became prevalent, the cost of shipping often left the shoppers canceling their orders once they were in the checkout. Once the shipping charges were added in, any deals that a shopper felt they had come upon were soon dissolved. Shipping could often be more than the items themselves.

Thankfully, as shopping online grows in popularity, so have the shipping charges become more realistic. Yes, the convenience of shopping from the comfort of our home does have to come at the cost of getting the merchandise to us via FedEx, USPS, UPS, or other courier services that commonly deliver packages. However, it should not include exorbitant handling charges, processing fees, and other add-on charges that seem to be made up just to pad the pockets of the retailers.

Many stores have changed their shipping charges recently to reflect the customer's requests of cheaper shipping, with less additional charges. This trend seems to have given customers the confidence to shop more regularly, and for a bigger variety of items. Clothing is one area that many people have avoided shopping online for, because of the increased chance of returns due to sizing issues. Again, because retailers have made their sites more shopper friendly, with better sizing guidelines, returns are becoming less of an issue.

One clothing store that has made the shipping charge nearly a non-issue is Old Navy online. They have instituted a flat fee of $5.00 for shipping a single order to one address. There are additional charges if you need your order shipped to more than one address, or if you require rush shipping.

Overstock.com also has exceptionally low shipping charges with a flat fee of $2.95. They even offer $1.00 shipping occasionally. While not a clothing store exclusively, as they offer a wide range of items including electronics, sporting goods, jewelry and watches, home and garden, gifts, and health, in addition to apparel. In apparel, they have a huge selection, from women's and children's, to men's, and footwear, though the stock varies.

Besides low shipping charges, many stores will also offer convenient coupons and discount codes for those consumers willing to take the time to search for them. Entering the name of the store along with the word coupon or discount in a major search engine, such as Google, will often point you in the correct direction if any coupons or discount codes exist for the store. Coupons are often free shipping, or a flat dollar amount off an order that is a minimum dollar amount. For example, if your order totals $100.00, you can often find a coupon for an additional $10.00 or ten percent off.

Shopping for clothing online has come far in the past few years. By shopping smart, and being aware of shipping charges before you start your shopping, you can save both time and money. Remember to check for coupons or discounts too, as this may make a huge difference between one stores prices when compared to another.

by Christina VanGinkel

Sidewalk sales use to be a big event in the town where I grew up. Put on one day a year, the planning for that one day began weeks beforehand. You would see sales associates sorting through the racks, pulling out items of clothing and other assorted accessories and house wares to be placed into the sidewalk sale offerings. Our downtown would take on an almost carnival like feel the actual day of the big event, with popcorn stand and cotton candy for sale outside one of the stores, and the local diner offering several street corner specials. Other neighboring towns would run their sidewalk sales all around the same time, and if I were lucky, my mother would take me to not only our own town's sale, but also at least one other town's sale. As we often purchased at least one or two items for the upcoming school year at this annual event, two sales were always better than one!

Now, many stores will offer sidewalk sale savings throughout the year. Some do pull racks of discounted clothes outside, or to the front of their store, others just put signs above the racks that are offering sale items, proclaiming them sidewalk sale racks. The savings are sometimes good, even more than good. Our local JC Penney's has several sidewalk sale events throughout the year where they fill the halls of the mall where they are located, not only in front of their store, but down a complete hallway, effectively taking over a large portion of the entrance to both their own store and several others. The deals are great, and their prices are hard to beat. Yet the atmosphere surrounding the true beginnings of sidewalk sales is missing.

My twelve year old was with me recently when I happened upon one such event at the local mall. Even though we live in a relatively small area, I had heard no advertising for the sale. When I mentioned this to a sales person, she replied that it had not been advertised, at least not outside of the mall itself. As it was just a last minute thing their manager decided to promote, signs had been hung on the mall's windows and doors, but that was it. As I had not been to the mall all week, that explained my not being aware of the sale.

