Food, Home and Style
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At the End of Your Robe: 10 Tips for Making the Most of Your Closet Misfits
Each week, stylist Julie Greene offers expert advice on looking fierce in a financial crisis.
We all have them: Outdated, worn out, tired looking clothes that need a little—or a lot of—TLC. In more prosperous times, we can just toss and replace them. These days, it makes sense to get the most out of what you’ve already got. With a little creativity and a few dollars, you can make awkward items live up to their potential.
The Upside of the Dow’s Turn
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to a six-year low yesterday and has sunk lower today, which would seem to be bad news any way you cut it. Even smart equity bargain-hunters we know are staying away, saying they have no feel for where the bottom of the market is.
There are small (very small) advantages to a down index, though. Restaurants and bars around the country have tied their prices to the stock market as a recession marketing tool. You’ve probably stopped checking your 401(k) balance, but on days when you know it’s taken a dive, you can drown your sorrows in cheap food and drink. Caveat: Since most of these joints are trying to drum up business during off-hours, you might have to start as trading ends.
Traveling Tight: Hedge Your Health
Tough economic times may tempt you to dispense with insurance when you plan your getaway. Please resist! The quickest way to compromise your bank account, not to mention your sanity, is to start thinking of insurance as a luxury.
The main travel insurance plans available are trip insurance and travel medical.
Love in the Time of Layoff: Helicopter Spouse
Earlier this week I received a comment that both touched and saddened me. Writes nelson46, in response to my
recent posts on standing by my jobless man:
“Is my wife’s need to exclaim disdain (never ending) so immature?”
I looked up “disdain” in the dictionary and found this: “extreme contempt or disgust for something or somebody,” “to regard something or somebody as not worthy of respect.”
I feel…
Cookin’ for Love: Satisfaction Stew
You’ve been stripped of your big office, fat title, hot assistant and, most important, your paycheck. But being emasculated on the job doesn’t mean you can’t satisfy your significant other at home—with food.
On the Home Depot scale, cooking something impressive and tasty falls somewhere in between changing a light bulb and installing a new shower head—that is, pretty simple. Some quick rules for the new house husband, and a 20-minute recipe:
How to Sleep Through the Recession
One thing you can be sure of when you’re tossing and turning at 4 a.m. is that you’re not alone: The recession is keeping everyone up.
So what should you do about it? Consider trying these strategies to help you get a good night’s sleep in a pinch (without resorting to sleep clinics or expensive prescription drugs).
Productive Loafing: Puppy Love
Underemployed? Recessionwire offers ideas for making the most of your newfound free time.
A friend of mine has a lot of time on his hands these days—not because he’s been laid off, but because the company he founded is doing so well. He’s been taking cooking classes, doing yoga, and puppy-sitting. Not just any puppies; he’s helping care for dogs who are being trained as guides for the blind.
Redux: Fashion Takes a Turn
Looking back at the Great Depression to see the path ahead.
Is the Recession the final blow to SATC excess?
Flappers of the late 1920s were the Carries and Samanthas of their day: bold, sassy, and fond of flaunting fabulous frocks. They stepped out in sequined sheaths, pricy handbags tucked under their arms. They sported make-up, smoked cigarettes, and bared limbs. Trading petticoats for scanty panties, they shopped for sequined dancing shoes to replace sensible lace-up boots.
But the fashion orgy didn’t last.
At the End of Your Robe: Give It Away Now
Each week, stylist Julie Greene offers expert advice on looking fierce in a financial crisis.
Sitting around in your bathrobe waiting for the recession to end so you can start wearing your pinstripes or your Manolos again is not going to help matters. Throwing them away, however, just might.
For Valentine’s Day, Fudge It
As a complete sap, I’ve always found Valentine’s Day annoying: why designate only one day a year to romance? This year, that designated day is under more stress than usual: you can barely imagine splurging on something nice to wear to a dinner out, much less $65 on a few dozen red roses.
Homemade gifts might make you wince, but not all such crafts need be as hokey as the cut-out heart card you made for your mom when you were a kid. We have something you can make in 15 minutes, for under $15, that doesn’t involve a doily or anything else cheesy.
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