How to make CHEAP look EXPENSIVE! (merged)

Uniscots97

Always make sure you buy leather or suede shoes/boots. Best prices seem to be in Matalan, Asda and Aldi. If leather always make sure you keep them polished. Good shoe care items can be bought from your pound shop. If like me you drive while wearing high heels and the heels get scuffed, use a matching colour of nail varnish to fill in the scratches and make them look good again.

redballoon_2

Ohh good thread!! I always shop in different shops, high street to charity shops to ebay. I always mix and match different brands so i dont wear all the cheap brands together.

I accessorise with corsarges, belts and jewellery.

Austin_Allegro

If you go to second hand/junk shops/car boot sales you can often get second hand antique replica furniture cheaply, that to the untrained eye looks like it might be worth a fair bit but is really not worth much at all. A bit of polishing/varnishing or repair with those wax furniture crayons works well.

You can also get old chest of drawers/cupboards etc, sand them down and repaint the in those pastel eggshell colours and hey presto 'shaker' style furniture...You can be a bit more creative this way than by going to Ikea and getting the same old stuff everyone else has.

I got quite a lot of this stuff when my granny died (my parents sold all the REAL antique stuff...). If anyone asks I just say it's 'been in the family for years...':rotfl:

Nix143

I stick to classic shapes that I know suit me and try to avoid faddy fashions. Fit is often the most important thing as to whether something looks expensive or not.
Black never goes out of fashion and goes with every other colour under the sun.
A decent jacket is an investment worth getting as it can be dressed up or down and looks fab with jeans and heels.

And yes to the accessories - a scarf knotted around your neck can make all the difference to an outfit.

I used to belong to the good shoes and handbag brigade and to be honest the thing I miss most now I am skint is buying decent shoes. I live in stillies and find the cheap ones just don't last as long and aren't as comfy. Plus all my old ones decided to die simultaneously so I am really missing my shoes *sighing*. Anyone got any size 6 uber heels they wanna donate?

Lucie_2

blessings3 wrote:

Wear colour with colour ie a pink top with a plum skirt looks much more together than black with pink

I believe one of Trinny & Susannah's golden rules is never to wear black with bright colours as it looks cheap.

Bogof_Babe

Digressing to food ('cos I have no fashion sense whatsoever ), if serving sandwiches for guests, a sprig or two of parsley on top makes them look more like a thought-out meal .

blessings3

Think thats where i stole it from but must say since I have tried it I have had lots of comments - I always used to be a black with every thing girl but am not so afraid of colour now and ''cheep'' hand bags in a tonning colour to your outfit look very expensive

Nix143

Well T&S would hate me because I'm a black with everything girl

Does that mean I look cheap??? :eek: How very dare you!

Mrs_Cupier

I have a killer interview outfit that's a 'label' frock - from Cancer UK - a jacket from my mother and an Italian leather handbag from Oxfam. Total cost, £10. Handbag needed a little love and attention with some shoe polish and the clothes wanted pressing, but it looks VERY expensive indeed.

Also, my mother drummed into me as a child - polish your shoes and ALWAYS hang your clothes up. A well cared for sack can look great; a vastly expensive frock that's been screwed up in a ball in the corner of the room will always look tatty.

redballoon_2

i agree, a good iron makes your clothes look smarter!