Celebrity Looks for Less: Oscar-worthy

Just like after the the Golden Globes, commercial fashion designers scrambled to create dresses similar to some of those worn by the lovely ladies at the Oscars last week. Just in time for the upcoming prom-season, these ultra-affordable replicas are definitely red-carpet worthy.



One of my picks for best-dressed at the Academy Awards, Helen Mirren's Christian Lacroix gown was specially designed just for her, and probably cost thousands. You can get edressme New York's version for only $325.


Jessica Biel's fuschia belted number was so popular, it was copied not only by edressme New York and Faviana. Edressme New York's version can be pre-ordered for $320 to be shipped starting April 10.


As seen on Access Hollywood, Faviana also created replicas of Kate Winslet's and Rachel Weisz's dresses, as well as Reese Witherspoon's dress, another one of my picks. Edressme New York also created two replicas of Jennifer Hudson's dress, in both regular and plus-sizes.

Celebrity Looks for Less: Madonna's Hair

This past weekend, we saw a lot of fabulous dresses, hair, and make-up for the Academy Awards, and likewise at the after parties. Madonna for one, looked stunning at the popular Vanity Fair party, and vamped it up old-style in a floor length clingy black Versace, and softly curled hair reminiscent of the Golden era of Hollywood. Now, I can't say for certain how she got her hair to look like that--odds are it took a team of people, with lots of special tools and products, or it might have even been specially grown in a magical land that only celebrities know about. In any case, I can tell you how to get your hair to look very similar to her's, and it won't cost you nearly as much as having a Hollywood hair stylist do it for you.

Me doing pin-curls on a friend (They're not as painful as they look.)

Pin curls are an old-fashioned way of curling your hair, and was a technique used often back in the day before we had curling irons and hot rollers. In order to do them, all you need is a bunch of bobby pins (approximately 2 per curl, the total number will vary greatly according to how many curls you want and how think your hair is). After washing and towel-drying your hair, carefully comb through it and simply take small, 1 inch sections of hair between your two fingers and wind them (not too tightly) around your fingers starting at the bottom and winding up towards your scalp. Use the two bobby pins to form an X as you pin them in place against your head. Repeat this all over your head until you have all your hair pinned up, then tie a scarf or wear a knit cap to hold everything in place. The best bet to do this style is to do it the night before you want your hair curled, or if you have all day to get ready, shower in the morning then spend the rest of the day with your hair pinned.

The picture to the right shows myself at a college ball where I used pin curls to curl my hair.

The point is that the pins should be left for several hours, allowing your hair to dry completely. When you are ready, take all the pins out and use your fingers to pull apart the curls and comb through them with your fingers. Turn your head upside to lightly spray the curls, but believe me when I say that they will stay very well on their own without any product. Just make sure you have your hair parted and arranged the way you want before you do spray them with anything.

Celebrity Looks for Less: Special Edition Britney Spears' new haircut

While she might not be done figuring out how much her divorce is going to cost her, and she might not know how to keep her bar tab low, but it seems America's former favorite pop princess has figured out a great way to save on haircuts, expensive shampoos and styling products, hairstylists, and extensions. Witness, Britney's own personal tribute to Sinead O'Connor, in all of its hairless glory. It seems Miss Spears was spotted this weekend at a tattoo parlor in the San Fernando Valley with her head completely shaved, where she spent over an hour getting two small tattoos on her wrist. You can read about how she lost her locks here.

Celebrity Looks for Less: Going for the Globes

In a previous post I discussed my fashion picks for the 2007 Golden Globes. For those of you who, like myself, enjoy the red carpet fashions, I've found some recreations that are much more affordable than the original versions. Below are some beautifully done dresses that can make anyone feel like a movie star for a fraction of the price.





