Almost Girl

My longest running “blog friendship” has to be with Kathryn Finney of The Budget Fashionista.

She was almost certainly the first blog I ever read as a poor college kid wishing for cool duds that didn’t stretch my meager budget.

So last night even as I was exhausted, tired, overworked, and overheated I dragged my tired ass to Kathryn’s arty at Madame X to celebrate the release of her fantastic book (based on the blog) How How to Be a Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less

Even when my “tired fabulous ass” looks like crap I support because well Kathryn deserves it! I have so much respect for Kathryn and her work because my wardrobe owes its existence to her careful advice.

This slightly snarky quip about fabulous comes from an interaction I had with a fellow blogger at the party who just gushed about how “fabulous” I was and every time I got introduced to someone it was as the “fabulous” Almost Girl. Christ almighty! If you saw me in the morning or really most any other time than when I need to look presentable I am the least fabulous person.

Please allow me a little rant here about the fashion industry and the adjective “fabulous.” Half the time when you call someone fabulous it is because they so clearly look like they went to a ton of trouble to stage their look or craft their persona. You feel bad not at least acknowledging the effort. Big hair or over-the-top eye makeup is just part and parcel of this silly fake air kissy need to kiss butt in the fashion industry. Let me tell you guys no one needs to kiss my butt and I am not going to kiss anyone else’s. Hierarchy is just not my thing. The devil has no clothes! I am a blogger and that is that. I do my best to keep this a transparent chronicle of the many odd blips that make up my life, my perspective on the fashion industry, and posts on theory. There is nothing fabulous about any of it!

At any rate, a really delightful interview with Kathryn can be found here

From the right lip gloss to garage sale haggling to making sense of a disorganized store, she knows where to find the latest and greatest items (hint: you might have to do a little digging) at the lowest cost possible. A major fan of Target, Finney has also shopped around the world and offers tips for travelers as well as bargain hunters at home. It’s not about shopping more frequently, but shopping smarter, becoming an “active� rather than “passive� consumer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 29th, 2006 at 5:20 pm and is filed under And Now For Something Positive, Fashion, My Glamorous Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.