Every week, I spend hours reading magazines, websites, blogs, and message boards trying to find fresh content for this blog.  In the process, I find a lot more information than I can use for posts.  So, I thought I might share some of the spoils of my research in a weekly column called Wednesday Reading.  This week’s column features sites that specialize in being fashionable on a budget.

Thanks to a co-worker, I discovered The Cheap Chica’s Guide to Style about five minutes ahad of the trend.  For the very next day, Lilliana Vazquex’s old to all things fashionable and frugal was featured in Lucky magazine.  And since the site is one of the most fabulous compilations of fiscally feasible fashion that I have ever seen, the coverage was much deserved.  Here is how Vazquez describes her blog:

“For starters, I don’t love the word cheap…the sound, the connotation, the way it looks written out, all of it. But most of all, I hate when people use it to describe someone like me.  Just because I refuse to spend $200 on a pair of designer jeans, shell out a fortune for this seasons “it” bag, or throw down $50 for a designer tee does not qualify someone as cheap.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love designer denim, lust after “it” bags and can’t live without James Perse, but the difference is I find other ways of getting it (or very close versions of it) without spending my entire paycheck.”

Lovesit!  If you’re a fan of CHS’s 10th Commandment feature you will simply fall in love with Vazquez and her budget conscious style suggestions. 

Thanks to the paparazzi, you can now see photos of your favorite style icon when she’s walking the red carpet and when she’s walking her dog.  While this may create anxiety for today’s young starlets it gives us an opportunity to discover new styles and trends.  Tolani scarves, the boho look and Rebecca Minkoff bags all entered our daily consciousness via our daily dose of celebrity gossip.  But once you discover that that deconstructed t-shirt on Mary Kate cost $200, your desire to mimic celebrity fashion may disappear.

Enter The Frugal Fashionista.  Her specialty?  Recreating celebrity style using pieces that you can actually afford. 

While many websites try to recreate celebrity looks, the Fashionista has serious skills.  And best of all?  She takes reader requests.  I think I have a new blog crush.

For years, I shopped under the delusion that good pieces had to cost money.  Sure that top in the H&M window looked a lot like the Sonia Rykiel blouse that I desperately wanted, but it could never be as good, right?  Wrong.  The Budget Babe proves that stylish fashions can be found on a budget if you know where to look.

Budget Babe recreates celebrity looks, tracks down trends on a budget and helps readers find ways to replace expensive items with fiscally responsible ones.  Her dedication to keeping your closet and wallet full (a novel concept, I know) is unparalleled.  The site even tracks deals and sales across the webs to make sure that you can find the item you want at the lowest possible price.  Who says you have to be fashionable and broke?