One last Graduation

After finishing my last Master's class in December I waited 5 months for Graduation.  Graduation started at 8AM and I was up on stage and back in my seat before 8:30. I thought, "That...was fast... now what?"  I then thought and realized there were two things I was happy about on that day: 1. My awesome 3.98 GPA and 2. My under $30 outfit.  Yes, I did think that.

Outfit:

A one shoulder, just above the knee, dress with simple heels.  Yes, I know, heels!  I call them cheat-heels.  They have more support on the bottom which allowed me to walk in them without looking like a dude in heels.  I just love the pattern and style of the dress.  It was of appropriate attire since I must say I saw a number of Vegas dresses with flashy 4 inch stilettos at Graduation/Honors Convocation.  Ohhh yeah, CSUN.  Represent.

Item 1-- Black/Teal/White One shoulder dress
From: Macy's
Brand: Rampage
Type of sale: Macy's one day sale- Take an additional 60% off on Women's/Junior's select reduced dresses (Below I will discuss more on how I go about finding these deals.  This is because I have encountered many people insisting they know when there are sales but how do they go about finding a great deal in a sale?)
Original price: $59.00
Purchased price: $35.40 with final price $14.16
See the item here

 

Item 2-- White simple strap heels

From: Ross

Brand: BCBGeneration

Type of sale: Ross everyday + Clearance

Original price: Compared at $89.00

Purchased price: $27.99 with final price $13.99

Side Note! 

Try the new Jamba Juice fruit refresher for $2!  Valid now until June 6th.

With Coupon Here! (Courtesy of my Uncle Ken)

So, how do I find that great deal?

I will give an example using the dress I purchased at Macy's One Day Sale!  I absolutely love their one day sales and if you watch enough television as I do you know how that theme song goes..."ONE DAY!"

When I go to Macy's I quickly aim for the racks with a percentage off in each section of a department.  Number of clearance racks vary from store to store depending on inventory and number of people who actually buy things before it can even go on clearance.  However, on a One Day sale, there will be racks with percentage off that are not clearance racks.
The Junior's department is usually divided up like this... 6 sections: American Rag, Material Girl, XOXO/Rampage/BCX/Grass, GUESS?/Jessica Simpson, Levi's, and Glee T-shirts/random graphic Tees/Soffe shorts (I never bother with this section for obvious reasons of not wanting a picture of Lea Michelle across my chest).  The women's department (at least the contemporary section) is usually divided up like this...2 sections: INC and Impulse.  INC is Macy's own contemporary clothing line and Impulse is anything from BCBG to Free People to Macy's own Rachel Roy.  In between they also have such brands like Calvin Klein, Lucky Brand, and Michael Kors.  I am going to leave out brands like Charter Club and Style&Co. as I am not a middle aged woman.  All sections within a department will have its own clearance rack.  Aim for those!  Impulse usually will have 4-6 clearance racks with an additional 40% off already reduced prices.  INC will have one rack that will be at least 70% off already reduced prices and many racks with an additional 50% off listed prices.  Michael Kors will have 60% half of a rack.  Yes, half.  It's not much and you may have to arrive right in the morning to get a particular size before they are all gone.  XOXO/Rampage/BCX are known to have 40% to 65% off listed price.  GUESS? and Jessica Simpson usually have 40% off listed price and 60% off already reduced prices.  Formal and cocktail dresses in the Junior's department can vary from 40% to 80% off already reduced prices.  My Rampage dress came from the Junior's department with an additional 60% off: $59.00 to $35.40 to $14.16.

Tips:

• Arrive on the first day of the One Day Sale.  It is a One Day sale with a "Preview" sale on the day before.  Preview day is the same as One Day!  So get there to get stuff before crowds come in on the actual One Day sale.
• Get a Macy's card to get an addition 15% off your purchase. You will also receive coupons in the mail for 20% off your total purchase and $10 off your $30 dollar purchase.
• Scan your bar code on the price tag!  There are many scanners located in the store that you can use as a self-scan.  I find that half the time at Macy's the price on the tag of a One Day sale is not the same price when scanned!  Rather, it can sometimes be half the cost of the price seen on the tag.
• Eat something before hand.  I'm not sure how this is a tip but I know I always get hungry at Macy's One Day Sale.

Fashionably cheap,

Tina
 

A Mother's day lunch

I know I'm a week late but I had a busy week and just posting a Mother's day outfit now!  Since my first post, the structure has not changed: blurb, about the outfit, photo, and blah blah blah where it came from how much and the savings!  What I plan to do is to change it up a bit and have posts that have outfits I have worn in the past.  I can't keep up with new outfits all the time!  I buy a lot of things but I'm always wearing working clothes or work-like clothes at least 5 days a week.  I'm too lazy to go home and change into a different outfit just for picture taking purposes for the blog.  I was talking to my friend Penny today via gchat and she was showing me a potential Vegas dress she wanted to buy which gave me the idea of having a Vegas Dress Galore post.  All my Vegas dresses have been bought at a great deal so I can always go back and find photos (at least the appropriate ones ;) to post and talk about each dress.  That should be coming in the near future!

