Nina Garcia Feels Your Pain And Wants To Help

My favorite time of the year has arrived! Oh yes, it's Fall. I don't go anywhere without a sleeve and this is the season to don your best blouses, sweaters and jackets. As the best and the brightest proved on the runway shows during Fashion Week in New York, it's hard to ignore the fact that the recession is tearing a hole into our already ragged pockets.

Project Runway judge and Marie Claire fashion director Nina Garcia, who has a defining and loud opinion of high fashion is completely aware and ready to help. Garcia is set to release her third fashion tome The Style Strategy and she pays special attention to appeasing the recessionista, not the fashionista due to our faltering economy.

"There's a consciousness in fashion that wasn't there before," she tells Reuters citing greater attention to consumer personal finances, fashion manufacturers' costs and the growing green movement. "We're all becoming a lot more self-aware."

But in her book, Garcia said her goal is to show that such changes do not have to dampen the pleasures of shopping. Instead, they call for a re-evaluation of priorities, she said. In other words, Louis Vuitton will always have Louis Vuitton prices, but you may see the brand eventully lend itself to a large store like Target or H&M. (Note: I doubt that will ever happen, but lets all put in a collective prayer because that would be AWESOME!)

One rule Garcia lives by is to know exactly what you have before you go shopping. She suggests that you should take some time to first check what you already have in your closet. "We all have what I call "the old boyfriend pile." The hidden stash of items in the back of your closet that you simply can't bear to part with. You never know when that Norma Kamali sweater dress, circa 1984, with the huge shoulder pads will be in again, right? Actually, it just may be in again now." she says in the new book.

Make a serious attempt to separate needs from wants. It will take a dose of reality for some of us girls, and nothing like a good smack of that in the face, to decide what stays and what goes. But it will also help you decide what you need to buy to supplement your look. Is it a little black dress to match your cashmere sweater? Or an incredible blouse to match your slacks? No matter you personal style, Garcia insists that you "Have fun! But do not do so much impulse buying. Think about it, have a strategy"

Definitely check out some fashion sites to help you along the way, here's some of my faves:

The Sartorialist -Just pretty pictures of people in motion rocking their style. Not posing, often unaware they've been photographed.

Who What Wear Daily - Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power started the site primarily for the girl who is always wondering where Rihanna got the amazing leather jacket, or what kind of tights Sienna Miller is wearing. This is the definitive site brought to you by girls who KNOW fashion, they both worked at Elle.

The Cut - New York Magazine's blog has been on TOP of the fashion scene this week and every week before and I'm sure after. They know their stuff.

The Budget Fashionista - This little blog that could exploded as the nation's economy imploded. She offers sensational tips and strategies for keeping your look fashion forward even if your financial situation is headed south.

photo courtesy of amazon.com/harper collins.