I  seem to alternate my favor between t-straps and mary janes.  I love them both, but based on trends sometimes it is hard to find one or the other.  I can tell you that I have been wearing my current t-straps  since 8th grade and before that they were my grandmothers.  I haven’t even had to re-sole them–now that is quality!

I am having a bit of an issue with heels lately–anything above a 1.5-2.0 inch is really pushing it.  I am not even exaggerating when I say that I get pains in my back.  Maybe I am defective or a wimp or quite possibly both, but I just don’t see the need to reel in pain to look cute.  I would like to blame this on getting old, but frankly I know plenty of women in their 50’s that still rock heels everyday.  I will stick with being defective and continue on my hunt for cute kitty heels.

I actually bought the shoes below in the black/burgundy combination a few weeks ago only to bring them home and realize I grabbed a 6 and not a 6.5 and I am always a 6.5 with Target shoes.  Bugger!  So I took them back and they were sold out.  I should really buy them online, but have not made the concerted effort to do so.  Now they only had the black/burgundy in stores, but the other two colors are pretty stinkin’ lovely as well.

*Target doesn’t allow me to link directly to the item, so I am offering up the t-strap search page.

It is indeed fall and it seems to have come out of nowhere here in Chicago.  One day I was spilling my entire lunch on my white jeans en route to work, the next day I had to rock full-body insulation.  I have mixed feelings about the cold weather, but I do love fall and all the festivities that come with it.  I also love covering up a bit; sweaters, hats and gloves are fun!  For those of you who do not know me in real life, you must know that I wear tights a lot.  I probably own 40 pairs (that’s a lie, I own more) and I wear each and every pair of them.  I wear them 3 seasons out of the year and have probably been doing so since 7th grade.  During that style breakthrough year in 7th grade I used to wear gingham and leopard print tights with my little Doc Martens and I even owned purple fishnets (I am certain I thought I was So Sweet.)

Fast forward 18 years to modern day Chicago where I have been people watching on the train every morning, I realize that a lot of the ladies are a little confused with the tights scene, so I thought I would pull together a quick Do and Don’t list to clear some things up.  I also spotted the Kate Spade shots included in this post and felt inspired.  These looks are right up my alley.  They are short, sweet and professional.  Sadly Kate is a little above the Budget Retro price limit so at the end of the post I will offer some affordable brands.

Budget Retro Says Do:

1. Layer tights–if the ones you have aren’t thick enough then double them up!  You can also layer fishnets over tights for a textured look.

2. Use black tights to winterize a summer dress.  That yellow dress can hang in the fall, just toss on a turtleneck and tights and you are on your way.

3. Wear textured or colored tights to make a black or neutral outfit pop.  The Kate Spade red tights are a perfect example.

4. Wear tights under dress slacks to give you a smooth silhouette.

Budget Retro Says Do Not:

1. Mistake sheer nylons for tights (we should not be able to see that you haven’t gotten a pedicure since August!)

2. Wear footless tights unless you are a dancer (sorry this may offend some, but they make a lot of really pretty girls look short and stout and it makes me sad.)

3. I won’t say Do Not, but be cautious with patterned tights.  They need to be accompanied by a very polished outfit and you need to rock them with an ounce (or more) of confidence!

4. Mistake tights for leggings.  Tights are meant to accompany an outfit–they are not meant to be the outfit.

I have tried every type of texture, brand, size (sometimes I buy tall tights even though I am only 5′2 so that they are opaque from hip to toe)–with 18 years of trial and error I have found a few favorites that I will recommend.

Hue tights are amazing and they offer every color. I just found the Merona Luxury Opaque Tights at Target a month ago and they are so thick and lovely–they should last all winter and they were only $10 (They do not have them on the site yet.)  The Assets tights, from the maker of Spanx are amazing for form fitting clothing (although be careful about length…the Spanx portion of these are a little long and I think my cubemates saw this while I typed away at my desk. Gross!)

In addition to all the tips I offer to purchase cute and affordable clothing, I really feel like I should offer up tips on preserving and taking care of the clothes and shoes you already have. People like lists right?  Short, easy to read snippets of information,  easy to suggest?  Well here you go:

1. Remove discoloration/yellowing from vintage clothes that have been sitting too long (or just plain dingy whites) with BIZ.  BIZ is an enzyme cleaner and it works miracles–I use it for just about everything including wine stains and  oil.
2. Hand wash dry clean only clothes with a mild castile soap.  I have recently started to hand wash all of my cashmere because the regular dry cleaning was too harsh.
3. Reinforce seams on blouses that are fragile. If you are nervous to do it yourself, take it to a tailor/seamstress. I would rather spend $20 to keep a unique vintage piece alive than put that towards a cookie cutter top.
4. I like to use multiple lint and fuzzball removing tools to keep things looking new.  I have the lint brush that works like Velcro, the tape version in small and large, and the electric version (I even have a back-up in case it dies)
5. Purchase a steamer. This investment is crucial for any gal with vintage goods.  The steamer provides several functions, it sanitizes, (especially those vintage things you are scared to wash for fear they might disintegrate!) it cuts wrinkles and it can also remove odors.
6. My favorite “budget” thing to do is to buy a Forever 21 (or similar) bargain dress and then have it custom tailored to fit me perfectly.  This can make a so-so polyblend dress look like a high dollar purchase.  Last summer I bought a handful of $20-$30 dresses and spent between $15-20 per dress to have them tailored—it was worth every penny.
7. Visit the cobbler! I don’t think enough young gals utilize the cobbler, which is just insane.  The cobbler can be used for preventative care—i.e. buying affordable Target shoes and then having rubber soles added before you begin wearing them so the shoes last longer.  The cobbler has also given continued life to 2 pairs of boots that I refuse to let die.  I spend about $25 a year (a piece) to keep these boots soled, polished and heeled which may seem odd, but to replace them would be $150 a piece. Never under estimate the power of a little TLC and polish! (Same guys for suede, don’t be scared to use a suede brush to perk them up.)

I will say that one thing that is evolving out of this recession is stinkin’ cute clothes for reasonable prices.  I have loved “most” of the Target designer collections to date, sadly I could not pull off anything from Alexander McQueen’s line but Proenza Schouler and Erin Fetherston were just right!  Now we are graced with Anna Sui!  Can you believe it?  *sigh* I am posting a few of the favorites here, but I think I will actually be up crazy early the day they go on sale(Sept. 13th) to snatch a few of these girls up!

*Just a side note: I am traveling for work this week so I may miss a post or two.