Lemondrop

If you've ever lusted after a Roberto Cavalli dress, a sky-high pair of Louboutins or a Coach bag, Daisy Lewellyn feels your pain. Lewellyn -- the self-described Queen of Effortless Chic -- is passionate about style, but early in her career when she was only making $23,000 a year at her first job at InStyle in New York, she had to figure out how to indulge her fashion tooth without decimating her bank account. So she became a smarter shopper, able to zero in on fabulous finds at sample sales and score great deals at discount stores.

Now she wants to let the world in on her secrets. In her new book, "Never Pay Retail Again," Lewellyn asks readers to consider her their Bargain Babe Style Coach. "Get ready to indulge in the stylish delights of fashion and beauty without massive credit card debt, a trust fund, or a Gucci bag as your pillow after you find yourself homeless," she writes.

Cover to cover, "Never Pay Retail" includes 200+ pages of shopping psychology, strategy, and a label-by-label breakdown of how to get the best stuff. Lemondrop talked to Lewellyn about her personal style, DIY fashion and her favorite find of all time.

Lemondrop: You pinpoint some very specific types of shoppers in the book, like the "Impulse Shopper" and the "Emotional Shopper." How does the type of shopper you are affect you?
Daisy Lewellyn: Well, consider the Schizo Shopper. I've seen it time and time again and unfortunately it's pretty common. I was recently shopping with a girl and she was looking for a dress for her birthday and she was getting one of everything that was cute, which is the worst thing you can do. She never once considered her body type. So we get into the dressing room and she's borderline depressed because hardly any of the dresses fit. Why? Because she picked them up based on looks, not on what looked good on her body. So the Schizo girl can be really dangerous because while we all love to see pretty things on the hangers, that doesn't mean it works for you. You have to take into account your fit, your lifestyle and the trend. It's terrible when you try things on that are really cute and they look horrible on your. If you don't waste time and only try on things you know usually work with your body type and your lifestyle, you'll have better results.

Talk to me about the clothes every savvy shopper should have in her closet.
You want to have a really great trench coat. They look fantastic on everybody, and you don't have to get khaki and you don't have to get three-quarter length. Also, every girl should have a great pair of pumps. You may like a pointy toe, or someone may like python. We all have the little black dress, but you've also got to have a little colored dress. A little colored dress can steal the scene. It's kind of a transition piece that works in so many situations -- day to night, casual to dressy. It's all about the standard classic silhouettes that are timeless and they never go out of style. They're going to work with everything you have in your wardrobe and season to season so you're really getting your money's worth. I also think it's essential to have some staple jewelry and staple accessories -- a great day bag that you're not embarrassed to carry, in a chocolate or cognac brown, or even a bold solid red. If you're going to splurge and spend money, I'd spend money on your bag and your shoes and spend less on your clothes.

How did you discover your own personal style?
It's so funny because honestly, and I don't think I'm dated, but my personal style has been pretty fluid since I was a teenager. Ever since I was a teenager I've loved skirts, dresses, high platforms, and I've always loved oversize glasses and hoop earrings. But you know, one thing that I think has helped me to come to my personal style is that I know my body type. I'm a pear shape, which means I have a smaller waist and curvier hips. I came to my personal style by trial and error. It takes time to grow into your style and it's not something that happens overnight. It's a goal that every girl should definitely aim to reach.

How much time should we spend shopping?
In this age, most people do have to work and occasionally they have to make a meal or two, so we can't spend all day shopping. So I really think it's a personal choice. I do think that you should make a decision that you will allot some time to shop and you may have to plan it. You plan your meals, you plan when you're going to the gym. Plan to shop. Have a little shopping list and a shopping budget. If you don't do a little bit of planning you end up being an impulse shopper, and you end up with five pairs of black pants and no tops to wear. The planning really starts with just knowing what you have. Do I even own any dresses? Do I have any pants that really work well on my body? Do I have time to go to the store? Or am I just an online shopper? If I know what I want specifically and I know where to look for it, online shopping is amazing now. You can literally go on a website and narrow it down by the price you want to pay, the color you want to choose and the size that you are and it'll edit out all the other stuff and boom, there you have it.