My son was at first interested, then after browsing a bit, stated that it was just a sale, nothing spectacular. No, he is not a big shopper, but neither was I when I was twelve. Yet the sales back then did excite me. The ones today are what he proclaimed them to be, just a few more sale racks. Maybe the retailers should take note of the fact that even when consumers are shopping, when prices are discounted to rock bottom, a little bit of fun and frivolity can go a long way towards not only getting the shoppers into their stores, but keeping them their long enough to purchase something. My son had me out of that mall faster than I could ask how long the event was lasting. A little stand selling hot dogs would have made him happy and left me to time to spend!

by Christina VanGinkel

This must be my week for complaints. Shopping with my daughter over the weekend, we stopped at our local JC Penney's to purchase underwear fro my grandson. We had a bit more shopping to do first, but never gave a thought to the underwear as we figured we would just pick it up on our way to the register. Imagine our surprise as we looked for the underwear and there was none. I do not mean that the rack was empty; I mean the store did not carry any, none whatsoever in any style. We looked high and low by ourselves first, as we quickly found the little girls underwear in the sizes we were looking for, toddler's sizes two, three, or even a three-four. We gave up our solitary search and headed to the nearest sales associate. She came to help us look, and when she could not find any either, she went in search of her manager.

The manager's answer shocked me. The store did not carry any. Why, I asked, would the store carry little girls but not little boys? We could not get a definite answer but she speculated that the person in charge of ordering did not think boys that small were potty trained. First, yes, little boys do become toilet trained, and secondly even some older boys are in those sizes until they are five or six years old. In addition, come on, underwear was as basic an item of clothing as I could imagine! With shopping in our area limited to only a few stores, this was potentially a big issue. I asked the manager how to file a complaint, and asked if she could, or would plan to offer these sizes in the future. She had to take the issue up with her boss, she informed me.

From there, we headed to Kmart. They also do not carry the needed underwear in the necessary sizes. They did carry them in the little girls. Finally, we stopped at Wal-Mart. We knew they carried the regular briefs as we had purchased them there before. They had the size we needed, and we did purchase two packs. We had not initially gone to Wal-Mart though because she had been hoping to find the boxer briefs, which go down the leg a short distance. With the hot, humid weather we had been having, she wanted the longer fabric to keep his legs from chafing. Even though he is not a heavy child, his typical chubby toddler legs were prone to rubbing. As she was heading out of town to work later in the week, she hoped that she could swing back by a store she had visited a few weeks back in Arkansas. The small store she had been in had carried them, but she had not picked them up, figuring that she would be able to get them locally back home. Who knew that purchasing such a basic clothing item for a toddler would be such a run around?

Just a note to all the people who place orders as part of their jobs for clothing stores that carry toddler clothing. Boys do toilet train, and they do require underwear. Make life a bit easier for other mothers and order some. You will be surprised at how fast they fly off the shelves!

Okay, ladies, admit it. We all have them hidden away in our closet-- that pair of jeans that we haven't worn in a decade, those "skinny" jeans that we keep just in case we ever get back down to our high school weight. Why is it so hard to get rid of those jeans?

My best friend from high school has a pair of Daisy Duke style shorts that she hasn't worn in 20 years. Every so often she tries them on to see if they fit-- just for the satisfaction. For many years they did still fit, even if they were a little snug. And then my friend had a baby. Now she can't get those shorts past her thighs. Yet she still holds on to them. Just in case.

Some women I know have a hard time parting with their maternity clothes. They get sentimental about them or something. Or they hold on to them in case they have another baby-- even though they swear they aren't having any more children. Yet there's that pile of maternity tops and stretchy pants in their closet. Just in case.

And then there are those work clothes-- the skirts, the suits, the blazers. We stop working after we have babies but we still hold on to our work clothes. Why? Because we reckon we'll be going back to work some day. But really, do you think those old clothes will still be in style by then? Fashion trends change you know, and if you're out of the workforce until your baby starts kindergarten, say 5 or 6 years or so, don't you think your old clothes will be a tad outdated? Don't you think you'll want to go out and buy some new clothes when the time comes? Still we hold on to every last tweed jacket and flowery A-line skirt. Just in case.

Why is so hard for women to part with their old clothes? I'm not really sure, but I'd venture to guess that it has something to do with letting go of the past. Perhaps that ruffled peasant top reminds you of your first date with your husband. The shorty shorts remind you of a time before cellulite. The sequin tube top reminds you of your pre-baby body. And those jeans--well they were you at your prime.

My advice to all women-- clean out and clear out those old clothes that you've been hanging on to. Drop them off to Goodwill, give them away to a friend, or if they are in pristine condition, sell them on EBay. Get rid of every last thing and move on. The only exception to this rule should be your wedding dress. I'm all about keeping the wedding dress. Keep it to pass it down to your daughter. Other than that, clear out all the old stuff that you know you'll never wear again. Okay, if the jeans mean that much to you, keep them. But that's it. Aside from your usual weight check fittings, you'll probably never wear them again but keep them if you must. Just in case.

by Christina VanGinkel

What makes one outfit stand out from another that is similarly cut and styled? Sometimes it is the quality of the fabric and overall workmanship. Oftentimes it is the details, such as buttons and trims. There is not a lot that you can do about the quality and workmanship of an item, but the great thing about details is that you can alter them. An old, tired outfit can have new life breathed into it with brand new or new vintage buttons and trims. Buttons can be replaced with more decorative, stylish examples. Trims in various forms and incantations can be replaced or added. Buttons and trims are available in so many variations that your possibilities are limited only to your imagination.

