Vegan Shoes

My prized Betseyville vegan pumps

The Topic: Cruelty-Free Footwear

The Dish: Shopping stresses me out. While I love the idea of spending a day downtown, about 20 minutes into looking at clothes and I'm done. Fitting rooms? It's all too much work. However, the one exception to my retail-fearing nature might be shoes. I own, well, more pairs of shoes than I'd like to admit. Keeping my collection up to date doesn't have to be expensive, and I have a secret weapon: Ross.

Ross, a discount retailer, carries everything from housewares to clothing to accessories, to the most random stuff you'd never expect to find—or need—for 20 to 60 percent off retail prices. Its shoe selection is freaking awesome, and I never have trouble finding cute vegan styles for my giant feet. Believe me, it can be difficult to find age-appropriate shoes in a size 10.

For the summer, there's plenty of fashionable sandals to choose from, and I grabbed a few pairs at only $12 each. I will warn you, however, that these man-made material beauties aren't the best for major city walking—R.I.P., my favorite white gladiators. By far my biggest score has been the most adorable, faux-leather pair of Betseyville black pumps for only $15. Designer shoes for less than one Andrew Jackson? I'll take it. The style wasn't even on sale online yet, meaning that not all of the discounted garb is completely out-of-season, making it even more gratifying to stock my closet.

The Final Word: Similar discount retailers exist across the country, including Marshalls and T.J. Maxx. While these big, open-space, and often unorganized stores may seem daunting, if this shopping-phobe can handle the stress and snag sweet deals, so can you.

Guest Post: Resale Shop Rundown

The Topic: Resale Shop Wardrobe Redux

The Dish: After you've purged your closet of the gems you'll never wear (if you haven't worn it in six months and it isn't seasonal, give it up!) via clothes swapping, there's always the option of selling your stylish duds to local resale shops. When it comes to trading in cast-offs for must-haves, no one knows more than Editorial Assistant Liz Miller. Clothes are to her as biscuits are to me, so you know she knows what's up. In a very special guest post, Liz shares the secrets to the resale retail industry.

5 Secrets for Selling Your Clothes

By Liz Miller

1. Case the Joint. Okay, so not in the 1930s-bank-heist way, but casing out a resale shop should always be the first step to crafting a discerning seller's eye. Every secondhand store has its niche, from name brand buyers to vintage purveyors. So, after performing an intensive wardrobe inventory, separate items by style and figure out which clothes will garner the most value from varying shops.

2. Buyer's Market. Vintage-friendly shops are less likely to care about retail labels, meaning that they want your cute Forever 21 party dresses as well as your grandma's old school Dooney & Burke purses, but have no use for your collection of J. Crew khakis. Save those for the brand focused boutiques, which look for current styles and routinely check the season/year listed (example: SUM08 indicates summer 2008) on the inside tag to determine value. Carefully cut these tags out of older, still stylish apparel.

3. Time of the Season. Most stores only buy by season, so it's crucial to call ahead to find out what items a store is currently buying. If you're set on making a dime on out-of-season items, save them until the appropriate season comes around.

4. Stealthy Shopper. If you've had bad luck selling clothes in the past, consider rethinking your strategy and scouting bargains to buy and sell. Use your shrewd sensibilities to shop for buried treasures at thrift stores, where nothing is off limits based on size or personal style—if it looks trendy, it's worth the investment. Remember to also keep an eye out for hidden high-end gems.

5. On the Mend. If some of your cast-off clothes need small repairs, take the time to fix them before hauling them away to sell. Sewing new buttons onto a cardigan or quickly stitching up a small hole are easy ways to upgrade old pieces of clothing. For super-faded items, buy a cheap box of RIT dye at Walgreens and give those dull duds a washing machine makeover.

The Final Word: It's all about understanding the resale shop at which you're trying to sell. If you make an effort to play the game, you'll be rewarded Mario-style with more than a few gold coins—or, more realistically, dolla' dolla' bills.

