Desperately Seeking Fashion in Farmville

The Longwood Look: Desperately Seeking Fashion in Farmville
Jenni Schweitzer & Amy Jackson

Every Farmville fashionista mourned the loss of the Dressing Room; it was the premiere distributor of clothing with labels that you would be proud to flaunt in our humble college town. (It was even mentioned in a featured article in Glamour about little black dresses.) So what’s a well-dressed girl to do? We have some pretty creative and economical ideas that don’t involve lassoing your girlfriends and hitting the open trail.

-Buy in Belk. Get it? It’s the only department store this side of the Appomattox. They’re well-stocked with an array of interesting pieces, especially flattering tops and mountains of boots. Their collection of accessories polishes the bejeweled gamut of different tastes, from pearl necklaces to python rings. We manage to find a great deal every time we go there – they often have sales up to 80 % off apparel, Pfaltzgraff, and toaster-ovens. Jenni recently scored two scarves for $5 each, both marked down from $40. You may have to search around for pieces that suit your style, because their stock mostly caters to working, professional women and their trend-tastic daughters. That’s not a bad thing at all, it just makes you work harder to avoid those jelly-filled ballet flats.

-Cato is located to the left of Wal-Mart off Main Street. Despite its moderately large size, you may not have noticed it thanks to the giant Wal-Mart. Cato specializes in clothing for the working woman, but mixed into their pantsuits and pencil skirts are some spicy items. Leather jackets, bright heels, and bras that look like they were meant for the Victoria’s Secret runway? Yes please! When these bras are ten dollars a pop, it’s completely justifiable to buy five of them in one visit. To us, anyway.

-Guinea Creek Crafts: don’t know where it is? That’s why we're here. It’s on Main Street across from Charley’s, one salon down from Penelope’s. Among beautiful woodwork and baskets, they have candles, holiday décor, and our favorite, earrings. Their earrings are all different, interesting, and a dollar fifty each. At a price like that, you can buy a pair for everyone who loyally follows your Twitter feed as a thank-you gift. For those of you who can have candles, this is the perfect resource, and if you like to decorate for Halloween, be sure to pick up a ghostly gourd or just browse the Halloween/Christmas room.

-Goodwill hunting: you have to search to find buried treasure. It’s located in the shopping center with Buffalo Wild Wings and Rite Aid. Among all the ridiculous 80’s windbreakers there are some real gems. Sometimes a little bit of quirkiness from Goodwill is the perfect thing to pull a boring outfit out of dullsville. For example, Amy recently found a nautical striped blouse complete with shoulder buttons for about three bucks. Jenni found a bright striped blouse with a ruffle, which she dubbed "Circus-chic". On our last journey, we also found books, belts, and got mugs for free with our purchases.



For those of you that haven’t had three to four years of exploring Farmville, we hope this is a helpful guide for your adventures in style.

Polished

Some of my girlfriends and I obviously have a couple big things in common, but one strange and important one is that we're all really good at doing our own nails. Seriously. It bothers me so much to even think about paying for a manicure (even/especially one that involves French tips) because I've gotten so ridiculously good at doing my own. If I go to a spa to have them done, it's probably my birthday or I've had some sort of bizarre emotional crisis that warrants pampering from some nail tech that I don't know. It's fine.

There's a new-ish spa in downtown Roanoke called polished by claire v. that I can walk to from my apartment and I really wanted to try it out. I went online and looked at their prices and thought they were pretty reasonable. For $20 I got a really good manicure, plus an up-to-my-elbows massage with a raspberry-lemonade scented scrub and lotion that smelled so delicious and juicy, it made me have to consciously think about not licking it off my arms.

Because I hate spending money on something that I can do just as well by myself, I've learned that adding an extra layer of topcoat 24 hours after a manicure usually makes your polish last days later. This cool blue/green hue (from their own collection of polishes that you can buy for just five bucks) stayed with me for more than a week after I left polished without so much as a chip. I ended up having to take it off with remover nine days later simply because I was ready for something new.

If you live in or close to Roanoke I'd really encourage you to give polished a try. It's always nice to support local businesses and they do a really good job. On Thursday and Friday nights ladies get a complimentary beverage and the second Tuesday of every month is Guys' Night--complete with beers and snacks. If you aren't close to Roanoke, then you might just have to plan a visit and we can go together!

I'll make us an appointment.

<3 Megan

Clothes Indeed for Friends in Need

Written by Megan Flynn and Jenni Schweitzer

We think there’s a pretty good chance that anyone who actually reads our columns knows that we love, love, love clothes, and that we think you should love them, too. However, we realize that your resources may be better spent on other things, so why not make them go farther when you decide to use them? Help other people while you shop by doing a bit of research or following our philanthropic guidelines.

If your thing is:

--Two for one: TOMS shoes sends a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair that you purchase for yourself. With your purchase of the comfortable and fashionable sneaks, you’ll be making sure that one less child in a developing country has to go barefoot, which prevents them from soil-transmitted diseases, cuts, sores, and sometimes you’ll even allow them to go back to school since shoes are usually required as part of their uniforms. You can finally buy that pair of shoes you don’t really need and give a pair to someone who does. No more frivolous shopping for you! toms.com

--HIV/AIDS Research: There are many ways to show your support, like a simple red ribbon, but perhaps the most popular clothing brand dedicated to raising awareness is The Gap’s Product RED. Product RED is a line of tees printed with empowering statements which end in ‘red’, like “inspired” or “cultured”. These comfy graphic tees are made of African cotton and 50 percent of the profits go to drug research.



--Have too many t-shirts? MAC is running a campaign with two of their new lipsticks, the “Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick” and the “Viva Glam Cyndi Lipstick.” Some of the proceeds from purchases of the pink and red lipstick shades, go to the MAC AIDS Fund to support men, women and children who are affected by AIDS and HIV globally. Check out http://www.macaidsfund.org/ for more information.






--Recycling: You knew this was coming. There are countless recycling projects across the country, and fortunately, you can contribute and benefit with minimal effort and cost. Coca-Cola Drink 2 Wear shirts, made from recycled Coke bottles, are available at Wal-mart. Freecycle.com is a website dedicated to recycling gently used goods by allowing individuals to post them and others to pick them up. Additionally, several outfitters offer handbags made of recyclables. It’s even easier to go local in Farmville. Madeline’s House is a thrift store across from Wilck’s Lake and the proceeds go to a shelter for abused women and children.

December isn’t the only time to think of good will toward men and women. These are easy ways to make it part of your spending sprees.