Vintage buttons and trim are one of my favorite ways to renew an outfit's lifespan. Buttons applied to new outfits are often very basic and plain. Vintage buttons are available in a wide range of colors, materials, and sizes. Buttons made of plastic, mother of pearl, bone, wood, gemstones, metals, and a myriad of other materials are waiting to be rediscovered and put to use. Some good places to find vintage buttons include antique stores, rummage and estate sales, warehouses that are clearing out old stock, second hand stores such as St.Vincent DePaul and Goodwill, and specialty stores that deal in new and vintage sewing notions and embellishments. Sometimes the buttons will already be removed from their original article of clothing, and other times, often when shopping second hand shops, the buttons will need to be removed from their original piece of clothing before being put back into use. New buttons can also be used, the key being that you use those that will liven up the outfit and not just swap one set of boring buttons for another.

Ribbons in grosgrain, silk, velvet, and organdy, satin, leather, taffeta, and other materials can be purchased new or also from the same vintage outlets that were suggested for buttons. Also, keep your eyes open for other interesting trims when shopping. Beaded and appliqued feathers and flowers were often made in very decorative forms, and can be reused as long as they are in reasonably good shape. Make sure to check for loose threads or buttons before applying to a new outfit, and make any needed repairs. If the colors are faded badly, or a main part of the design is damaged badly, it is usually best to pass, with the one exception being a beaded item that contains beads worth salvaging.

Once you have refitted your outfit in new buttons or trims, make sure to keep this in mind the next time you clean it. Many vintage buttons can be washed in the same manner as new ones, while others should only be hand washed. If you send your clothes out to be washed or dry-cleaned, make sure to let them know that the buttons or trims are not what came on the original item, so that they can alter their method for cleaning the item if necessary.

by Christina VanGinkel

Whenever I initially think of a purse, my overstuffed, medium sized, hard to find anything in, black leather, over the shoulder bag pops into mind. What I am in search of though is the perfect little bag that I can toss a few dollars of cash in, my I.D., cell phone, and a lipstick, and not an evening bag per se, but one that would go the limit from afternoon to evening. My new interest in a purse to use for those times when I do not want or need my regular purse really got a push when I had coffee out with a few friends yesterday. As I struggled at the counter to pull out my wallet from beneath my checkbook, PDA, and an assortment of everything else that had landed in my purse the last few days, I realized everyone else in the group was simply slipping there money out of small, organized little bags. More often than ever, I had been noticing women with similar purses. Cute little or mid size bags that only held the most basic essentials, not half the kitchen counter and a child's dresser.

As our meeting was nothing more organized than a gabfest, as soon as we were seated, I asked everyone how they each managed to have such empty, organized purses. Each one responded the same way. These were their going out bags. Like an evening bag, they use them to toss in the essentials when they are going out somewhere quick without kids or household errands to run. A few women did admit to carrying them even to some of the more traditional places they would normally have reserved for their regular purses. They said they left their regular purse at home, or even in their car, and would immediately transfer sales receipts and such to that purse as soon as they could.

The key to finding the perfect one, they all told me, was to throw out your traditional shopping sense when in search of one. Storage options are secondary to looks. You can also make your own bag, via crochet, knit, sewed, macrame, even beaded. Handcrafted bags even seem to be more popular as they are a simple way to show off your crafting skills and end up with a useable item.

I am now intent on creating the perfect little purse for myself. I even have an idea on how to make one quickly and inexpensively. As I love to crochet, but do not think traditional yarns would hold up for this purpose, I am going to crochet one from variegated colored hemp cord, used traditionally for making necklaces and bracelets. The colors are subdued, and the hemp will hold its shape if I use a single crochet throughout the bag, maybe adding a row of a decorative stitch such as a shell every so often. With a simple cinch closing and crocheted strap, it will crochet up in an evening and be ready for my next coffee out with the girls. I can hardly wait to show them how they all inspired my stylish creativity!

