FASHION WITH TESSA - BLINGING IN THE HOLIDAYS

Photo by Sunshinecity, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Blinging in the Holidays

This year fashion is all about glitz and glam. Many of you will be attending holiday parties in the coming weeks, and New Year’s Eve is less than five weeks away. The biggest fashion trend for parties this year is bling, bling, and more bling. You’ll be seeing a sea of sequins and gemstones decorating everything from heels to purses to clothing. However, many of these items come with astronomical price tags, and let’s face it – how often will you be wearing that pair of red rhinestone studded stilettos? Can you really afford the $800 price tag? I know I can’t.

I was bemoaning my high-end fashion taste and my low-end editor’s salary with Anastasia the other day when she came up with a fabulous, inexpensive suggestion for blinging up my wardrobe.

Now I’ll admit, I don’t generally troll the aisles of the local craft store. Okay. Truth? I’ve never been in a craft store. That’s Anastasia’s thing. But it turns out there are all sorts of items in craft stores that can transform the plain into the blinged-out.

So here’s how you take an ordinary pair of shoes or purse and make them extraordinarily blingy.

The first step is to rummage in your closet for an old pair of stilettos and an old clutch bag. Don’t have any? Hit the thrift store. Next, take a trip to the craft store to purchase a bag of gemstones or sequins (they come in assorted sizes and colors) and a bottle of jewelry glue. That’s all you need. That and a little time to glue all those gemstones and sequins onto your shoes and clutch bag. And instead of dropping $800 or more on a pair of shoes you’ll wear once or twice, you’ll spend about $8.

You can add sequins and gemstones to clothing in much the same manner.

Maybe I need to make regular visits to the craft store from now on.