Every summer the fashion magazines are filled with “ethnic” inspired pieces: African bangles, Indian saris, Asian floral patterns, and oodles and oodles of animal print. Take the Louis Vuitton summer 2009 collection (designed by the fashion favorite Marc Jacobs). Models walked the runway wearing wooden bracelets, obi belts, beaded sandals, and zebra print scarves. The clothes are beautiful but the prices are totally ridiculous! Looking “ethnic-chic” in designer clothes will run you into the tens of thousands… and there is absolutely no point.
Most of the pieces on the runway, especially for summer, were inspired by China, India, Africa, and the Middle-East…so why not buy directly from the source! Look up stores that sell goods from these countries. They are usually really tiny hole-in-the-wall type places that specialize in selling goods to a small community of people. For example, in my home town there is a store called Little India. I was able to purchase 20 (fake) gold bangles, 2 saris, 1 turban, and some delish dessert for around 75 bucks!!!
To get the Louis look I wore:
Wear a crisp white large mens oxford, tied bright pink fabric (I cut from the Indian sari) around my waist to get the obi look pile on all the gold bangles with some gold rings, put on some strappy gladiator sandals, added a lovely turban, to add some designer flair I carried my favorite Louis Vuitton bag. The look is easy to achieve, and definitely affordable, just type in Indian, Chinese, or African Store plus your zip code into Google and something is bound to come up.