T-shirts have become an integral part of our pop culture and fashion landscape these days. Everyone wears a t-shirt from time to time, whether it's as a substitute for pajamas, as a standard piece of our wardrobe, or as something to exercise in. Because there are so many different kinds of t-shirts on the market, the ones we choose inevitably say something about our personalities. For example, if you choose a plain t-shirt in a solid color, you are probably rather conservative (or you don't like advertising corporate logos for free). Conversely, if you choose a t-shirt with a racy slogan or picture on it, you are probably a bit more relaxed and fun loving. We all know where to get those plain t-shirts. But what about the more irreverent ones that places like Wal-Mart and Target would never dream of carrying? Where do people get those?

Well, if you like shopping in malls, the first places you should check are stores such as Hot Topic or Gadzooks. Both of these stores have t-shirts with some good one-liners on them, and some funny pictures and graphics. Nevertheless, since these stores are usually located inside mega malls, they do have to maintain some decency standards, so you won't find any t-shirts that are too off-color on their racks.

Sometimes, you can get lucky and run across a specialty t-shirt store when you least expect it. For example, I visit Indianapolis at least a couple times a year for some events at the RCA Dome. The Indianapolis Union Station, which is very close to the dome, has some shops and restaurant in the lower levels. On one of my visits, I was just walking around trying to pass the time before my event started and I came across a huge t-shirt shop. I'm not exaggerating when I say they must have had more than 1,000 t-shirts for sale. They had all different kinds, from classic sitcom logos to sports team logos to the irreverent, fun stuff. For example, after members of the Indiana Pacers basketball team got into a brawl with the Detroit Pistons and some fans, t-shirts started appearing with the Pacers logo, but with the term "Punchers" replacing the team name.

I personally am a big fan of online shopping, so I am going to tell you about a website that carries some of the funniest t-shirts I have ever seen. Be forewarned, though. While some of the t-shirts are funny, most of them are explicit and some are downright tasteless. So if you are easily offended, you should not visit the site. If you don't mind that sort of thing, however, then www.tshirthell.com is one of the places you should check out if you want to find t-shirts that you can't get in the malls. A lot of their t-shirts poke fun at current events or politicians, but most of them are relatively timeless.

So now you know where you can buy a couple of t-shirts that your classmates or buddies are not likely to have. Go get one and let your personality shine through!

by Christina VanGinkel

Paging through a magazine that featured clothing for young girls I noticed a pair of boots that got me instantly reminiscing about my teenage years. As I looked at the surrounding pages a bit closer and read the headlines of a few related articles, I realized that one of my favorite trends, Mod, is making a comeback! Well, Mod in the way I think of it anyways.

Big bold patterns, such as thick striped leggings, along with a solid color top and a snazzy hat to match, and boots that are to die for, instantly send me into a time warp of sorts. The boots are the most telltale part of the whole outfit. Worn over the pants so everyone sees the boots is necessary, and no hiding them beneath a pair of pants or jeans.

I still remember my all time favorite pair of boots. They had a matching jacket that hung in my closet until just a few short years ago, when on a cleaning binge I reluctantly gave them away. The boots and jacket were both black leather suede. The black was as black as black could be. No other color existed anywhere on either item. The boots came up over my calf to right below my knees. A zipper ran the whole length from top to bottom, and they had a heel that took me almost as long as I owned them to learn to walk in them. The jacket was made in the same black leather suede, and was lined in sateen. It weighed nearly as much as I did back then, and it had a snappy little wrap belt and hood.

I had spent my first real paycheck, a total of over one hundred dollars on the jacket alone, a fortune to me back then, hey, that is still a fortune to me. The boots were purchased the following paycheck, two weeks later, for nearly the same amount. Working as a waitress in a little diner, one town over from where I had moved with my mother and brother, I earned every dollar of that money through shear hard work. The owner was apt to leave after opening on the weekends, heading to the local bar for his morning drink, leaving me to both waitress and cook most weekends.

I swore I would never part with either the jacket or boots, and probably would not have if I had not been foolish enough to try on the jacket after nearly two decades of it hanging in the back of my spare room's closet. I now wish I had left them where they were, not that I would have ever worn them again, but as fashion goes, maybe a granddaughter down the line would have thought they were as cool as I once did.

I had been wearing both the boots and the jacket the first time I met my husband. I was new in his school that fall, and was standing by a row of lockers in my favorite garb, trying unsuccessfully to open the combination lock, when he came over to help. He told me years later that the boots were the first thing he noticed, and he knew I must be new, as nobody local would ever have worn such a getup. Mod, fun to wear, and you never know whom you might impress!

