DNA-Budget Friendly Friday

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DNA--Trend

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The Anticipation!

This past June on my honeymoon my husband and I both read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. What a page turner! We both loved it and I bought the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire, in the airport on the way home and knocked out 400 pages! (The second book is def. my favorite)
The American version of the first book is coming out in December and boy can you say excited? The cast looks fantastic w/ Daniel Craig playing the male lead and Rooney Mara as the female, Lisbeth Salander.

Rooney's transformation, just going by looks, is truly remarkable.

http://www.dragontattoo.com/

That is one heck of a committed actress! Her Swedish accent sounds great from what I can tell in the extended trailer.

Everything about this film is incredibly stylish so far, from the snippet of the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (who also did the Social Network score which Mara was in), to the viral marketing, to the actual marketing, and beyond. I have highlighted some of my favorite pieces below.

An unused/alternate poster

Oct issue of Empire Magazine

Love the styling/costumes

There's a haircut you don't see everyday!

Here are some styles that I think evoke the atmosphere (not necessarily that Lisbeth would wear) of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2011.

DSquared2 spine shoes

Topshop Unique SS12

"Scan" from Marie Claire Oct '11

Budget Friendly Fridays

Here's my Friday post for DNA Footwear.

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DNA Footwear Blogging

I am now blogging for DNA Footwear twice per week. Tuesdays I feature trends and Fridays are Budget Friendly Shoes posts.
Here's my first post!

View the full post HERE

I wanna be a Creep!

Creepers, I don't know why but I love them so much. They're super chunky just short of clunky and look all around bad ass bordering on rock star/grunger.
The term "creeper" comes from "crepe-soled" and was a loafer with a flat platform. The 2011 creeper can be anything from a flat form loafer to a loafer-gone-sexy wedge (this is what I'm into). Check out the evolution of creepers from vintage to ska/punk/rocker to sexy (and still rocker).

Vintage creepers via Wikipedia

LF creepers from the super cute Karen of www.wheredidugetthat.com/

Crazy Jeffrey Campbell creepers from www.shopnastygal.com

I wish! Burberry creepers

I very similar interpretation from Aldo Roder for only $130 (also in leopard)

Jeffrey Campbell Warning, currently available at Envi Shoes

So I'm gonna try to get myself either the JC or Aldo version of this shoe. And as a cheap girl, I'm prepared to wait till they're out of season and get them on sale. You gotta do what you gotta do!

Best of Pinterest 9.6.11

It'll dose of shoes to start with (of course)
First up we have a daring dose of spikes and sparkles courtesy of the 2011 VMAs

Worn by singer Mika Newton

I don't know who this pair are by (comment if you know!), but they certainly remind me of these Haus of Price pumps.

Solestruck.com

Next up are these fantastic, chunky, perfect for fall booties from the "Tridant" from ASOS

5inchandup

I loooovee these booties, so much! Perfect for anything, skirt, skinny pants, palazzo pants, or even shorts!

And now another fantastic fall look; fringe shall, skinny pants, and treaded, ankle strap, peep toes.

Nasty Gal Blog

I just had to feature this post because I have these shoes! From Zara, they were my first expensive shoes ($130). Ironically enough that rubber bottom makes them an absolute beast to walk in! I highly recommend having an arm to lean on if you get shoes with these treaded soles.

Yup, that's grass stuck in the bottom.

Bought them on my graduation trip to Portugal with my mom.

Now time for a little gothic goodness to get you in the mood for Halloween.

Skullicious! Designer unknown.

From the big ears, a FANTASTIC blog!

Maison Michel headgear. Reminds me of a dinosaur or a spiny fish--I'd totally wear it!!

Luscious, sexy, black makeup done right.

http://mymakeupinspiration.tumblr.com

You have to have one steady hand to achieve those eyes!

Beautiful Shoe Collections

Shoes are are sometimes sexy, sometimes beautiful, or cute, or fun, ethereal, magnificent, sometimes works of art, and sometimes all of the above or maybe something entirely different. Whatever they are, I think they should be displayed to show their full glory. Below are some of the fantastic displays I've found.

