Anyone else feeling the impact from the economy? My closet definitely is, so I suppose it’s a good time for a little wardrobe reinvention.

For a no-fail fall look without any new purchases, all you need is a tee, jeans, a cardigan and a thick belt. A few months back, I wrote about the belt over the cardi…now I’m all about the belt under the cardi (thanks to my adorable co-worker, Lori, who inspired me with a similar style last week). It’s not only incredibly comfortable, but there are so many different interpretations. Here are a few examples:

Wear it with a relaxed boyfriend jean and heels for a chill night out with friends…

Wearing:

• Sweater and tee: Forever 21
• Jeans: Joe’s
• Belt: Urban
• Pumps: Sam Edelman

Dress it up with a dark bell jean and pumps for a dinner date…

Wearing:

• Sweater: Nordstrom (B.P. like three years ago)
• Tee: AA
• Jeans: J Brand Lovestory (my dog, Bella seems to love them)
• Belt: Fossil
• Pumps: Steven 

Play it casual with ankle jeans, sneakers and a colorful scarf…

Wearing:

• Sweater and jeans: Forever 21
• Tee: AA
• Belt and scarf: Urban
• Shoes: Sperry Topsider

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I love what Jennine, aka The Coveted, has done with the new and improved Independent Fashion  Bloggers site. Every Thursday, she posts a weekly round up of links submitted in the IFB forums. While I definitely have my list of regular reads, it’s a great place to see a snapshot of what other fashion bloggers are up to. Here is the round up for this week:

Links à la Mode : October 2nd

• a sense sublime - Make Do and Mend: Brilliant boot fair fashion finds!
• Add Bubbles To Taste - Nikki gives Beautiful People Purple Eaters their fix.
• Clutch 22 - DIY: Bow Headbands (in seconds)
• Debutante Clothing - Vintage Vogues Go To Auction
• Dress Me Up Dollie - Seeking closed-toe wedges!
• Fab Fashion Blog - Skirts Tight Knee Length Almost Pencil Skirts Looks Fall Winter 2008 2009 Trends
• Fashion Architect - Athens Fashion Week is coming!
• fashion in my eyes - a great editorial containing the twelve most important regal women in history!
• Mademoiselle Robot - Let your style age with you.
• O.M.O. Writes - Fashion Icon: Dynasty The fashion sense from the 80s soap opera is seen all over Spring runways! Get style tips on how to make the look your own!
• Or False Glitter - How far do the opinions of others dictate our fashion choices?
• PR COUTURE - Fashion PR Call for Media Kits; Get Featured on PR Couture
• respectfully yours - is fashion taking itself too seriously?
• Retro Chick - The Boyfriend Blazer: Hot Picks
• ShopDiary - ShopDiary gets a piece of Eairth.
• Tainted & Sweet… - Old School Fly Girls!!!
• THE COVETED - Do you ever wear clothes intended for kids?
• The Life and Times of a Problem Child - Rediscovering a forgotten icon of architecture and turning it into a fashion occasion.
• The Ongoing Project - Developing your personal style, part 2

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Like a lot of personal style bloggers, I am a firm believer that most rules in fashion are meant to be broken. One rule I’ve been rebelling against lately is wearing navy with black. Subtle tweaks, like a chunky necklace or printed scarf can tie the two colors together.

If you want to try this out, but aren’t sure where to begin, consider navy in the same category as other base colors like black, white and grey. Then, wear it as you would when mixing those base colors together (e.g. instead of black, white and grey…try black, white and navy). If you want to add more color, it’s all about the accessories.

For this look, I added a bold necklace and played with textures by wearing a black latex under a navy cardigan.

Wearing:

• Cardi, Necklace and Jeans: Forever 21
• Latex top: AA
• Shoes: Me Too
• Headband: DIY Bow

Here’s another example from a couple of months ago:

Wearing:

• Blazer: Urban
• Tee, latex tube dress and tights: AA
• Heels: Nine West
• Bracelet: Express

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A new online sample sale site is headed your way tomorrow from seasoned professional, Irene Wong, who is known for her FEM sample sale events in LA. iShopFem.com will feature timed sales with 50-75% off top designers including James Jeans, YSL, Pucci and CC Skye, among other hot labels and up-and-comers. 