It's no secret that clothes are expensive these days. If you work outside the home, you might be spending 25% or more of your budget on clothing-related expenses, such as updating your wardrobe, dry-cleaning, and alterations or repairs. It would be great if our clothes lasted a little longer, especially since they are so expensive, but that's just not the case. Even when you buy name-brand items, you find yourself replacing worn-out garments more than you'd like.

I'm sure you've noticed that most clothing doesn't wear out or fade just from being worn. Instead, the damage occurs during the cleaning process. That's why our work clothes that require dry-cleaning last quite a bit longer than our "regular" clothes that go through the wash cycle at home. Even though chemicals are involved in dry-cleaning, that process is still easier on most types of clothes than your standard home wash-spin-dry routine. Here are two ideas you can try out to help your clothes last a lot longer.

First, don't wash your clothes every single time that you wear them! I know this may sound gross to some people, so I will say that you have to use common sense and good judgment here. If you wear something and you get a big glob of mustard on the front of it, of course you need to wash it right away. The same thing applies when it's the middle of summer and you sweat up a storm in your favorite t-shirt. When I say you don't need to wash your clothes every time you wear them, I'm basically talking about things that you wear for only a couple of hours or so. For example, do you really wash your jeans after each and every use? Honestly? I've lived with several roommates over the years, so I've seen many different types of clothes care routines. Even so, none of my past roommates washed their jeans every time they wore them. Instead, try hanging your jeans or shirt that was worn only for a couple of hours out in the sun. They will get freshened up in a hurry, and you won't have to put them in the washing machine.

Another thing you can do to preserve your clothes a bit longer is to modify the way you use your dryer. Many people just crank the heat up to the highest setting so the clothes get dried more quickly. But this can be really damaging to the fabrics, and can really fade the colors. Instead, you can dry your clothes on low heat for half the time. They probably won't get completely dried with those settings, so you can just hang them up and let them naturally air dry the rest of the way. Better yet, you can skip the dryer altogether and air dry your clothes every time. This will not only save the clothes, but also save a lot of money on your gas or electric bill. It might sound like a lot of extra work, but it is worth it in the long run.

Start preserving your clothes today!

The other day I stopped in my favorite children's clothing store to try to find a new bathing suit for my daughter. Imagine my surprise when I realized there was nary a bathing suit in sight.

It's only the first week of July, I thought-- the dead middle of summer. Yet there wasn't a bathing suit to be had. Instead, the shelves were filled with the latest fall fashions for the well-dressed kid. Long sleeved tops. Corduroy pants. Ponchos. I couldn't believe it.

That's right, folks-- it's time to make way for the Fall fashion preview. If you didn't stock up on summer clothes and bathing suits already, you may be out of luck. No matter that there's still practically two full months of summer left-- summer clothes are becoming hard to find.

Granted, most stores have clearance racks of summer attire. In fact, if you can find any summer clothes the prices are probably slashed. The middle of this summer is a great time to load up on items for next summer if you can figure out what size your kids will be in a year. Or if you can find any summer clothes at all.

After a quick jaunt around the mall and I did find one or two places with a few token bathing suits left. Unfortunately, none were in my daughter's size. I then went to my favorite discount store where suits were 50% off the original price. There I found a suit emblazoned with a popular children's TV character that my daughter isn't a fan of. But we bought the suit anyway. Why? Because it fit and I was tired.

During my travels in search of that mid-summer bathing suit, I got an unexpected preview of the fall fashions. Now I am not talking about the high fashion, runway trends-- I'm talking about the fashion trends for us regular folk. Based on my research during that treck to the mall, this is what I have surmised:

-- Ponchos will be back again this year. Which isn't a bad thing. I wore ponchos as a kid and was thrilled last year when they became all the rage again. My daughter owns two of them and based on the cute styles I am seeing for this Fall she will own at least two more by September.

-- Corduroy seems to be making a comeback. Comfy and casual. Who doesn't love corduroy? Expect to see some cute corduroy jackets, pants and skirts this season.

-- Shrugs will be popular. If you don't know what a shrug is, it's an ultra-short jacket or sweater. Note: "Shrug" is the worst name ever for a piece of attire. I don't like the look of shrugs, either. Rest assured, I won't be purchasing any shrugs this year.

-- Layered tops will still be in vogue. I also like this look, so I'm glad it's back. I'd rather wear lightweight layers than a big bulky sweater.

-- Expect to see a new crop of tie-dyed and camouflage printed items this year as well. Also, denim never goes out of style-- just make sure you get the right cut!

