Okay let’s get this straight. The economy sucks right now and for many of us there is no way we can walk into Saks Fifth Avenue and just pick out a great pair of Versace skinny jeans or Yves Saint Laurent’s metallic caged boots (you know the ones Beyonce was rockin… which by the way are $1,590 *below).

Yes we all want to look great, but we all can’t drop thousands of dollars to do so. Don’t worry though I am here to help. There is a way to still look fabulous and have money in your pocket to eat all at the same time.

First, we have to start thinking differently when considering where to buy our clothes and what designers we put on our bodies. Of course Dolce & Gabbana, Dior, Bottega Veneta, Fendi and Diane von Furtsenberg all sound great but we need to go back to the origin and reason of fashion. As one actor said in the movie The Devil Wears Prada; “fashion is an iconography used to express individual identity” not a competition. Words like Walmart, Target, Old Navy and your local designer boutiques need to become popular in your vocabulary. There’s no need to put on aires if you cannot afford to buy fashions from those great designers. Who cares if you got a great new pair of strappy sandals from Payless and not from Jimmy Choo.

Below are some great fashion steals that you can find in shopping malls all around the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area. They may not be Prada, but they’re just as fabulous!