10 tips for weaving runway trends

How do you weave the hottest runway trends into your day-to-day looks?

Keeping up with fashion trends can be a costly (though fun) habit. When you travel a lot, you see all types of fashion trends which may not work for where you live. And if you don’t live in a major city, some of the things that you see walking across runways may not be all that feasible for the average mom’s day-to-day style.

I know my husband would probably look at me cross-eyed if he saw me sporting a new wardrobe every season of the year. So, instead of getting all depressed that I can’t dress like a supermodel on a daily basis (I mean, how realistic is that anyway? THEY don’t even dress like supermodels on day-to-day basis.), I get inspiration from the pages of magazines and mesh it into my own style. Here are some on my tips:

1. The supermarket is the best place to browse through fashion magazines for the latest artistic trends in clothing. I find the longest line, pick a magazine and do my best to put picture to memory.
2. Catalogs usually have less expensive derivations of what the fashion magazines are boasting. So if there is a look that I am really drawn to, I will check out the catalogs that I currently have coming to my home and if I’m not satisfied with what I see, I may go online and do a little more hunting.
3. S-A-L-E is a fashion slave’s best friend. I adore field trips to major high-end department stores. I walk directly to the back to their “SALE” rack to see if I can find a recent look there. Usually, by the time I see it in the magazine, there’s a new trend out and I can get the most recent fashion trend at a discount.
4. If my high-end department store doesn’t have what I saw on the runway, then it’s on to my less expensive department stores. Even at full price, I wouldn’t be paying anywhere near what that look costs straight from a fashion show.
5. I think that every woman needs to have classic pieces that defy the season. I know that once I learned this, it started saving me money. So instead of duplicating a new look completely, I will take the prevailing aspect of that look and pair it with something that I already have in my closet. So for instance, if I see animal-inspired prints with jeggings, I might just pair a new animal-inspired item with a pair of skinny jeans that I’ve had for a few seasons.
6. One of the least expensive parts of a look can be the jewelry. If I have to have it, there’s absolutely no reason for me to get the season’s latest jewelry from Neiman Marcus when I can probably find its “likeness” at Sears or Kohl’s.
7. The next least expensive aspect of a look is probably makeup. Makeup is easy enough to re-create in my own way. I may not be able to duplicate runway makeup artists’ looks exactly but I can certainly make it work for me and my daily style.
8. E-bay, Overstock.com, and Amazon are great places to find fashion at a great discount. If you can live with the clothes being slightly used, then you’ve hit runway fashion jackpot!
9. Trunk shows are also a great way to purchase new looks at a discount. You definitely have to have your ear to the grind to know when and where they are taking place but once you’re in the circle, you’re in there.
10. The other place where I look for the latest fashion trend that I can weave into my everyday look is at an outlet. Again, I may not be able to find an exact duplicate of a look but I will probably find most aspects of it, and at a discount.

Overall, I don’t like to be a complete slave to fashion. It doesn’t work for my day-to-day mommy lifestyle as much as it did when I was single. And it certainly doesn’t mesh well with my mommy pocketbook either. Fashion is all about creativity and wearing what works well and looks right on you. There is usually at least one thing that you can afford to update based off of the hottest new runway trend, whether it is the hair, makeup, jewelry, shirt, or shoes. Once you’ve identified what that is, which will freshen your day-to-day wardrobe, well baby, you’ve got the look!

Readers: “I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Kenmore blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.”