Written by James Fohl

In the past day, how many people have you seen wearing blue jeans? If you are anything like me then the answer to that question is a lot; mostly because it would be impossible to count every individual you ran into wearing blue jeans.

Take a look in your closet at home and see how many pairs of blue jeans you own. If you are like the majority of America, then you probably own more pairs of blue jeans than any other kind of pants, unless of course you hate blue jeans.

For some reason or another, blue jeans appear to be the most comfortable pants solution for most people.
With this said, how many people exactly know how blue jeans came about? Many people overlook the important fact of how blue jeans were invented, but fail to see that if blue jeans were never invented then we would have a different set of clothing in our closets.

Although many people believe that blue jeans were invented back during the gold rush, this is not exactly true. Instead, jeans were first invented in Genoa, Italy because the navy of this independent republic required an article of clothing that sailors could wear either wet or dry, and that could easily be rolled up. Because they were worn on ships, the sea water would have a habit of turning the jeans white via methods of bleaching.

Because jeans came from a place called Genoa, Italy, you have to wonder where exactly did the denim come from that made these jeans, after all aren't popular jeans made out of durable denim? Denim came from a place in France called Nimes, and that is where today we get the name "denim" for the material that the jeans made in Genoa, Italy are made from.

Now that you are aware that blue jeans were not invented in the United States, let me tell you how they became a part of the American culture. This does trace its roots back to the gold rush, around the year of 1872, when a Bavarian dry goods merchant named Levi Strauss living in San Francisco joined forces with a guy named Jacob Davis to create pants that would eventually evolve into today's blue jeans. Although it was Jacob Davis idea, he did not have the money to purchase a patent, so Levi purchased the patent, and thus became the glorious blue jeans man of America.

For almost a hundred years (okay more like eighty years) Levi blue jeans were geared towards workers. This pretty much changed back in the 1950's, when teenagers and some young adults began wearing the blue jeans as a protest against conformity.

This outburst caused a lot of chaos during the fifties, but by the sixties and early seventies wearing blue jeans was considered normal, as they had become a part of general informal fashion in the United States. Today, as I mentioned earlier, blue jeans can be found on individuals everywhere, and almost in everyone's closet.

by Christina VanGinkel

Ever go shopping for a new outfit and just not have any luck whatsoever? This happens to me all the time. At a little over five feet tall, the majority of the clothes in my size is much more geared to teenagers than a forty something woman. Styles are skimpy at best and flamboyant on the opposite spectrum. Some stores do carry clothing in my size that is not geared for teens, but oftentimes it heads in the exact opposite direction and is something that I picture my mother or grandmother wearing.

My sister-in-law always reminds me when I start on this rant, that I have this problem because of the rural location that I live in, and I am sure this plays a great part in it. Still, there are stores in my area that supposedly offer clothes for the average woman, even in petit sizes, but it always seems like they just sold out the last pair of this, or the top in that of the sizes I need. If there were so many of us in my size running around, you would think the stores would carry more than an article or two.

When I ask if they can get something in, I am most often met with blank stares from the young associates, and I feel as if I am a two-headed dragon or worse, for having asked such a ridiculous question.

Thankfully, I can, and do, shop for my clothing online. With more stores offering a wide selection of their wares online and advanced sizing information, it is much easier to do so than it was even a few months ago. I have always promoted shopping locally over shopping online whenever possible, and I continue to do so. Yet, more often than not, shopping online is the only way for me to purchase clothing that fits and is in suitable styles. With the rising cost of gasoline, I have been passing by any planned trips to Green Bay to shop their malls and stores, which is a bit over one hundred miles from my home, and paying the shipping charges to have items delivered to my doorstep. The cost savings are great and if I take the time to search for coupons, I have even avoided shipping charges on my last couple of online clothing orders. Besides the cost of gasoline, if I run to Green Bay, I also need to figure in at least one meal out.

Besides the typical clothing stores online, I have also taken to browsing Ebay for clothes if I know exactly what it is I am looking for. I also check out Overstock.com on a regular basis, as you never know what they might have in stock. They have a varied selection, from swimwear to active wear and everything in between. I found a Bob Mackie dress with matching cardigan in a pattern perfect for summer wear at just over fifty dollars. With Overstocks awesome discounted shipping, they are one of my favorite online places to shop!

If you happen to be in the same predicament as I was, with limited local shopping venues, be sure to check out your favorite stores and outlets such as Overstock.com online. You will be pleasantly surprised, as I was, with all the new sizing guidelines for ordering clothes online.

