Ebay and the Magic Blazer

I just purchased a Luella for Target blazer for 99 cents on Ebay! It arrived yesterday, and I am thrilled with how versatile it is. As demonstrated above I can wear it:

♥ The way I feel it was meant to be worn, over a t-shirt with skinny jeans.

♥ With a sort of menswear-inspired look.

♥ With a sort of schoolgirl-inspired look, a la Gossip Girl.

♥ With a sort of Balenciaga-inspired look.

I'll admit I didn't have a lot of time to take these pictures, hence the less-than-perfect outfits and slight fuzziness, but I'm still awfully pleased with the blazer. And at 99 cents, I'm feeling very proud of my bargain-hunting skills.

A Balenciaga Incident

Scene: I walk into my mother's room this afternoon to see her posing in front of the mirror in some clothing she just bought. "Show me the goods!" I tell her, and she turns around. Her outfit? A navy blue fitted blazer, capris gathered below the knees, and an ethnic scarf around her neck.

"Oooh," I say, "very Balenciaga!"

"Very what?"

"Balenciaga."

A pause. Then, "What's Balenciaga?"

She may be clueless about designers, but she's got the look down pat.

I can't decide whether this is laughable, unfair, or a sign that my fashion inclinations do, in fact, come from my family.

How to Get the Balenciaga Look Without Being a Clone

Everyone has been raving about that ethnic-preppy Balenciaga look for fall. And I have to admit, I like it a whole lot. The thing is, it can be kind of tricky to copy a runway look for less without looking like a clone. You don't want to look exactly like the runway look, and you don't want to look like all of the other people attempting to copy the runway look. It's a fine line.

Well, how do you get the Balenciaga look, then, without pulling a copycat? Here's how I would go about it.


The striped blazer is a key part of the look. I'm partial to this Urban Outfitters one, especially in the purple.

Next come the johdpurs. I like them as much as the next person, but they can be kind of hard to find. And hard to pull off. Instead, I'd go for these:

They have a jhodpur-like shape when worn over tights, but they're actually more on the breeches side of the spectrum. Which is good, because not only are they easier to pull off than jhodpurs, but they also keep you from looking like you're completely copying Balenciaga because they're, well, not jhodpurs.

Next comes the ethnic scarf. This should be easy to find at a thrift store, but if you'd rather buy new, this scarf from ASOS does the trick:


Finally, you've got to find some shoes. Unless you're planning to build shoes out of Leggos, you're not going to be able to find shoes that mimic the Balenciaga ones. I think that brogues would replace them very nicely, though:

These ones from Delia*s would do the trick.

And there you have it - Balenciaga Fall '07 in a nutshell. Go forth, grasshoppers, and find your inner ethnic prep!