Flip flop bracelets

I was just browsing Anthropologie when I came across this on their site:



Eternal Youth Bracelets

Which, reminded me of these that I bought for my cousins this past Christmas from the Paper-Source:

Flip Flop Bracelets

I don't know about you, but I'm saying they're the same thing. I loved the fun colors of these, and you've got to love that they're made of recycled flip flop materials (I live in flip flops when the weather warms up). There's a rather big difference in price. Anthropologie's set of 18 retails for $48 and on Paper-Source's site you can get 20 for $19! If you have a store near you, I believe they retail for $1-$2. Definitely check them out. I've got a few for myself and I love them. (Not to mention, if you always wear hair elastics on your wrist, these hide them so well!)

This concludes my little thrifty PSA.

Fake it, Make it: Kate Middleton Burberry Trench

On March 8th, the classic little trench became even more of an icon. Prince William and Kate Middleton made a trip to Ireland, and Burberry sold out of it's ruffled trench coat immediately. It goes without saying there's a lot of rubber-necking happening with this royal couple and their engagement, and Kate is becoming an icon for her classic style, I can see why.

I for one, would be hard pressed to find this coat, let alone be able to guiltlessly foot the (approximately) $995 bill for it, but I saw it and fell in love. I was a girl on a mission to find a decent replica. (And, it just so happens, that a trench is on my list of jackets to replace in my closet!)

So here's the royal couple out and about in Ireland:

(source)

Here's how I'm faking it:



Modcloth ($89.99)
No ruffle, but cute skirt and has the dark accents



Banana Republic ($198)
A bit short, only in green, but has a ruffle

Victoria's Secret ($79)
Lacks structure, not a fan of the hood, but cute

Steve Madden ($79.99)
Only in green, but has a belt and tiers

Ultimately, there is no absolute replica with this, and I do appreciate that I just wish there was something a bit closer to it. I prefer the Modcloth one for it's ultra feminine skirting, but I also do like the Victoria's Secret one too. We'll have to see what happens!

Fake it 'till you make it: Seychelles shoes

I've said it a thousand times over. Me? I'm a shoe whore. LOVE shoes. Can't get enough shoes. If I had my way, I'd have a weekly shoe allowance and blow it and then some on shoes. They're my drug of choice. Some of you may prefer the Charlie Sheen drug, which makes your face melt off, but for me, it's shoes.

If I know anything about shoes, it's that designers love knocking off other shoes. You know that scene in Devil Wears Prada about Cerulean? It's kind of like that in the shoe world (or so it seems). Some shoes, I'm okay with buying their lesser counter part. Other times, I want, nay, NEED to buy the original.

I'm thinking that since shoes are one area I excel at (No lie, friends email me asking where they can find a certain shoe, and I probably can find it within 15 minutes, I browse that much!) I would share my shoe finds and their impostors.

I'm starting off with Seychelles, which seem to be right on trend as many people are copying them left and right. In general, Seychelles are affordable coming in at roughly $100 (give or take a little) and in my shoe-world, that's not a bad deal.

Fake it:


Seychelles Cream of the Crop (About $90)

These are lovely golden flats, and are also available in a black, pewter and kind of off-white-beige color. Now, if you remember my Spring/Summer shopping list, I am searching for new metallic sandals. This would kind of fit the bill, but not quite what I had in mind. But, they're too cute!

Enter Target.

Mossimo Othelia ($17.99)

Cute. REALLY close in style. But, only available in this nude color and black. So, if you wanted the Seychelles in either of those colors...here you go. However. I am looking for metallic. Gold, specifically.

So I went to Kohls.

So Cristal ($21.99)

These, are actually what I ended up with. I bought them in gold, which appears to be off their website, and back on sale for $16.99, which I then got an extra 15% off of, and I had $20 in Kohls cash that my mom gave me, which means, really these shoes were negative money for me. (I didn't earn the Kohls cash, so again, no money spent there).  As you can see, they're similar, not a direct copy, rather a copy of a copy (which we all know ends up not as pretty, but still serves well).


Make it:
Sometimes though it's worth waiting, holding out and buying the real deal. The make it Seychelles here is:



Seychelles Joan (now $70ish on Endless)

 These wedges I saw last year on Nordstrom's website and it was love at first sight. I could not for the life of me find anything that closely resembled them, but I couldn't justify the price when I had other shoes I needed to buy for the summer. This summer, I want a colorful wedge. I'm a sucker for a wedge, and seeing as these are still floating around, the time has come for me to purchase them.

The faker I found for these if you're interested are also by So and from Kohls:

So Serina Wedge ($33.99)

These are really similar, but the fakers are from the juniors shoe section which means the wedge is a bit clunkier. I also prefer the chartreuse colors in the Seychelles versions fabric over the reds of the Kohls pair.

Some shoes are easier to find lower priced counterparts, just about anywhere will have black peep toe heels, or brown boots, but detailed shoes like these can be trickier to find. I just call it a challenge!