I used to wear matching pajamas and the occasional gown. I think that it was partly thanks to my mom that I had cute lacy nightgowns or pants and a button-up shirt with a favorite cartoon character across the back. For the first twelve or thirteen years of my life, I went to bed with clothes that were decidedly sleepwear.

I remember one turning point in my nightwear quite distinctly. One of my friends gave me a pair of boxer shorts as a birthday present. First I had to decide whether she was sending me a subtle message about my weight by giving me shorts with pigs printed all over them. But once I decided that they were nothing more than cute decorative animals, I have to admit I was a bit confused by this new article of clothing. On some level I understood that she meant for me to sleep in them, but I wasn't entirely sure what to do because they didn't come with a shirt. All of my pajama shorts came with a shirt.

I looked through my closet and found a pinkish shirt that was starting to wear thin and decided that it would complement the pink pigs nicely. I've rarely slept in anything but an old t-shirt since. I don't always wear boxer shorts with the t-shirts; I've expanded my sleep wardrobe to include a few pairs of lounge/sleep pants. They have the casual comfort of boxer shorts while providing more leg coverage for colder weather. I have bought a few gowns since the switch, but I end up annoyed with them when they twist and ride up in the night. It's also much easier to sit around the house in your pajamas on a lazy day when your pajamas are made up of shorts or pants and a t-shirt. I don't feel nearly as undressed and thus lack the motivation to hop in the shower in a timely manner.

Maybe I was just too young to notice before that point, but I do feel like the trend toward women wearing boxer shorts to bed has been a more recent phenomenon. I wonder if younger women finally got tired of matching ensembles and frilly gowns? Or maybe they just needed another use for their old t-shirts. Although in looking around the sleepwear departments of clothing stores, it seems that women are just as likely to buy a t-shirt or tank top especially for sleeping in rather than just recycling something they already own. This overall casual sense of dress when sleeping was especially prevalent when I was in college, which is why I think of this trend as belonging to young women. I lived in a dorm with communal bathrooms, and I never saw anyone stroll into the bathroom in a carefully matched sleeping ensembles. Boxers, t-shirts and sleep pants were the order of the day. Sleep pants were especially useful for rolling out of bed and heading straight to class in some cases, although I was never brave enough to do that. I wonder if this is a trend that will stay with my generation, or if it's a larger shift in what people wear to bed. I suppose only time will tell.

by Christina VanGinkel

Though my daughter is no longer a teenager, and has not lived at home in several years other than the occasional visit, she still receives mail at our house on occasion. Two regular additions to our mailbox that are hers are the Cosmo Girl magazine and the Teen Vogue. All we can figure out is that the last time we renewed them we subscribed to them each for several years, not considering the fact that she would be outgrowing them by the time the subscriptions expired. I always ask her if she wants them and she does page through them, and then leaves them on my desk for me. As old as I am, she knows I will also page through them before I either toss them or pass them along to a friend's teen daughter, usually the latter.

With cover titles such as How to Look Hot in your Jeans and Fashion, Fashion, Fashion, how could I not at least page through them. The magazines offer stories on issues that teens go though in an average day and some not so average situations. They offer tips on makeup, stories about the stars, money, decorating bedrooms, and clothes! I actually read quite a few of the articles, and I read every available topic included on clothing. No, I do not wear clothes that would be better suited for teens, but my holiday and birthday shopping list includes several teen girls.

By reading the articles and viewing the photos of fashionable teen clothing, what works and what does not, I am much better equipped when I head out gift shopping, or happen upon a clearance rack. One thing that is necessary when shopping for teenage girls is knowledge of what is last year's style. While an article of clothing on that sale rack may be in perfect condition and the exact size, you know that special teen girl wears, if it is last year's hot item, it might as well stay right where it is. If you purchase it and gift it, you will surely receive a big thank you, but the item will most likely be hung at the back of the closet never to see the light of day again.

That does not mean that you cannot find bargains for gifts, because you can. Many items have a timeless style about them, and if you keep up to date on what is in and what is not, you will uncover bits and pieces that you can safely shop for all the time. Certain styles of jeans for example have been on the racks and being worn for several years in a row now. I have also spotted them on sale racks at dirt-cheap prices on and off through the same period. If a store gets in a new shipment, the 'old' must go, even if there is no distinguishable differences between the two styles save for the tags on them.