Eva Longoria's navy-colored Emanuel Ungaro gown was an admitted first for her, and a favorite of mine as I am always a fan of blue. After the Globes this year, Access Hollywood had a piece on celebrity-inspired gowns by Faviana New York and featured a newly created knock-off of her 2007 Globes gown, as well as ones inspired by Drew Barrymore, Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslet, and even Beyonce. I've worn a Faviana gown myself and can attest that they are beautiful gowns of quality yet very reasonably priced. Faviana is known for recreating celebrity red carpet looks and famous dresses from film and tv, and making affordable versions available to regular people.

One of the few spots of color in the ultra-unusual red carpet choice of yellow, Reese Witherspoon's strapless canary cocktail dress by Nina Ricci cost thousands more than eDressMe New York's version which can be pre-ordered for only 198 dollars and will be shipped mid-March.

Former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson went for simple and sleek black Vera Wang, a designer who epitomizes soft sophistication and feminine elegance, and charges plenty for it to boot. However, eDressMe New York also has a version, and this one retails for only 295 dollars and can also be pre-ordered to ship come mid-March.

Happy New Year!

HAPPY 2007 EVERYONE!!

I hope everyone's New Year has gotten off to a great start! This is the very first post I have made in the year 2007, and frankly, I am ashamed I did not get to it sooner! But alack and alas, sometimes life throws things at you, and my time management skills were caught on holiday! In any case, I do have a whole bunch of things I want to post about, so the next week or so you can look forward to:

~a new Celebrity Looks for Less: Shakin' it Like Shakira
~helpful tips and interesting trivia about shoes
~some new VicPicks:V05 Silky Experiences Shampoo, slice and bake muffins, and Hannaford's store brand chocolate molten lava cake
~I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT the holiday recipe I promised (still enjoyable in the post-season)
~and now the long past overdue secrets of some of your favorite stores, like Old Navy, Bath and Body Works, and Walmart

So stick around--there's lots of great stuff to come!

Celebrity Looks for Less: Attempting Angelina

We gave Team Aniston a turn, now its time to try and dress like Angelina Jolie for less. Hop on over to the Rampage clothing website and pick up their Heavy Twill Trench Jacket



Pair it with your favorite pair of fitted jeans and some simple black ankle boots. Top it off with a pair of Black Wrap Sunglasses, also from Rampage, and maybe you can score a Brad Pitt of your very own ; )

Celebrity Looks for Less: Looking like Jennifer Aniston

I can remember when it first started--I was going into 6th grade and preparing to start middle school. Shortly before the school year started, I went to get a haircut, and like many females in the great year of 1995, I got it cut like "Rachel", Jennifer Aniston's character on the then-new Friends tv show. For the entire span of the show's 10 year run, I followed Jennifer's hairstyles religiously, mimicking it as best I could with my own tresses. Now that Friends has been off the air for a couple years, its harder to keep up, although its somewhat easier to keep up with her latest hairstyle than with her tremendous fashion sense. Though a bit on the darker side most of the time (Jen has a penchant for black dresses), Jen is a fan of simplicity for her evening style. Although of course, the Captain of Team Aniston wears designer dresses, Versace among them, you too can look like Jen just by shopping at your local mall!

Jennifer wearing a Versace halter dress at the London premiere of her movie The Break-Up this past summer

$29.80 Forever 21

Jennifer wore this 1970’s blue jersey Halston dress at the 55th Emmy Awards

$27.80 Forever 21

Jennifer's original designer dress

$19.80 Forever 21

Celebrity Looks for Less: Dress like Paris for less

Believe me, I did not go searching for this, however, I came across it as I was researching some other posts earlier this week. I have been thinking about starting to do some "Celebrity Looks for Less" posts, and although I do not consider Paris to be a style icon by any stretch of the imagination, I do think that this is one of her classier looks and is very appropriate for the holiday season. Above you can see the original designer (unfortunately I'm not sure which) dress that probably costs hundreds (if not more). Below you can see Wet Seal's version. Finish it off with Forever 21's beaded necklace and skinny black headband. Finish it off with some closed-toe black pumps from Windsor and you've got the look of a multi-million dollar heiress for mall prices.
Wet Seal

Keep your eyes peeled for more Celebrity Looks for Less from VicPicks, coming soon!