Star Stylist Gives Thrifty Fashion Tips

Stylist extraordinaire Jen Rade, who has “fabulized” celebumom Angelina Jolie and celebudad Snoop Dogg, says that great fashion doesn’t have to break the bank. She told Los Angeles magazine recently that she finds some of her best pieces in unusual places, but it takes time. “The key to bargain shopping is being able to hunt,” she says. Jen logs hours sifting through donated clothes at Goodwill and Salvation Army, and calls upon vintage dress shops to see what has been dropped off recently. (One celebrity favorite is The Way We Wore, www.thewaywewore.net, in Los Angeles.) Another source Jen hunts is online. The best place to get shoes, she says, is .
“It’s free shipping both way. You can buy 20 pairs of shoes, send 19 back, and it costs nothing.”

In my opinion, her most interesting fashion tip is to scour Claire’s accessory boutique. While it might seem more like a ‘tween bling outpost than a red carpet resource, Jen says that some of her biggest clients have worn the store’s costume jewelry and passed it off diamond baubles. Hard to believe, but true! “That’s the joy of styling,” Jen says, “mixing the high with the low.”