So, Tricia just completed her AMAZING series on poster artists (see all the poster party posts here! scroll!). I’m not just saying they’re amazing because they’re on Stickers & Donuts. They actually ARE amazing. From the posters, to the interviews, to Tricia’s hysterical pop-references (if you only looked at the pictures seriously go back and read the posts!) — I loved every bit of it! In fact, I was jealous of the superiority of Tricia’s interviews to some of my recent posts. (A pink laptop bag? Come on Maria, you can do better than that in the midst of poster interviews! Although, it is a pretty sweet bag…)

That being said, I love all of these artists and am going to squish on into the fun with my two cents (slash 142 dollars).

There was one small problem with Tricia’s posts. She made me want to purchase A MILLION PRINTS! After a little research, I soon learned that I COULD own a poster from each artist for less than $145 (plus shipping & framing, see the receipt I invented below). As you can see from the image above (posters not to scale, frames from my favorite free stock photography site), this is a really good deal. If you have a new apartment, you might want to consider decking-out your place in these guys.

Below are the EIGHT poster-party prints I choose simply to prove that you can own art, and it can be lovely, and it can not cost you hundreds of dollars! Go, look! (more…)

Luckily, fashion is a season ahead, so when you get to the sales racks, you’ll find in-season merchandise!

If you head over to Target these days, you might find some of the Fall 2008 Richard Chai fashions for cheaper than the regular Target cheap. I love that ruffle-front shirt (far right), which is now $16.

Major sales in the design world this week, some of them super-amazing and ending today (McSweeney’s!!!).

1. Life of Mystery poster: “Life holds plenty of mystery, but it often seems like the wrong kind of mystery. Life’s mysteries are either depressing — why am I never satisfied, or what did I do to deserve this — or they’re bland — will I stain this shirt by accident?” But this poster is full of neither of those mysteries, instead it expounds upon the mysteries of ornamental keys, ghosts, & darting eyes! It’s the coolest Tiny Showcase print to hit the streets! And, it’s not even tiny (22×28 plus border for framing), AND it’s cheaper than the usual $20 prints, at only $12 (shipping is about $3)! It’s well designed & very funny, so checkout the poster details (upclose pictures! yay!) on the Tiny Showcase page.
2. Old issues of McSweeney’s are only FIVE DOLLARS until the end of the day today! If you do not buy Issue 13 & 19 (the comic book issue and the issue that comes in a cigar box with little war pamphlets), at the least, you are making a huge life mistake! These literary “magazines” have fold-out covers (Issues 13 & 23), mini-books (Issues 19 & more), come as a stack of mail (Issue 17), or have, for no reason in particular, a little comb tucked inside its cover (Issue 16). I may or may not have ordered nine of these (shipping was $10 for 9).
3. Okay, so maybe I’ve mentioned this threadless poster (Spoilt) several times before, but I just thought you should know all threadless prints are $25 this week rather $35 (shipping is $10, sad, but the sale certainly helps!). Shirts are $12 right now, too!

Have a WONDERFUL three day weekend and make sure to visit Tricia’s amazing school supply posts before you do your Labor Day shopping!

Subtle Circle offers the kind of cool randomness I tend to enjoy, with updated collections of various kinds of arts from prints to t-shirts to — well, you can see for yourself with the list above.

Right now they’re offering four wilderness prints for $20 from the Wilderness Collection (see below).

And previously they’ve offered buttons, badges, and T-shirts (in The Cold Collection and The Beer and Skittles Collection) but they’re young, so more (I imagine) is to come.

Mostly, though, I enjoy their watercolor-inspired web-site, which is a refreshing change from all of the cold, hard type you see everywhere else (er, like here).

The awesomely designed T-shirts over at Threadless are on super-sale until Sunday. Get ‘em while they’re hot (er, $10). Those Threadless Prints I was writing about are also on sale — $5 off — and there are new ones, too!

Tinyshowcase.com helps real people with real budgets (yay) own real art (even if it is sometimes kind of tiny). (more…)

Pretty little bowtie rings in bright retro colors ($4.50, 31 Corn Lane). Maybe spice up a sundress?

$3 + $1 for shipping & these cute buttons from Bang Bang You’re Thread can spice up your fashionable attire! (I’d add them to a vest or a blazer.)

Poketo has a sense of humor! Since we all can’t afford the *real* thing Poketo as offered us a “Louis Vuitton” tote bag ($80, still a little steep but it’s one of only a handful made for a Wake Up, Andy Warhol! exhibition in Korea), a “diamond” ring ($10), and a “Medal of Honor” brooch ($18). Not the cheapest fashion statements you could make… but much cheaper than the alternatives.

I bought these bright pink, pointy, graffiti-ed high heels for $15 at a little store in Cape Cod. I don’t know who made them, but I would buy another pair in a second if I could find them. They’re like a work of art, more comfortable than you might imagine, and always get some kind of comment when I wear them. (more…)

These glasses are $160, but I think even $20 too high a price. Get similar version for $7 on the sidewalks of St. Mark’s Place (NYC).

Low-budget shopping is all about creativity! Basic neutrals — like jeans, kakhis, and woven tops — are always findable for a bargain, but the true mark of a shopping crafts(wo)man is if she can put together a fashionable outfit for less than $50. (Lucky for you, I do it everyday.)

1. Re-define cheap. Not fall-apart-in-three-wears cheap, but $5-for-all-of-this?! cheap. You can get a sweater for $10. You can get shoes for $5. And you will.
2. Have a budget and stick to it. If you can only spend, say, $50 a month then you’ll want to get as much bang for your buck as possible, and you’ll be forced to shop as inexpensively.
3. Shop sales racks. Make a bee-line for the super-sales racks and be prepared to hunt and pick. I’ve gotten $1 sweaters at Gap. I’ve gotten $3 leggings at American Eagle.
4. Shop at the end of the season. If you like to wear your clothes right when you buy them, it’s hard to shop out-of-season, but most clothing stores have some accelerated version of time, so you can buy super-sale summer items late in the summer when retailers consider them out of season. Other amazing times to shop: after Christmas in January and after Fourth of July. If you really like the capture as much as the kill, then try shopping in February. A lot of items are picked over, but this is when you can find items at Gap, Old Navy, and other retailers for cents rather than dollars (seriously).
5. Ignore labels. Who gives a crap what the label says? (Unless you want to know where it was made or what it’s made of. These are fair questions.) Imagine the $5 JC Penney shirt folded neatly on a lead table at Banana Republic. Does it make you want to buy it more? Then buy it because no one can even see the label but you, and you can only see it if you’re looking. (With clothes, it actually is what’s on the outside that counts.)

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As the comments and conversations about my outfits grew and grew, I decided I need to get to the bottom of the hullabaloo, so I started taking pictures of my clothes every morning. What did I learn? Sometimes, I go a little overboard with color. Sometimes, I miss the mark. Sometimes, I actually hit the mark with a delightful quirkiness that others simply call weird.

All of my outfits are featured in a single Flikr set. You can view the images as a slideshow, or as a large group with more detail, or you can click on each outfit individually to see my what-not-to-wear-esque commentary or look at tags noting where I purchased each piece. (more…)