Reader Mail: Where To Find the Holiday Apparel

We swear, we woke up this morning convinced it was October. The holidays! Disorienting, more or less. Thank God we have the rock that is Prison Break to moor us.

Anyway: Today's holiday-dress-centric Reader Mail is brought to you by the Reader R.:

Dear BS:

I have like three million Xmas parties coming up, and now money—plus I'm busier than ever. I'm wondering—if you have to name one store (just one!) where would you go for a cheap holiday outfit?

Love,
A.

We're sure there's only one answer to this, at least until the Topshop store opens. It is: Forever 21. The runner-up is H&M, but we go in too often to exit with nothing but a headache. We want to stress: We are not saying this is is our favorite store in the world. We are saying this is is our favorite store in the world when we are going to a party we would prefer maybe not to go to so we could watch Prison Break, and don't want to spend any money, and need something as quickly as possible so we can eat dinner at a table instead of on the subway. This fits the bill. Of course, if we were going all nuts, we'd ... head to Macy's (just because it's closer than the MJ boutique) and get a Marc by Marc Jacobs sequin-thing.

Who else has an idea? Leaving it in the comments section puts you in the running for the very exciting custom letterpress business card giveaway!

Above: F21 sequin top, $19.80

Comments

[shelly]

My vote is for a LBD (I got a cute sweater dress (http://www.target.com/Mossimo-Black-Front-Sweater-Dress/dp/B001CXI5G0/qid=1229002843/ref=br_1_12/179-5346040-8153941?ie=UTF8&node=683223011&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1) at target this year actually- after my boobs outgrew my previous go to, which was a black silk chiffon sophia dress from JCrew (http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Browse/WomenBrowse/Women_Shop_By_Category/dresses/weddingsparties/PRDOVR~96454/96454.jsp)) that you can acessorize differently for different events. This particular dress is going to be worn with a looong, sparkly (and very dramtic) lavender scarf and tall black boots when I attend a Christmas Oratorio on Saturday and with a peacock feather headband from Etsy (got it here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6321056) and cute heels (and perhaps lace tights, if I find some that I like) for New Years.
The headband will also be paired with a different LBD in my arsenal (this one is strapless with fringe on the bottom from Dillard's, I think. I've had it for a while) and a black sweater with pretty black beading from Target (http://www.target.com/Target-Limited-Beaded-Cardigan-Ebony/dp/B001GEVDGE/qid=1229002750/ref=br_1_11/179-5346040-8153941?ie=UTF8&node=13848881&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1).

[roxy]

My vote is for BCBG.They always have pretty, sparkly, detailed things that are very holiday appropriate. Of course, I never buy anything from the actual BCBG store, as it is hella overpriced (at least it is here in Canada,) but when I'm in the US, i get my BCBG top fix at Marshalls. Is Marshalls a bad word there? I don't know. But hey, two BCBG holiday tops for $60 - in my books, you can't go wrong.

[danielle]

overstock.com has some pretty awesome finds right now. also, they have a clearance bin set up worth checking out: there is some bcbg, miss sixty, blah blah...anyway, the deals are killer.

http://www.overstock.com/Clothing-Shoes/Clearance,/clearance,/7/store.html?sort=Top+Secret

[Abby June]

Ok, going to be honest here. I know you guys will be thinking "o.m.g.no." but after searching the mall and settling on a un-festive, yawn argyle sweater dress for my company Christmas party, I was at Wal-Mart last night shopping for coffee creamer and came across a green sequined dress that I fell in l o v e with. It's very simple and made of t-shirt material but I think that it is so cute and fun. I decided to wear it with black footless tights and the silver heels pictured. (Picture was taken with my phone this morning for the purpose of showing my friend what I planned to wear, soooo it's bad.).

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a211/speedracergrrl/dress.jpg

[Ms. Fab]

It depends on what you want your holiday outfit to be.

If you're just looking for a cute, sparkly top, then I say Forever 21 FTW. (Or the sale rack at Urban Outfitters.)

For a dress I would go to Nordstrom Rack.

[Lola]

I am going to go with the cheapest idea yet - your friends' closets. I just sat with my friend who was trying to decide what to wear to a holiday party and she pulled out no less that 10 different dresses...some with tags still! Borrow borrow borrow! Esp. if it is an office party or something where your groups of people wouldn't cross (if that sort of thing bothers you). I have worn some GREAT expensive clothes borrowed from friends. Ok, not totally free. I had them dry-cleaned before returning. And you can then offer things in your closet that you may be sick of but others would be excited about!

No money and bunches of parties? The best vintage store wherever you live.

[a]

Great suggestion: F21 is the place to git er done quick, sparkly and cheap.

[Joannah]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Joannah

http://2gbmemory.net