Here’s how it’s different than similar sites like Rue La La, Haute Look and Gilt - iShopFem.com will sell premium memberships that grant 24 hours of early bird access before each sale goes live. The first 500 shoppers will receive a free premium membership as part of the launch promotion.

The first sale is planned for October 8. Check it out and make sure you sign up tomorrow when iShopFem.com launches at 1:00 pm Pacific.

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Like many of you who also grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, I flaunted ruffled socks and big bows on a regular basis. I guess something in me decided it was time to translate these fashions from year 1988 to year 2008, age 5 to age 25.

I wore this outfit to work last Friday, where I presented the latest on fashion blogs to my colleagues. 

I’m not sure what I’m more excited about…that I found a pair of nostalgic ruffled socks or that I discovered a new use for this over-sized frumpy skirt.

While the skirt normally comes down past my knees, I used two small safety pins to sinch it tighter and rolled the waist down a few times to bring up the length, which is held in place by the belt. 

Wearing:

• Top: Sanctuary
• Skirt: Marshalls
• Neck bow: Sequin belt from a Bebe top
• Socks: Forever 21
• Pumps: Steven
• Belt: Came with a dress

Here’s how I converted the look from day to night (swapped skirt for dark skinny jeans):

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I always have a hard time dressing for work meetings because those who don’t know me might be taken a back by my outfits at times. Trying to stay somewhat true to my personal style, I added a chunky gold belt (love red and black with gold accessories).

I’m not sure if I succeeded, but at least I didn’t see any looks of confusion from passersby. Either way, everyone has fashion challenges…mine is the fear of dressing ordinary.

Wearing:

• Top: Forever 21
• Skirt: Nordstrom
• Belt: Fossil
• Pumps: Steven
• Headband: DIY

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Jumpsuits caught my eye awhile back, but I honestly never thought I would purchase a full-length style. I changed my mind when I found the simple, sleeveless black one-piece in the outfit pics below.

Not only is it super comfortable, it’s also incrediblty versatile which makes for great layering looks. Yesterday, I wore it to work with a lacy black top layered underneath and a black studded belt around the waist.

 Wearing:

• Jumpsuit: Forever 21
• Lace top: Nordstrom (from 4 yrs ago)
• Belt: Hot Topic (from Halloween costume 5 yrs ago)
• Pumps: XOXO
• Bracelet: Express

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MTV is working with fashion designer Kira Plastinina to select three lucky winners to create limited edition tees to be sold exclusively on her website. The winners will be flown to NYC to meet Kira, where MTV will be there to record and air the whole experience.

To enter, go to kira.mtv.com and upload a quick video of your designs and say why you want to win.

Sounds pretty cool and I have a fun idea for a tee…I’ll let you know if they bite.

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While getting ready yesterday morning and contemplating which headband to wear, a little light bulb clicked on a new, effortless DIY. If you like the look of bow headbands, as Leighton Meister’s character wears so well on Gossip Girl, try tying a stretchy headband once around a regular.

You probably won’t even need to buy anything new to make this work…simple enough, right? Detailed pics below:

The “base” headband I used is thick, but this can also work with a skinny headband.

The stretchy headband I used is the latex and from American Apparel. I have two of them and have actually used them for belts in the past!

My bow had a natural angle in one direction, so I chose to wear it facing forward.

It may not be super cutting edge, but this is one of the easiest DIY’s ever. Let me know if you try it yourself!

Photo credits: Fashionista, Gossip Girl Insider

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I wouldn’t necessarily call it a trend, more so a style, but I love tops that droop off the shoulders. Here are a couple of recent finds - a sweater from Free People and a top from Forever 21.

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