Nubby Twiglet

Cupboards are a super convenient and cute way to display a collection.

www.laurawimberley.com/

Book shelves and nick nack shelves work just perfectly. More examples of such below.

Buzznet

I collection doesn't need to be massive to be impressive.

From Buzznet

Each shoe has it's own little home.

ShoePerWoman

A shoe raiiiiiiiinbow!

And then there are the magnificent custom shelves...

Jane Aldridge would have an AMAZing closet

Chaoticgaze

5inchandup A fantastic blog.

FSMagazine

The most impressive for last, Pink Kitten

Alice & Olivia

Designer lines for stores like Target, H&M, and Payless are pretty much the average girls only way to attain the high-end labels at an affordable price.
Without an H&M nearby I'm often missing out on many fantastic pieces, but truth be told, I could care less about designer clothing. Give me the shoes baby!! Payless has done some awesome designer shoes.
My favorite so for is the Alice & Olivia line. The '08 Rivington Ankle Boot (in red) was a fierce, space-age, shoe with a removable collar, and my favorite part--the zipper tassel.

 

I really wanted this shoe but discovered it too late to get it in stores. Instead I scoured Ebay, but as it turns out, a LOT of people wanted this boot. Prices were beyond what I was prepared to pay, so alas, I passed. 

Then, I had a second chance! The BA Madison Biker boot. Everything I love in a shoe, edge, wedge, and bite--yowzer!!

This boot is dead sexy! It's definitely in my top 5 shoes, not just for its looks but the wedge makes super comfortable for a 5.5" heel. At $50 they were more expensive than my average shoe but definitely have proved their worth.

Bargain or Bust?

Bargain or bust are my reviews of products. My final decision on whether it's a worthy product is whether it is effective AND budget friendly. I'm reaaaallly *ahem* frugal (hey I'm cheap I know it, it's my blog title!) so I may be a little harsh in my judgments.

Today's Product

Sally Hanson Effects

These strips look super cute and are easy to apply. My one application tip would be don't rip the blue tab off like the directions say (see below). The tabs are perforated and leave a fuzzy edge when ripped, snip it with a scissors.

The cost summary: 

• There are 16 strips per box retailing around $8. Short nails like mine can get 2 nails out of 1 strip (most of the time), so I'm going to say 3 total applications. Compared to a bottle of polish that's a expensive (I buy $2 bottles of nail polish), compared to a manicure it's a deal.
• The box I bought was on sale plus I had a $1 off coupon which was by the display at the store. Total cost for my box was right around $5 which I deem a bargain!
• Without the coupon and regular size nails (2 applications), I'd rather just get a manicure. I feel like as soon as I scratch myself these are going to come off. Some reviews say they lasted up to 8 days! We'll see about that... 

 

Cute, cute!!

P.S. My camera broke :( So I'm in the processes of looking for a new one. Of course my low budget is making things difficult. My last camera was an SLR which was awesome but I can't afford that right now. So point and shoot it is and hopefully better, non cell phone pics to come!

**Update: I take it back! The strips stayed on fantastically, through cleaning and everything!

Best of Pinterest 8.16

I love Pinterest! If you don't know, Pinterest is a site that lets you make mood boards quickly and easily. You can download the Pin It button for your particular browser which shows up on your bookmarks bar. The button allows you to pin a picture from any site you're browsing to your boards.

So here are the fashion favorites I've recently found.

The new generation of accessories. Found on Etsy

Beautiful! Orly makes a well reviewed black matte polish which can be found for only $2 at Amazon.com.

So cute and affordable! Only $15 on Etsy.

Beautiful, I would wear this in a heartbeat! Una Burke. Discovered on Dirty Flaws. 

Right now these are #1 on my fantasy wishlist!! Iris Van Herpen X United Nude.

Aaaamazing!! Louboutin Daffodils as worn by Beyonce.

I discovered the shoes the wonderful Litas (right) were "inspired" by, Charles Anastase (left).