**Edit: I also will start having a section after every post entitled "Side Note" which will feature other bargains that are just not clothes/accessories!

Outfit:

A cute dress for a Mother's day lunch with my Mom at the Farm of Beverly Hills.  The dress has two layers with a slip underneath, bubble sleeves, and ruffled edging.  It is a very chic dress with a vintage floral pattern.  I topped the dress with a high waist belt and leather strapped sandals.  I couldn't figure out if the belt was upside down or not but whatever works!  I  also wore a gold Juicy Couture necklace with a heart pendant but it was a graduation gift from my Mom 2 years ago so I will not add it in the deal.

Item 1-- Brown chiffon two layered dress with vintage floral pattern
From: TJ Maxx
Brand: Juicy Couture
Type of sale: TJ Maxx everyday + clearance (x2)
Original price: $278.00
Purchased price: $79.99 with final price $39.00
See the item here



Item 2-- High waist brown skinny belt with bronze flower
From: Forever 21
Type of sale: Forever 21 everday
Original/Purchased price: $4.80

Item 3-- Sling back leather strappy sandals
From: American Eagle
Brand: American Eagle
Type of sale: Clearance
Original price: $39.50
Purchased price: $14.99

Side Note!
DJ Hero 2 Bundle: Original price $59.99 now $25.99! (Courtesy of Mitch Saltzman)


Fashionably cheap,

Tina

Comfort @ work

I can't help it, lots of black in my outfit.  My wardrobe consists of mostly black/white/blue/gray.  Slowly I have been trying to add in more color such as maybe some purple... and well, that's about it.  The situation would that if I had to buy a shirt and my color options were red or black I would choose black.  It's just the color I would lean towards.  However, if the red shirt is cheaper then red it is.  Sometimes that's the case where a different color is cheaper and that's how I expand the colors of my wardrobe... one color at a time.

Outfit:

A very, and I mean very, comfortable 3 piece outfit for work.  Very light material in this warm weather makes it easy to stay cool but covered up for appropriate work attire.  The outfit consists of black leggings with zippers on the side (similar to my Jessica Simpson black skinny pants with zippers on the sides from Ross $12.99 in post #2).  The leggings are made of 97% Modal material which is ultra soft and super comfortable to wear.  The top is a purple tank with a knot design at the straps and a floral imprinted design on front.  I am also wearing a black cardigan that is very light in material made with 93% Rayon (almost feels similar to Modal but not as soft).  I paired the outfit with simple gray suede flats and 2 jeweled stretch bracelets.  The bracelets are heavy and do not look or feel like the jeweled bracelets you can get cheaply for a few dollars.  They are stretch bracelets but look and feel like they should have clasps on them.  The shirt was long enough where if I wanted to take off the cardigan the shirt was an appropriate length to wear with leggings.  I'm not a fan of girls who wear leggings as pants and wear a shorter length shirt that reveals all the shapes of her back and front sides!  The outfit had very light material to it and was suited for the warm weather.

**Note: I own a lot of black skinny pants/leggings.  I will try to post other types...of..pants.

 

Item 1-- Black modal leggings with zippers on the side

From: Nordstrom Rack

Brand: Tart

Type of sale: Nordstrom Rack price + additional 40%

Original price: $65.00

Purchased price: $24.99 with final price $14.96

See this item

Item 2-- Purple tank with floral imprint design and knot ties at the straps

From: TJ Maxx

Brand: Matty M

Type of sale: TJ Maxx everyday + clearance (x4 times)

Original price: $67.00

Purchased price: $24.99 with final price $3.00

Item 3-- Black cardigan with material gathered and layered at front

From: TJ Maxx

Brand: Just Ginger

Type of sale: TJ Maxx everyday

Original price: Compared at $39.00+

Purchased price: $9.99

Item 4-- Gray suede flats

From: Payless

Brand: American Eagle (No, not like the store.  Payless has their own "American Eagle" too... not sure which came first.  I like how on their website it specifically states, "American Eagle by Payless is not a product of American Eagle Outfitters.")

Type of sale: Payless price + clearance

Original price: $19.99

Purchased price: $5.00

Item 5-- Purple jeweled stretch bracelets (came with 3 but I'm wearing 2)

From: Macy's

Brand: Macy's

Type of sale: Clearance with additional 75% off

Original price: $25.00

Purchased price: $10.00 with final price $2.50

Fashionably cheap,

Tina