Wardrobe Makeover

The Topic: New Clothes for No Cash

The Dish: With May already speeding along, it'll be officially summer in no time. For this lady, that means the Cocktail soundtrack on repeat, extra naps on the beach, and new, summery clothes. While the first two are pleasantly free of charge (because who doesn't own that piece of musical mastery already?), the last bit can take a little work to keep cheap. But guess what? It isn't hard, and I can save some much-needed money—a girl's gotta eat (burritos).

The easiest way to score free clothes—and I know you've heard this before, but seriously—host a clothing swap. Invite your stylish friends over, have them call their stylish friends, and so on, until you have a big game of clothes-swapping telephone going and your apartment is full of people and their fancy duds.

Once everyone shows up, closet rejects in tow, kick off the evening with some cheap snacks. (May I suggest some Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos and a bottle of Charles Shaw Shiraz? Go classier, if you must.) Help organize the articles by clear-cut categories (shirts, jeans, dresses, muumuus—the usual), and finally let the shoppers loose—watch those Doritos-stained hands! From here, it's up to you how to handle it. If it's just a few close friends, take turns picking and choosing favorites. If you've managed to wrangle in 20 style-hungry women and men (you're so popular!), working out a ticket system might be better to avoid wine-fueled fights over last year's designer top.

If there are clothing leftovers, guests can either collectively decide to donate them to a local charity, or each person can take her or his leftovers. If you have extras and want to try and make a little cash, hit up the resale shops in your city, such as Buffalo Exchange, Plato's Closet, and Crossroads. Keeping your earnings as store credit earns a bit more, so if it's truly new clothes you're after, this is a win-win.

The Final Word: Not having any luck with resale shops? Check back for a very special guest post on how to get the most cash for your cast-off clothes!

Designer Looks for Less

The Topic: Poor Couture—Cruelty-free and a Fraction of the Cost

The Dish: While the fashion world is already focusing on fall, I'm finally ready to embrace spring and update my wardrobe. After revisiting a few designers' spring collections, I came to the conclusion that spending upwards of a grand—one thousand dollars—on a casual outfit was, to put it gently, freaking insane. The problem? One look at the Marc by Marc Jacobs spring collection. Hey clothes, why are you so pretty and expensive? Hey Mr. Jacobs, why do you use leather and other animal-unfriendly goods?

To remedy the situation, VN Editorial Assistant Liz Miller led the way through one of her favorite pastimes: Bastardize the Designer Duds. The mission: Snag a photo of your favorite designer outfit, set a budget, and hit the (affordable) stores.

Obviously, we weren't looking for exact replicas of high-priced items, but runway fashion has a convenient way of trickling down the retail line, sneaking into the majority of items for sale at our store of choice—Forever 21. With the exception of the belt and purse, we managed to find everything at San Francisco's three-story location. Here's the financial breakdown:

Item: Designer / Deal

Plaid Top: $168 / $19.90

Blazer: $228 / $24.90

Shorts: $158 / $17.80

Belt: $110 / $20.00

Shoes: $463 / $14.80

Bracelets: $84 / $5.80

Headband: N/A / $4.80

Total Cost: $1,211 / $108

Total Savings: $1,103

That is a lot of biscuits, ladies and gentlemen.

The goal was to find pieces that 1) replicated the outfit's overall tone rather than serve as a carbon copy, and 2) more importantly to me, were wearable and versatile. Take the jacket, for example—I found a style that was more similar to the original, but I never would have worn it again. I remember hearing a shopping tip years ago, claiming that in order to get your money's worth out of an item, you should wear it once for every dollar spent. The likelihood that I'll wear this blazer 25 times versus its counterpart's requisite 228 times is pretty good.

The purse was a previous investment, designed by the certified-vegan Urban Expressions. It was a bit of a bullet for me at $49.95, but it's the perfect size and style for everyday use, especially for carrying around multiple layers for unpredictable spring weather (or, you know, every day in San Francisco). And while affordable, accidentally vegan clothing can be great, it's always nice to support all-vegan, eco-friendly companies, too.

The Final Word: Of course, $108 is still a lot to drop at one time, and I don't often buy complete outfits. It's a smart idea to use what you have, building a look around one or two pieces already hiding in your closet. At the very least, checking out designer collections can help fire up some cheapskate creativity to put some spring in your style.