Fashion Finds - Badgley Mischka

The other day I was shopping on the dangerous site Rue La La and fell in love (and purchased) a gorgeous purple sequined Badgley Mischka dress that was on sale for $75 instead of the usual $700.

Score!

While this designer can be expensive when hot off the runway or at full price, there are amazing deals to be found if you know where to look. For some reason this year I have been completely drawn to sequins and so this is the third sequin gown from this designer that I have purchased in the last 12 months!

My first time wearing Badgley was this dress I wore on my birthday from Rent the Runway. If you have not checked out the site, it is a great way to wear designer duds for less - I wore this $500 dress for only $40!

The shoes were Badgley too, but those were my own, purchased from Saks Off 5th. Their shoes are almost always 50% off or more.

Rue La La has the brand on their site relatively frequently when they have gowns on sale and I purchased a cowl-back gold sequined dress off the site last October to wear to a wedding.

I felt so incredibly elegant in this dress and received compliments all night long. I spent about $300 for this dress on sale which was about 1/3 of the original price and, while a splurge, was completely worth it for me. 

A couple times a year Rent the Runway gives you the opportunity to purchase the dresses that have been rented off of their site to keep. I jumped at the chance to buy this silver stunner to wear to another wedding!

This dress fit like a glove and brought so many compliments. I normally hate wearing strapless dresses but this dress is made so well I was able to dance the night away in comfort.

I really have found that with a lot of designers, you do get what you pay for. When you spend the extra money on higher end pieces, they feel/fit better and really get peoples attention. For me, it is all about catching those deals on designers. Comment below on your favorite designer to get on sale!

Xx

Kali

The shoes were made for walking...down an aisle!

When I was trying on dresses, one of the things in the back of my mind was which shoes I would get to buy. I do not buy shoes very often, and I never buy shoes if they are not on sale. But I thought maybe just maybe I could rationalize a splurge on shoes. My imagination drifted off to a land of Christian Louboutin, Prada, Badgley Mischka, amidst rainbows and unicorns and $6000 wedding gowns

In almost every wedding album I see on Facebook or Pinterest, there are pictures of the shoes! Whether it is the bride in pink heels to match her grooms pink VANS or the ring sitting gently inside the shoe, placed strategically above the embroidered designer shoes.the shoes are everywhere. And since pictures matter the most to me, a part of me really wanted that shoe picture too! 

 And then I forgot about it. Thinking about how much everything else in the wedding was going to cost, I could no longer rationalize my $600 shoe dream. It really isn't like me to splurge like that on myself, and I rationalize the wedding cost in that it is for every person we are inviting as opposed to being "for me or for us." So I put those Louboutins back in dreamland with that $6000 Ghalia Lahav gown. I even went to DSW and looked in stores like Express to find the shoes that would take me down the aisle, but I was simply let down. 

 And then.something magical happened! A friend posted on facebook about this wonderful deal on shoes she had gotten from Neiman Marcus Last Call by purchasing the Living Social for it! The same Living Social discount I had been strategically ignoring so that I would not end up making superfluous purchases on things I don't need or saving $25 only to spend another $300. According to her facebook post, I was wrong to assume that! So before making any commitment with my longtime love of Living Social (& Groupon), I went on to the site to snoop around. 

To my glee, everything online was an EXTRA 20-50% off!! I quickly scanned through all of the shoes, hoping to find something appropriate and BAM! BAM! BAM! Beautiful shining shoes everywhere! BCBG and Neiman Marcus and Steven by Steve Madden and.Badgley Mischka!! I double checked they had my size - they were out of it in a couple shoes - and then found a lovely 3 inch heel! 

 You may be asking, why a 3 inch heel Kali? Have of your shoes are at least 5 or 6 inch! Well, when we purchased the dress, I was trying to be practical and assumed that a 3 inch heel may be more suitable for a long evening of walking and dancing - after all, its not like I can just drink so I can't feel my feet - gotta be a classy bride. ;-) 

So a 3inch was decided upon! Back to the shoes. It was a $215 Badgley Mischka shoe marked down to $139 plus an additional 30% PLUS the $50 from living social that I purchased for $25 and suddenly it was a $47 shoe! (total with Living Social =$72).

I was so excited! It was the perfect balance between my desire for a well-made and higher end shoe and my absolute need for it to be on sale and a reasonable price!! I could have (some can argue should have) stopped there, but there was one other shoe that I really loved except it was 5 inches. It was $234 Badgley Mischka shoe marked down to $189 and then an additional 50% off! Plus the Living Social (I bought another one!) and it came out to $44!!! (total = $69 with Living Social). I easily rationalized that between the bridal shower, engagement party, and rehearsal dinner, these shoes would earn their keep. Plus, I do not have any other shoes that are really appropriate or similar. 

 You may be asking why do I need shoes for the wedding now, when it isn't for 9 months and the reason is because of this little deployment I start next month. You see, I have very little time to shop for anything between now and then, and as soon as I return from my deployment I will likely be off to Florida for my first dress fitting, bridal shower, and a bachelorette party. I will have absolutely no time to shop beforehand and I absolutely have to have my wedding shoes for the fitting to make sure the height is appropriate! 

See! I'm not crazy! 

 I was so excited about this deal that I had to share it with you!! They have all sorts of wonderful deals on the site right now and I am not sure how much longer that Living Social will be available!!