Even though nobody is at the targeted age of the magazines in our household, we have still managed to put them to good use. Now my problem is, do I renew the subscriptions now that they are about to expire?

by Melissa Popp

Summer's just around the block and we all know what that means: Hot summer days and nights. Well, what better way to stay cool than to freeze some of your clothes for a bit and then pop them on to keep cool when the temperature becomes unbearable. For every five to ten minutes you leave an article of clothing in the freezing, the colder you'll be when you take it on and touch it to your skin.

T-shirts, preferably large ones, work the best. Choose one you wear around during your days off. Put it into a Ziplock bag, a gallon size bag works the best. If you have a case freezer, you can just place the bag on top and let it sit for 10 minutes. However, if you have a refrigerator/freezer combo, it works best if you put the bag as far back as possible so that it is against the back wall of the fridge. This way it is connecting directly with the part of the freezer that emits coldness.

By placing it towards the back of the freezer, you are doing one of two things. First, you are ensuring that the t-shirt is in direct contact with the coldest part of the freezer. Second, you are making sure that it takes a shorter amount of time to make the t-shirt as cold as you can stand it. Play around with how long you leave the t-shirt into the freezer; if anything else, you can test run it a few times to find the right length and temperature for you. Keep in mind that the longer you keep the shirt in the freezer, the colder it will be when you take it out.

Ten minutes later when you pull the t-shirt out, it should be freezing cold. If you can stand the cold, just put in. However, if the cold is too much for your skin, you can just apply it like a cold compress to the parts of you that are the hottest. Sometimes people can't handle the quick change in temperature such a way. Finding what works best for you, your skin and your tolerance for cold is the best way to go about using a frozen t-shirt or pillow as a way to keep cool. No matter what your tolerance level is, you are bound to be cooled down significantly if it's too hot to bear.

Another easy way to stay cool, especially at night, is stick your pillowcase into the freezer. Using the same method detailed above, you just put your pillow in it and lay down to sleep. It'll keep your head cool and might just lull you into the best night's sleep you can get when it's hot and sweaty out. If you put a tiny amount of water in the Ziploc bag with the pillowcase, the coolness will last much longer. Just be careful not to add too much water or else the pillowcase will be too cold for comfort.

Freezing clothes and other materials is a great and inexpensive way to keep cool during the summer. Finding the right balance between temperature and what you can stand is also the most important part of trying such a technique. Once you find the balance you are sure to pass on this tip to staying cool when the sun is out during the summer months.

Baseball caps are one of the most common clothing accessories in the United States. They are worn by both males and females of all ages. Baseball caps are not only fashionable, but they are also practical. They help shield your head and face from the sun's harmful UV rays. Baseball caps can also say a lot about your personality. At a glance, others can tell if you are a Cubs fan or a Sox fan, if you attend the University of Chicago or Northwestern University, or if you prefer Nike over Adidas.

There are many different baseball cap styles to choose from. First, there is the one-size-fits-all type. This is a baseball cap that has an adjustable strap in the back for sizing. These caps are pretty common, and are rather cheap. You can also purchase fitted baseball caps. These caps are do not adjust, so you probably have to try several of them on (or measure your head) in order to find out what size you are. The sizes are expressed in inches, such as 7 1/2 inches, 7 3/4 inches, etc. These are usually more expensive than adjustable caps, and are usually made from higher quality material, such as wool. Professional ball players use fitted caps. Another cap style that has become very popular in the last couple of years is something known as Flexfit. These caps are a cross between adjustable and fitted. They don't have a strap on them, but the band is elasticized just a bit in order to give you some flexibility with sizing. Flexfit caps are cheaper than fitted caps, and come in sizes such as Small/Medium, Medium/Large, and Large/Extra Large.

Baseball caps are available in a variety of different materials, as well. As I mentioned above, fitted caps are usually made out of wool. You can also find caps made out of cotton, polyester, or a blend of those materials. Trucker hats have made a big comeback in the last couple of years, too. These hats have cotton or some other material in the front section, where the logo would be, and the back section is all mesh.

There is a certain art to wearing a baseball cap. Some people like to bend the bill of the cap until it's in an upside-down "u" shape. In fact, for many years, this was the only cool way to wear a baseball cap. Some retail shops, such as Abercrombie & Fitch, even sell caps that are pre-bent to the perfect degree. These days, however, it is fully acceptable to wear a cap with a totally flat bill. I don't know when this came into style, because I personally think it looks silly, but there are too many people (on TV and in real life) doing it for it not to be a trend. Those who have flat bills usually like to wear the cap tilted to one side, also.

Baseball caps used to be a fashion no-no, but now they are too much a part of our culture to be ignored.