The Recessionista’s New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year to Recessionistas Around the Globe! I’m wishing all of our readers a very happy 2009! Above is an image of the New Year’s celebrations in Times Square New York, NY.
This image is from Richard Seamon’s excellent website of pictures from various cities around the US. Now that the New Year is here, and the champagne bubbles are fizzing out, the business of New Year’s Resolutions begins.

Below is the list I am filling out today: a cute little list of New Year’s Resolutions. Note: I do this exercise every New Year and its best done when not operating heavy machinery 🙂 Sometimes it works, sometimes, not, but I remain addicted to the exercise of documenting my goals for the New Year.

So here are a few of my New Year’s Resolutions that are fit to print.

1) Get back on my diet. I’m with Oprah on this one. I fell off the diet wagon over the holidays eating the cookies , the turkey, stuffing and more delicious food at Mom’s. Now, I’m going to get back to the gym and back to eating fruits & veggies. Oprah, I’m sending you good wishes. I know you will achieve your goals and look fabu for the inauguration. O, YES WE CAN! 🙂

2) Do some financial planning. I’m re-evaluating my financial strategies including my 401k contributions and stock/bond portfolios. Its a good time to move some things around and re access my savings and monthly budgets.

3) Re-read my favorite book on Vintage Fashion. “Collecting & Wearing Designer Classics from 1900-1990“ by Emma Baxter-Wright (purchased on eBay for $14.99). Some readers have asked, do I have fashion trend predictions for 2009? The answer is no. I’ve never been one to go with the trends or predict them. And part of The Recessionista’s lexicon is doing more with less. Vintage Vogue fits neatly into that mantra. I’m a big believer in investing in timeless classics. If you look at the Kate Moss Top Shop designs, you’ll see that everything old becomes new again. The dresses in her Top Shop collection harken back to 1920s tea dresses and 1940s flowery prints. I love them. And so do alot of others. This is why they routinely sell out. And by the way, they are on sale right now on TopShop.com.

Above: US book cover for “Collecting & Wearing Designer Classics from 1900-1990“ by Emma Baxter-Wright

So in 2009, I will continue my dedication to what I call Vintage Vogue. I’ll be routinely trolling consignment stores, plus Vintage stores on Melrose in LA and my favorites in NYC, for classics from Chanel, Dior, Celia Birtwell/Ossie Clark and others.

Pictured above book cover from the UK version of Collecting & Wearing Designer Classics from 1900-1990″ by Emma Baxter-Wright.

As Keats said, ” A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” When shopping new designers, my favorites are always the ones that tip their hat to the fashions of the past. That is why I love Jovovich-Hawk, Stella McCartney, Roland Mouret and Alice Temperely. I’ll continue to shop their collections at special sales (Loehmann’s Back Room) , on eBay and at budget stores where they may make lower-priced versions of their high-end lines (Target, Gap and others).

4)Accessorize more: Brighten up the existing clothes in my closet with some new reasonably priced Jewelry & accessories. I’ll be looking over at Loehmann’s for new Yummi Glass and other pieces. Today, I’ll be checking out private shopping club Ideeli’s Big Bang Jewelry Sale. Big Bang is Anna Sheffield’s line of Jewelry. The pieces highlight retro glamour. The sale starts at noon EST , 9:00 am PST . The jewelry is discounted up to to 70% with prices starting at $28.00.

Ideeli’s Big Bang Jewelry sale begins today

To check it out as The Recessionista’s Guest, go to: http://www.ideeli.com and enter invite code: recessionista

5) This is the worst one…..clean my house including my refrigerator! UGH.
This is a necessary evil of the new year. To make the task better, I will be listening to this great music mix: Recessionista that I found on the Internet. You might want to give it a listen today as you ease into 2009. Love the California Soul track by Marlena Shaw.

So that’s it. I’m only making 5 resolutions this year. As a Recessionista, I feel empowered to downsize my list of resolutions along with everything else 🙂

If you’re looking for some more good information and resources for New Year’s Resolutions, you might want to check Amazon’s list. They’ve got a nice list of the Top 10 Resolutions plus resources on Amazon to help you implement them. Also, Net-a-Porter has a great list of 10 Chic Ways to Turn over a New Fashion Leaf in their online magazine. Bon Fetes!

PS– I am filling up the gas tank this am as the news reports gas prices are about to rise.