You make the point that even with all the best clothes, if you don't have the best closet, you're still behind the curve. Why?
Organizing my closet changed my life. People thought I'd gone shopping and everyone kept giving me compliments. Every single day I found things I didn't even know I had, because they were so smashed in between everything else. I'm probably the only style expert that will say it's fine to have more than one of something because I like options. I'm not the person who can have one pair of pants and one dress and get dressed. If you do have limited closet space, you need to be honest and think of storage options that realistically work for you. Huggable Hangers can increase your closet space by 50 percent. If you know that you wear a t-shirt every day, you can roll t-shirts tightly and put them under your bed. If you wear jeans, they're easy to fold and stack. You have to take into consideration what kind of dresser you are. I had an editor at InStyle who kept her sunglasses in the oven, because she never cooked and she had tons of sunglasses. Don't be ashamed if there's nothing in your refrigerator other than makeup and nail polish. Closet editing will really help you out. If you're limited on space, you should only have in your closet things that you will love.

How important is a good tailor to attaining the perfect wardrobe?
A good tailor can change your life. The average woman is not shaped straight up and down, but they have to make clothes in a standard size. So the tailor can make clothes look as if they were made for you. But I also love a tailor because they give you more shopping options. When you know what things can be repaired and taken in, you can buy more things rather than trying to squeeze into a pair of pants that are too tight.

How does someone find out about sample sales?
There are two types of sample sales. There are online sample sales that are available to anybody around the world -- although some are members only -- and there are sample sales you've been to in person. The sample sale capital is New York, but in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta there are things called shopping events, which are similar to sample sales. They carry more than one brand and more than one size. There's a website called MyNines that lists all the sales in one place. You can also sign up for daily listings with a site like DailyCandy.com. Gilt.com and RueLaLa.com are member-only sites. You have to be invited by a friend and then you're accepted. Also, SheFinds.com is a wonderful site.

I was surprised to learn that you might be able to make money by selling designer packaging -- shoe boxes, shopping bags. Is that true?
eBay is a place where you can literally buy anything. If I bought a new pair of Chanel sunglasses and I was at a party and I lost the case, I don't want to use some off-brand eyeglass case. So I could look online at eBay and see if there are any other Chanel sunglass cases. Or, what I really like are shoe bags. You should protect your shoes, especially when traveling, in cloth shoe bags. I didn't always hang onto my shoe bags and I would throw them away, but now I want to have shoe bags for every single pair of shoes. You can buy shoe bags or boxes. A lot of people are very influenced and driven by logos and labels.

You talk about taking a bargain item, like a great sweater from Target, and making it your own with a little do-it-yourself handwork. Is that easy to do?
I call it DIY -- Design It Yourself. A lot of people don't have sewing machines and they're not into being crafty, but I have not found a woman who says, 'I hate looking good and I love wasting money.' My favorite is the cardigan. If you took a cardigan and it's really cute and it's $20, but everybody else bought the same cardigan, you can take a broach you got from your grandma's closet and put one or two broaches on the corner. And you've spruced it up. Or tie a ribbon belt around the waist. Changing buttons is also one of my favorite things to do. If you don't know how to change a button, buy the buttons and take it into the cleaners and they'll do it for you.

You also mention that sometimes, the suit you find at the discount store might be better constructed than the one at the high-end store. Really?
I say that because I don't want people to assume that because it's a designer label, it's well made, although most designer pieces are. And I don't want you to think, 'I only paid $20, it may not last more than two days.' Target has great quality. If you are really curvy and you try to wear high-end European labels, they may not fit you. A place like Target or even a Sears or JC Penney is cut for the average size, so that might fit you a little better. You have to really go and see what works for you. I'm all about investment pieces, but I'm also about buying little things that work for you and are a good buy. It's kind of a middle ground.

What's the most you've ever spent on a piece of clothing?
Probably mid $300s. But I've got some good labels. I just know how much things get marked down.

Do you have a favorite find of all time?
I bought this cream wool Helmut Lang coat. I still have it. Single-breasted, classic piece, and I found it at Daffy's. At the time I was an assistant at InStyle and I knew it was a nice coat but it didn't have a label in it. I bought it because it was really gorgeous. So one day I came into work with the coat on, and my boss says, 'Oooh, I have that same coat, it's Helmut Lang.' Eventually I found the little tag on the inside seam. I bought the coat for under $400 and I'm sure she paid close to $1,000. It's not always about having to wait seasons and seasons. It was brand-new.

Kate Ashford is a freelance journalist who writes about personal finance and health (and other things). Without online shopping, she wouldn't own anything. Her work has appeared in Money, Health, and Glamour. For more, check out HerTwoCents.com.