Fashion Backward
Considering that I live in my sweats, one would never know that I actually have a great appreciation for style and nice clothes. But I do! And as much as I dislike shopping, I do enjoy looking at nice clothes online and in catalogs. My favorites are the J. Crew catalog, Anthropologie’s website, and of course Old Navy for the basics.
I love the idea of pairing clothes and accessories that are cheap and expensive. My mother-in-law is especially good at this. She can wear Jimmy Choo’s with a shirt from TJ Maxx and she always looks like a million bucks. I like to think that I have just a tiny bit of her style and so I was very excited to have an opportunity to pull together such a look for the fabulous fashion site Signature9.
Signature9 is a daily guide to the products, places and things that define signature style. I love their site and am pretty honored that they would consider me style-worthy enough to be a contributor!
Check out my article titled Quick and Chic: 5-Minute Dressing and let me know what you think.
What luxury item(s) would you buy if you had $5,000?
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 
Ameena, I loved this. However I feel all of a sudden, very frumpy and out of style. However I did bookmark that site and am going to see if I can find some budget worthy tips!
great article! I loved it, even if I’ll probably never own a louis vuitton hand bag.
I do have a cashmre hoodie that I love. but a moth found it’s way into my closet and made swiss cheese out of it!
bad moth! very bad.
and I simply do not believe you live in sweats. But if you DO I am positive they are stylin!
🙂
Have a great Saturday!
ps…I DO LOVE OLD NAVY though
anthropologie rocks.
5g’s I would actually go on a yoga pilgrimage to India or back to costa rica 🙂
Ha ha….i think living in sweats in cute and im more of a tshirt gal,pocket pants/trackpants gal too,thats my college dressing and my sunday dressing too :-)))))
Oh i think u’d carry anything in style and that sure is the main part…
cheers and happy weekend to u….
Hummm great – 5k can go really fast with 1 LV bag, 1 pair of Manolo B shoes, 1 pair of Stuart Weitzman shoes, a cashmere sweater from Tse and a Burberry coat. Wait a minute- I remember buying an LV 2 yrs ago and never using it. Finally gave it (brand new) to my sis in law since she has been so nice and all. OK for real I think it would be nice to give it all to a couple of charities including public school PTA. I have enough things and it’s hard to justify buying more. What would you do?
How nice of you to give your bag to your sister-in-law! I have never personally purchased an expensive purse because my mother-in-law always gives them to me. So I could never justify the cost but I’d probably spend $1000 at Anthro and give the rest away! I have a tough time spending money.
Can you see my hand sticking out? 😀
You said you’d give the rest away!
I am fashion challenged. Don’t get me wrong when i need to be dressed nice I am dressed nice… but day to day… ya I am a total engineer…
with 5k… I would buy you a ticket to Houston and would have you guide me on a shopping spree (hope you don’t expect a first class ticket otherwise I would be left with not much for cloths 😉 )
I would buy food, pay rent, pay my phone bill on time.
If that was all secure, and i didnt have to worry about that…then i would take the 5000 and pay off my car so i could stop making the monthly payments on it.
5000 bucks is like 1/20th of my debt…pocket change to the govt that are robbing me..how unfortunate to be in so much debt for a career i hate…
i wish i could “escape” the govt ….a fugitive on the run 🙂
I do not have a lick of style, but you do, Ameena, based on your awesome article. I want ALL of those items (although I think they’re a little out of my price league 🙂 ). I like Old Navy and Gap for the basics, too. With $5000 (assuming I had to spend and not save 😉 ), I would travel!
$5000 i wish that i could say that i would spend it on me on something lavish but sadly i’d likely pay off (a small fraction of) my student loans
Love your fashion article!! I love fashion, but my wallet prevents me from showing it… If I had 5K I would spend it on a trip to the caribbean!! 🙂
What a cool opportunity! I would LIVE in Anthropologie if they’d let me 🙂
Oh wow, this actually makes sense dude.
Jess
http://www.online-anonymity.us.tc
I wish my boss allowed us to wear sweats to work- it would be so fun:)
I didn’t know you wrote fashion articles! I liked it- especially the pin cardigan 🙂
I think the shoes definitely make or break an outfit. Hmmm…I think I would go to NYC with my hubby with the money…and buy a nice pair of shoes there! 😉
My MIL does the same thing. She pairs inexpensive things with expensive pieces all the time. In fact, her rule of thumb is as long as you are carrying a great handbag you can pull anything off!
I love my sweats too. When I don’t work I am in my juicy sweats!
Have a great weekend….thank goodness the weather is finally nice 🙂
I love Ann Taylor loft because it is clothes I can wear to work and on the weekend.
Just stopping by to say that my blog is fixed and error free (or at least it should be).
I think we are very similar in this way. I live in the same ol’ sweats, but I do like fashion and style. If I had $5,000, I’d probably buy everything in the J Crew catalog. Seriously though, there are some awesome long pants out there that are super expensive. I would get those immediately. And a really nice, fitted blazer! I also love doing expensive accessories with basics. Shoes, necklaces, earrings… I want to shop again now!
Oh, and how cool that you did that article! Very realistic ideas 🙂
awesome write up! how cool that you got to do that. of course i’d kill for that LV and skinny stretch pants = genius
Oh my gosh I can only think of the damage I would do with 5k! I’m pretty sure I would not go too label crazy and instead just shop my heart out at some place like Anthropologie!
