fashion

Did you know it’s still possible to look great and fashionable even on a limited budget.  Here are some ideas on how you can stretch your “fashion budget”.

Begin by creating a realistic budget for the month.  Realistically, how much do you want to spend on clothes for work, after-work, and upcoming formal events?  How much on shoes?  Do you even need new shoes this month? (Perhaps an absurd question for some of us.) Decide first how much you can afford, taking into consideration your monthly bills.  If you do this on the front end, you won’t have to deal with buyers remorse leaving the checkout counter.

There are online coupons if you are not one to check out the Sunday coupon section of the newspaper.  Coolsavings.com offers coupons on everything from clothes to groceries.  Simply print out the coupons you want and used them just like the “old fashioned” kind.

Sign up for shopithome.com’s “Sale Mail”.  They will email you when brands you’ve chosen have gone on sale in your size and in your are.  It’s just like having a personal shopper.  Also, take advantage of sample sales in your area.  Dailycandy.com regularly lists designer sales in selected cities.

Resist the urge to splurge on the latest trendy bag or those designer shoes you’ve been eyeing.  Trendy designs ofter “inspire” similar version on more affordable labels.  Usually you only use the item for a season anyway.

And, although you have heard this many times, it bears repeating.  Shop off-season.  Just because Capri’s are in for summer and wide-leg trousers could be making a comeback for fall - doesn’t mean you should own them.  Many styles are simply unflattering for most people. If you stick to well-fitting basics you’ll get your money’s worth.

So as you can see, it is possible to look good on a budget!

This is one of Procter & Gamble’s biggest product launches ever. The fashion mentor of reality TV’s “Project Runway” is among those involved in marketing the new “Total Care” products that P&G says draw on technology from its beauty products allow clothes to keep their shape, color and new look longer through repeated washings. Sounds like the baby boomer mantra, we want to keep our shape, color and look “new” longer!

The $60 million marketing campaing for the Tide detergent and Downy fabric softener products includes a tie-in with Ann Taylor Stores Corporations Loft unit and ads in such magazines as Elle, Vogue and Cosmopolitan.

It’s an example of how P&G is banking on big-brand innovations to overcone a tradedown-mined US consumer economy and the company is promoting the line as a budget helper because clothes can be worn more often and dry-cleaning bills reduced.

It’s sort of an anti-aging line for clothes, using ingredients dcerived from hair care products and skin care products. Helping to open the campaing is a Tide Web site featuring Tim Gunn of Bravo’s “Project Runway and his “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style” shows. He offers tips in online videos and will be in other ads, along with such fashion advisers as Jorge Ramon, June Ambrose and Charla Krupp.

In September, promotions including samples will be in Loft stores across the country. One domestic engineer, who handles most laundry duty for a family of six in Jacksonville, Florida says she’s intrigued after seeing online promotions for Tide Total Care. She is presently using Unilever’s All Free Clear but plans to test the new Tide’s product claims of maintiaing clothes’ appearance while reducing the need for dry cleaning. It makes sense she says because you use less time shopping, less time driving, less aggravation. So, overall, you would spend less money. P&G officials say offering new versions of major brands will help offset tendencies by consumers to look at lower-priced private label brands and other competitors.

Tide, a brand more than six decades old with annual sales of $3.3 billion, just rolled out a smaller, lipstick-sized version of Tide to Go carry-along stain removeer. In another example, Crest toothpaste is ready to launch a “weekly clean” toothpaste that’s meant to offer a dentist’s office -clean feel.

P&G’s shares were down nearly 2 percent. Perhaps as they link laundry to fashion, it will help bring those shares back up. Time will tell.