I love all of those stores and their clothes. I wish I could afford them! It’s probably for the best though, since I’m pretty bad at pulling outfits together. Right now I’m wearing boots with jeans, a mens shirt, a huge scarf, and a vegan pleather jacket. None of this goes together, this I know.
Loved your article though. You are such a stellar writer!
wow meena, love the the casual and chic look you pulled together, esp the bag:) i totally agree my fav look is a cashmere anything w jeans or pants, always feel like a million bucks! of course the bag helps too, but just not my dept. ok 5g’s would easily go toward fine bed linens and the 2 linen spool chairs i’ve been obsessed with forever now…add another 5 and i could do deco dining chairs, a tufted headboard, new wooden coffee table…one of these days!!
XOXOXXOXO
i want a pair of those gap skinny stretch pants!!! may have to get me some…
i had a post the other day with the same title!!!
Hi there! Yes, I am Indian! 🙂 Thanks for checking out my blog!
If I had 5K…oh man…I would probably get some really luscious bedding! I love lounging in bed and reading so that would be something I’d enjoy. I would also want to shop it up at boutiques- I love unique summery dresses and jewelry 🙂
tra’s style: either shorts and a tank, or as of right now……workout attire. and not LULULEMON. lol. i need to bust out of this rut. =D
if i did have 5k, it would be spent on outfitting a home gym with olympic plates and pullup bars, and also on shoes. running and trainers. =D
Awesome article Ameena!!
I work in an office with all men, and Im always freezing. My boss finally got sick of my complaining and bought me a space heater!
I dont know what I’d buy if I had $5000. Ok, actually I do. I’d spend it on purses or shoes. Or both.
I love shopping but I wish I had more of a style-sense. Mine is okay but it never quite looks like I want it too. If I had $5000 to spend on shopping then I would just go crazy with shoes, dresses, accessories, etc. That would be love.
Loved your article and all the pieces you picked out. Now if only I had an extra $2800 lying around to buy that bag…
Let me see. $5000 * INR 50 = INR 250,000
Whew! That’s a lot of money Ameena!!
If I were to shop, I’d probably spent only half of it here! But then, I wouldn’t go for LV. I’d be scared to use LV in case some bag snatcher got it!! Nope, I would buy loads of clothes and shoes for about 50K and try to close some bit of our loans!!
Are you kidding me? If I had that much money, I would spend it on kitchen equipment and food, of course. Perhaps dine out in a fancy restaurant….
glad you like the cabbage shit! i adore it. i’m still around- just studying and stuf like that. i don’t like burdening you guys with how i feel adn stuff like that, so i try not to post about that and only post when i’m ecstatically happy. don’t worry, i’ll write about it soon! should have a post up soon.
how are you by the way!
Haha great question. I’d probably spend most of it on FOOD or my kiddies. Thanx for allowing me to dream a little 😉
Love the article, Ameena! The spread looks like it’s straight out of a fashion magazine. 🙂
I would buy Chanel flats, a pair of designer heels and a classic-looking bag!
Ameena, this was a great article! I loved the stylish pieces you picked out. I also love J.Crew’s new spring line! It’s out of this world. I stepped in the store the other day and nearly died. I mean, sometimes they get a little to preppy with their light green and pink motifs, but they’re spot on this year. Banana Republic also just ‘does it’ for me.
If I had $5000 I’d probably just go to J.Crew, Banana, and GAP. Oh, and MadeWell. Love that.
These are some great tips girl! I love TJ Maxx, however I never find anything there for me!? I end up going full price always as my bargain shopping always seems to disappoint.
J crew has so many cute things!!! I need to get down to the US more!
XXOO
I have ABSOLUTELY NO SHAME in saying that if I have 5K to spend on luxury items, I would absolutely buy these:
http://www.thefashionpolice.net/2009/02/balmains-studded-crystal-sandals-the-shoes-of-the-season.html
These shoes have been out in the world for a full fashion year, they are MORE than last season (lol, like I give a crap about that), and I am still deathly obsessed with them! The rest of the money would be spent on an outfit to wear with them!
If I had 5 thousand bones, I would get a great suit. If I could pay to have it tailor-made, I would do that, without a doubt. I’d love a pair of Camper boots – or even just two pairs of ‘regular’ Camper shoes. They are just wonderful!
I’d actually do something with my grandmother’s diamond – maybe make a really cool, contemporary necklace out of.
And I think that’s the other thing – buy some cool new jewelry, especially a new necklace.
Finally, two or three well-made button-down shirts. Maybe those could be tailor-made too?
Finally, a new pair of black pumps. Really nice ones.
If I had 5 thousand bucks, however, I don’t think I’d spend it on clothes. We’d probably travel with it! In fact, that’s what we ARE doing with any extra cash we have floating around.
That’s an awesome outfit. Waaay out of my reach, but definitely worth drooling over. It’s not surprising, though. You always look so put-together in your photos on here.
If I had $5K, though, I don’t think I would spend it all on clothes. I’d go on a trip and keep a little left over for another pair of jeans.
My lack of fashion know how is pretty apparent, but I was able to pull together a pretty cute dress ensemble for a work dinner, featured on my blog today. If I had $5000 to spend, I’d probably get a whole new wardrobe! I’m thrifty!